MW_ATL

Hey...won't that count as the trip to a Dealership and put you back under Roadside for another 12 months.

ncmudbug

Glad it wasn't serious.

Glad you're finally getting the cam solenoid fix! It's better than having just the wires.

samaritrey

keep us updated

LILBENZ230

I'd have to spend a certain amount of money at a dealership to be eligible for roadside. I am going to take it to RBM and while I'm there have the rear diff fluid changed. They charge $55 to do it according to their pricing schedule. I don't know how that's possible seeing as how just buying the correct oil for it is $80. Still, that won't be enough.

HitUpOlas

Also parts from the dealership parts counter count towards roadside minimum. I think it's $200 per year you need to spend.

W203E35

More oil coming from the breather huh? damn!! How much did they fill? It happened to me when filling oil. Hopefully it's the last time.

LILBENZ230

Okay so the car is back with a new coolant nipple and cleaned up fluid leak and the corrected fluid level. All is well, almost.

The transmission mount was replaced very recently. However, on my drive back to work today after picking the car up I rolled up all the windows and shut off the radio. There is still driveline noise, only under power, only over rough pavement, and from the center/rear of the car.

Frustrated. It doesn't affect how it drives but it drives me insane.

Carsy

Sell it & buy a Honda !! I don't know how you put up with all the cr#p.

tommy

Turn the radio back up.

LILBENZ230

Is that sarcasm? It really has been mostly trouble free. It's never broken down and this recent stuff was more my indy's fault than the car's.

Tommy - That's not enough. You can *feel* it in the floorboards once you know it is there. Plus, it's obviously a problem.. did you see my car in that above picture? Does it look like I'm one to let stuff go?

tommy

No, your issues are well documented here.

It was too cold to keep the windows down on my drive to the OBX last week, and the number of misc. rattles and squeaks was scary. Which is why I either put Car Talk or 1st Wave on my Sirius receiver on semi-loud. I prefer to be able to ignore my problems, not solve them.

LILBENZ230

Do flex discs make noise as they crack and wear out? I should have had them check those while it was on the lift. It'll be going to the Mercedes dealer this weekend for a the cam solenoid recall. I'm sure they will have me an 18-page list of things wrong that they will be willing to fix for $18.7 billion USD. Makes me sick having to even go there.

LILBENZ230

You have a pre-facelift coupe. Those rattles and squeaks came standard from the factory. My facelift sedan has always been tight and devoid of rattles (with the exception of the rear sunshade) and the driveline noise is unsettling. Plus, it gets worse with time. It is very minor now but get several thousand miles on the transmission mount and it'll sound like the rear of the car will fall out under acceleration over rough pavement. Something is not kosher.

tommy

Yes, they'll go through the entire menu of "well, it's not broken, but you should replace..." items, especially since it's been so long since you've been there to be gouged on price.

You might think of getting enough minor things done there to qualify for the roadside again. It would pay for itself with one breakdown, which given the law of averages with these cars...

What the he11 is a flex disc?

LILBENZ230

I'm an AAA member, which came in useful two weekends ago when I had it towed 40 miles out of precaution over the transmission fluid. The roadside from Mercedes offers free towing to a dealer.. hmmm.. Do I pay $200 to tow the car to my mechanic to be fixed for $500.00 or do I get Mercedes free roadside to tow to the dealer for $0.00 so they can charge me $37,589.75 for the repair.. yeah "free" towing my ****.

I can't WAIT for the inspection report on my car. It has 121,000 miles and per the VMI that Nick gave me hasn't seen the dealer since 44,000 for transmission mount replacement under warranty (which I remember vaguely being early 2009). If there are still signs of that transmission fluid leak, they're going to see dollar signs even though the car is fine. I bet their inspection turns up about $3,000 worth of work. I'll ask for them to give me estimates on all repairs they suggest.. then I'm going to laugh hysterically as I walk out.

The flex discs are things that are between the transmission and drive shaft as far as I know. I know Phil had his replaced on his 05 C230 not too long ago saying they were cracked, but he never mentioned them being noisy.

MW_ATL

Matt, we have had flex disc problems on Chargers at work (yes, they use them too) and from what I remember they do give a noticeable vibration when they are bad.

