rpayer

Thank you for your sympathy! Believe me... I am past angry! There are no other MB dealerships around...

The SA even threatened to leave my car in the parking lot for me to pick up if I kept harrassing him! I dont know what else to do. I love my car but this is making me want to just trade it in on something that I dont have to bring in once every 6 months...

mleskovar

[QUOTE=rpayer;1959255]"wandering" mirrors. They say they cant reproduce it yet I have to hit my memory button almost everytime I start the car...."Rear tail light out" message but yet there is no rear light out.... SA said the bushings failed and lots of other stuff failed because of itQUOTE]

Just a guess on the mirrors...try reprogramming them from scratch by the owners manual. I never fully understood how it's supposed to work but supposedly the seats and mirrors are positioned according to which key is used to remote lock/unlock the car. I had the "rear tail light out" problem twice. Once they replaced one tail light bulb carrier assembly and another time I just replaced the bulb even though it was working....but slightly dimmer. Bushings are a known high failure item. "Lots of other stuff failed because of it" is hogwash. My control arms were replaced as well because one started to leak. Almost all (many!) of my failures were fixed under warranty and extended warranty. I fixed a couple things myself. Now the car is rock solid and I love it. I don't blame you for moving on. With cars as reliable as they are today you shouldn't have to waste so much time repairing it and getting hassled in the process. And if you're stuck with the MB dealer you have I wouldn't want to be doing business with them either. Go to MBUSA and get your pound of flesh first. Good luck.

rpayer

[QUOTE=

Just a guess on the mirrors...try reprogramming them from scratch by the owners manual. I never fully understood how it's supposed to work but supposedly the seats and mirrors are positioned according to which key is used to remote lock/unlock the car. I had the "rear tail light out" problem twice. Once they replaced one tail light bulb carrier assembly and another time I just replaced the bulb even though it was working....but slightly dimmer. Bushings are a known high failure item. "Lots of other stuff failed because of it" is hogwash. My control arms were replaced as well because one started to leak. Almost all (many!) of my failures were fixed under warranty and extended warranty. I fixed a couple things myself. Now the car is rock solid and I love it. I don't blame you for moving on. With cars as reliable as they are today you shouldn't have to waste so much time repairing it and getting hassled in the process. And if you're stuck with the MB dealer you have I wouldn't want to be doing business with them either. Go to MBUSA and get your pound of flesh first. Good luck.[/QUOTE]

The mirror thing has been ongoing. They were repaired under warranty 6 months ago. There is no evidence that any of my tail lights are out or dim. I have been told if that is the case the rear SAM is going out. I'm sure they wont fix that and I'll be back in the shop soon. As far as the suspension is concerned... who knows at this point. All I know is my car is still at the dealership untouched.

rpayer

Day 6 and no work has been done.....

NY C32

x2

I went through 3 sets of thrust arm and control arm bushings (new and old designs) in 22k miles. On the 4th visit, My SA at MB Manhattan told me that I had to pay $1900 because the continued problem is attributed to the aftermarket springs instead of the abusive NYC roads.

Being a company store, they have an on site MBUSA customer advocate who didn't do anything. I called MBUSA directly and they didn't budge either. Finally, I had it. The sales manager who knew I was considering an E63 or ML63 and even went to bat for me to show some goodwill but they shot him down. So the next day, I went shopping for a new car and dumped MB forever. My family has always had an MB in the garage since before I could walk...I can't imagine myself or my family buying another one

rpayer

Wow... I hope I dont have to go through all that! My car has been at the stealership for a week today and to my knowledge no work has still been done on it.

Kar don

front suspension is covered under warranty.

johnand

I suggest you call MBUSA and ask that they send out a MB representative out to the dealership to take a look at your car and straighten out the dealership. Suspension (Other then shocks/struts), is covered under warranty, period.

rpayer

Update....

SA just called and said the warranty company will only pay for 11.5 labor hours to fix the suspension, tilt steering wheel, weather stripping on passenger door, and a wiring harness for the tail lights. The SA then informed me that the job will take 15 hours and he will not come down in the estimate. So somehow, once agin, a warranty job is going to cost me about $400...

