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First of all $750k isn't an expensive house. Try buying a $2 million house and fix your own house problems with a chance of voiding the home warranty because you tried to save $100?
You are correct $750k only buys a really nice 1600sq.ft. ranch style in OC. Now $2 million gets a water view in La Jolla, but you can still fix your on GD toilets if you want to. What warranty are you talking about on a home that will be void if the homeowner does some repair work?
It's unusual that the brake bleed procedure does not provide the caliper bleed order sequence. Usually it's farthest caliper from master cylinder to closest, but some cars differ from that order. At least they provide the bleed screw tightening torque.
It's not all about the money but the actual peace of mind that it is done correctly.
My local dealer wanted to charge $400 for a simple oil change which I got down to $200 which I thought was fair. I picked up my car and now I am having to go back because they overfilled it.
Originally Posted by Bolaber
You guys are amazing... buy a $150k car and try to save $100 or $200 per year by changing your own oil or bringing it to an independent.
had my oil changed in Jan and the car has smelled ever since of burning oil. It's in now getting checked. My suspicion is it's been overfilled as well because it didn't smell before the change and there's no evidence of an oil leak anywhere...
It's not all about the money but the actual peace of mind that it is done correctly.
My local dealer wanted to charge $400 for a simple oil change which I got down to $200 which I thought was fair. I picked up my car and now I am having to go back because they overfilled it.
Plano, Texas. Called the dealer I purchased the car at, asked for a quote, said they would call me right back, 10 minutes later... Uh, yes sir, that will be just under $2000 for that service.
That's what you get for living in Plano.....in Throckmorton I bet the local John Deere dealer would do it for $29.95 plus materials.
I thought of another maintenance procedure that would be useful which is the alignment procedure. When you buy a car with the Dynamic Pack as I have on my car, it comes with a different alignment with higher negative camber than the standard car as it is intended for track use. But one could change the alignment back and forth depending on the season or driving type with or without track use in mind to save tire wear for street or to optimize track performance. So the 2 data sets of alignment values along with the setup procedure would be nice to have. That way one might be able to show it to an alignment shop to get it done right and changed from one setting to the other.
When I bought my car I had the dealer check the alignment before I took possession assuming it might be off due to the shipping and it was by quite a bit. Dealer gave me the before and after sheet and I was glad I had them do it because the toe was wrong by quite a bit.
That's great, if a tad confusing. I see front caster is about 10*53' for both standard and Dynamic Plus pack, and front camber is 1*42' for the standard model and 2*6' for the P71 option, with rear camber about the same for both at 1*50', and . Front total toe is 0*18' for standard and 0*23' the P71 option, and rear total toe is 0*16' for both.
Is there also a procedure described for doing the alignment?
Plus I don't know what vehicle level-front axle of -2.73 and vehicle level-rear axle of 6.07 means. The levels change the caster, camber and toe. How does one set or measure that? My average alignment guy would be a tad confused if I gave him that table I expect.
I saw when looking at my car on my lift that the camber was set with shims with offset holes. This is a great system as it prevents movement of the alignment by preventing any possible slippage of the lower A-arms. However where does one get a set of those shims shown as 19c in the diagrams to change camber (and caster). also how is any alignment shop going to measure rear caster, as one cannot steer the rear wheels as one does for the front wheels to measure caster. I know on the new Corvettes this is a big issue, as rear caster has to be set very precisely for the car to handle properly, and there are two holes in the rear upright for which one uses an inclinometer on the upright to measure caster. Virtually no GM dealerships have this tool, and caster is very often improperly set when setting rear camber on new Corvettes, leading to unpredictable handling. This was born out at a comparison test with Randy Pobst driving both a Nismo GT-R and a Z06 with the Z06 losing out at Willow Springs. Corvette's chief engineer Tadge Yuchter owned up that the Z06 handled poorly in the test because of improperly set rear caster, and they asked for a re-test where the Z06 did much better. I will have to ask my Mercedes dealer if they have an inclinometer to measure axle levels on my GT-S as in the procedure above, and if they have shims.
I was at the dealer today and discussed the alignment on my GT-S with the service foreman. Once he had it on the lift he brought me in to look and we saw that my car with the P71 option has shims that are offset to one side on the front giving higher camber than for the car without the Dynamic Plus Package. On the rear, the bolt holes were centered on the shims, as the rear alignment is about the same for either package. One needs 2 shims per bolt per A-arm, one for each end of each of the 2 lower bolts in the lower A-arm, so 8 shims total for the front A-arms and 8 total for the rear. He checked and saw that no dealer he could get info from had ever done an alignment procedure with the shims. All they had done was toe on my car, as had other dealers. He checked and the shims come in a 3-pack, with different offsets per shim to make adjustments. It would take presumably 8 packs of 3 shims each to do just the front alignment if one wanted to change the camber, and they are very expensive per pack. It looked like one could flip the front shims over to reduce the camber, and he offered to do it later on so we could see what the effect on camber is. He also took the time to show me their Romess inclinometer, and it looked well used. Not something my GM dealer had for my Corvette.
The shims in that SummitRacing link would not work as they vary the thickness (for use behind A-arm mounting bolts to the body as used on Corvettes which have washers there) and what is required is shims with offset holes rather than varying thickness.
Last edited by descartesfool; 05-03-2017 at 03:46 PM.
$100 or $200, fair point... But $2000 to change transmission fluid? Robbery.
In my case it is not so much trying to save money on maintenance, more so I don't trust anyone to actually do the maintenance I request. I am fully capable and qualified to perform all of these procedures and see it as part of the joy of owning and taking care of this fantastic piece of art. I'm sure others out there are in a similar position and I just want to help anyone get access to the information they need. This can also be beneficial to anyone bringing their vehicle in to Mercedes for maintenance. Having a solid understanding of what they are about to perform will allow you to ensure you are getting everything you bargained for.
Alex- came across your posting & I hope these GTS owners appreciate the info your posted. These Mercedes dealers are almost always looking to rip us off or worse, cut corners and not perform the work properly! The service manual info/checklist is gold for GTS owners! Please buy a '17 GLE350W4 & a CPO '13 GL450 so you can post those as well! Kudos on a great thread!
05-01-2017, 11:57 PM
