211 E320 CDi 2005. Should I?

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On the SBC, do the date check. As I said before, unless you have a rock solid invoice or the pump date stamp is clearly a replacement, then just budget it in. A bit of a bugger, but then these cars can be incredible value.
 
I've read that they can be recoded to ignore the SBC fault, does that sound horribly risky?
If the counter has been reset once, probably not; if twice, yes. Somebody skilled with STAR can read off how many brake operations have been counted up. What's the mileage on the car?
 
SBC pump arning is quite variable depending on how you drive. My wifes SL got the white warning at about 70k and was around £1200 fitted. My pevious E500 (115k) and my current CLS55 (110k) are still going strong, touch wood. What year is the car and what is the mileage? As mentioned above SBC was discontinued at the 2006 facelift.
 
My 04 e320 had a new pump fitted before I bought it. It only had 74k on the clock then. Ex doctors car from bonny Scotland. Door to door calls = premature death .
 
As I recall mercedes set the number of actuations limit at about 70% of the figure which Bosch (ithink) the manufacturer said.. Obviously for enhanced safety (or quicker replacement if you are a cynic) There are reset toosl available on ebay to increase the limit by a choice of amount. I did try one of these on my wifes car (!) but all it did was remove the fault code briefly and the warning reappeared about 20 mins later so did not work for me.
The warning is "Brake service visit dealer" in white to start with or in red with reduced brake effectiveness if the pump actually fails. Whilst it is in white there is no difference in the braking its just telling you that you have reached the maximum number of actuations. (assuming it is an SBC pump fault and not another brake problem. The fault code will clarify.)
 
Thanks folks, to answer a few of you asking the year and mileage, it's a 2005 on 120k. With the full Merc' history I'm expecting to see it having been replaced but time will tell.

Appointment booked for tomorrow morning
 
Thanks folks, to answer a few of you asking the year and mileage, it's a 2005 on 120k. With the full Merc' history I'm expecting to see it having been replaced but time will tell.

Appointment booked for tomorrow morning
Make sure it at least had the atf and filter change at 37500 miles . It needs another one immediately, budget £200 at an Indy
 
My SBC was replaced at 165k and cost a grand for a new unit supplied and fitted. That was a really good car. The 320cdi straight six is actually said to be the best Diesel engine Mercedes made.
 
My SBC was replaced at 165k and cost a grand for a new unit supplied and fitted. That was a really good car. The 320cdi straight six is actually said to be the best Diesel engine Mercedes made.
I agree - powerful and very reliable. 👍
 
I thought a quick update was in order.

I received a call from the seller (as I was setting off to collect it) and he let me know that it had a problem.

He left it with a specialist and they've diagnosed the turbo inlet seal as the likely culprit and quoted £700 to fix it.

Now, firstly, I was very grateful to the seller for being so honest, he could have easily covered it up and let me pay, only for it do it on my drive home. He's stuck with either a £700 bill either way.

However, it's undermined confidence in the car. He's offered to pay for it or refund my deposit but I'm not sure....

When the SBC goes that's another £1500....What a quandry..

Any thoughts from you folk experienced in Mercedes ownership?
 
It wouldn’t put me off whatsoever - in fact I’d be happier to buy it knowing it’s just had money spent on it. :)
 
I thought a quick update was in order.

I received a call from the seller (as I was setting off to collect it) and he let me know that it had a problem.

He left it with a specialist and they've diagnosed the turbo inlet seal as the likely culprit and quoted £700 to fix it.

Now, firstly, I was very grateful to the seller for being so honest, he could have easily covered it up and let me pay, only for it do it on my drive home. He's stuck with either a £700 bill either way.

However, it's undermined confidence in the car. He's offered to pay for it or refund my deposit but I'm not sure....

When the SBC goes that's another £1500....What a quandry..

Any thoughts from you folk experienced in Mercedes ownership?
Nice to hear of honest people. Maybe offer to split the cost of a mechanic report when it is in to get fixed? From what you say if *feels* a good buy, so worth a punt?
 
I hope it's not just the turbo inlet seal for £700.
It's £10 and takes 20 minutes to change. I've literally just done mine on my drive.
£700 is replacement recon turbo territory, surely?


turbo inlet.jpg
 
P.S. I would recommend changing this seal annually to stop oil dripping on the swirl flap motor, which is directly below this seal.
Oil vapour from the Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve condenses in the pipework just in front of the turbo, and can drip out of the turbo inlet seal.
A new seal every 12 months will keep it nice and tight and stop the drips. A DIY job when inspecting the air filters for condition (which I recommend, but is not Merc scheduled inspection), as they are not changed annually I believe.
 
The seal has apparently failed and allowed soot/oil to drop on to the control module and frazzle it.

Is that a more significant job?
 
The seal has apparently failed and allowed soot/oil to drop on to the control module and frazzle it.

Is that a more significant job?
If we're talking about the swirl flap motor, then £700 is only £200 shy of replacing the dreaded OM642 oil cooler seals, which I had done on Monday and Tuesday.
All in, the oil cooler seals and swirl flap motor would be £900, maybe £950, which includes a new swirl flap motor and a new oil cooler. If you wanted to risk not having a new oil cooler fitters and risk that, it could be a bit cheaper. Most of the exact same stuff needs to come off to get to the oil cooler seals, so if I was doing one, I would do the other (I had a replacement swirl flap motor fitted even though I only needed the cooler seals doing for this very reason). I paid just over £850 for my oil cooler seal replacement including a new oil cooler and I supplied the swirl flap motor.
It was more costly than a 'normal' oil cooler seal replacement job, because I also supplied a low mileage set of fully cleaned intake manifolds, so there was a higher gasket requirement to swap some parts from the old manifolds on to the new ones.

Swirl flap motor on my engine is part number A6421500594.
It starts at £130 depending on where you buy from. Pierburg are the original supplier to Mercedes.
 
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