The Complete M272 Engine Thread

[rawill]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Do you mean 113 thousand as opposed to 11 thousand?

No.
I mean 11,300 kilometers, not 113,000 kilometers.

I was like brand new.
Today, 2 years later it has 35,800 kilometers.

 

[JB052]

Advice required please.

I looked at a CLK 320 this evening, it has the M272 engine and has done 140,000 miles with a robust service history. This included a receipt indicating the balance shaft issue was sorted a few years ago.
However the engine management light was on, having spoken to the garage that maintain the car, they think its is due to a stretched timing chain as a result of the mileage.
Can anyone give me an indication of likely fix and ball park cost or difficulty of repair?

 

[conor1n]

Advice required please.

I looked at a CLK 320 this evening, it has the M272 engine and has done 140,000 miles with a robust service history. This included a receipt indicating the balance shaft issue was sorted a few years ago.
However the engine management light was on, having spoken to the garage that maintain the car, they think its is due to a stretched timing chain as a result of the mileage.
Can anyone give me an indication of likely fix and ball park cost or difficulty of repair?

Hi JB,

That sounds suspicious to me. Without knowing the full details it's sounds suspect and I would walk away and not look back. Any timing related repair is likely to be more than the value of the car.

Was the garage trying to say the stretched chain was not a problem? Because the code that comes up due to worn balance shaft is timing related.

Again, I would not recommend buying that car, as nice as it may be.

 

[JB052]

Hi JB,

That sounds suspicious to me. Without knowing the full details it's sounds suspect and I would walk away and not look back. Any timing related repair is likely to be more than the value of the car.

Was the garage trying to say the stretched chain was not a problem? Because the code that comes up due to worn balance shaft is timing related.

Again, I would not recommend buying that car, as nice as it may be.

Thanks Conor

The owner was good enough to tell me about the problem and suggested I speak to the garage, the garage told me what they thought the issue was having looked after the car for the last 8 years. The car has been driven like it for the last two years (20,000 miles). Apparently providing the light which is intermitent isn't on at the time of MOT it will pass.

The balance shaft issue had been repaired at 75,000 miles and their was receipt for this work (£1600) in the history file. In my view both the elderly owner and garage were both honest.

I'm prepared to walk away, but curious to know easy/difficult it is to replace the chain and tensioner before I do so. Is it a £500 or £3,000 estimated repair.

 

[conor1n]

Thanks Conor

The owner was good enough to tell me about the problem and suggested I speak to the garage, the garage told me what they thought the issue was having looked after the car for the last 8 years. The car has been driven like it for the last two years (20,000 miles). Apparently providing the light which is intermitent isn't on at the time of MOT it will pass.

The balance shaft issue had been repaired at 75,000 miles and their was receipt for this work (£1600) in the history file. In my view both the elderly owner and garage were both honest.

I'm prepared to walk away, but curious to know easy/difficult it is to replace the chain and tensioner before I do so. Is it a £500 or £3,000 estimated repair.

I would say it is closer to a £3k job. That is based on the fact that multiple people have told me that timing that engine is a complex task, along with the fact that the engine will have to come out for it. I am also suspect about the stretched chain comment. If the balance shaft stuff was done, I would estimate that they would have changed the change while they were at it perhaps, maybe not.

FWIW, I have the same engine (albeit CGI variant) and I would love to change the valve seals (Mine has 202k miles) but I have decided not to do it due to the possibility of timing complexities.

 

[JB052]

I hadn't appreciated that it was an engine out job, so that probably makes my decision easier.

 

[conor1n]

Actually I am open to correction on this but might not be an engine out job.

I woke up this morning remembering a MB service video I saw before where they fed the chain through with the casings intact. Not sure if that could be done engine in.

Either way though, you don't want buying a car with the possibility of needing to do that work. On top of all the other things that could go wrong with a car of that age.

 

[JB052]

I have asked the owner to provide a more detailed analysis and realistic cost to repair from the garage that maintain the car.

 

[conor1n]

I have asked the owner to provide a more detailed analysis and realistic cost to repair from the garage that maintain the car.

OK well if you go down that route I would get a written description of the fault including engine error codes.

Then get a quote that the the garage will stand by.

Is that garage in question an MB specialist or an all brands specialist?

 

[JB052]

It is a Mercedes Specialist, I'm trying to get the name (something to do with a farm, but recently) changed in Hampshire.

Have also started my search again.

 

[MCLS350]

Hello,

I am importing a Japanese 2005 CLS 350 that falls into the first category vin (the balance shaft stuff!) But has 49 k on the odometer and is immaculate, 1 owner, no accidents. Does such a vehicle require one to be proactive and change the balance shaft or is it safe/wise to drive until warning signs show up? I ask as I have seen many 2005 cls 350 throughout Europe obtain 300+ k on the odometer and wonder if this was without a balance shaft fix (I.e - was avoided despite all being early year models in the first category) or if they had the balance shaft work that led to longevity (either before or after the issue was known). Please advise. Thank you all.

