GregTR

I've been driving a LOT with my E350 and managed to put 35,000 miles on it in a year. Lately I noticed a weird noise coming from the front right part of the car at speeds above 30 mph and the faster I went the louder/higher pitch the noise was.

So on the 1 year anniversary of my car I took it to the dealer where a mechanic test drove with me and confirmed I wasn't imagining the noise.

A week later they said it's a transfer case bearing problem and my car will be receiving a brand new transmission.

It seems to be a prominent issue with 4matic across all Mercedes models and unfortunately it seems to affect even the latest models. I'm kind of sad and glad that I bought the 125K extended warranty. At this rate I might have to get another one or two before the warranty runs out.

I always said that I was not worried about the engine and the powertrain and I was more concerned about all the electronics and options such as parking cameras and dynamic driver seat failing but now I'm not so sure any more.

I hope to have the car back by Friday for another 800 mile weekend trip. Otherwise I'm getting a GL for the roadtrip as a loaner.

rediesel

Wow. Sorry to hear about you transmission woes. Sounds like you need a diesel with all those miles. JK

instantfob

Look on the bright side.
Why bother servicing the transmission when you can get a new one every 35k miles :P

PeterUbers

Wow Greg... Sorry to hear, man. Glad you're getting taken care

Benz 7g tronic has not proven to impress me, you know my story

Good luck

GregTR

Since I self maintain (change oil and filter on my own) I'm kind of glad I don't have to do a transmission oil change at 40k miles...

When the dealer told me what they were going to do due to the possibility of metal shavings might have entered into the transmission and the transmission replacement is a precautionary action I thought it was BS and maybe they just couldn't figure out what was causing the noise. But upon further research it is MB policy to replace the entire assembly in cases like this. It affects the GLK 4motion and the service bulletin seems to indicate it has to do with compound tolerances in the 4motion drivetrain. There are just too many components and if all the tolerances add up then you can end up with a situation like this.

I'm still a bit concerned yet hopeful that I will get a good unit in the next 90k miles before my extended warranty runs out.

Oh, and I had zero problems with the transmission, it has been flawless from day one for me so I hope this one won't be a dud like yours were.

noka

Yikes! I hope it's just like new soon for you.

konigstiger

What is the bulletin #, and date released?

PeterUbers

Very interesting info.... My '14 mct is flawless in shifting

GregTR

LI28.00-P-051499 Version 1 issue date 4/1/2011

"Cause: Diverse drivetrain components, tolerance pairing of diverse components in 4Matic drivetrain (differential, etc.)"

konigstiger

Thanks.

beshannon

What is the basis for this statement?


Have there been recalls? I have not seen any indication of this in all the research I did regarding the E Class.

tekfoc

same thing happened with my c300 tranny. was replaced and with in a month had to bring it in for binding and vibration on tight slow right and left turns.
they replaced transfer case ,planetary gears,2 bearings.
just started again almost a month later.
now only slightly binds and vibrates at right tight slow turns.
it's going back in again next week.

GregTR

There is a program in place by MB that pays for it even if it's out of warranty. Also, the referenced TSB lists pretty much every MB model under the sun.

• 2012-2013 C300 Luxury 4Matic
• 2012-2013 C300 Sport 4Matic
• 2011 CL550
• 2013 CL550
• 2012-2013 CLS550
• 2012-2013 CLS550 4Matic
• 2011-2013 E350
• 2011-2013 E350 4Matic
• 2011-2013 E350 BlueTEC
• 2011-2013 E550
• 2011-2013 E550 4Matic
• 2013 GLK250
• 2010-2013 GLK350
• 2010-2013 GLK350 4Matic
• 2012-2013 S350
• 2011 S550
• 2011 S550 4Matic

noka

The TSB you referenced above LI28.00-P-051499 is version 1, issue date 4/1/2011. To include 2013 (maybe 2012), I would expect there to be an updated version. I also don't see 2014/15 listed, so either they would be included on some updated version, or the problem was corrected in later production.

