J.M.G.

Hello,
tonight, I will take my '12 E550 with the M278 BiTurbo engine to the dealership. The car has the following problem:

During cold start, right after engaging "D" or "R", the engine starts making a strange rattling noise.




Mileage: 61,700


Recall regarding the drive chain tensioner had been carried out approximately two years ago.

Johnny Rad

I listened, but missed it... is it difficult to detect in the vid clip?

Also, what's the "drive chain tensioner" recall?!

J.M.G.

Good morning Johnny Rad,
just try to listen closely at 0:08min. You will notice that a rattle starts at this point.


Regarding the recall: The M276 / M278 / M152 / M157 had a problem with oil pressure in the secondary drive chain tensioners during / after engine start. Mercedes did exchange those tensioners and placed a valve into the cylinder head, which is supposed to prevent the oil from flowing away from the tensioners.


Greeting from Germany!

J.M.G.

Newsflash : The dealership recorded the noise and asked Mercedes Germany for help. They are strongly suspecting that the high pressure fuel pump and the camshaft adjusters might be the problems. The camshaft adjusters are currently out of stock, which will delay the repair. However, Mercedes does compensate that with a very nice free rental car: a CLS 350 d.

Dipper

I had a similar issue with my 2012 E550. It was making a very loud clicking & whining noise; it was even noticeable while driving 30-40 km/h. The dealer sent a video and sound clip to Germany and they authorized to replace both high pressure fuel pumps. It has made a difference as I now only hear the regular direct injection ticking at idle.


I asked about the chain tensioners but they told me my car wasn't included in the service bulletin. Not sure what to make of that.....




Good luck with the repairs. Hope it all works out for you.

porksoda

I am glad to see benz is very responsive in repairs to problems... very different from me coming from the other camp from germany.

J.M.G.

Currently I am really, really mad at MERCEDES! The car was in the dealership for more than two weeks. The dealership itself was not allowed to do anything without direct order from Mercedes main office in Stuttgart! The ordered to replace the chain tensioners (again!) as well as the camshaft phasers. As a result the car sounds as bad as before. I do not understand, why the release such a car to a customer. As I already said: I AM REALLY ANGRY!

J.M.G.

The sad ending (?) of this story: Mercedes found the problem. The noise comes from the turbochargers. If I understood everything correctly, there is a linkage to the waste-gate, that rattles. Mercedes is not willing to replace the turbos, as it is supposed to be state-of-the-art.

I am speechless.

J.M.G.

I tried everything without bringing that to court. Last week I wrote a letter to the customer center. I wanted a -written- affirmative answer, whether this is state of the art or not. Guess what, they wrote me and said, that it is state of the art.

So my M278 spent two weeks in the repair shop, where the shop was ordered by Mercedes Stuttgart to:
1. Look into the engine via an endoscopy (suspicion: Waves in the cylinder liners)
2. Make an "pressure - lost - test" (same suspicion)
3. Replace the camshaft adjusters
4. Replace the chain tensioners (again!)

After that, they come up with the solution: TURBOs (which are state of the art). As I also own another M278-equipped car (CLS 550 Shooting Brake), which is not even close to making such a sound, I am very very suspicious regarding the truth in Mercedes-words.

The verdict: Mercedes records the sound and after analyzing it makes the repair shop to do several tests and replacements. After two weeks -without any effect regarding the sound- they realize: It is state of the art and all M278 do that. Well, my second doesn't.

J.M.G.

Breaking News!

Yesterday I got a call by Mercedes Germany. They informed me, that they will send out an engineer from the factory to inspect my vehicle at my local Mercedes dealer. This engineer is supposed to check this car and -if he does not find anything unusual- explain to me, why this f$%& up sounding V8 BiTurbo is state of the art.

To make things a bit more complicated, I will bring my CLS 550 to this meeting, which does not sound like this. Not even close.

I am really looking forward to this...

...and I will bring that to court if Mercedes does not move.

Johnny Rad

Best wishes.

LukkyStrike

let me know whats up with this issue. I have the same thing, does that until the rpm drops back down to its normal Idle.

J.M.G.

Last week, a Mercedes engineer inspected the car. At the beginning, he asked mechanic from the local MB shop to do a cold start while he was filming the Turbos. Right after start up, the engineer just grabbed the waste-gate-linkage of the right hand turbo...which resulted into immediate silence.

He then checked the second turbo on the left bank. This linkage was way better. After that, they checked my other car, an CLS 550 Shooting Brake, were the wear on the waste-gate-linkage was even less.

After that, they did further testing.

In the afternoon a got a call. The engine will be pulled next week. The right hand turbo will be replaced under extended warranty. The left hand turbo will be further inspected by the MB engineer, who will come again, after the motor has been pulled by the local MB shop.

All this is perfectly okay with me. I only wished, that MB would have done that before I had to fight them...

Airmousam

Good news!

Tonycpa

I just want to thank you for making this thread. My performance shop heard this noise on Saturday and pointed it out to me.

I stumbled across this thread and showed him your vid and asked if it was the noise he heard on my car. He said yes.

He also believes replacing the drive chain tensioner makes sense and so I am bringing my 2012 E550 4Matic to MB of Smithtown tomorrow.

Sorry, you had to have yours replaced twice and work done on your turbos. It sucks you had all that downtime and got the runaround but I'm happy you got it straightened out in the end.

Glad you made this thread to alert the community. Thanks pal.

konigstiger

Reference bulletin LI05.10-P-056435 https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ml#post5738609
Check your PM.

Membership FYI Service Campaign 2013010001 covers MY13 278 only https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ml#post5529142

Tonycpa

^^^Thank you so much for the quick reply!

Have a great night.

LukkyStrike

Well thats good news, i will be performing this test after the car sits out tomorrow night at work. (i work nights) and see if grabbing the linkage will solve the problem.

Quick question: is it the linkage/solenoid making the sound? or is it the valve in the turbo? if they are replacing the turbo it makes me think it is the actual waste-gate door inside the turbo?

I rather have something like that than the chain issue, but none-the-less I will update.

It sucks because I head to Japan on Friday, then back on the 30th to get married on the 10th of October then off to Paris. Crazy time to be tinkering with the car....let alone fixing my bent rim

sloanbj

Shocking behavior by MB and appallingly poor engine reliability!

J.M.G.

Actually that is all I know, until they pull the engine. BMW had similar issues with the N54 engine (3.0 I6 Twin-Turbo). The replaced thousends of turbochargers until they came up with another solution, which -by the way- was available by several tuners years before! They simply replaced the waste-gate-linkage.

As far as I understood neither IHI nor Honeywell provide parts for that...

If I got the engineer right, the M278 makes the exhaust gas pulsate for optimized performance and -especially- response. The pulsating exhaust gas then moves the valve in the turbo which can not be held in place by the worn out linkage. !!!!Please keep in mind, that I might got that engineer wrong!!!!

Tonycpa

why?

LukkyStrike

because it is a set bulletin and the dealer will have a hard time fighting it. IF the dealer goes and fixes the chains and there are still issues, there will be quite a bit of Down Time for the car.

Tonycpa

Thanks for the info.

MB of Smithtown reviewed my 3rd party warranty and said it will cover parts and labor. I am leaving the car with them next Thursday so they can examine and determine the issue

starbrite

That's good news !

Tonycpa

^^^Yes, thanks.

On the flip side, I also received some bad news today...MBUSA finally contacted me and Juan, informed me that they will not be replacing my defective wood trim.