Wrapping up year 4

[LILBENZ230]

Although I haven't put a pencil to it just yet and calculated the actual figures, this was definitely the most expensive year yet for my car. Some of that has to do with mods, though. As strange as that sounds for me to type. Last fall, I had the transmission flushed with 14 quarts of 236.14 fluid. Due to a miscommunication between myself and my dedicated indy shop, the transmission ended up overfull. Being cautious meant my car's first tow, free courtesy AAA. I only managed to cover 25,000 miles this year instead of my typical 30,000. That's probably a chain of bad luck including defective brake pads, an out of round tire, shop errors, shot bushings, and the aforementioned overfilled transmission sidelined the car for a total of six weeks earlier during this 4th year of ownership. A brake job early this year included new front pads, rotors, and a fluid change. I ended up with defective pads which did damage to the brand new rotors. They were resurfaced, pads replaced, and they were perfectly smooth for about 5,000 miles. Since then, there is a mild pulse in the brakes. The previous set of rotors lasted a long time. This set's life is drastically reduced. I mentioned in another thread that even at this mileage (today is 140,350) the rear rotors are original. The first set of rear pads lasted to 75,000. I expect to replace the pads and the rotors on the rear before the end of this year. I replaced all caster and camber bushings as well. This cost about $500 all in due to the labor. It stopped the front end vibration I was having, smoothed out the ride, and made the steering feel a bit more crisp. In addition to the typical maintenance and wear and tear items that have happened with increasing mileage, I've made some appearance changes this year. In January, Trey coded my car with STAR and I added bi-xenon headlights: A couple of months later, I decided a lip spoiler was needed to complete the look started by my 07 rims. And I went with AZN Optics LED festoon license plate lamps. These lasted all of 4 months before failing a few days apart. Smoke came from the housing during the second failure. AZN Optics has me warranty replacements in the mail, and I will reserve judgment at this moment on whether the product was crappy or not. If these last a similarly short lifespan, I am going back to stock. Right after this, I decided to join the Plasti-dip craze.. but only to make the car look as it should have from the factory. Today it continues on. I have loaned it to a friend through this coming Saturday, and I miss driving it already. I've been saying since purchasing it in 2008 that this was a great car. It was then, still is. Looking forward there are a few things on the agenda starting in August: 1. Timing chain, tensioner, valve gasket replacement around 145,000. 2. Replacement of heated O2 sensors. Not getting any errors, and the car is averaging almost 26mpg even in tough cycles, but they're well past their prime and hopefully it will run even better. 3. Window tints - already have a quote in hand, including moleskin.

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[tommy]

Congrats, Matt. Despite the hiccups, I'd call it a reasonable year for a 4-year-old Benz, especially with you racking up the miles like you do.

Any thoughts on a replacement, or are you just going to ride it out and see how it goes?

[LILBENZ230]

4 years with me, anyway. Car is 7.5 years old now.

I have thought about replacements but I've been all over the map. I can't tell you what I might decide to do tomorrow, but for today I plan to hold onto it and continue to keep it up as always. I forgot to add that Drew is going to visit in August and help me install iPod integration. Stuff like that helps combat the inevitable boredom I encounter with cars.

[tommy]

Originally Posted by LILBENZ230

4 years with me, anyway. Car is 7.5 years old now.

LOL - sorry, had my head up my a$$ on that one.

I've always wanted to try a 318ti and get either an M or 6 cyl swap. Something about that car's body style has always done it for me, but I think that would be a bigger headache than the occasional repair that the coupey needs. I do agree with you on the car boredom ething - I'm always looking out on the horizon. The BRZ/FR-S looked fairly promising, until the rear seat made it purely a 2-person car and the lack of a sunroof; those were killers to me.

[ncmudbug]

Congratulations, Matt! Your experience give me hope that I have been through the worst on mine - at least till it gets to a more advanced age. Four years is not a long time for me to have a car, but you've put some good miles on yours.

I have to say, do you think you should be taking a picture of the instrument cluster when traveling at 70 mph at night!!!!

May you have many more happy miles!

[LILBENZ230]

I didn't take the photo, the passenger did.

[VVF]

Cool, man!
Do you have more pics of that plasti-dipped diffuser?

[boom132]

Yes, differant angles of the plasti-dip please... Appreciate the knowledge sharing!

[LILBENZ230]

No diffuser is present. I simply taped off the indented area at the bottom of the bumper and plasti-dipped it.

[tommy]

[VVF]

Originally Posted by LILBENZ230

No diffuser is present.

Erm, sorry, my bad. I meant "pictures of that area"
Don't know how to call it.. Plasti-dipped bottom of bumper?

[LILBENZ230]

I don't think I have any closer up shots.. the car is not with me this week, on loan to a friend.

It turned out very well. The car really should have looked that way from the factory, like the W204 does.

