David68
New Member
MY E500 had a problem that ruined it for me: a low pitched tapping noise only heard on acceleration. I’d had a couple of very experienced people look at it, including the fantastic Terry from Wayne Gates. Terry eliminated lifter noise, transmission or cat noise and eventually suspected the worst – engine noise and probably from the bottom end. I also took the car to a very reputable engine specialist who told me that it was a hollow knock very typical of piston slap.
Wayne Gates were about to investigate further and ultimately by stripping the engine down, but advised me to first search American forums because there are loads of E500s over there. Bingo – it turns out that early W211 E500s had faulty motor mounts fitted, and a dealer bulletin was sent out by Mercedes USA and superseded mounts were being fitted for free. The notice described a “piston slap type noise”.
I phoned Mercedes HQ UK who knew nothing. I even gave them the Mercedes USA bulletin number but they weren’t interested and advised me to call my local dealer. I called Mercedes Temple Fortune who knew nothing, didn’t want to know anything and advised me to call HQ. I then tried Mercedes Colindale. Same again. Wonderful. Isn’t it incredible that Mercedes in different countries don’t talk to each other and even though Merc USA felt the problem serious enough to send out a Dealer Bulletin, Merc UK were clueless and seemingly had no way to cross reference or at least didn’t want to try.
Spoke to Wayne Gates, mounts fitted, problem gone. I bet there are people out there driving E500s convinced that the engine has seen better days, oblivious to the easy fix. Conclusion – independents like Wayne Gates are worth their weight in gold because they are genuinely interested in working with the customer. And main dealers – computer says no.
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w211-e-class/1369384-lower-engine-tick-e500.html#post2812862
Wayne Gates were about to investigate further and ultimately by stripping the engine down, but advised me to first search American forums because there are loads of E500s over there. Bingo – it turns out that early W211 E500s had faulty motor mounts fitted, and a dealer bulletin was sent out by Mercedes USA and superseded mounts were being fitted for free. The notice described a “piston slap type noise”.
I phoned Mercedes HQ UK who knew nothing. I even gave them the Mercedes USA bulletin number but they weren’t interested and advised me to call my local dealer. I called Mercedes Temple Fortune who knew nothing, didn’t want to know anything and advised me to call HQ. I then tried Mercedes Colindale. Same again. Wonderful. Isn’t it incredible that Mercedes in different countries don’t talk to each other and even though Merc USA felt the problem serious enough to send out a Dealer Bulletin, Merc UK were clueless and seemingly had no way to cross reference or at least didn’t want to try.
Spoke to Wayne Gates, mounts fitted, problem gone. I bet there are people out there driving E500s convinced that the engine has seen better days, oblivious to the easy fix. Conclusion – independents like Wayne Gates are worth their weight in gold because they are genuinely interested in working with the customer. And main dealers – computer says no.
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w211-e-class/1369384-lower-engine-tick-e500.html#post2812862