Mercedes Deeply dissapointing

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A very unfortunate situation/story and most of us will be glad that we are not in the same position. However, 20 inch wheels would have got me wondering straight away, 18 inch far more sensible. Other thing, name and shame the dealer.
 
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I think you will find your wheels have fatigue stress cracks, its not uncommon in Europe due to precast concrete motorways and expansion joints in said surfaces. A lot of German car forum members repeatedly complain of this, across all Marques. The cyclic nature of running across the joints at speed is harder on the larger, non forged rims hence why the failure rate is higher. I would suggest buying the forged AMG cross spokes @£1100 each if this is how you intend to use the car. The sort of mileage you do and the speeds you do it at will only compound the issue with the standard AMG alloys (I'm assuming they are the optional 20" double spoke ones), and once cast alloy starts to crack the heat cycling will fatigue them further, bringing multiple propagated cracks like you have. I would suggest checking your tyre pressures more frequently, the onboard pressure monitor needs resetting frequently remember, it can give you a false reference.

This is why wheel damage is not covered under warranty, and the dealer probably offered you extra wheel cover insurances for them.
 
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hi all,

just over a year ago I became the owner of 8k mileage E350 Estate with 20 wheels AMG premium line. car looks great goes well and very smooth.

Turns out I had just purchased one of the worst cars I have ever owned. not just from reliability but also from service.

after just 4 months into owning the the car - the sun roof rubber on one side started to come away from the roof. flapped around when open. around this time the car was called back for, in the words of Mercedes "something not to serious", that the steering rack had to be replaced, reported the steering lock engage while driving, some would say that could be quite serious. Any how. booked in and later got a phone call that they need to keep the car to do the sunroof, however this was not possible. so in their words said they would put the roof back together and I could collect the car. however the cars roof had never been looked at, stripped down so nothing was required to be put together, how do I know this. not a single finger print on the dusty roof...…

then after a few more week the second seal went on the roof...… no follow up call from Mercedes to rebook, then one day during a torrential downpour both a post were soaking wet inside and water flowing into the cabin and all over seats, a phone call with Mercedes followed, and they have no record of the sunroof issue on my car...……. me thinks someone is telling porkies.....

it was then the first service due, to then have been told I have a small crack in the front right of the rim inside and that it was a probably pot hole...… no air was leaking, so I thought for now its ok.

after a few more weeks that tyre started to deflate- after a further look there was now two cracks, so after complaining to Mercedes and coming up to a brick wall as expected, I got the wheel welded rather than throwing 1100 quid away.

following a second service I was again told the front wheel was indeed cracked again and the two front tyres on the inside were onto the wire- yet the rest of the 3/4 of the tyres were at 5mm - shows there is too much camber on the wheels applying a lot of force on the inner part of the rim. this has all come about since the replacement steering. Mercedes still wont budge, saying tracking and camber are in spec. so went to a specialist alignment company who indeed has found the camber out mostly on one side the side where the wheel is cracking. with this paperwork i went back to Merc who said they will get back to me. this was just before the Corona outbreak. I had to get the wheel repaired for the third time as it again was leaking air. I had to drive to Germany the at the weekend there was no other option.

fast forward a month, now the garage has been open a month, no one has still contacted me. so I call in and request some call me about it. no phone call. so a return to the garage to request again to receive phone call . three days later it came, I was unable to take the call, the message was that of no knowledge of the issue, and promised to try phone again. 4 weeks later no phone call.

in the last 4 weeks I have covered 3000 miles all of it motorways across Europe, got the car home at the weekend. Monday morning come out to find I have two flat tyres, I inflate them take them to my local tyre garage, to be told I have a total of 10 crack across all my wheels. this is clearly not about the state of our roads, its about the combination of hard suspension, run flat tyres and flimsy material. the weakest link in this situation will always give in first. I have hit no potholes, been on poor roads. or any type of driving outside of normal conditions. Mercedes know about this issue as you can see on the forums, they continue to place these wheels on the vehicle and do no clearly make any statements to any customers even when asked out right.

on top of this - front bumper had to resprayed(under warranty) as the paint was peeling off due to poor bonding at the factory.

the auto boot opening system had to have parts replaced on 4 occasions until worked even though each time I got the car back I was told that it worked, until one day they gave me it back and asked them to show me it working after being in with them for the day, it did not work and had to be returned to them.

Ad blue system would not allow top up to register. again 4 times in, on the last and final time, on a Saturday, it was low, I topped it up, it did not register, so I went to garage as again I was about to head out to Europe the next day, and was told they could not help and that I would have to break down and then be supplied a free car while it gets fixed. 8 hours in total when I broke down to finally get on my way.

so now I have a 2 year old Eclass sitting on my driveway with two flat tyres due to cracks in the rim and one wheel with now 6 cracks in it that unsafe to use. to be then told by Mercedes service desk that it need 1 to 5 days to look into it. again I need to travel outside of UK this weekend.

worst car I have spent money on...…. will not be burnt twice, nor will anyone that I know who is considering this brand.... terrible terrible terrible

haha im not looking for sympathy, I just think with something like the wheels, Mercedes have to be held accountable for selling such sub standard and clearly not fit for purpose items, or declare their limitaions prior to any sale of them. you ask a sales guy if you upgrade to this type of wheel what issues will I have, he will look you in the eye and tell no issues at all..... no accountability.
In all seriousness, that is really bad about the wheels .

I presume you will have documentation of your efforts to get the dealer to rectify this , as well as receipts for welding , and could get a report from the tyre shop ?

If you wanted to be certain , you could get an independent engineers report on the wheels ( your insurer may be able to recommend one ) .

