E350 money sink

[ToeKnee]

I tend to agree. My Mondeo had done 160k miles when i sold it to a neighbour (its still going) and was over 10 years old - and all it cost me was a DMF and clutch (it was manual - the DMF failed) and drop links. The Mondeo is actually a very well engineered car and dynamically way ahead of the S212. But it doesn't have that special kind of feeling that i like about the Merc. If i was after a pure tool to get me and "stuff" from A to B though i would go for the Mondeo. Its strange because the Merc feels more solid and durable, but the evidence suggests it isnt!

I've had my 19 plate Mondeo almost a year now (two weeks to go) and it's done 28000 miles as a taxi, so far it's been serviced three times and, er, that's all I've spent on it! It'll need new tyres all round next month but so far it's been trouble free. Love the Mondeo as a work horse

 

[tygertyger]

Having owned an E350 CDI Blue Efficiency Avantgarde for almost a year and a half, I have regretfully decided to get rid of what has turned out to be a money sink. To date we have spent over £6k on repairs, and I am appalled at the cost of parts and the difficulty of obtaining them. I am not convinced that the Mercedes diagnostic system is all that it is cracked up to be, and of course it is only as good as the operator. Sad, because we love the quietness and comfort of the car, but the price is just ridiculous. I think back to when I had a series III Landrover LWB Safari. I was forever underneath the thing, but at least I could repair it and my good lady had no difficulty falling asleep in it in spite of the 2,25litre diesel! Sadly, good examples fetch house prices (or nearly).

Always disappointing when you invest your hard earned and have this sort of experience.

 

[AEKostas]

New brake pipes all round, plus new discs and pads, then multiple electrical problems.

I had to change brake pipes on mine and I don't count brake disks and pads.

But what electricals, if you can spare the time?

 

[Smiley]

Shouldn't be though should it?

(Your comment just got me thinking @Smiley My reply isn't necessarily aimed at you)

I would agree, it should not be. But truth is that they can be. The brake pipes are awful and need replacing by about 8-10 yrs old ish on most cars. The oil cooler seals on the 642 are a £1k job ish. The suspension parts need replacing more frequently than other makes of car I own / have owned. Then there is the air suspension on the estates and that's before you start on DPF problems, turbos, actuators, glow plugs, glow plug modules, heater duo valves, chuffing injectors.........then they get really expensive if your mechanic is not experienced with Star and starts throwing the parts bin at the car.....

 

[ALFAitalia]

The brake pipes are awful and need replacing by about 8-10 yrs old ish on most cars

I'm sorry but they don't....in the years I was fixing cars most of the cars that regularly needed brake pipes were ones badly routed....so they rub against things (Vectra) or have a length of pipe exposed to where the road crap gets thrown up by the tyres (like in front of left side rear wheel on W169 A Class for example.....like my wife's but I know about that weakness and clean and paint that four inch section annually). But just rotting due to age is not normal (maybe different if you live somewhere cold and they use lots of road salt). My ALFA is 13 years and 171,000 miles old and my wife's A Class is 17 years old. The pipes look like new on both. If they rot with just age then they we're poor quality and/or poorly protected in the first place.

 

[Smiley]

I'm sorry but they don't....in the years I was fixing cars most of the cars that regularly needed brake pipes were ones badly routed....so they rub against things (Vectra) or have a length of pipe exposed to where the road crap gets thrown up by the tyres (like in front of left side rear wheel on W169 A Class for example.....like my wife's but I know about that weakness and clean and paint that four inch section annually). But just rotting due to age is not normal (maybe different if you live somewhere cold and they use lots of road salt). My ALFA is 13 years and 171,000 miles old and my wife's A Class is 17 years old. The pipes look like new on both. If they rot with just age then they we're poor quality and/or poorly protected in the first place.

ime of multiple MBs over the years the brake pipes are rubbish quality compared with BMW VAG Toyota etc

 

[MerrieMike]

I had to change brake pipes on mine and I don't count brake disks and pads.

But what electricals, if you can spare the time?

Ignition, SAM, gearbox and ECU modules (the latter because of water damage). Also rodent damage.

 

[AEKostas]

Ignition, SAM, gearbox and ECU modules (the latter because of water damage). Also rodent damage.

Thanks for finding the time and I sympathise. Gearbox sounds very drastic; I am to do the 10-year fluid-and-filter change next month, fingers crossed. Did you have any early warning or sudden issue?

(What is SAM?)

 

[MerrieMike]

Thanks for finding the time and I sympathise. Gearbox sounds very drastic; I am to do the 10-year fluid-and-filter change next month, fingers crossed. Did you have any early warning or sudden issue?

(What is SAM?)

Gearbox itself is OK, although not too far from next service. Problem was with the control unit according to MB specialist. SAM is Signal Acquisition Module.

 

[neilrr]

Really something basic that won't have the electrical sophistication which has been the problem with the merc.

Look no further!

