thetonka

I have a 2009 R320 Bluetec. I bought this car knowing there are some finicky issues with the diesel emissions, and am looking at resolving some of them. I have always worked on my own cars, and have rebuilt transmissions, engines, suspensions, and even full fabrication of off-road chassis.

I was in the middle of a Masters degree when I got my R, but it is finishing up. I fully expected that I would do most maintenance and repair on this car when my Masters was complete. I know they are complicated, but they are well engineered to be worked on, unlike other cars I have had that were basically engineered to be disposable.

So as I look at doing things like cleaning the turbo, or replacing belts, lines, hoses, or whatever else I need to my question is am I off on thinking this can is worth working on and keeping running? I have had some issues with the cooling system recently and it has spent way too much time and money in the shop. Mostly things I could do myself, but I have not had time. So again, is this car worth keeping and working on myself, or will I be constantly fighting it and will tearing it apart and putting it back together take more time than I will get to drive it?

Thanks

josworth

Just bounced back on here to reply to an old thread I started.... Don't know about the diesel so much... had a R350 Gas.. but it was not bad to work on and totally worth it. Why ours is gone is long story.... but with it being my wife's car...and she only driving about 9,500 miles a year... it was actually worth it to us financially to lease her a new car..

That said, I really liked working on her car.. Did suspension work, brakes, power steering pump, plus maintenance stuff. It was actually pretty straight forward...

The one thing I did find interesting... it seems like Mercedes engineers things to keep the basic owner going to the dealer.. things an owner would tackle like a cabin filter, engine air filters, and battery are actually way more difficult to do than they should be... but stuff like the rear struts, power steering pump,brakes, and the air suspension are way simple to do... I did the rear struts after converting mine to rear coil springs in the driveway, without a jack, in about 10 minutes a side... yet it took hours of careful disassembly to get to the battery under the passenger seat to change that.

To this day... after many, many vehicles, that car was the greatest highway cruiser. Even better than the Jaguar I had. Also, if you live in an area where winters are tough you will find a 4matic R to be unstoppable in bad weather. Between the all wheel drive and being as heavy as a tank no NE Ohio storms ever stopped it.

Hmm... think I miss it? And it wasn't even my car...

AsianR350

Well said.

thetonka

Thanks guys. I do love this car.

efzauner

Can't agree more. I got rid of my 2008 R320 a year ago because I found a lease transfer on a 2011 R350 with only 40Kkm on it. Love the new one to bits.

I do as much as I can including rear struts, multi rib belt, brakes, air and fuel filters (even on the Diesel). I did remove the front seat to look at the battery.

Some things are complex to diagnose and repair. On the Diesel I had dealer extended warranty repairs that included oil cooler leak ($5K +) oxygen sensor/broken particulate filter ($3k+) Injector relay (1k+), rear sam module that caused battery drain. These repairs would be difficult to diagnose and repair by yourself. My colleague had the same but newer car and had to pay for oil cooler leak himself. He replaced the car with an Infinity. He will never buy another Benz.

As a result of these repairs, and from what I learned about the complexity of the bluetech system after the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal, I will never buy another used diesel again.

cdetdi

I do all my own stuff, outside of body work.

My biggest complaint is the lack of third-party diagnostic tools that can match the STAR tool, requiring that I go borrow it from a shop that I am friendly with whenever I need any major service.

Oil cooler seals, turbocharger, suspension, brakes, whatever, I do it.

auto385

The only reason I bought one is because I own a 10 bay repair shop with skilled techs that can handle it all. The car is a dream to drive, but they can be expensive to repair. It doesn't matter what kind of diesel you drive. They are all expensive to repair. It is only worth it if you do lots of miles. Just wait what is in store for those people that are buying turbo gas vehicles. These engines won't last past 100 or 140k miles. I'm already seeing BMW X6's with needing 20k of work to be done to just maintain them. The Ford EcoBoost is a time bomb waiting to happen. Too bad Volkswagen isn't going to get back in the diesel market in North America in the foreseeable future. They have a lovely V8 diesel in their stable.

ghenry

I do all the maintenance with the exception of an alignment and tires here at the house. 158,166 mi on the R now.

Lioninstreet

ghenry, Care to share what you've had to do on your '08 and when?

Sierra Grande

"Also, if you live in an area where winters are tough you will find a 4matic R to be unstoppable in bad weather. Between the all wheel drive and being as heavy as a tank no NE Ohio storms ever stopped it. "

Hijacking for a brag... Drove through a really bad blizzard in the R last March. Cars and trucks were strewn about. The snow on my street was near 2' deep. The R was not to be stopped

Trancebear

I have a 2007 R320 with 87k miles on it. Today I replaced one of the rear suspension air bags, the fuel filter and installed K&N air filters. So far so good. I intend to do as much work as possible. I absolutely love this car! The sunroof motors is something I am debating fixing myself.