SAguirre

Well, after having a hard time figuring out what is causing my trip meter to screw up I finally found what it is! I drove the car about 800 miles this weekend and nothing was acting up. When I got into town and I dropped off my car at the dealer for its first service I was showing my service advisor the instrument cluster and how I always have the MFD trip meter since Reset and the trip meter over the odometer at the same miles because I reset them when I fill up.

That is when I decided to go into the menu that gives you the voltage along with the dynamometer mode etc. . . the minute I scrolled all the way through the menu I noticed that my trip meter went from 257 miles to 540.1!!! My service advisor was a witness to that too! So I backed out of the menu, reset the trip meter to 0 and then when I went back into special menu it changed to 547.1 miles!

I know that this menu is not necessarily something that should be accessed by the customer, but my advisor agreed that there is not logical reason why the trip meter should act so erratically. This explains a lot. I almost never go into that menu, but every so often I like to check my oil in exact quarts and then I check how many days I have left until the time is that cause for service due. I will see what they do to fix this problem.

Second electrical gremlin is that sometimes when I open either front door all the doors unlock, but then sometimes none unlock. This has become very erratic and coincidently started when I had the driver’s side lock actuator changed because it was malfunctioning. The dealer also knew what the problem is supposed to be there.

Also, I had my oil changed at 5,000 miles and I had it tested. Now I am getting it changed at about 12,500 and I will send that oil sample in as well. After these test results I hope to finally put all these FSS speculations to rest. I still expect my metal reading to be a bit high, but they should be more in the normal range.

I am also having the voltage regulator issue resolved. I have been lucky and my car has never gone dead up to now.

I really don’t consider these two minor problem to be a big deal and I think that it this car has been 100% dependable in its first 14 months and 12,500 miles of service. Yes, these little problems should not happen, but they never could be considered a reliability issue, right? BTW, I decided to inflate the front tires to 45psi and the rear to 35psi. As a result, I was averaging 81 MPH and I was getting a solid 32-MPG during my 800-miles trip. Not bad for a 5 speed 4-Matic that states that 24-MPGs is its highway rating.

Steve

lig

Nice post, Steve. Please post the oil analysis when you have a moment. It would be interesting to see how it turns out.

SAguirre

I picked up my car from service yesterday and this is what the results were:

My service C was done. They changed the oil, but the mechanic forgot about taking the oil sample this time . He pulled a bit of oil, but it was from the last few drops of oil (not good to sample from). I might have them pull a bit of oil to send in in about 5k miles. I am ticked that it will take that much longer to get the results since I will not send this to the lab.

They also checked my brakes, I still have 85% on all 4 wheels after 12,500 miles, I guess I am not hard on brakes! Never have been either.

The voltage regulator recall was performed and the car's computer wanted the Brake Fluid changed/flushed. I thought that the SBC brakes were hard to modulate before I had the brakes flushed last November, but the brand new ML350's brakes were very strange. I think that the 7G transmission was downshifting when I was rolling to stops and made the braking uneven. Well, when I got my E back I once again preferred the response that the SBC has (at least compared to the new ML.

My power locks were NOT acting up. Here is yet another thing I missed in the manual that I reported as an error. Since I mostly drive alone, I have my remote set to only unlock the driver's door and the fuel cap when I press the unlock button once. Well, if you only press the button once, when you leave the car it will not unlock all the doors. If you hit the unlock button twice and unlock all the doors, then the car thinks that you have passengers. So then, when you open either front door, it unlocks all doors and the trunk. Well, isn't that clever! This is very logical, but I must have missed it in the manual.

I had a rattle in the rear hat shelf, it turn out is was the cable for the satellite radio antenna, now the noise is totally gone. I am sure I could have figured this one out, but I have been incapacitated the last two months.

The cabin filter was also changed, it was surprisingly dirty!

I also decided to spend the extra money (the only expense I had in this service) and have them load balance all tires since these stock Contis have about 8,500 miles. All the tires were off a bit.

Last, but not least! My issue with the trip meter has been identified, but the head mechanic has no idea if this is normal. He will be checking on other Es and then he will see if this is a problem or if it is normal. The problem is that it only screws up the trip meter when I go into the menu that customers are not supposed to go into. We will see. I will post a thread to get some help from you members.

So overall, I got to drive the new Ml 350 for 120 miles and had all the service done. As it turns out, there were NO problems with the car except with the trip meter, but we are not sure this is an issue YET!

Not bad for a car that is supposed to be SO UNRELIABLE AND HAS HUNDREDS OF TIMES MORE CICUITS THAN ALL THE APOLLO MISSIONS!!!

If I had to pay for this service "C" myself, it would have run about $420. I only paid for the balancing and that was $75.00. This is another nice thing that the 2004 model cars have!

Steve

klenbore

What was your honest opinion of the new ML, wife thinks we need one to keep company with the E.

Thanks......... Bill

SAguirre

I think that it is a great improvement compared to the old one. It also have a lot of things in common with the E as far as controls and features. It still has REST on the climate control and lights under the side view mirrors. I think that removing this stuff from the E was a big mistake!

The new 350 is lightning fast compared to the old 350 that was really a bored out 320 block and 3.8 liters. It also must have something to do with the 7 G trany.