It will be interesting to see what kind of response you get when you compared to my experiences. Of course it all depends on the service advisor you get, but between the two I regularly use, I don't think they've ever told me anything that needed being done that I wasn't expecting. Of course they see both of my cars regularly. As a matter of fact, I'll be over Friday morning.

johnand

Matt, my 1st thought was flex discs. They do absolutely make noise and vibration when they go bad, like MW_ATL pointed out. I would imagine at your age and mileage, they would be on their way out. Mine have some VERY minor cracking, but are still solid, w/o noise or vibration. Transmission mount is still good too! Just passed 97K this week.

Glad to see your Indy finally got your car right.

Looking forward to the report from the stealer

LILBENZ230

My appt at RBM is Saturday morning at 11AM. Too bad you couldn't have had the same thing. I like that RBM publishes their service rates on the internet for a wide variety of services, including the rear diff fluid change for $55 - that is cheaper than I could have done anywhere else due to the cost of the fluid. I still don't know how they're able to do it for just $55.

Flex discs are on my list for replacement up next.

johnand

The rear diff fluid change is coming soon. My dealer wanted $240 for diff change. I suspect your $55 quote for diff fluid change is not for the special 75W-85. Probably the 75W-90, which was originally spec'd for your car.

I am behind on maintenance on the Benz. Hoping to make a deal on a winter rig on Saturday. If I do, the Benz will be parked in the garage for the next couple of months for some thorough maintenance and cleaning. I will update my thread with specifics.

LILBENZ230

Wait wait.. If they're going to not put the right fluid in, I won't have it done.

MW_ATL

If I get a chance I will pull my invoice tomorrow and see if they listed what they used on mine. I would expect what ever is currently spec'd for the car. It will be interesting to see.

Of course, since mine got changed at about 120K, if what was in it for the first 10 years worked...I could live with a refill of that; still better than running it for the second 100K.

LILBENZ230

I am pulling the adapter wires from my car tonight because I do not want the dealer to claim my car has already had the warranty work. When I put these wires in at 41000 miles there was a slight bit of oil in the connectors. I'm hoping they replace the magnets on the engine in addition to adding the adapter wires.

I guess you are right about the first fluid working so well. My car has 121,500 miles this morning.

MW_ATL

I asked this morning what they used, the SA was going to walk back and ask the tech, but we got to talking and both of us forgot. Sorry. I also made a quick look, but couldn't distinguish the shop receipt from when mine was done. I've got them all, but in no order - and there are way too many.

I can't see them using anything that wasn't on the MB "approved" list for the particular car, but I bet you'll be able to tell us tomorrow.

ncmudbug

I left my isolation wires on when they did my car. They didn't give them back. Oh well, I guess I don't need them any more...

LILBENZ230

They reinstalled them on my car after replacing the adjusters. You do still need them because they'll leak again. They used Mobil 1 gear oil at $10.73 a quart. Not even close to what we were finding was the correct stuff for the rear diff.

I hate dealerships. I really, really, really hate dealerships. And I was reminded exactly why on Saturday:

I show up at 11AM, talk to the SA about my recall. I tell him I'm going to walk around and look at cars while my car is being worked on. He tells me that sometimes they find oil in other places and that I might end up having to take a loaner. I say OK.

45 minutes later, my phone rings. He says I am ready to go. I think to myself "wow that was fast". I get to his office and he says "Your car doesn't have any problems, the technicians inspected and it is new enough to not have the oil leaking sensors." I pay $58.05 for a diff fluid change and walk out to my car.. initially thinking that the adapter wires I'd installed at 41k had made it seem this way. Then I got to looking at the paperwork.. At the top it had my name and correct address, but it had "07 C230 White with a VIN".. ummm? I took a relative's white 07 C230 to RBM over a year ago.

That's an honest mistake, right? Well not exactly. My car is clearly not white, how did he miss that when doing the inspection? He wrote down the VIN number, too, which clearly didn't match. And the original paperwork said "This chassis does not qualify for this recall". The techs inspected my car and couldn't tell that it was not an 07? And they work on these cars?

I went back in and donned my captain obvious hat. They replaced the sensors and installed new adapter wires.

That was the first time I've ever spent money at a dealer and stupidity like that is why I hope it is the last.