e320 cdi cat problem?

[328matt]

Hello all, i am a new mb owner w210 e320cdi estate avantgarde. I have done some searches and am still a little confused.....I have been told by a recommended independant that my pre-cat is becoming blocked. When the car was on the ramp he showed me that it was blowing exhaust gas over the engine from a clamp by the pre cat.He said it was blocked and from the forum i can see that it is not uncommon...A lot of people
on here stay away from non mb parts, so is the answer to empty the cat of its innards, buy what is i imagine a very costly part???I also read that there is a probe after the pre cat so if i remove the innards will that cause the engine management to misehave? Incidentally i have just had an a service,replaced the glow plugs and gearbox oil. I have been told that the rear shocks are leaking-expensive i am told!some bushes up at the front are gone-another £400, v belt needs changing, and there is a slight weep from the diff-all seals changed-another £250. I have had the car a month after getting it for a song, and want it right!Seems i am having a baptism of fire!-is it true i could run without any cats?? Thanks for the help.......Matt

 

[recycled]

honestly mate in my experienxe, i think the cat aids in passing emission tests. i may be wrong as some forum members have just emptied theirs and got on with life.
As for patterned parts ,like all things in life a lot are good and a lot are bad. you have to find the right one.
MB ones also break so no one is bullet proof.
at the cost of almost 10 times difference you must be loaded to go for an MB one which may or may not break.
Now if your car is worth 3000k or thereabouts what is the sense in fitting
a 1.5k cat on it?

i have a patterned part supplied by the bosch dealer in liverpool who also deals in exhausts.
no problem so far. sounds a little different but it works and does not rattle
and a saving of £800.
it is up to you ultimately. you can always seek advice from your local MOT shop.

 

[television]

Diesels passing MOT without CATs is something that I know little of. If the engine is running OK leave it and do the clamp up. If the engine lamp comes on when the O2 sensor cannot cope do something about it them.

All MB look wet around the diff, clean out the breather pipe and it will be fine.

The front suspension roll bar links are cheap at £8 each and you can do that yourself, the ball joint is not that expensive to replace either.

I believe that I am correct in saying that the rear shocks can be changed without removing the spring, dont quote me though on this. they can only be tested properly with one end disconnected.

 

[nick mercedes]

Hello all, i am a new mb owner w210 e320cdi estate avantgarde. I have done some searches and am still a little confused.....I have been told by a recommended independant that my pre-cat is becoming blocked. When the car was on the ramp he showed me that it was blowing exhaust gas over the engine from a clamp by the pre cat.He said it was blocked and from the forum i can see that it is not uncommon...A lot of people
on here stay away from non mb parts, so is the answer to empty the cat of its innards, buy what is i imagine a very costly part???

Your precat might well be A2104905614 which cost £540.70 inc vat, so assuming that you can get a discount from your local MB parts dept it's not that expensive as some cats.

Replica cats aren't the best fit and sometimes don't last that long either...

 

[328matt]

The specialist has not charged much for labour..it is the cost of the shocks, i think he said £290 plus vat each!!!! I do not mind swallowing this bill as there is no way around it, but the cat issue does bother me, as there seems to be so many solutions.Just hoped someone with a similar car might have had a positive outcome.

 

[recycled]

Replica cats aren't the best fit and sometimes don't last that long either...

mine was the perfect fit. no need for any mods and MB ones sometinmes do not last long either

 

[328matt]

Thanks for the info on the parts price!Are mercedes usually good at offering discounts to new customers? On another subject i have noticed some corrosion on the bootlid coming from underneath,my mech says it is a common fault and that m.b. will repair it for free.Is this true-the car has full history but all with indies rather than main dealers?

 

[nick mercedes]

mine was the perfect fit. no need for any mods and MB ones sometinmes do not last long either

It must depend on the brand I suppose, I knew of someone who fitted a few to 202s some time ago, and they looked like someone had made them in a school metalwork class, worse they didn't last past 6 months...

They're bound to be better these days.

 

[nick mercedes]

The specialist has not charged much for labour..it is the cost of the shocks, i think he said £290 plus vat each!!!! I do not mind swallowing this bill as there is no way around it, but the cat issue does bother me, as there seems to be so many solutions.Just hoped someone with a similar car might have had a positive outcome.

The shocks may be sachs-boge, which can be brought in the aftermarket for far less than MB charge, but given that they're self levellers, they're still not all that cheap.

 

[recycled]

well i did get mine from the bosch dealership network in here.
they supply bosch products mafs ,batteries e.tc. and they also have the cats and exhausts which are not bosch but must be of a better quality than the rubbish ones flying around. gave me two years warranty as well.
took less than 20mins to fit and since MB wanted 800+ vat on a car worth about 3k there was no contest.

I got my maf from there and believe me it is far better than the MB one and my Mpg has gone so much better and costs £150 less than MB

 

[328matt]

Do you have a phone number or web address for the parts supplier? The only place i am familiar with is euro car parts, and i am not even sure if they do cats?

 

[nick mercedes]

The specialist has not charged much for labour..it is the cost of the shocks, i think he said £290 plus vat each!!!! I do not mind swallowing this bill as there is no way around it, but the cat issue does bother me, as there seems to be so many solutions.Just hoped someone with a similar car might have had a positive outcome.

A quick look at the eurocarparts and GSF websites revealed:

BOGE/SACHS n/a 626221780 REAR SHOCK ABSORBER
S/LEVELING AVANTGARDE £186.35 (eurocar parts)

M55050 SHOCK ABS BQ S/LEVEL RE 210 Saloon +Self-Levelling Susp. 95.00 (GSF)

(I'm not saying that these are exactly the right ones for your car, but you can see what savings can be made by shopping around)

 

[recycled]

are you not in warrington?

http://www.cesuk.com/

 

[328matt]

yes warrington mate, and i have heard of ces-i think there is one in northwich?

 

[recycled]

have you tried them?
i was given them By bosch uK when i was searching for a new MAF

 

[nick mercedes]

Do you have a phone number or web address for the parts supplier? The only place i am familiar with is euro car parts, and i am not even sure if they do cats?

http://www.eurocarparts.com/default.asp

http://www.gsfcarparts.com/

 

[328matt]

I will give them a try, its got to be worth a shot!

 

[recycled]

makesure you get the right one.
i do not think i had precats in mine. just one single pipe going down into the cat.