E320cdi Woes

[Harrythedog]

After the manifold was replaced was the ecu reset back to default and all codes cleared. I had the manifold replaced by MB and was miffed vis they reset the ecu and I had to get the car remapped to what it was before

 

[steve333]

Indy so far has been brand new....

You're a fair bit further south and are spoilt for Indies in NW England.



Steve, nothing would give me greater joy than to get rid of the steaming pile of **** that is my E320cdi but cash wise not there yet and don't "do" finance....

I recall it did smoke a little more, and that funny whistle noise from the turbo that wasn't there before, I wonder if the mechanics who worked on my car put it back together properly. Lights off, and I hope it stays that way.

I've got a nice tour lined up in March and a few jollys on here as well as my driving tours I do, last thing I need is that car packing in!!!

If your guess is correct i'd take it back & put it to the garage manager & have it put right,every time you deposit some of your hard earned into your car fund think your a step closer to waving goodbye to an unreliable car & saying hello to(hopefully)a newer better one

 

[LTD]

I recall it did smoke a little more, and that funny whistle noise from the turbo that wasn't there before, I wonder if the mechanics who worked on my car put it back together properly. Lights off, and I hope it stays that way.

Might be worth a quick call to Davy about it - especially since you've noticed some differences since the new manifold was fitted.

Could an air leak somewhere be the source of the whistle ???

 

[st4]

Might be worth a quick call to Davy about it - especially since you've noticed some differences since the new manifold was fitted.

Could an air leak somewhere be the source of the whistle ???

It would be great and I was going to call him, but the light has gone out. There is a slight increase in noise.

To be honest, I'd rather it properly let go so I could justify taking it in....

 

[BenzedUP]

I had this one time on my 211 320 CDi, I turn the engine off and then switched it back on and it was gone, it never came back again... if it doesnt come on again then just ignore it, that was the advice I was given by MB anyway.

Steve, run Wynn's with a Full tank of BP Ultimate Diesel.

Halfords | Wynn's Injector Cleaner For Diesel Engines 325ml

 

[st4]

Repeated times turning it off and on wouldn't shift it. Left it for a bit and it was fine (15 mins as I was picking someone up). Stopped off for an hour, no light. Drove home, washed it, drove it to get grub of discs. Hopefully ok.

Occasionally my E220cdi would fire a coolant warning but it was always fine and a glitch. When this car acts up, it acts up.

 

[A210AMG]

***,

No meaning to be funny but do you think your car may have done more miles that it says?

I only say this as you DO seem to be having an awful lot of issues, now either your just very unlucky and you have a Friday afternoon model or something more to it?

I know you use the shed...but you also have it serviced. It seems to have over and above 'normal' issues for these cars?


It bring back memorys from one of my Dads old 230TE's which was on around 36K when he bought it, however it had all sorts of issues more than the millage would suggest? from memory he got rid quite quickly and we never looked into it but were pretty sure something was not right.

My S211 is on 132K miles and too be honest if I cleaned and polished it, would get away for much much less.

Its just a thought...?

 

[st4]

***,

No meaning to be funny but do you think your car may have done more miles that it says?

I got it with c.44k miles. It was very low for the age of the car. It had five previous keepers recorded and and was only 4 and 1/2 years old.

Strangely the MOT is due in May and its was first registered in November 2005. Something is odd there and I can't get why the MOT is out of sync with the registration by so many months.

I wouldn't be surprised if it had a trim somewhere early in its life, pre MOT certs and you could never verify it. There is a gap I noticed later in the service history, the first one is missing and its first service was at 22,000 miles, but then within the dealer network and sold on with full tier one warranty.

Cabin wise, no rattles and the trim seems in age, and wearing very well, but they all do that

I only say this as you DO seem to be having an awful lot of issues, now either your just very unlucky and you have a Friday afternoon model or something more to it?

I know you use the shed...but you also have it serviced. It seems to have over and above 'normal' issues for these cars?

Its maintained regardless of cost, and serviced over and above the servicing regime intervals. Its seen every 8-10k miles rather than the 15k it counts down from.

Its definitely a Friday/Monday car. There are little quirks with it, (a dead moth stuck inside the tail light, a seat runner that doesn't move right, the adjuster on the steering wheel is knackered, pull out the pin and the wheel falls down, on my last one it stayed still). The corrosion and flaking lacquer really were the pisstakers though. Imagine washing your car and watching silver particles be carried off in the water running off and lacquer peeling off the door.

Oh, the headlights are now really misted up. Wasn't like that before.

To be honest, I would have liked to have changed it when the tier one warranty ran out but the depreciation etc has made that a non starter.

 

[A210AMG]

^ My brother does 55K to 60K a year in his car, Any of his past cars have been ideal for clocking too be honest.

You would never know to look at the trim, they even survive stone chips pretty well these days. Mines like I say on 132K and doesn't rattle (well apart from the engine)

It does sound odd. 5 owners at only 44K miles also. I guess one could be the dealer? so actually only 4 proper owners...

Strange how they all got rid fairly quickly though. Buying a Cdi generally your buying to do reasonable miles and save money.

 

[st4]

Its had my fat bum for the last 38k miles and I'm quite sore on cars, camping trips, fully loaded boot, eat in it, drink in it, spill stuff in it and the cabin has held up the best.

