kimidjk

I've had my C350 W204 for about two month....
It has about 2300miles on it

I just changed my engine oil with filter bc I am a person who kinda believes in about engine shaving......anyhow.

I was assured with the ads that they put up, how the new c class is made with quality. but then my car is such an....
I mean I like it and maybe I am overly sensative but....

whenever my front suspension moves there is this tiny crack sound generated from back windshiled or could be from rear speaker.

Also I found moistures in the headlamps. dealer found the open vent tube....gladly they fixed it

My car was found to have defection on the headrest during DOI.
my dealer changed for me. However, they got me a different headrest which has different texture at the backside of the headrest... now they got me the identical ones.....But I had no idea which one was supposed to be mine. I got the leather at the frontside and rubbery kind one at the back side on both of them.

The major problem is my rear right hand side brake is annoying as hell.
It creates squeak noise whenever I step on a brake as if the brake lining has been worn out.
It drove me nuts. I hoped it will go off which did not and it comes and goes now. but It still drives me nuts. I am scared to step on the brake pedals now. I went to dealer twice for this and they say it's a normal thing. and it can create noises on winter time and due to the different material that they use for the brake, it could generate some noise. I mean are they kidding me? I never had a problem with my E350 05'(in korea)
by the way I was so surprised to notice how different the e class in korea is to e class in U.S. maybe it's bc of the price but E 350 had so much features that ones in U.S. can't name em all but...(considering it cost about $110000 in korea) Anyhow
(c350 W204 =U.S) they say brakes are well worn and noise will not affect on the performance......okay I get that but can you not get the noises out of that? can anyone help me with this? I was thinking to replace my brake pads and rotors but... probably my dealer won't do it for me which I will have to pay for it.....
some of my friends who own MB say that this squeaking brake is MB thing that can not be removed...
plz help me with this brakes....I dun think it has anything to do with brake dust....

thanx in advance

C350 08' artic white
P2 sport package
I pod

E350 05' Iridium silver
FUll option

abqhudson

Sorry to hear about the problems you are experiencing - happy to hear that it's nothing that can't be easily fixed. If I were you, I would demand that the dealer fix the noisy brakes.

Hudson's Rule: You are not entitled to perfection. Not in your wife, not in your car, not in your kids etc. Perfection is not guaranteed in the bible, or the constitution. Only the politicians promise it. Rant off.

chilledbenz

You can't fault the car, only thing you can fault is yourself. You can't really think that a new model year car, one that's only in its first four months of service would be perfect? Lol I hate to say it but the problems you have sound very minor compared to what they could be. All new model year cars will have growing pains, weither its a Mercedes, Ferrari, or Honda. If you really wanted a car without minor hassels you should have waited a year for them to work out the bugs, even if they claim this car has been tested over 5 million miles or what ever number they are saying now.

kimidjk

I guess you're probably right....I should've waited for another yr...
well I couldn't and mybe I will just try to bare with it....
I should come up with something I guess if I talk to dealer again...

peabers

There's always a risk in picking up a year-one model. If we cannot deal with problems on your car, then you should consider buying a model that has been around. It sounds to me like minor problems that the dealer should be able to fix.

My W204 will be the third car in the row that I have bought on year-one of the model run. So far so good... never had any issues. My wife, on the other hand, had a blown transmission on her year-one Subaru Legacy.

So... YMMV

chilledbenz

I'm with you on that one, I need a car soon as the warranty on the Bimmer I'm driving is up. I love the look of the new C so I'm willing to take a chance. I got my 06 ML in the first year for the new body style, and I can't say its been perfect. It's had a few nagging problems that had it sitting in the dealerships garage a few times, but nothing that was a serious safety issue or left me stranded thankfully. My C isn't going to be built till sometime at the end of the month, so I hope everything is fixed by then ha ha ha.

rb23lb

i also have that same crack/pop noise that you mention that comes from the rear of the car everytime there is a change in suspension due to even the most minor road irregularities.. i did some reasearch on my own and went back in the car back seat and looked back by the rear winshield to see what could possibly be making the crack noise (sounds like rice krispies popping)

sure enough, if you have p2 and the rear sunshade thing and MM, there is a plastic grate for the speakers, then the sunshade slot and then another plastic vent grate i think which is for rear air circulation... this back plastic grate which is adjacent to the rear winshield, if you push on it, yisou will hear that same cracking noise with which you mention in your post... it seems to me that this is a result of this vent plastic piece either not being properly set or not being properly insulated...

