It's Not A Good Sign When...

[Cyclone1]

I think your issues are linked back to the codes logged early in the cars life at 22k, charge cooler temp issues etc etc. It May be that previous owners haven’t had proper diagnosis and repairs done, and it’s manifested later in the life of the car. You chased the issues you had with the car not long after you purchased it, but previous owners may have just ignored them, this could have been going on for quite a while. It’s not unusual for issues to be coded out.

I think with a full rebuild it’ll be absolutely fine, if not better then new. Conrods aren’t a common risk so would not let that deter you, especially on a standard engine or one that’s been mapped or modified “properly”.

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Jules

 

[E55BOF]

I think your issues are linked back to the codes logged early in the cars life at 22k, charge cooler temp issues etc etc.

I think with a full rebuild it’ll be absolutely fine, if not better then new. Conrods aren’t a common risk so would not let that deter you, especially on a standard engine or one that’s been mapped or modified “properly”.

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Jules

Thank Jules. You make a convincing point, but where did you get the info about the codes early on? I may have posted it, but I don't recall doing so, and I can't find it, so could you possibly post a link?

 

[merc85]

The thing is there may have been something happen to the car before your ownership to have weaken the Rod, Perhaps a poor remap, the knock sensor's should have thrown up a Over boost code and protect the engine. Mate i do feel sick for you.

I was going to suggest breaking the car that would easily get back what you paid for it at least.

On another note i have a Friend at MB who has seen a few head gasket failures on the m157 engine too, I can't believe Mb have quality control issues like these or "quality standards".

 

[AMGeed]

On another note i have a Friend at MB who has seen a few head gasket failures on the m157 engine too, I can't believe Mb have quality control issues like these or "quality standards".

I know that the incident that has happened to the OP is probably isolated as far as forum members cars go,but I can't help thinking twice about my plans to chop in the E55 for a E63 Biturbo now. What with the known problems with the early M156 engines, and now problems showing on the M157, I'm getting wary about my future car.
I could even keep the E55 for another couple of years until the W213 E63's is in my price bracket. It certainly has a far improved interior and that 4.0 Biturbo packs a big punch.

 

[Cyclone1]

Thank Jules. You make a convincing point, but where did you get the info about the codes early on? I may have posted it, but I don't recall doing so, and I can't find it, so could you possibly post a link?

From your original thread not long after you bought it.

It went in yesterday (Terry was up to his ears on Friday). The EML was still on, but STAR revealed only four stored faults, all very old (around 22K miles; the car's done four times that) - two cylinder misfires, a 'charge cooling insufficient' and one other. Nothing conclusive, no indication of possible cause, so Terry cleared them and I took the car to the motorway to give it some beans and see what came up fresh.

 

[Cyclone1]

E63 5.5 TT Misfire

 

[Cyclone1]

I know that the incident that has happened to the OP is probably isolated as far as forum members cars go,but I can't help thinking twice about my plans to chop in the E55 for a E63 Biturbo now. What with the known problems with the early M156 engines, and now problems showing on the M157, I'm getting wary about my future car.
I could even keep the E55 for another couple of years until the W213 E63's is in my price bracket. It certainly has a far improved interior and that 4.0 Biturbo packs a big punch.

I understand your concerns but not many cars go without issues and on the M157 it has taken a period of time (years) for issues to raise their heads. But with good research etc you should still easily find a good 212/218 M157 car, especially 2013 onwards. For example when I bought mine back in 2016 I knew it hadn’t had the cam chain tensioners replaced, so knew that at some point this would need doing, I did my research to know the warning signs and codes. Remapping is fine but I will stress it has to be done properly. Realistic boost etc, look at the effort put into my map on the upgraded turbos with “capped torque” and low boost levels to protect the engine and gearbox, plus adding meth to aid cooling (especially on 2011-2012 M157 cars as they don’t have the split cooling, as MB introduced that on late 2012 cars onwards). I can normally smell a rat of a car and have done recently with posts on here. Just do the normal due diligence and you’ll be fine, prices are also decent now.

 

[Eddy77]

Jeez, just read this. That’s cr@ppy luck. Really hope you manage to get something sorted so you can enjoy it again. No point beating yourself up over the warranty decision. What’s done is done sadly; hopefully it can be sorted.

 

[C36fan]

I know that the incident that has happened to the OP is probably isolated as far as forum members cars go,but I can't help thinking twice about my plans to chop in the E55 for a E63 Biturbo now. What with the known problems with the early M156 engines, and now problems showing on the M157, I'm getting wary about my future car.
I could even keep the E55 for another couple of years until the W213 E63's is in my price bracket. It certainly has a far improved interior and that 4.0 Biturbo packs a big punch.

