konigstiger

Always request that the shop foreman ride along rather than the SA.

Ajax Lesser

Took 2 times for the dealer to identify the issue.

Noise is coming from the upper timing chains. Something to do with oil pressure.

After the parts repair, the noise is gone!

Go get it fix before your warranty expires.

marvinlee

I am surprised by the early upper timing chain failures. The M278 engine has an excellent two-stage timing drive by silent chain. I wonder if the timing system design details were a factor in Mercedes-Benz announcement of acoustic improvements for the engine for the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class models? The car is claimed to be the quietest in the world. No reaction yet from the Lexus LS460HL, or the Rolls-Royce Ghost and Phantom.

Dema

I wouldn't agree more. I am surprised when people trying to find a problem which it is non existent. A car is very mechanical thing and supposes to do some noises, I open door of my car and hear some clank in trunk, so what? Should I immediately ask money back since I heard some strange noise. I owned E350 for over 3 years and this startup noise never troubled me. Actually some people specifically work to make car more noisy. If you do not like to hear any noise then buy a bicycle or an electric car. Actually if talk about an electrical car, I can say that my computer makes terrible noise at startup. I investigated, and found it simply tests a processor fan for full speed just make sure it is controllable. So here is a noise for less than 2 seconds and then the computer is a whisper quiet.

marvinlee

A new 2014 E550 I am driving has no evident fuel injection or valve operation noises. Silencing the modern direct fuel injection system was evidently a matter of some effort since several technical papers have been written on the topic. Hydraulic lifters should make an engine quieter than mechanical lifters, since valve clearance is kept more nearly constant. The quietest engine I've ever heard was a 1952 Packard V8 of no great design sophistication. Yet, with the hood up, my teenage ears could barely hear the engine tick over. It had hydraulic lifters. Perhaps large and heavy iron castings deserved more of the credit.

Arrie

Really? There are lots of members here in the forum complaining about rattles inside the car, which are not reliability related at all and not to be a huge cost item at failure. The engine is and certainly most of us, including YOU, would be complaining about a strange noise from the engine unless, of course, you have a different reason to be in this forum.

I can just say that my car engine does not make any weird noises at start or when I drive it. It is so quiet I cannot hear it when I'm driving. My previous 2011 E350 engine was about the same and definitely did not maker any weird noises at startup.

MB made a new DI engine for 2013 (perhaps late 2012 also) cars and there might be some new engine model problems. If I had one of these with the startup noise problem I would be hard on MB to fix it or at least give me a very long warranty on it. Noise like what has been described is not normal.

marvinlee

I don't hear those kind of noises on our 2014 E550 4Matic. It has direct fuel injection, as did several other competing brands I drove before making a choice, and none made the kind of sounds now being reported. However, the manual does state that the engine sound may be different during the first half-minute after start-up, so MB may need to improve its engineering in this area so that all of its cars sound quiet and refined during start-up.

noranbee1

I think, I have the same noise problem. I noticed it about 6 months later after purchasing my new 2012 E350. I took my car to the dealer. Ofcourse, the Service Advisor told me that he knew what I was talking about but the mechanic claimed that it was normal. When I started my mother in law's S350 (in foreign country), it made exactly the same noise. It bothers me too but I don't want MB mechanics playing with my E350...and end up creating other problems. So, I am gonna wait and see...at least it was documented at the dealer.

velocity12

Add one more to the list of those that have heard this noise. 2013 E350

smoothone

I purchased my 2010 E350 coupe in April of this year with about 45,000 miles on it. Last Saturday I decided to take a ride over to my local MB dealer to see if it might have any remaining factory warranty. I was told it was still covered until today 7-8-14 sooo i asked if they would check out a knock i heard at cold start. I've read everything i could online about possible causes and what i should expect the service dept to tell me the cause was.
I received a call today and right away was told my main crank bearings were the cause and they would need 5 days to replace all the bearings covered under the warranty. I was this close to not even bothering to go and check on this at all. Hoping things turn out well when i get it back.

PeterUbers

The 63 is LOUD to begin with then in 30 seconds calms down the revs float down and you just hear the expected soft ticking of the engine turning at idle... This is from outside the car... On the inside it is pretty mute in idle... All you hear is the ac fans

The loudest thing at idle is the stupid butt vent fan... Particularly at high speed setting ... Obnoxious and it doesn't even really work

pinballwiz

Did this fix the noise?

I just took my 2008 e350 with 48k miles to the dealership with the same type of noise. They reported back that the main bearing has to be replaced. How can a bearing be the problem if it only makes noise at cold starts and for a few seconds then? Usually if a bearing is bad, it is a constant noise.

karayjay

I have a 2001 clk and at 85k it was making that noise not the car has 152k and still makes the same noise for the same amount of time nothing has changed... I found this post below..






When I took mine to the dealer they said, as a few have said here, that it was normal. I find this . I mean this is a Benz not a Yugo.

Anyway..

They also said if the noise gets worse, runs longer, that I need to bring it in. They also said that its typical of the C350's to do this and not so much the E350's.