Tommy

[LILBENZ230]

Okay I was finally able to sit down and take a look at the past year's maintenance log. To help other 203 owners figure maintenance costs I've tried to do this for each year I've owned the car. Here goes:

8/18/2011 - 116,350 miles across-axle tire rotation. $0.00
9/9/2011 - Purchased 12 qts Shell 134 ATF fluid from Ryder Fleet. $30.04
9/10/2011 - Purchased new battery from Autozone. $149.77
10/15/2011 - 120,223 miles oil change. Approx $60.00
10/18/2011 - 120,843 miles transmission fluid flush, new transmission mount, new drive belt. $128.05 labor and $120.00 in parts including the ATF purchased from Ryder.
10/25/2011 - Oil analysis from 10/15 oil change. $25.00
11/5/2011 - 121,650 miles Rear differential service and cam solenoid recall. $58.85
02/01/2012 - 129,120 miles Replace all engine mounts. $173 labor and $210 parts.
03/22/2012 - 132,508 miles New brake pads/rotors installed, parking brake adjusted, tires balanced. $84.80 labor $245 parts
03/27/2012 - New wipers installed, new cabin air filter installed.
03/27/2012 - 4 Continental DWS tires bought from Direct Tire. $606.00
03/31/2012 - 132,922 miles oil change. Approx $60.00
04/11/2012 - 133,414 miles all caster and camber bushes replaced, bolt kits added. $390
04/13/2012 - 133,545 miles Tire balance, defective pads replaced with new OEM pads $105.00 pars $60.00 labor incl. rotor resurface.
04/14/2012 - 133,639 miles roadforce tire balance $46.95 (Nissan dealer)
04/14/2012 - 133,706 miles alignment $60.00 (RBM Mercedes)
07/14/2012 - 141,706 miles alignment and tighten wheel bearings $149.28


As you can see, I had some real issues with vibrations and poor alignment this year but all is sorted now. That explains why mileage adds up fast except for mid-march through mid-April, where it almost stopped as the car was almost unbearable.

[kluvsbenz]

You should be shot with that Obama bumper sticker on the rear Car still looking good, though. Nice tally. Did I miss you doing the fuel filter or did you do it before 100k? I am up to 98k and still haven't changed it yet.

[ncmudbug]

Thanks for the run-down, Matt. It's useful in seeing what to expect, but it's useless with regard to prices. Your indy is a real treasure!

[LILBENZ230]

The fuel filter was done at 100,000 miles in 01/2011 so it was on the previous year. Since I bought the car in 07/2008 my years run from July to July. The car wasn't showing any symptoms of a bad filter, it was just time. It was actually past time.

And yes my indy mechanics are treasures. One is a tire/brake/suspension guy and the other is a powertrain one. Both have very reasonable labor charges and aren't offended at all by my buying my own parts - in fact, they encourage it because it is cheaper.

[Glyn M Ruck]

Good to see her still giving sterling service. Some of your maintenance as been preventive & sensible such as timing chain.

If you service these cars to the book & just drive them they are great on reliability.

I have watched my friends that have trouble with Benz cars. The trouble seems to follow them around. Common denominator is driver/owner. They drive like A---holes, They can't stop fiddling with the things, They use cheap parts & ignore Benz recommendations/approvals etc. They complain loudly.

Best to service to the book & keep the hood closed!

[LILBENZ230]

Originally Posted by Glyn M Ruck

The trouble seems to follow them around. Common denominator is driver/owner. They drive like A---holes, They can't stop fiddling with the things, They use cheap parts & ignore Benz recommendations/approvals etc. They complain loudly.

Best to service to the book & keep the hood closed!

You've just described a great many people on this forum.

[tommy]

Bah, not fiddling with cars is boring.

It would certainly make for a boring MBWorld.

[LILBENZ230]

It would make for an MBWorld where there would be no self-created problems due to poorly executed "mods" and where everything was a universal truth, not depending on what coilovers or tune you have.

Sounds better to me.

[tommy]

Hmmm, a circlejerk where MPG, common problems, and "how do I clear CELs?" only are discussed would put me to sleep.

You have been to other car forums, haven't you?

[LILBENZ230]

Well after the car prompted me for washer fluid three times over last weekend, here is what I discovered:



Anyone have a picture of the washer tank? My car only seems to leak fluid if it is parked facing uphill. Can't figure out why.

[Javvy]

Originally Posted by Glyn M Ruck

Good to see her still giving sterling service. Some of your maintenance as been preventive & sensible such as timing chain.

If you service these cars to the book & just drive them they are great on reliability.

I have watched my friends that have trouble with Benz cars. The trouble seems to follow them around. Common denominator is driver/owner. They drive like A---holes, They can't stop fiddling with the things, They use cheap parts & ignore Benz recommendations/approvals etc. They complain loudly.

Best to service to the book & keep the hood closed!

:r olf:

[johnand]

Glad to see she is still treating you well Not a bad 4th year for maintenance and repairs in my eyes.

As for the washer tank, it is easy to get to to inspect. Just turn the wheel all the way to the right, and just remove a couple of clips/screws from the fenderliner, and pull it back. Have you hit anything on the highway, or had freezing temps? Weird that it would start leaking all the sudden.

[LILBENZ230]

I dug up an old post and did some research. Initially I thought that Marco hitting a dog had cracked the tank, but there is no damage to the car whatsoever. What I think has happened is the pump is messed up. I put Prestone Bug Wash in it (mistake) and it didn't agree with that. As soon as I added that, it started taking longer to get any spray, and when it did spray it was weak. Then the car asked for washer fluid three times in as many days so I filled with water, ran the spray until it seemed strong again, and refilled with plain water. That's when I noticed the leak start. It only leaks when the front of the car is pointed uphill.

I think the pump is ruined and leaking. It's a $19 part. The other guy in the thread I dug up paid $560 for the repair at a dealer. I bet this runs me less than $75.

As for freezing temps in GA in July..