SL63 AMG "Top up coolant" Head Bolt Failure on M156 Engine

[E55 BBA]

An old post but bluddy hel ! how much was this car new ££ just 9 years and 37 thousand miles ago ? 4K miles per year and it practically blows up !

Shocking. big engines like this are almost never stressed in normal use, my 17 year old 1.6 120K Astra had its weeny neck wrung almost every time I drove it, don't get me started on the 8 or so 'rep mobile' company cars I abused , and guess what ? not one of them suffered major engine failure like this, that is what a broken head bolt is, a major failure.

MB ought to be ashamed .

As an ex Mercdes Benz Dealership Warranty Controller I'll tell you how MBUK see this..
"At some stage, maintenance, be it planned or unplanned ceases to be the responsibility of the manufacturer and becomes the responsibility of the owner. If you want warranty cover on a vehicle over 3 years old, buy an extended warranty."
I'm not saying this is right or wrong, I'm just telling you from experience that's how they see it. For "known faults" outside of the warranty period there is a goodwill procedure which every dealership can apply for. Factors taken into account are age, mileage, service history, number of owners and the nature if the failure.
It's important to understand that Warranty and Goodwill are not the same, and are funded completely differently.
It is quite normal for MB to make a Goodwill Contribution to "known fault" failures outside the warranty period. However, if you are expecting a Goodwill contribution on a nine year old vehicle you may be disappointed..
My personal opinion is I can see the manufacturers and the owners point of view. We all have two choices, get an extended warranty and remain main dealer customers or go it alone with a good specialist.
For the record I chose the latter.
In terms of this particular failure I wouldn't class it as catastrophic. The costs are pretty much as replacing a head gasket which you could reasonably expect on any engine, especially one that's nine years old.
Just my opinion you understand...

 

[merc85]

A Broken Headbolt at 37k is surly not right, I'd say that the headbolts are simply not upto to the task in the 1st place.

 

[E55 BBA]

A Broken Headbolt at 37k is surly not right, I'd say that the headbolts are simply not upto to the task in the 1st place.

Possibly...but you have to take into account the age of the bolt as well in terms of who stands the cost of the repair.
If Brutus snapped a head bolt would you expect MB to pay for it?

 

[c63chris]

I know this is an old post, but has anyone experienced similar issues recently?

I have a 2009 SL63 AMG with only 17,000 miles on it. I baby it and pretty much only drive it in the spring and summer. The top off coolant warning and coolant light just came on and I took it up to my dealer. Dealership just called and said I have coolant in my oil and my head bolts are broken. They want to charge me $9,000 US to take out engine, fix head bolts, and inspect for damage. That price won’t cover any engine damage done. I am beyond upset. My dealership sent me to Mercedes customer service to see if they will help with the cost, but after looking at some posts on this forum, I’m not optimistic. This is the first I had heard of the issue, as I am a new forum member. Incredibly frustrated that Mercedes has had known issues with head bolts and these engines and hasn’t done anything to fix them. Even a cheap car would have an engine that would last 10 years and 17,000 miles. I expect more from Mercedes. Now I'm stuck with a car that should still be worth a lot, but not with a bad engine.

Any tips on getting them to help. I've already mentioned that our family has bought these cars for 40 years, I'm in the market for a new SUV, and will never buy a Mercedes again if this isn't made right, but not sure they care.

Will probably curse my car but mine is also a 2009. I have only ever baby'd till the oil warms up then full steam ahead! Try to make sure it's driven at least once a week. Have 44,000 miles and fingers crossed. Difficult to tell how big a problem it is when only those with a problem post up.

 

[merc85]

Possibly...but you have to take into account the age of the bolt as well in terms of who stands the cost of the repair.
If Brutus snapped a head bolt would you expect MB to pay for it?

Lol most certainly not at over 100k!

 

[merc85]

but 37k 3.5 years normal motoring hot and cold hot and cold 37k??? its not right imho

 

[E55 BBA]

but 37k 3.5 years normal motoring hot and cold hot and cold 37k??? its not right imho

Sorry, I thought we were discussing 2008/2009 cars?

 

[AMGeed]

Lol most certainly not at over 100k!

The thing is, head bolt failure doesn't happen on the M113K and its an older design/engine.
That leads me to believe the early M156 head bolts have a design fault that MB should have acknowledged and either done a recall. or made owners aware and they could decide for themselves whether to take precautionary action (like Developer John) beforehand
That would have cost the company a few quid, but peanuts when Lewis Hamiltons' annual wage is reputedly £40m.

The problem occurs so infrequently compared to the volume of engines produced that MB should certainly contribute toward the bill in the case of the OP's engine IMO.

 

[Lee C63]

The thing is, head bolt failure doesn't happen on the M113K and its an older design/engine.
That leads me to believe the early M156 head bolts have a design fault that MB should have acknowledged and either done a recall. or made owners aware and they could decide for themselves whether to take precautionary action (like Developer John) beforehand
That would have cost the company a few quid, but peanuts when Lewis Hamiltons' annual wage is reputedly £40m.

The problem occurs so infrequently compared to the volume of engines produced that MB should certainly contribute toward the bill in the case of the OP's engine IMO.

They changed the headbolt design post 2010 /2011 so they knew there was a issue.
When I replaced mine with studs (as a precautionary) you could see evidence of corrosion under the head of the bolt.....
I asked at the dealership if they had seen many failures and they said that they had done 5 or 6 up until then so considering the amount of M156 engines out there with the old design head bolts I dare say failures are rare