Hello Everyone!

Im back to the MB World again after several years on hiatus! I was a regular here since 2006 when i had the 2002 C240, then in August 2013, I leased a 2013 C300 Iridium Silver. I returned the car in March 2016 and then I switched to the rival BMW. I drove that for nearly 3 years and then in May 2018, I transferred the lease out as I had moved to NYC.

The BMW 320i X Drive was great handling wise, but it certainly did not have that same “satisfaction” and power that I had from my C300 and I had really missed it. The sheer power of the MB V6 M272 Engine is no longer offered in these newer cars, which favor turbocharged In-line 4s there’s just no comparison.

It was a bittersweet moment to give up driving for 2 years. But, cars have always been on my mind since I’ve moved and last week, I made the incredibly calculated decision to return to driving again. I decided that I wanted to take on the challenge of owning a car in Manhattan. So, I returned to looking again for my favorite car, the W204 C300! 😊. Upon my search, the car had been saved on my favorites in TrueCar for weeks, the dealership that housed my car had apparently been closed due to the pandemic. The reason why I had selected this car is because it had all the features that I was looking for, ZERO accidents, 53K and two owners. The photos were stunning. The car was pretty much calling my name. I went into the showroom to go look at the vehicle. I was in awe. It was a 2014 Mercedes C300 Lunar Blue in almost immaculate condition, It’s a rare color combo. Lunar Blue with the Almond Interior. The car currently has 53K miles on it and I’m hoping I can get another 50K out of it. The car will be used primarily for when I want to escape Manhattan and NYC and go on short road trips. For trips within Manhattan I plan to keep it parked. 😊. I’m excited! It comes with an aftermarket warranty, which covers the powertrain and other main components, (NIADA), since I won’t be driving it too much, I won’t expect too much breakdowns but one can never really know!

A few problems that I did notice: The ECO Start/Stop does not work, the car seems to never meet the conditions to trigger the ECO to be green so that it can start and stop. So thats something I have to look into it is a 6 year old car so maybe the battery has to be replaced? I don’t have any warnings though so not sure.. Also at over 50mph, there’s some sort of audible whining noise that increases with speed that I hear coming from the wheels, sounds like the wheel bearings. The previous owners didn’t drive the car much and I have read that bearings do become noisy over time. Other than that it’s a smooth drive and new adventures await me!

I want to get an aftermarket decklid spoiler, the websites seem to have it in “Capri Blue”. But the car color is “Lunar Blue”. Is there a big visual difference in those colors?

I will be sure to post pics after I give it a thorough this coming weekend. 😊, but here are some preliminary pics!

 

Congrats on the purchase, I really like that blue as well.

To start off, it is most likely your aux battery is toast and that’s why ECO start/stop isn’t working. Easy to pull it out and get tested. Here is what you’re looking for:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...-location.html

If you’re a DIY’er, here is a great maintenance thread to go over:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ce-thread.html

Welcome back and have fun!

 

Congrats and nice color combo. Definitely gotta update those headlight bulbs.

 

Welcome back! You should be able to get much more than 50k out of this car! (Although idk how long your commutes would be).

People also pull the fuse for the eco start so they don't have to press the button every time they turn the car on. Honestly it's probably a hassle in NY streets.

 

On the W212 it is not the aux battery that causes start/stop not to work - it is the main battery. I would start there. This happens repeatedly on the W212 side and everyone always immediately suggests the AUX battery, but that is never the right guess.

As for the wheel noise - is it front wheels, back wheels? The last time I heard a noise as you described it was differential failure in a 2009 C300.

 

Thanks for those suggestions! Really appreciate it! -- The Auxiliary Battery indicator does not come up on the dashboard, so I'm not sure if thats the case. The Eco does display on the instrument cluster but it is in yellow so its definitely activated. Could it be that the Auxiliary Battery is on its way out?

Oh yeah its a rare color combo! Definitely not a color that I see on the streets to often, which is why its proving to be difficult for me to find a used OEM Decklid Spoiler Part No A2047930988 with the Lunar Blue 890 Color Code. So i'll continue to search but its quite challenging to find that color. Does anyone have a Lunar Blue Decklid Spoiler that they are willing to sell to me?

Yeah I'll have to check to see if thats the case. Though the Fuse I think is working because the button for the ECO Start and Stop is illuminated in Green. The vehicle just never meets the criteria to Start / Stop.

As for the noise, I can't really tell where it is coming from. I feel like it may be coming from the bearings. It is not too apparent but the noise occurs at 40 and higher the noise increases in frequency as I go faster, kinda like the bearings or something. The noise is not too loud, when I play music and open the windows, it drowns it away. The noise is only heard when I lower the windows and turn off the radio. The tires don't have much tread in them left, I'd say they have about a year and a half left. Since I don't plan on driving the car that often, I don't care to replace them at this time. There are no vibrations whatsoever and the car is very smooth. I did take the car back to the used car dealer to complain about the noise, the sales person said that rotors, brakes and etc were all replaced in the car and that the new parts have to be worn in. I don't believe that for a hot second. I didn't bother arguing because at the end of the day, I bought the car for the car not for the dealership.

 

There’s a video of the noise at around 60mph.

Should I worry?

 

Congrats on your purchase! I bought a used 2014 C300 about 2 years ago as well, and I also had the Eco Start/Stop issue. Turns out there were some recalls for my car involving the steering column. As soon as I had that done, Eco Start/Stop worked right away!

So I suggest you call your local dealership and check on recalls

 

If you have a bad auxiliary battery (located in the trunk), the eco start/stop may not work.

 

Ah okay, I’ll check! Good Plan!

I was trying to upload a video showing the road noise, but I’ll probably just upload it as a private video to YouTube and share it here. 😊. I’m suspecting it to be a bent rim at this point. The tires have some tread left but they are running out.