I also had this failure at about ~3K. At ~4K the center shaft bearing had to be replaced. I am now at ~6K and my driver side Xeon lamp is flickering.

This is 05 C320 4matic.

 

putt-putt noises after driving on freeway, I think thats the same sound I am getting. Like knocking on the side of a plastic tank, that is full of liquid. I believe it's from the fuel tank, maybe air bubbles in the transfer pump? dealer has never been able to duplicate, and it has never caused a problem. I know the fuel filters internal pressure regulator goes bad, causing a brief "running out of gas" symptom. Maybe related to the sound. I will be replacing the filter soon beacause of this. Car is extremely reliable, has exhibited several annoying glitches. Pulling to the right (fixed) Knocking in front end (fixed) Fuel level senders (tba)Cold start knock (tba)....Love the car though.

 

Brake-booster modular failure. According to the garage this is the first time they encounter such a problem. They’ve never seen that modular fail. I looked for that part everywhere couldn’t find it at any of the dealer’s parts shops. I had to drive to MB headquarters, they didn’t have it either. They said its can be available if I place order. At the moment you can say I’m driving without brakes. The chip it self is around 300 bucks.
SAM or whatever they call it failed. Its operating partially right now, thanks God. The central looking hasn’t failed yet. I’ve been having problems with my turning signals, brake lights, rear tails light, turn signal subs lights and reverse lights because of it. the “sam” it self cost around 400 bucks
The garage did quick check over the car. They find a problem in the transmission area (not with the transmission it self). I’ve been told if that problem was not fix I’ll lose the tranny. I don’t know how much it costs, I’m not interested.
Today I got a warning message saying ESP failure. That’s the second time I get this message since having the car.
I did not fix any of those problems, they only made me think about getting a new car. previous problems I had with the car (NON was fix under warranty):
my ride feels like riding a horse (took it for alignment, problem always keep coming back)
had steering fluid leak –fixing it wasn’t easy. Since its so tight in front, they had to remove many stuff. The labor cost was quad the price of the stuff replaced.
transmission fluid leak –worn out gasket, fixed. Had to replace transmission fluid when doing that. The fluid is oo expensive.
changed the water pump twice
got fuel pump problems twice (almost changed it)
my brakes hydraulics went dead (started working again after three days without fixing)
got fuel quality issue which gave me ‘check engine’ light. Had to buy some stuff to fix it.
cracks from joints in the front right wheel ( cost too much – take too long, didn’t fix it)
Cruise control doesn’t work anymore. “visit workshop” message keeps coming when engaging it.
The pano roof used to make sound –lubricated it couple times. Now I don’t give a damn.
The blind under the pano roof doesn’t open/close correctly. I have to push it with my hand.
Right window, the express-up doesn’t work most the time. Window would go all the way up, then it changes its mind and open again!
Similar problem to the left window. But rarely.
CD player keeps turning off. Been happening a lot this week. I turn it on, it goes off again.
CD player switch from FM radio to CD by it self, and vise versa (Audio 10)
Sometimes while listening for the same station for the whole ride… it would change stations by it self, without even touching the radio!
CD player can’t play some original discs (usually the ones that wont play on PC or MAC too – for piracy reasons)
CD player sometimes skip track while its in the middle of one.
Electric noise from the CD when listening to it while taking hard turns!
Speed sensitivity volume doesn’t work (thought I checked in DAC and its set on max)
Sometimes the volume would go up by it self (even when I’m NOT accelerating)
Noise from seats
Interior starting to fall off (the long thing to the left of the windscreen, transmission stick cover, AC vents)
Is the windscreen made off poor quality glass? Cuz it keeps cracking up. I got tired of fixing it. will never fix it again. To hell with it.
Rain sensor doesn’t work ( I wonder why I paid for it)
I’ve been getting battery and alternator warning messages lately... I mean the past two months. It says I should visit the workshop. But will I? never.
Park-assistant sometimes goes crazy. Turns on while driving… give loud beep when waiting at a traffic light! I wonder if ghosts are passing by my car. Its crazy.
wiper spray defective –actually the fluid used for the wiper always leaks. So incase its going to rain, I must always add water before leaving.
This is not everything wrong with the car. There is still the weird sound when starting the car, some vibrations, and many many other things… one of them worth mentioning is crappy service at the dealership… or as people around here like to call them “stealership”.

Only 43500 miles on it, I finally found a buyer offering 14500 USD. I’ll probably sell it to him.

 

So far everything is fine with my car. No Problems

 

My 04.5 230 SS is One year old and has 23k miles, change the oil every 5k miles. Only Problem is paint chiped frount end.
Jkw

 

2003 C230 Sport Sedan: Cylinder #4 misfire at just over 3000 miles, reoccurring problem could not be fixed, at 18,000 miles MB decided to replace the cylinder head. Worked deal with MB to assist buying back the car in exchange for 2005 C230 Sport Sedan.
2005 C230 Sport Sedan: Cylinder #4 misfire at just under 5000 miles. MB decides to replace cylinder head. MB agrees to replace car for free. Took delivery of second 2005 C230 Sport Sedan on 4/9/05.
2nd 2005 C230 Sport Sedan: Two weeks of ownership and 350 miles with no problems (keeping my fingers crossed).
These are the facts on my MB C-Class experiences.