It was recommended that I do an oil change; about that time. The noise is still there only smoother if that makes sense.

smoothone

After the engine work was done, the engine is very quiet at start up. Mine was knocking pretty good about 3 or 4 good knocks until the oil pressure got up. If yours is still under warranty I'd have the bearings replaced.

karayjay

I have to say any car after 34k having a knocking noise is a piece of **** engine to be honest with you guys I would be actually pissed off but like I said I've had a constant knock on start up for two or three seconds when I bought the car with 88,000 miles it now has 150 no problems no ticking no wrapping strong as a horse still very very fast

juadri

I have a 2011 E350 diesel (265bhp) from England,it is doing 27,000 miles and it makes this same noise sometimes when first started in the morning for about 2-3 seconds, so it is not only the petrol motors the diesel motors are making the same noise, hope it is not the bearings as someone suggested,my engine is a 642.852.

pandaman23

Greetings All,

So after going to three different dealerships it seems like the 4th one was the charm for me, after three dealerships said they where not able to re-create the problem even though I provided several personal video evidence the 4th dealership actually was able to re-create this several times. The Technician took a scope to the engine after it was heat soaked as he put it (driven around, letting it sit for about an hour and turning it on when this symptom actually occurs) and he said the main bearings are to blame and are covered under your warranty. As of right now they are waiting for the bearings to come, the tech was very confident in saying that this is where the problem is occurring at. I should get my car back sometime in the middle of the week next week and I will see if the problem has gone away and of course I will keep you all updated. He also said the noise doesn't indicate at all that there was metal on metal wear or any of that and he has worked on several other cars which had same problem ranging from V6 to AMG V8's, it is not damaging to your vehicle at all.

Here is a picture of the bearings the tech was talking about, there are several and the tech said he will replace all of them to assure the problem is completely fixed.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31VdOVSjL5L.jpg

Happy New Year!

MBSebas87

I just read this whole thread. I heard DI engines are known for being noisy and making this clank noise. The two 2012 e350s I test drove from different dealers made the same noise. Then I did some research on Mbworld and found out that's how DI engines are?? I will check for this noise tmrw morning. Had the car for only 3 days and noticed the DI engine is louder when standing outside but inside, you can't hear a thing. So far when I start it sitting inside with the doors closed, i don't hear anything just normal engine noise. Will report back tmrw tho.

pandaman23

Success! No more noise!

So this is the work order with parts listed that was done on my car, it was at the dealership for about a week. Been driving the car around for about 4 days not a single noise, starts up extremely smooth. The main bearings are the cause of this noise extremely happy I got this done before my warranty is up.

Thanks.

noranbee1

Hey, guys. I just wanted to share the below....Because, it was a big headache for me.

As soon as I purchased my 2012 Mercedes E350 4 Matic, I have been hearing loud "RATTLE" noise for 3 - 5 seconds after starting the engine. (Note: After driving for sometime, park the vehicle for 30 mins to 45 mins, and restart the engine).

When I took the vehicle to the dealership, the service advisor said, "Could not duplicate the noise. It's normal." So, I have been driving it for last 3 years and looked away whenever I started the engine.... BUT, it was clearly getting worse.

Last night, I did my own investigation and found a MERZ service bulletin on internet.

Today, I finally was able to video tape the rattle noise. I immediately took my vehicle to the dealership and played the video. The service advisor said, "...." When I asked for an experienced tech, the "BRAIN" of service tech came out and checked my car. (I told the service advisor that the techs probably dealt with this problem before because there are many ppl complaining about the noise.)

Amazingly, the service tech recognized the problem right away. it is the belt tensioner (1of 2)....and MERZ already analyzed the problem in 2012 because they got too many complaints. MERZ came out with upgraded belt tensioner. The service tech was surprised that I still drove the vehicle without fixing it.

The tech also recognized the bulletin number. He said, "Someone copied from MERZ service bulletin and put it on internet." I am so happy for now...at least they are doing something about it.

iridium7777

since someone else revived the thread i thought i'd add:

our car was making what i thought was a weird noise on startup, almost like starting a diesel. i poked around on forums here and found a W212 bulltetin for 276 engine LI05.10-P-056435.

took the car to the dealer and within half day they said they were able to repeat the noise and confirm it's this usse. had all the work done per this service bulletin and got the car back in 2 days.

jeffwang68

After oil change by myself today at 40K, poured 6.5 Qt of oil into engine. No more starting rattle engine noise.

The FIRST 3 sec engine rattle noise has been with this car since I brought it in June with 37K on it. The oil level was always at middle of the oil dipstick since I brought. That's right, I have never through the root cause could be the low level of engine oil.

If you guys still have the noise, try to add 1/2 qt into the engine....that may resolve the issue.

harkirath

I have a '13 E350. I take it this service bulletin should fix the issue. I've gone to the dealer a couple times and every time they have told me it is normal.

Arrie

Why do you say your oil level was low as at the half mark on the dip stick it certainly was not?


If oil change resolved any engine noice issue it means the oil in the engine before the change was not working as it should and when you put in new oil it is now doing the job.

Arrie

Replying to my own post...


Just for folks with engine noises especially at cold start try changing your oil by someone else than the dealer, like DIY. I don't know about all of them but my dealer does not use 0W-40 oil. They use 5W-40 or 10W40. Yesterday I did my own 5000 mile oil change and the engine is noticeable quieter than before the change. It is very easy to tell the difference and I think it is all about the oil quality.