RES

I think the main thing to remember is that this is not Mercedes warranty, this was an aftermarket company. I don't know if Mercedes would have been different. But a good friend of mine who got out of the car sales business because he got sick of al of this kind of treatment from the car manufactures and warranty companies told me never to buy extended warranties. They will try this everytime because most people give up the fight. And they will fight to the end. Once you get close to the cost of the warranty they will shut it off. I think this is them giving you a bone at this point, but 15 hours to do that work is pretty extreme.

rpayer

I understand your point and I think you are correct. I just gave in and agreed to pay whatever was leftover. I guess they won....

mleskovar

Next time go to an independent. They should accept after market warranties. Probably love to have the work at those labor times.

rpayer

I will never go back to the dealership for anything. Can independants perform scheduled maintenance also?

BKLYN_C

Can't see any reason for them not to

rpayer

neither can I....

arthurlo

Independent mechanics can perform all scheduled maintenances. However, I would suggest that you ask other MB owners around you for recommended mechanics. Some guys say they will work on MBs, others actually have experience working on MBs. Especially since these cars require a whole bunch of specialized tools and equipment.

The biggest reason to go to the MB dealer is if your maintenance is still covered by MB (i.e. the 2004 and older models), or if your car is still covered by MB warranty and you don't want the hassle of proving that scheduled maintenance was performed.

Hope that helps.

rpayer

My 320 is an '01 so the maintenance is not free for sure. I am just going to search around town for a certified MB mechanic. I think there is one that also works on Volvo's nearby... Even if it is not taken to the dealership you should still get service records... I wouldn't think proving anyhting woulld be a problem as long as I hold on to my records...

benzmodz

For the amount of work involved I would think that 2 hours and $150 in parts would cover it. However to save time they replace the whole arm so that the rubber bearings are in place.

For one thing I would be replacing the bushings with the C32 thrust bushing. Costs the same .... stronger.

They sound like turkeys to me .... if it costs nothing do it. Insist they do the wheel bearings too.

rpayer

About 3 months ago I had to bring my C320 into the stealership because something was wrong with the suspension. When pulling into a parking lot or any uneven surfaces I would hear and feel something "not right" on the drivers side. Well the stealer ended up replacing damn near the entire front suspension. Well last week I noticed a similar popping sound but now it is much more frequent and doesnt require as much movement. The front end will start popping and creaking just driving through a parkinglot that isn't perfectly even...


https://mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178980

RES

I'm working on the same problem, I have changed tie rods, thrust arm bushings. I have had the entire front suspension out on the floor and checked everything. I will be replace struts here soon and after that I will check the sub frame mounts. I listed on another post all the things Mercedes checks but I havent found what is wrong on my car yet.

rpayer

I'll have to double check but I'm pretty sure they changed my thrust arms, thrust arm bushings, tie rods... Its so odd how your car can go to the stealer and everytime it seems to need work a few months later, usually for something related to the original problem.

Blake P

Forum member WaveyKat had the same problem and it was finally resolved by replacing the power steering rack. I've had the control arm bushings replaced, but the sound is still there. Mine is a "knock" from the driver's side when going over uneven surfaces.

rpayer

Thats pretty much what I am experiencing. Thanks for the info!

Waveykat, you out there?

WaveyKat

YES SIR AM Here

well i had my whole entire front suspension replace first i did the Coilovers from tein to KW V2 and i change Lower and Upper Control Arms with the bushing but the noise was still there then i change the Inner and Over Tie rods and the nose was still there .. then finally i changed the Power steering Rack and now the noise is gone but i dont wanna speak to soon..its only been 1 week since the rack was replace so.. am waiting to see if i get anymore problems.

rpayer

Ok I talked to Wazeykat for a while and it sounds like we have similar issues. I checked out my invoice from when I had the suspension work done 3 months. Both control arms, thrust arms, thrust arm bushings, and bearings were replaced, also the drivers side shock. When looking at the invoice I remembered something... My steering column quit moving up and down. Replaced were the steering shaft and an electric motor. Does the steering rack need to be removed to replace either of those?