On the negative side, I am 5"8' and I found that it was a lot higher than the old ML. This made the entry a bit strange. The car pulled very well. It was almost as quick as my E320. I got used to the gear shifter position and operation, but I still found myself reaching for a non existing stick in the middle.

I really liked the paddle shifter buttons and I liked the engine/transmission combination when accelerating. However, I thought that the brake pedal travel was excessive and hard to modulate. I had a few good friends who are car nuts drive it too, I said nothing and they made the same comment. The old ML had more travel, but the brakes were easier to modulate.

I will post a picture of it. It only had about 1,300 miles but the seats (light sand color) already had blue denim rub off before I got it. I would avoid this color at all costs!

I really ran it through he ringer and drove in a way I would never drive my E. I still averaged 19.9 MPGs! NOT BAD AT ALL for such a quick and heavy car.

If you are considering one, I would wait and see when the CDI ML is out. I doubt it will be as fast, but it would be a great to get economy in the high 20s or low 30s on this kind of car. I find that SUV have changed its meaning to "Suddenly Useless Vehicle" if you don't get good mileage.

Steve

klenbore

Thanks for your candid opinion. I had 2 ML's, a '00 320 that Mercedes should of been ashamed to put the 3-pointed star on and a '03 ML500 Inspiration that was a vast improvement over the '00. Build quality was sitill sub-par to my previous MB's and it couldn't pass up a gas station, 14.8 MPG Highway at best. On a positive note, both were snow-going machines.

What is it with women and SUV's? They seem to love em as much as jewelery.

SAguirre

You are interning dangerous territory here, but when I see a Excursion, Expedition, Explorer or any of the other manufacturer equivalent, I tend to se petite women behind the wheel and one chield seat in the back.

I will try to be objective here, I think that it is because sitting higher up gives them a sense of security (even though your chances of flipping are greatly increased). But, used SUVs are available at a very reduced price now in this area every other SUV has a "for sale" sign.

O well, I do know a few people who have legitimate use for SUVs and use them to their full potential. If you need one, they are great! I personally have a small trailer I pull when I need to haul stuff.

Steve

CE750

This is why I have one.. I hate the damn things, and tried to get her to buy a MB E320 4-matic wagon, but she had to have an SUV. My only requirement was that it would be the Volvo, and she caved, as we had a V70 and loved it (for the most part).

Women love SUV's.. Dangerous when you think about how they drive

jazzphile

SAguirre,

May I ask why you inflate your front tires so high? What effect does it cause? How well does it handle as a result? Or is this an effort to increase gas mileage?

I like to overinflate my tires as well, but have not pushed them this high.

Thanks,
Jazzphile

CE750

I'll let SAguirre answer you separately but I use 32 / 34 PSI, and I use Nitrogen fill, I prefer the ride and the economy (for the environment is good) .. a little over inflate is ok, but too much and handling suffers as does wear on the inside tread (which is no big deal if you change tires early like I do).

SAguirre

Over the years and thousands of miles I have always noticed that some cars simply wear the outside edges of the front tires prematurely. Having a tire with no treads on the sides (sipes, unsure of spelling) can be disastrous! The sipes push all the water out and also give you all the snow traction.

My Continentals can handle 51 psi, so when I have about 45 on the front I always notice that the steering much more responsive. You would think that after about 8,500 miles on these tires the middle would be worn more than the sides, but they are PERFECTLY worn. The tread in the middle is the exact depth and the sipe tread (6.5mm). I just checked all my tires on both my Mercedes and Audi since I just put all the snow wheels and tires on for the winter.

I don't inflate the rear tires that much because they always wear fine. I find that 35 PSI is just fine.

NEGATIVES, the ride noise and feel is a bit harder (well, considerable harder). Benefit: when I replace my tires they are worn down, but perfectly evenly. I believe that one big reason for my better mileage is also far less roll resistance too.

A must do: I don't over inflate my Bridgestone Blizzaks anywhere near as much, but I still have at least 37 PSI in the fronts. I have lowered the pressure when I had to drive back home in a snowstorm. Lower pressure is always better for snow and mud traction since it causes the sides of the tire to touch more and that is where the sipes are.

I am not cheap, but I do like to buy nice things and get the most life out of them while they are still safe to use. I think that there are millions of dollars being wasted in this country because people under inflate their tires. Wasted fuel and wasted tires.

I guess I should specify that when I say over inflate, I mean that I inflate them higher than what is stated in the fuel door, but always within what is stated on the sidewall of the tire.

I never minded the hard ride, Mercedes are cushy anyway. My Porsche gets bad tire ware, but I do sometimes tend to get about 40,000 miles out of summer tires and about 20,000 from winter tires.

This is the only good kind of “inflation” I know,

Steve

CE750

Have you looked into Nitrogen fill as an option? Some say placebo, and other say it has benefits on corrosion of the tire/rim as well as holds pressure 3 times better than wet air.

I paid a one time $25 fee for a life time refill, but in 3 months the pressure has held steady even with temps here hitting 114 degrees.

Dvinn

Thanks for the write up! So the trip odometer has a problem with going into the secret menu or do you think it has something to do with voltage regulator?

SAguirre

I think that we have just figured out that the trip meter acts up when you go into the secret or diagnostic menu. My car has never had the adverse effects of the voltage regulator acting up. It has had a perfect performance so far.

Look at this thread too: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/124858-i-need-some-help.html

Steve