Then price up an alternative set of wheels/tyres and pursue the dealer for the cost of this and your repairs plus any other expenses through small claims court .

If you want you could ask them first to pay , but I don’t think they will without a court order .
 
My experience with an approved used Mercedes ML was very different to the OP's. The ML had vibration issues between 60 and 70 mph which was eventually diagnosed as buckled wheels. Although it took a while to resolve MB eventually replaced all 4 wheels and tyres with new.
 
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But anyhow anyone got a set of 18s I can use for the Merc ? - as MB will not be coming up any solutions in time enough ?
Remember to tell your insurer if you change the wheels 😊
 
How's this for service:

In 1978 or there abouts, BMW first introduced "snowflake" alloy wheels on there motorcycles. The 19" front wheels were found to develop cracks so the wheels were recalled and replaced with a modified version having extra strengthening. To this day BMW still honor this wheel replacement and will continue to do so as long as they have new wheels available.
 
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I think you will find your wheels have fatigue stress cracks, its not uncommon in Europe due to precast concrete motorways and expansion joints in said surfaces. A lot of German car forum members repeatedly complain of this, across all Marques. The cyclic nature of running across the joints at speed is harder on the larger, non forged rims hence why the failure rate is higher. I would suggest buying the forged AMG cross spokes @£1100 each if this is how you intend to use the car. The sort of mileage you do and the speeds you do it at will only compound the issue with the standard AMG alloys (I'm assuming they are the optional 20" double spoke ones), and once cast alloy starts to crack the heat cycling will fatigue them further, bringing multiple propagated cracks like you have. I would suggest checking your tyre pressures more frequently, the onboard pressure monitor needs resetting frequently remember, it can give you a false reference.

This is why wheel damage is not covered under warranty, and the dealer probably offered you extra wheel cover insurances for them.
I think you have hit the nail on the head about the Concrete roads- tyre pressure monitor and follow the manufacturers guidelines on pressures, I always check even during driving - nowt else to do on long journeys haha . They are not fit for purpose, unless the only purpose was only look good on the car and not be driven on motorways. - I have said my but I have my thoughts, having something like 10 cracks on All wheels In one trip -Wheel insurance Do not cover too at £1100 per wheel ....
 

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How's this for service:

In 1978 or there abouts, BMW first introduced "snowflake" alloy wheels on there motorcycles. The 19" front wheels were found to develop cracks so the wheels were recalled and replaced with a modified version having extra strengthening. To this day BMW still honor this wheel replacement and will continue to do so as long as they have new wheels available.

BMW ended up on BBC Watchdog over failures. Don't know if anything came of it.

Colleague had two 18" wheels fail only a couple of years ago, no help from BMW at all. Car was still in warranty.
 
We had someone on here (last year I think) who mounted the pavement and crashed the car. He claimed that one of the front wheels cracked (it was a newly-fitted MB wheel, I think) and caused him to swerve, MB claimed it broke as result of the impact. Took a long while, but he eventually got acknowledgement from MB that the wheel was at fault and that the accident damage will be covered by the warranty.
 
My CL with 20" wheels gave no issues and yet the CLS55 AMG III 19" wheels I had on my E55 were cracked when I bought them and I understand they do crack quite often.

I presume something to do with the manufacturing process and design in that situation.

Nothing larger / lower than 19" and 40/45 profile for me in the future!

Nice Cobra rep @ OP - lovely colour.

How much do they set one back for one like that?
 
Your experience with Mercedes seems pretty horrific and I can understand your annoyance.

I have a 2016 E350 Night Edition purchased new from Mercedes in Norwich, my car came with 18inch wheels and I have had no issues with them at all, in fact my E350 has been faultless.

Mercedes in Norwich in fact I believe all the dealerships in Norfolk were taken over by Group1 Auto and since their takeover the customer experience is shall I say challenging, they virtually never return phone call.

I wish you well with your Ongoing issues.

Robin
 
I cannot help but wonder how many proud owners there are out there that own a vehicle of brand 'X'?

Of course there will be those that complain and no doubt they have that right, but are there far more good experiences that we never hear about?

This person talks about the excellent V6 diesel and yet it was only fitted in an attempt to have the V6 as the go-to engine. For the E-class and I believe, at least the S-class, the V6 has been dumped.... Yup, back to the silky smooth straight-six, a far better engine.

I am speaking as someone that has owned the same E-class for sixteen years, the wife still likes that vehicle as much as she did the year we purchased it. I am a strong believer in looking after a car and hopefully, it will look after its owner.
 
For the E-class and I believe, at least the S-class, the V6 has been dumped.... Yup, back to the silky smooth straight-six, a far better engine.

Yes, in all non-AMG petrol models from the facelift W222 onwards they use the 3.0 S6 (except the W222 S560 which is a 4.0 V8).
 
Yes, in all non-AMG petrol models from the facelift W222 onwards they use the 3.0 S6 (except the W222 S560 which is a 4.0 V8).
Apologies if I am being pedantic, I guess I am too lazy to check, I have the old straight-six which was a 3.2ltr goddess, are we now saying this beautiful engine has some sea sees removed :)
 
Apologies if I am being pedantic, I guess I am too lazy to check, I have the old straight-six which was a 3.2ltr goddess, are we now saying this beautiful engine has some sea sees removed :)

Not at all - it's all "up there" from when I've looked into the 222 before I bought one and just picked up during my ownership...

"Only" a 2996cc now IIRC but I've driven a 68 plate S450L and the performance was fine (would never set the world on fire but with 9g perfectly useable everyday).

However, the facelifts are mild hybrids (i.e. they have electric assistance) so this is in addition to that engine I believe.
 

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