 

[conor1n]

Hello,

I am importing a Japanese 2005 CLS 350 that falls into the first category vin (the balance shaft stuff!) But has 49 k on the odometer and is immaculate, 1 owner, no accidents. Does such a vehicle require one to be proactive and change the balance shaft or is it safe/wise to drive until warning signs show up? I ask as I have seen many 2005 cls 350 throughout Europe obtain 300+ k on the odometer and wonder if this was without a balance shaft fix (I.e - was avoided despite all being early year models in the first category) or if they had the balance shaft work that led to longevity (either before or after the issue was known). Please advise. Thank you all.

I think the general consensus was that the balance shaft gear was made of er, chocolate and that it was always bound to happen. Anything that hit hundreds of thousands of KM on the odometer, more than likely had the repair done.

I personally would just avoid buying any car that falls into the range unless I was buying from a trusted seller who could demonstrate the work had been done. Life is too short and that repair is expensive.

 

[conor1n]

Has anybody done the value stem seals on an M272 engine in situ?

For me, cylinders 2 and 3 are constantly misfiring if I leave the car idling too long.

Despite everybody telling me that there is no point doing just the seals and that the valve guides and piston rings will also be gone.... I have decided to replace just the valve stem seals and just cylinders two and three.

My logic is that rubber is not as strong as metal.. and I find it hard to believe that the rubber seals would last as long as the metal parts.

Also... any time I tell somebody about my symptoms they say "valve stem seals are gone"... they don't say "seals and guides and piston rings..". But then all of a sudden when I say I am going to change the seals people say waste of time mate.. you need to do guides and rings too. I'm dubious.

I am totally aware that I am going against the advice of everybody and these people are more experienced than me. Thing is. I can have a crack at doing the seals myself, but the other two bits I can't.

I am prepared for it to have no effect and people to say I told you so. But my gut feeling says it will fix it. There, I said it.. I am moron and won't take the advice of all the experienced people around me.

 

[MikiSpaga]

Hi gents,
Quick question, I read about the older generation balance shaft problems 2005-2007. But would you expect to see issues with the balance shaft even in a 2010 model?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I’m thinking of helping my daughter’s boyfriend buy his first sporty car, and an SLK 350 seems to fit the bill perfectly.

I’ve dound what would appear to be a well cared for example, nicely specified, and for reasonable money but I’ve not viewed it.

It’s a 2004 and 95,000 miles, would this car have had the common issues done by the time it’s reached this age and mileage?

Thoughts from the MBClub collective would be very much appreciated.

 

[Chrishazle]

I would think that 2004 should be an R171 (pre-facelift) and thus not prone to the corrosion problems of the R170 un-galvanised model, but check the VIN to make sure it is!

 

[MCLS350]

I’m thinking of helping my daughter’s boyfriend buy his first sporty car, and an SLK 350 seems to fit the bill perfectly.

I’ve dound what would appear to be a well cared for example, nicely specified, and for reasonable money but I’ve not viewed it.

It’s a 2004 and 95,000 miles, would this car have had the common issues done by the time it’s reached this age and mileage?

Thoughts from the MBClub collective would be very much appreciated.

I own a m272 engine. This year of SLK with that engine are expensive to maintain (given the age, the alternator or fuel pump may go) and to boot there is always the looming possibility of the balance shaft needing to be replaced especially since it is approaching 100k.

My advice would be of you truly must pull the trigger on a SLK or benz from this era up to 2008 (when the m272 was rectified)... then go for a v8 size engine as they are solid and did not have this issue.

My last piece of advice beyond vehicles would be buy the daughter car and screw the boy-friend (until he marries her, you have no obligation to him.. lol a "boyfriend"? Where is the honor today among men? Let him fend for himself he is another families responsibility, not yours - but your daughter is your responsibility so take care of your womenfolk and let the real men step up because he should be doing this research and pulling up to you with the AMG)

 

[BTB 500]

It’s a 2004 and 95,000 miles, would this car have had the common issues done by the time it’s reached this age and mileage?

Not necessarily. Our 2007 W203 was on 115k miles when we traded it in 3 years ago, and hadn't had anything replaced.

You can always check which category it's in from the engine number ranges at the start of this thread - if it's in the first (possible with a 2004 I think) I wouldn't personally risk it. The other two categories are less serious but #2 puts the EML on so is an MOT fail until sorted. Same with the intake manifold issue (broken actuating arm) - ours had the EML on from that when we traded it in.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

IMy advice would be of you truly must pull the trigger on a SLK or benz from this era up to 2008 (when the m272 was rectified)... then go for a v8 size engine as they are solid and did not have this issue.

Thank you for your comments. He’s just turned 20 and the insurance on the SLK 350 was surprisingly affordable so I did suggest that he gets a quote for a SLK 55.

Logic suggests that it will be very expensive (if they even quote) but unusual combinations of car and driver can sometimes yield a surprise, so let’s see.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

My last piece of advice beyond vehicles would be buy the daughter car and screw the boy-friend (until he marries her, you have no obligation to him.. lol a "boyfriend"? Where is the honor today among men? Let him fend for himself he is another families responsibility, not yours - but your daughter is your responsibility so take care of your womenfolk and let the real men step up because he should be doing this research and pulling up to you with the AMG)

If I’m in a position to look after friends, family - and even strangers - then I do. Helping him won’t disadvantage my daughter in any way, she’s doing alright.