 

Speakers Vibrating, Rattling in the Trunk

 

My Brand new benz had Lock, Alarm, SRS problems so far. My dealer gives me the best service I can ask for. (West Covina, CA)

 

Currently the dealer has had my car for the past 2 weeks. The car needs a transmission replacement, a torque converter replacement, and a radiator replacement. Its an '03 230 SS w/ 29k miles. Gotta love that.

Heres my list.

- Needed oil level sensor replaced
- Broken windshield wiper arm
- sunroof motor broken
- Dash LED cluster replacement
- Transmission replacement
- torque converter replacement
- radiator replacement

.....counting the days left on my lease...until I can upgrade to Lexus!!

 

Problems: Replaced A/C blower at 10,000 miles..
In shop right now for a God awful loud noise coming from engine when first starting. Sounds like a bad belt. Had it for 2 days, still can't find the problem.
Gave me an '05 fro a loaner though...like it better. Should trade for it.

 

2005 C230 SS - car burned a quart and a half of oil in the first ten thousand miles. Not really worried about it but the dealer charged me to look at it after I got a message saying my car needed oil. Constant radio problems (I have the Harmon Kardon system). The head unit will be on and seem to be working but no sound comes out. Vehicle has been in at least three times for this and the dealer can't fix it. Very annoying.

 

the armrest finish peeled out at 11k + miles. This is what it looks like. Very ugly:

 

Well, to update my situation, they rebuilt the engine at 23K hoping to solve the oil consumption issues. That didn't work, so they put an entirely new engine in at 30K miles. They gave me the extended warranty which covers me until the car is paid off (thank god!). Since the engine replacement, the oil consumption "issue" has continued just the same. They have now concluded that there is no problem, I just have to add 1 Qt of oil every 5000 miles. Sounds like a design flaw to me.

Since my last list of problems, I've had the check engine light come on 3x (problem was result of bad gas cap 2x and O2 sensor once). I've had more rattles and electrical problems as well. Currently the radio stays on well after I have removed the key (the dash says "Remove Key!") and it finally clicks off after a few minutes. I will have the dealer look at this when it goes in for ServiceB in a few weeks.

 

Can people draw any unscientific conclusions from the responses here? One can maybe say it's an average reliability car. However, it seems that when things go wrong, the car really is like a lemon, with tonnes of issues? Or you have no issues?

 

[QUOTE=kmchow] One can maybe say it's an average reliability car. QUOTE]
No, one should not say that. The conclusion is that MB has a reliability problem. I have had more problems with my C than all the combined problems of the last 7 new cars my wife and I have purchased.

 

2005 C230 Sport Sedan (purchased in March)

1. Rear axle area shudders when depressing clutch in first gear just beyond friction point.

Two dealers have looked at it and have deemed it normal, although it can sound annoying. Other manual transmission '05 C Class cars do it, too.

2. Windshield wipers skip and produce a loud chattering sound.

Dealer replaced windshield wipers and adjusted angle and it still hasn't done anything. My parents have an '04 C320 coupe and got fed up with the same problem and finally bought Bosch wipers, which has solved the problem so far. I think M-B should be held responsible for providing parts that obviously don't work and are a safety hazard, and should pay for Bosch wipers on my car when they are the only thing that has proven to work so far.

3. Tire balancing was way off.

I took my car in to have the above two problems addressed and to have their "tire inspection" performed. My car was noticably off balance, although it seemed to drive just fine. After rebalancing, I haven't noticed much of a difference. I would have this checked within a few months of buying a new car.

 

WOW how did you do that ? Besides that far as problems ? Same old same old Rattling in the trunk, clicking noises, vibration sometimes. Its the usual MB Problems that you as a owner must get use to it otherwise take your car in for service all the time.

 

All i did was wiping it with a damp cloth (with just water) and the whole thing came off like that . The more I wiped, the more it came off. I tried to get the whole thing off but the finish from the corner area would not come off. I don't know how other people have dealt with this problem. Unless the replacement parts are made differently, This condition will appear again over time .

Beside this one "defect", they built my car pretty well, there are no squeaks, rattles, noises whatsoever after 11k + miles

 

You better be lucky you didnt wipe it any where else.

 

I've had my armrest replaced TWICE already for peeling and my car has 16k miles. The second armrest is doing the saaaaame thing again too. The armrests are garbage.

 

Dont put water on it

 

Yep. it's quite bad because the interior of my car doesn't see that much sunlight. When I park the car at work I would put on the sunshade in front and rearshade in the back, and most of the time, it would be parked in the shade. The car also got the blue tinted windows from MB. At nights and on the weekends it's parked in the garage, yet this still happened.

 

about 3800 miles yesterday car wouldnt start up... technician came over and gave it a jump start then it worked but then as i was leaveing i heard a weird noise as i was switching gears. Technician said it could be something is staying on probably the ecu or something.

 

sucks to be you !

 

Why you talking about yourself like that ? Wasted 25K putting into your coupe.