1997 W140 S500 - Electrical oddity

[bolomiester]

If I let the car sit idling for more a few minutes the low fuel light will start flashing even if the tank has a lot of fuel. It will only stop if you turn it off then restart.

Yesterday I let it idle with a little over a half tank (my wife was in the car) while I ran into the parts store for a new brake light bulb. I didn't notice the flashing low fuel light until I'd pulled out into traffic. I figured I'd just wait to see if it would stop. It didn't but while I was waiting I turned on the radio/CD player to listen to a new CD I loaded into the trunk player and while the radio came on OK, there was no sound.

Once I turned the engine off and restarted everything was fine. The low fuel light stopped flashing and the radio/CD played normally.

Does anyone know what's going on, and how the 2 events could be related? Frankly, I'm stumped. HELP!