My first post........a dumb question probably. Just bought my first Mercedes, a 1985 500 SEL. The car had been sitting for several months, and the battery was removed to charge it. Now the radio won't work. What do I need to do? Thanks for your help!

I don't believe an 85 needs a code, 1990 was the first year for an actual numbered code for an MB.
There was about 2 or 3 years, I know it was later than 85, where if the radio were disconnected from a power source too long, it had dashed lines across the radio faceplate. The dealer needs to reset this with a special tool. If your radio is inoperative, it needs to be diagnosed, may just be a fuse is blown, could be lots of different things.
Gilly

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As Gilly said it might be a blown fuse or it could have a bad lithium battery and it is not an easy replacement. Does it have the 4 lines across the display?

Scott@lajollaaudio

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Scott:
It seems to me from reading the directions for taking the radio out of "dashed line mode" that this was on 86 through 88 models only, i don't think the 85 should have this feature. I would assume he would have mentioned the dashed lines too.
Gilly

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You are probably right.

Scott

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The Mercedes Specialists Since 1986