I'm on my second m157 and the 1st one was a bit of a lemon but my second is absolutely stunning car and I'd never change it for a 4.0tt.
I own both m157 and M177 and despite the gearbox on 157 is slightly slower the top end is far superior.
Roger don't let a couple of bad car getting in the way of you buying a proper car.

 

[Flyinspanner]

I was in WG today and saw that glorious engine - sadly I was time constrained, and couldn’t pore over it for hours

What a piece of kit, I’m a tad jealous

 

[E55BOF]

Should get it back fairly soon; my credit card has started whimpering already...

I won't be keeping it, though; as Mrs. Thatcher might have said, I'm frit. My Mate Dave came within a whisker of losing his licence a few months ago, and that could so easily have been me (and could be me next time...). The ML320 (now I've found the missing performance) will do me fine; the driving position is superb, and while it has no trouble at all keeping up with the traffic on the motorway, it can't compete with the fast boys, so I don't even try anymore.

Well, not in the ML, anyway. I'm keeping the SLK55, though...

 

[ringway]

Scott_F said: ↑
I thought this thread was going to be about finding your girlfriend's phone number scrawled inside a cubicle in the gents toilet so things could be worse......

That will be my next thread...

Sorry to her of your strife, E55BOF. A real shocker.

However, if there's a god, you deserve to get it all sorted for free for the brilliant reply above. Pure Gold.

I wish you the best of luck with it all.

 

[219]

Not to my knowledge, so probably not.



He looked at that possibility, but only found used engines for sale in the US; around $12-S14000 ish, plus of course shipping and import duties. Even then, you end up with a second-hand engine, of unknown provenance and which could have problems of its own. Too much of a lottery for me...



There was an intermittent misfire at full bore last summer, which was put down to a break in the wiring to the intercooler pump; that was repaired. Only fault codes were for misfiring, and high IAT.

The stuck tensioner is just happenstance, but the damage has nothing to do with the known chain & tensioner issue.

Terry thinks the damage must be down to overboosting at some point, and it's worst on No. 5 because that and No. 1 are the two cylinders which run hottest. His opinion as that for some reason it did not go into limp mode fast enough to protect the engine.

The engine number is in the range of those that came out of the factory with the modified chain tensioners, but not the check valves. I doubt it has ever been opened up before.



Costings aren't in yet, but probably somewhere north of £12K. If it's too silly, I may cut my losses and just scrap the car.

If only it hadn't been dark blue in the first place...

Is that for Terry doing the rebuild himself ?

Have you tried Crewe Engines for a quote for exchange engine , or rebuilding yours if you want to preserve matching numbers ?

Crewe Engines Mercedes-Benz Vehicle Engine Remanufacturers Cheshire

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I won't be keeping it, though

Sorry to hear that, I think given a few weeks/months back driving the car the memory of the catastrophic failure will fade but I don’t blame you at all - once you lose trust in a car it’s very hard to get it back.

 

[E55BOF]

Yes, Terry's done the rebuild himself.

It's not about trusting the car; it's about not trusting myself to drive it sensibly. Other definitions of 'driving sensibly' are available...

 

[219]

Yes, Terry's done the rebuild himself.

It's not about trusting the car; it's about not trusting myself to drive it sensibly. Other definitions of 'driving sensibly' are available...

Yes , there might just be something to be said for having a W123 200D

 

[E55BOF]

Yes , there might just be something to be said for having a W123 200D

Now you're being silly. I'm not that frit....

 

[John]

I won't be keeping it, though; as Mrs. Thatcher might have said, I'm frit. My Mate Dave came within a whisker of losing his licence a few months ago, and that could so easily have been me (and could be me next time...). The ML320 (now I've found the missing performance) will do me fine; the driving position is superb, and while it has no trouble at all keeping up with the traffic on the motorway, it can't compete with the fast boys, so I don't even try anymore.

That's why I moved on my E55 and won't be having anything else fast again.

People laugh at me when I say that and point out what engine I have (or at least question me knowing I have a reasonably-fruit engine).

But big non-AMGs (and maybe it's the same for AMGs but I doubt it) just do not want to be driven quickly. It's too much like hard work.

Yes I can get to 62 in a claimed 4.8s but to me - that isn't fast and what with the way the car wants to be driven, I find myself driving very sensibly these days.

So it does work for me at least.

 

[clk320x]

Can’t you enjoy the acceleration whilst sticking to the speed limits?

 

[Major774]

Wow... sucks that this has happened.

Can you not claim on your insurance? I assume it will be a write off... so grab the money and move on.