I have a 2013 C250 coupe with just over 60K on the odometer.Monday of last week while driving home from work, my car got hit in the back end. I filed a claim under the other driver’s insurance and have a check for repairs. This will pay for a new bumper, bumper cover and the labor to get my car fixed. Friday morning I got up early and went over to the body shop and made an appointment to drop off my car. After leaving the body shop, I proceeded to head to work. Half way to work, my car started shaking and the engine sounded like a noisy diesel. It was then that the car shut off one me. I tried to start the car and it would fire up, but it had no power, made half the normal amount of engine noise and would not shift out of park. I called Mercedes Benz roadside assistance and had it towed to the dealership to find out what was going on.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I was told that the cam shaft was not turning and that the cam bearing had shattered. I was told that I need a new engine. Since the car is still under warranty (until May 20) I should be covered. Since I didn’t have all the scheduled maintenance performed at the dealership, I had to show proof of the work, which I did and am now waiting on a regional level manager to approve the work. I was told that if the services had been performed at the dealership, I would automatically get a new engine. I should know more by tomorrow as to whether the work will be approved and what happens next.

Today, the car is being evaluated to see if MB can get away with a top end rebuild. As of lunch, Thursday, calendars 1 & 4 are fine. The valves did not drop and hit the piston. I’m still waiting to see what the status is of the other 2. I do not yet know will be done. My questions are the following:

1. I don’t think the bump in the rear had any effect on the engine but my buddy is not so convinced. I’ve read about timing chain issues with the I-4 engine and think this is most likely the culprit, but don’t know for sure. Its probably just a bad week’s worth of luck? If you think the tap in the back is related, do you think other components will need to be replaced down the road? Transmission, etc.
2. When I get my car back the warranty will be almost gone, if not already. Should I purchase an extended warranty to cover an additional 2 years fearing that other problems will occur?
3. Should I immediately trade it in on another vehicle? If so, another C250 or try to find a C350?
4. Could MB deny the warranty work saying it’s too costly to replace the engine and would they try to make me an offer on another vehicle? Would they try to blame the crash damage?
5. Is it common for engines to die like this? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

At the moment, I have a rental vehicle and am hoping to be free of it sooner than later.

 

After everything happening to the car and even though they are being repaired not at your expense, i'd get rid of the car after the repairs. Only because the car has been through too much already and you won't know what else will start braking down like what you mentioned (the transmisison)

Just my 2 cents.

 

I finally found out that it was the timing chain tensioner that gave out. When that happened the chain hopped the sprocket, valves closed and nothing in the calendars or valves got damaged. The parts for the front and top end rebuild should be here Monday. if all goes well, I will have the car back Friday or Monday. I still can't believe that this happened at 61K miles. now I'm searching for a replacement coupe. I'd like to get into a C350 if I can but will settle for a 250. What else should I look at. Ho common is this type of damage on the i4 engine?

 

Seems like the I4 on the C250 is almost guaranteed to have an early tensioner failure and a HPFP failure. Mine failed somewhere between 20-30K miles. So you did great.

 

Yeah, these horror stories are starting to pop up more often now on the forum.