Glow plug/relay prices - where to buy?

[TeddyRuxpin]

Hi,

Got the dreaded coil light (during a DPF regen, probably coincidence), comes on at startup and then flickers occasionally while driving.

Yesterday I got a bit of a shaky start, too. Seems to drive fine however.

I've been doing some research and decided to change the glow plug relay first as it's so easy to change, with fewer risks. Plus it's apparently a common fault on these engines (OM642). If the coil light remains, then I'd change the actual coils. Car has done 134k miles.

Is there any downside to buying this one: Control Unit, glow plug system BERU Number of Cylinders: 6 — item: GSE116. Buy now!

It's BERU. I know there was a revision, so I assume this is the newer version.

Called MB Cardiff and they wanted £197 + vat for a new one, or £116 + vat for an 'exchange' one. The one in the link above is £74, seems too good to be true?

Cheers!

Ed

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Oh, for the 6x plugs, MB want £252.

From ECP with the current discount, you can get 6x NGK plugs for £87

Not sure NGK are OEM however? Does it matter?

If anyone has any good places to purchase the coil plugs themselves, let me know.

 

[91dm]

BERU is good, I usually try get BERU glow plugs when possible. Have you tried onlinecarparts?

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Beru are oem for mercedes. If you buy a relay from mb. It will be made by beru... i paid £89 off ebay for my module. Plugs are around £70 a set for bosch. Im selling a used module and 5 glow plugs. Only 50 quid if int. ?


The link above is for ceramic glow plugs. Yours maybe steel.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Thanks guys. I will probably purchase that Glow Plug relay from the link above, if someone can confirm that it is indeed the updated one?

Hopefully the plugs are fine...

BERU is good, I usually try get BERU glow plugs when possible. Have you tried onlinecarparts?

Onlinecarparts and auto doc seem to be the same site I think... anyway I haven't been able to find any BERU plugs. These are all the ones for my car (W212 OM642 231BHP): Search for glow plug - 5157 results - Onlinecarparts.co.uk

The have Bosch on page 2 but they're all very expensive, considering that you need 6. Nothing close to the ECP price.

Beru are oem for mercedes. If you buy a relay from mb. It will be made by beru... i paid £89 off ebay for my module. Plugs are around £70 a set for bosch. Im selling a used module and 5 glow plugs. Only 50 quid if int. ?

The link above is for ceramic glow plugs. Yours maybe steel.

Yes, the NGK seem to be ceramic. This is what comes up when you put your reg in on ECP or auto doc etc. Is there a way to know for sure?

Thanks for the offer but I'm gonna go new so that I don't have to sort this again for a long time!

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Take a plug out i suppose and check. Theres also different voltage of plugs.

 

[91dm]

You'd want to check your VIN on the part cat or ask Mercedes for the part number to be 100% sure.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

My glow plugs were 4.2v if iirc. Steel.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

My glow plugs were 4.2v if iirc. Steel.

Hi, is this for a W212 E350 231bhp?

I don't want to take a plug out and risk cracking it just to check, if possible!

Confused with the relay too - the Beru one on ECP says 'not for ceramic plugs' (barely any info on the page though), but the one I linked from onlinecarparts.co.uk/autodoc specifically says ceramic.... both are based on my reg plate number!

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Hi, is this for a W212 E350 231bhp?

I don't want to take a plug out and risk cracking it just to check, if possible!

Confused with the relay too - the Beru one on ECP says 'not for ceramic plugs' (barely any info on the page though), but the one I linked from onlinecarparts.co.uk/autodoc specifically says ceramic.... both are based on my reg plate number!

As i said the module has to match the glow plugs. My engine was the om642 w219 . Think you need to be cute and sweet talk a mb parts salesman for info

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

I just took my relay out (well, I didn't disconnect it) to have a look at the model number - that way I can see if it's for ceramic or steel by googling the number: 6421533779

So, it's for ceramic, from what I can tell. That £72 one I linked above seems to be a good buy.

But first, I'm gonna buy some needle nose pliers, take the air intakes off the turbo, and try to measure each glow plug to see if they're broken.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

As you can see beru. With merc star..

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Just to update, I have tested the resistance of 5 of the 6 glow plugs while they're still in the car and they check out okay, so I am 98% it must be the relay as if one glow plug was faulty it wouldn't struggle to cold start.

The other glow plug is a bit hard to access (thick cables covering it) so I don't really fancy getting into it.

So, I ordered the relay from autofocus - quite slow postage but hopefully should be okay!

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Here’s the old and new side by side, old on the right

The difference between them is a bit disconcerting! Has anyone done it and confirm that it’s correct?

Anyway, doing the swap now... fingers crossed..

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

It worked! Starts beautifully from cold and no coil light on. Idling perfectly for the first start of the day. I didn't get a chance to give it a spin but it starts up and runs just fine from cold. Very happy that it's fixed for under £80 (although not breaking in the first place would be even better).

My only issue is: the last time I started it, it struggled so much to start, and the check engine light came on. I was pretty sure it was just because of a misfire because of the crappy start. After changing the relay, the check engine light is still on.

Hopefully I'm not going to have to buy a scanner or take it to a shop to get it to turn off... I hope this will turn itself off after a couple of miles....?

(Assuming nothing else is wrong...)

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Chances are the glow plugs have blown the relay...

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Huh? Not exactly sure what you mean, the new relay?

It’s now running fine, and the glow plugs checked out okay when I tested them, as above. The glow plug light is now off. The relay was broken before the check engine light came on, it just caused a very bad cold start.

I’ll report back once I’ve been able to give it a spin, I suspect the check engine light will turn off

 

[91dm]

It might have stored a code that will need resetting with a scanner, not that familiar with 212s.