1990 W201 190 Carburetor project car | Mercedes Cars for Sale

An elderly friend of mine has too many cars (6 for 2 drivers) & this one has been shuffled to the back of the pack & under utilised. He's having a car clear out, hoping to get down to 3 cars. I suggested an ad here before it gets punted out to a wider audience on ebay or AT. It is a 1990 'G'...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

 

[MerrieMike]

The car. Have been very impressed with night-time driving (to local A&E): excellent headlights and comfortable ride for patient.

 

[PolishGeorge85]

Is 4k a big number? Specially with labour rates this days....oil cooler seals, I got quoted approx 1k to get it done.... plus parts.

In the end done it myself, just over 24 hours.

My '13 plate e350 since may 2021...had.... under warranty adblue system replaced. Then front wheel bearing (myself), problem with low pressure pump (myself), rear air suspension (myself) and mentioned oil cooler (myself), injector 6 return connector not connected right-this disabled my car for over 3 monts and 3 different garages(fixed it myself).All of that could be easily more than 4k.

Other than adblue system, parts were "next to nothing" or no parts were needed. Majority of final bill is diagnostic. And like someone has mentioned STAR is only as good as the person using it.

However not everyone is mechanically/electrically minded, other people are better doing different things. And they have to pay this bit extra

 

[AEKostas]

How about ignoring the cost and evaluating the faults: are they each normal and expected for a car of this age (and mileage)? Is their combination normal and expected for a car of this age (and mileage)? And are these common in this model in particular?

For example, the faults I never fixed in mine (DAB radio reception and steering-wheel lifter) I believe are common to this model, and I think are not normal; if I had bought the car new I would have been peeved (and still would not fix them for fear of creaks).

The brake pipes I am not complaining about; maybe I am wrong.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

The car. Have been very impressed with night-time driving (to local A&E): excellent headlights and comfortable ride for patient.
View attachment 148700

Hope all is okay - congrats on the car

 

[MerrieMike]

Hope all is okay - congrats on the car

Just waiting for my Merc specialist to fit a replacement part on back order. Hopefully all will be finished within a couple of weeks - in the meantime the car is running well again and we really appreciate the quietness and comfort. Will likely get a new windscreen in the spring, along with a new set of Vredestein tyres.

 

[MerrieMike]

Here's an update. When turning the ignition key to position 2, the message 'Without changing gear, consult workshop' appears. On turning to position 3, there is a slight delay before the engine fires. The specialist wanted to have the car for a fortnight to solve this problem, but I have thus far declined the offer, having already spent more than the value of the car getting it to this point.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Here's an update. When turning the ignition key to position 2, the message 'Without changing gear, consult workshop' appears. On turning to position 3, there is a slight delay before the engine fires. The specialist wanted to have the car for a fortnight to solve this problem, but I have thus far declined the offer, having already spent more than the value of the car getting it to this point.

I would say if the specialist needs the car for two weeks I would look elsewhere. I had a specialist working on the suspension on mine a number of times. In the end I tried a different specialist and they sorted it in a couple of hours (TM Motors in Molesey). Would it be worth buying a diagnostic tool such as iCarsoft? I bought one when I had a suspected issue with the transmission and it turned out it was the exhaust pressure sensor putting the car into limp mode, so not the transmission at all. It paid for itself in that first use. They are very easy to use and might give an idea of where the problem is before you take it to a garage?

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Yes, empower yourself with an iCarsoft MB2 (is it MB3 now)

 

[MerrieMike]

I would say if the specialist needs the car for two weeks I would look elsewhere. I had a specialist working on the suspension on mine a number of times. In the end I tried a different specialist and they sorted it in a couple of hours (TM Motors in Molesey). Would it be worth buying a diagnostic tool such as iCarsoft? I bought one when I had a suspected issue with the transmission and it turned out it was the exhaust pressure sensor putting the car into limp mode, so not the transmission at all. It paid for itself in that first use. They are very easy to use and might give an idea of where the problem is before you take it to a garage?

I think you're right about looking elswhere. The car recently began sagging at the rear, and so I took it to the same specialist, who charged me over £400 to put a new pipe in place. They kept it overnight to make sure it was OK, and we collected it the following day. The next morning, however, we noticed that the suspension was down on one side, and when we started the car it told us not to go anywhere with it! So there was no possibility of going back to the specialist - it would have cost me ~£150 to transport it there. But I remembered that the owner of one of our local garages has a (lovely) MB, and so I phoned him to see if he could do the job. It turns out that he deals with a good few MB's, and has all the equipment (I did not know this). I carefully drove the car to his garage (just down the road), and he simply recalibrated the suspension at a cost of ~£120. Car is now fine again. Guess where I shall be taking my MB in the future!
Regarding iCarSoft, I bought this some time ago, but now realise that it just isn't good enough to diagnose the multiple problems the car was initially beset with. The Youcanic diagnostic tool seems a much better bet, and they give lots of advice on their website, but I suspect that with MB's one really needs a professional quality diagnostic tool that one can program with (the thing that the Youcanic device does not do). One also needs the knowledge to use it, of course.