Software Update & MOT

[PhilL]

I have received "The Letter" which states:

"In agreement with the German authorities, we have been updating the software in the engine control unit of various diesel vehicles with the Euro 5 emissions standard as part of a voluntary service measure. You may have already received a letter informing you of this.

At the request of the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), we will now carry out this measure as part of a mandatory recall. The official statement for this recall requires Mercedes-Benz AG to change specific aspects of the calibration of the engine control system, which the KBA has deemed unacceptable.

Please review the below information and make an appointment with your local Mercedes-Benz retailer so that this update can be performed."

I have been following various threads and the advice seems to be to ignore it and not have the update. However, on those threads the word "mandatory" was not mentioned, as in my letter.

I have just checked my vehicle on the DVLA MOT checker and, under Outstanding vehicle recalls, in big red letters is says "Outstanding recall found"!

If I choose not to have the update, will this at some time lead to an MOT Failure? Also, is it likely to make it more difficult to sell the car?

The E220 estate is 10 years old with 120k miles and I love it. Overall mpg in the first 100k since new has been 44.5. I know this as the reset had not been pressed since new, but unfortunately reset automatically at 100k. More recently the average over 2k has been 46mpg. I feel I should have the update installed, but would be disappointed if the fuel consumption reduced significantly, or the various problems reported with NOx sensors, EGR's and gearbox characteristics occurred.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

 

[keith of kent]

It's YOUR car not theirs. If you (wisely IMO) don't want it done that's up to you. I assume that you don't take it to a MB dealer for anything at all, there have been reports of cars going for a bodywork inspection and the update done without asking the owner

 

[markjay]

As above.... it's mandatory for them, not for you.

As for your question, it is very unlikely that having the update carried-out out - or not having it done - will make any difference to resale value or to MOT.

(And, in any event, even if any issues arise in future, you can always have it done later.....)

So it's entirely up to you.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

Does the car go to MB for service and repair?

if not, ignore the letter

it’s a 10 year old car so the “fix”, or lack of, will have negligible impact on the value

 

[Teego]

It's MB's get outta jail card for the emission scandal. My son - in - law had the "update" on his VW. Lower performance and worse mpg. Nuff said.
The scandal is that these cars passed the (flawed) test and were optimised for real world use.