anybody with a w204 might have this... go to your rear winshield from the inside and start pushing on the long plastic piece that runs along its width.... if you push in different areas, you will see how cheap it sounds and how it might be susceptible to making that same noise when u go over a bump in the road, road marker, or any slight change in incline...

i took it to my dealer today at 2900 miles for the first free service and he said he had seen this issue with 2 other cars this same week that were brought in for their first service and that they fixed it by either securing the piece further or further insulating it from its surroundings..

drive with your radio and ac off and listen as you drive for about a 10 minute period... make note of any noises, creaks, cracks or anything you can discern coming from the cars interior... some may just be the fate of having a car with so much plastic that it is bound to make noise slightly when driven, others may be correctible like mine was from the dealer... just FYI... curious for others responses...

this car is not perfect of course... and could be built a little tighter... but there are many things i absolutely love about this car that I am still ABSOLUTELY satisfied with my purchase and love it and and have no regrets

RLE

<<You can't fault the car, only thing you can fault is yourself. You can't really think that a new model year car, one that's only in its first four months of service would be perfect? Lol I hate to say it but the problems you have sound very minor compared to what they could be. All new model year cars will have growing pains, weither its a Mercedes, Ferrari, or Honda. If you really wanted a car without minor hassels you should have waited a year for them to work out the bugs, even if they claim this car has been tested over 5 million miles or what ever number they are saying now.>>

So your theory is that the brake calipers and hub are an all new design never before used?

Hardly.

And my C300 brakes make no unusual noises. This is a warranty issue and if the dealer blows it off then the local MBUSA rep needs to be involved.

rb23lb

what about the snap crackle pop noise that happens in the rear of the car... u have this.... maybe like one crack per every 5-7 seconds on avg... but this of course depends on what the road is like...

my loaner w203 the dealer gave me that is MY 2007 with only 4000 miles on it makes more noise than I was complaining about with my car, so I dont feel bad and just expect that all mercedes and all cars have a lot of plastic which is subject to slight adjustment noises while the vehicle is driven.... guess i should just turn the music up louder and stop drivin myself crazy

JimPap

Guess I got lucky. Mine's quiet as a mouse....actually quieter as I would think that a mouse makes some noise.

My only issue is that I think the seats could have been made more comfortable.

rb23lb

give it time... no cars will have only noise from the road over time... you will eventually hear extraneous sounds when u drive over for example, raised lane markers, that are not just from your tires... noises in the interior will be there if u listen hard enough that will be a result of the interior materials dealing with the vibrations from the road....

EmCeeSmith

I purchased my C350 (AMG Wheels, Pano Roof, P2 Package) in late October. I drive just at 100 miles per day round trip to work. Initially, the car felt extremely solid (i.e., no interior noise, creaks, etc...) However, I have just recently noticed two things that are really starting to **** me off. One, I am hearing the ticking noise from the rear passenger side that I heard some of you mention in this thread. Two, whenever I turn the music up a little bit, I have a vibration coming from the passenger door somewhere. It sounded like the speaker popping at first, but then I realized it is coming from the door handle itself. Anyone had this issue yet? Overall, I LOVE THIS CAR!!! I just need to get a few minor kinks worked out I suppose...

rb23lb

emcee... man, i have the same EXACT 2 problems that you have.... coming from the door handle on the pasanger side when the music is up with bass, and the ticking/snapping noise I hear from the rear of the car when driving... also pisses me off and my car also used to be dead silent while driving...

it is currently in the shop and they said they can fix it for free under warranty, I will update you on the results and what the fix was hopefully...

sounds like this is going to be a common issue, as u see from my other posts above that the dealer told me he already had seen 2 others bring their car in for the same thing i mentioned this past week...

pretty wack for a new mercedes to be doing this... but then when I am driving my w203 rental car with only 7000 miles waiting for my w204 to get out of the shop, i hear a loud whistling noise from the dash... sounds like meredes quality has gone downhill in the past few years..

EmCeeSmith

Sorry to hear that you are having to deal with this as well... I think the reason why it was pissing me off so much was that when I tried to turn the music up to drown out the ticking sound from the back, I got the door handle rattle... You can't win them all, I guess... Thanks for your feedback... Let me know how it turns out. It looks like I'll have a window to take it to the dealer around the time that I take vacation the week of Christmas...