The peeling lacquer is beyond a joke and having to use a touch up stick to keep the paint from completely coming off the door edges before you could get it to a body shop. Folk did that on 80's lancias, not a recent Mercedes

 

[artyman]

The out of sync MOT is probably because someone taxed it for six months at some stage. Five previous for a 4 1/2 year old car seems rather a lot particularly with a mileage of 44K, I bet there's some funny history somewhere. Was this a case of buy in haste.

 

[jumperjohn]

I wonder if he sabotages it just so I am back in with "yet another problem"....

This car is so **** its unreal!!!

"It had five previous keepers recorded" In 4.5 years!

"The corrosion and flaking lacquer really were the pisstakers though. Imagine washing your car and watching silver particles be carried off in the water running off and lacquer peeling off the door. " This is odd, could be un-recorded accident damaged? Can you borrow a paint thinkness reader, some detailers use them?

You bought a dog and the previous 5 keepers realised it too! Time to put it down and buy a petrol, or anything else, trade it in and cut your losses!

 

[rascalmaster]

my em light popped on last month; i absent mindedly tried to start the car without waiting for the glow plugs to do their thing first...
on stopping and restarting; it was gone, and hasn't returned. come to think of it; it had been sitting around with stale ale in it's belly as well; so i filled up with a fresh tank of fuel at the time...
Steve; do you ever come down south? maybe want to show your car to Olly at PCS? He's very very good; bit of a mercedes whisperer lol...

 

[wemorgan]

Strangely the MOT is due in May and its was first registered in November 2005. Something is odd there and I can't get why the MOT is out of sync with the registration by so many months.

Have you checked the MoT history online? I imagine someone bought the car with a fresh MoT, even though it didn't yet need one.

Motoring : Directgov - MOT history request

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Have you checked the MoT history online? I imagine someone bought the car with a fresh MoT, even though it didn't yet need one.

Motoring : Directgov - MOT history request

You can verify the genuine mileage through Star.

 

[st4]

Have you checked the MoT history online? I imagine someone bought the car with a fresh MoT, even though it didn't yet need one.

Motoring : Directgov - MOT history request

It failed its first MOT

Reason(s) for refusal to issue Certificate
Steering column movement between the shaft and steering wheel (2.1.2b)
Nearside Front Road wheel badly damaged (4.2.A.1a) **DANGEROUS**
Advisory Notice issued
Rear Exhaust has a minor leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)
Nearside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Offside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Offside Front Road wheel with a slightly distorted bead rim (4.2.A.1a)


But the miles add up.


I think Jumperjohn is right, its simply a bad car

 

[steve333]

It failed its first MOT

Reason(s) for refusal to issue Certificate
Steering column movement between the shaft and steering wheel (2.1.2b)
Nearside Front Road wheel badly damaged (4.2.A.1a) **DANGEROUS**
Advisory Notice issued
Rear Exhaust has a minor leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)
Nearside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Offside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Offside Front Road wheel with a slightly distorted bead rim (4.2.A.1a)


But the miles add up.


I think Jumperjohn is right, its simply a bad car

I'm with A210AMG on this Steve,that amount of owners in a short space of time(especially in a diesel),the missing history,out of sync mot & the fact it failed it's first mot with 2 dangerous faults & 4 advisorys makes you think the owner at that time didn't look after the car or prepare it properly for mot,i'm very careful when buying a second hand car(do my own hpi check,double check service history/mot's)& if anything seems odd i just walk away & find another(impulse buying when your looking to buy & see something you really like is often how dealers shift cars with dodgy pasts & as we all know,mb's hide high mileage particularly well especially after a good valet).Hard lesson learned maybe but as soon as you are in a position to,get rid & find a good un

 

[st4]

Sorry to say Steve you are right. The car was bought on a whim, was round at my cousins one night, had a beer and spied it, phoned up MB Hull and bought it and left from my GFs place knackered to view it.

I just "assumed" being a dealer car and I didn't spot the missing service and everything was in order with a recently serviced car that appeared to drive fine.

There were no signs of crash damage or a damaged boot floor. I think however he's munched it into a high kerb but not done any real structural damage, Never heard of play in the steering collumn from a normal car.

 

[steve333]

Sorry to say Steve you are right. The car was bought on a whim, was round at my cousins one night, had a beer and spied it, phoned up MB Hull and bought it and left from my GFs place knackered to view it.

I just "assumed" being a dealer car and I didn't spot the missing service and everything was in order with a recently serviced car that appeared to drive fine.

There were no signs of crash damage or a damaged boot floor. I think however he's munched it into a high kerb but not done any real structural damage, Never heard of play in the steering collumn from a normal car.

Your not the first & won't be the last person to buy a car on a whim Steve(hard lesson learnt)the play in the steering column sounds like it's related to the car hitting a kerb hard(more evidence of a reckless care free past owner),it's a shame some of the gremlins didn't show in the first 3 months as you could of handed it back to mb Hull & got another car.

 

[st4]

Its depreciated by £9k and I've had a good use out of it. No-one can say its not fit for purpose with me doing 38k miles in it in 20 months, going round Europe on a tour with it and all the trips/holidays with the car.

The onus is on me to sell it, or PX it for something else, which I would have done, but don't quite have the money for another car saved yet.