BeachBunny

Has anyone heard of this happening to a non-4Matic car or is it solely a 4M problem?

GregTR

You guys are way too picky and way too lazy to do a simple google search.

http://www.tsbsearch.com/Mercedes-Benz/LI28.00-P-051499

There is an updated version of the TSB dated October 15, 2013 and that is where I pulled the affected vehicle list from.

The TSB references all MB vehicles with tansmission 722.96. Guess what? The 2014 E350 4-matic still has that transmission.

GregTR

It's a 4matic only problem due to the drivetrain. on RWD you don't have a transfer case and your transmission code is 722.906

DC-IT

Based on the list above, 17 models are affected of which only 7 are 4matic and 10 are RWD!
Even my 2013 E350BlueTec is listed.

GregTR

Here is the thread with the TSB shown. It clearly says 4matic and lists the 4matic transmission by name.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/x204...000-miles.html

It does not specify models of vehicles, only the transmission type. It also specifies it with a wildcard as 722.96X. There are transmissions from 722.960 through 722.968 for various vehicles, like the E350 is 960 but the GLK is 968. I think the differences between these transmission units are mounting point and bolt patterns specific to he different chassis and engines they are mated to but otherwise the same. Every single one of the vehicles listed in the WIS for 722.96X are 4motion.

noka

Guilty as charged. I'll ask the MB tech at the dealer I go to at the next visit. That's probably my best up-to-date source of information.

Sal_S

722.960 was what 2010 e350 4matic had though later models had 722.964 I think. They all have a torque converter drain plug. 722.963 is the only one that doesnt have a torque converter drain plug. Not sure where that was used. Not that it matters since dealers never drain TC as part of tranny fluid change. They are not required to either. TC holds almost half of the tranny fluid so your 380 bucks ATF change job at any dealer is only a half baked job. You might need to rotate the crank using the big crank pulley up front to expose that tc drain plug.

GregTR

First, this has nothing to do with the discussion at hand.

Second, 722.964 is used in
204.081 - C 280/300 4Matic sedan
204.981 GLK 280/300 4Matic

The 722.963 is only used in the 204.085 C230/250 4Matic

All W212 E350 4Matic uses the 722.960 no matter what MY.

Straight from WIS.

aeroconfigs

As someone who's taking his chances with no extended warranty, this post completely scares the **** out of me. Was your first indication really the grinding noise? Or can you think back and remember any other weird stuff? I had some signs of oil splatter around my transmission which makes me nervous but I can't see any major leak source.

GregTR

No indication of any kind. The car actually was still perfectly fine, smooth driving and all. The only reason I even started to notice the noise was because I was driving to a lot of early morning skate sessions with my son and since he was still sleeping in the car I had the stereo off so it was quiet in the passenger compartment. But then the noise was getting a bit more prominent and I could pick it up even with the stereo on low volume.

When I took it in it still wasn't to the point where it was 100% obvious, I took a drive with the tech just to confirm that they can hear it too because I was concerned that they were going to say "we can't hear it".

So far it's been in the shop for 9 days and I just got my C300 loaner replaced with an ML350 for the weekend as I'm about to go on a 600 mile road trip for some hockey games with my family and the C300 wasn't going to cut it for our luggage. The dealer has been extremely accommodating and it's going as well as I could have expected, well with the exception of the complete $6K+ transmission replacement because of some noise. I'm glad I have purchased the 7 year 125K mile warranty at least I know I don't have to worry about repairs for the next 3 years.

noka

Coincidentally, I recently had both a C300 and ML350 for loaners. I think both were 2013. I really like the roomy E compared to the more cramped C but the C300 had some nice upgrades compared to the '09 I had. I liked the ML350 seats more than the E350 and kind of wish those seats were available on the E. They are a little wider and a little more padded around the upper outside thigh area. I also liked the digital time in the speedo LCD display (what I could not find on the E, although we get the analog clock in the center stack). I also liked the electronic parking brake instead of the outdated (but simple and reliable) foot-operated pedal.