Trekman

are C32 made is South Africa? and I tought that all AMG are built on Affalterbach germany? or is it just the motors..........

vraa

Another fallen Benz

cntlaw

All RHD W203 are built in SA factory ( LHD W203 are built in Germany )
AMG engines are all built in Germany and ship to factories outside Germany for assembling.

cntlaw

A complaint letter went to Mercedes last week.
The purpose is to make sure fixings and future service
are properly handled.

After went through some very deep thinking as whether I should
go for a E55 or a 997S ; and the conclusion is , there is no point to pay more
than double and get a replacment of 20% gain :p

Long as this horse does not let me down again, I will keep it. ( actually just renewal the insurance - 18th is this horse 's birthday !!

zoink

Not to be sarcastic, my friend.... but welcome to the club!!! I also have a feeling that my W210 would be my last benz.... this is after my 3-month old W211 E55 was a lemon and bought back by the dealer.... yes, it happened around 2 years ago... but after seeing one horror story after another, especially w/ SBC brakes, my faith w/ benz is getting less and less. Even though I don't think it's more than 1% of benz have this kind of quality issue.... but one is one too many.

AMG does have a wonderful piece of machinery but Benz has been having a hard time maintaining their quality..... my W210 is so far trouble free, except some non-important glitches - bad instrument panel LCD & dead head rest motor.

I may stick w/ P-car and possibly get a Japanese super-loaded sedan (Lexus?). My experience w/ C4S was wonderful and w/ Cayenne S so far has been wonderful.

viper

Welcome to the world of MB ownership. Here you will find that only the S-class and above is engineered and assembled for long term durability. The lower classes are no better than most domestic vehicles and you will really find this out at trade-in time when you will be shocked at how little your vehicle is worth.

zoink

Huh? :werd:

Ever heard a 3-yr-old or newer S-class had the following problems?
- Infra-red key is problematic
- Air suspension dead
- Navigation dead
- A/C blower dead
- Steering wheel wobbled
- plus many problems....

My cousin, who has a dealer, found 3 of S-class's like this. The price...
- '02 S500 w/ 67K - $25K
- '03 S500 w/ 45K - $35K
- '03 S500 w/ 80K - $28K

Now what would you say? Bad apples always worth less...

IMHO, it happens in all MB classes (or can I generalize European cars?).... it's when Germans try to be as high-tech as Japanese in terms of electronic gadgets (which means outside engine and body constructions). Still, they're only a few but absolutely more than Japanese.

FYI, I am not defending Japanese cars or offending European cars.... I think that's the fact I believe is true. Yet, I still love European cars a lot more than Japanese.... as I don't care about gadgets... I care about how a car feels when driven.

05C55

You know man, it is a very complicated piece of equipment. I find it comical that you have a component failure and you are ready to drive it off a bridge. Give me a break. I guess that everything you do in life is perfect? Your job, relationships, your health and finances. If you need more stability go buy a Camry.

Childish///AMG

You like that , don't you :p :p

MBTECH2003

It sounds as if you are gettin some pretty poor service considering underwarranty here in the US you cannot even replace a battery without testing it with a MB battery tester. Couple questions: Can you turn the key? and if so: Does everything in the car work other than engine when in the ON position? and.... What happens when you turn the key to the start position?

vraa

Heh maybe

cntlaw

05C55

Appreciated your response and I do understand you (and some people) have a different view point in handling odd situations, in this case, let's stick with machineries in question (rather than my heart or kidney :p ) .
You were definitely coming in from a good will in helping me to retsore my sense of comfort on a really something fortune of asset that I had to pay.

Nevertheless, we can assume many people in this forums have previously owned more than one car (Japanese and European). I think it would be a little bit waste of time to start educating people here what reliabilities these cars are. e.g. I do not give a fck to a Camry in this forum.

Finally I am not sure how someone would take this - " a component failure" - this can cause life and dead - if we are talking about a 367hp AMG race car driving at 200km/h !

My main question was, asking this forum, who could not start a new bought C55/C32 after 11 months without a sign of problems or indication in advance. What does it mean that the starter on my C55 had to be replaced after 11 months. What is the next component likely to fail? We only have been offered two years of warranty from our major MB dealer here; so after the 2 years, am I expected to pay a fortune to keep replacing failed components of this car because MB is no longer making their car reliable as the Japanese?

I think it is fair to make a complaint and I can't help if someone prefers to think this is a laugh.

Thanks
cnt

cntlaw

You are absoluetly right. They (the dealer) did a poor job - and this is why they will expect a major investigation from MB China ( this is what MB office in HK named )

At the time of the incident, to me, everything is normal this was further proven as when the technicans cam to the parking lot and tested over 20 things. And they could almost able to conclude the 'starter' is not working !

So the starter is being replaced.

cheers
cnt

05C55

I didn't mean to be harsh. My car actually died on the way to the dealer when the MAF sensor failed. But I have been here before in Mercedes, BMW's, Toyotas, Nissans, Chevrolets. They all have problems. The good news is that when it is working properly it is a very pleasurable car to drive and I think your being hyper sensitive. Get your starter fixed, if the car becomes problematic, sell it.

cntlaw

:p I know you did not mean it. ( My ex-W210 had never failed me )
And because it is a very pleasure car to drive, selling it will be a last resort if ever the bills stacking up high in future ( we here have extremely high vehicle depreciation rate and absoluetly expensive redicuious insurance policy )
Believe or not, 18th is his one year birthday, and to ride it for another year, it is another $3200 to renew vehicle registration and insurance premium

kjb55

Bottom line - it's an automobile. Something, at sometime, will fail or require maintenance. No matter the year, make, model or miles. Use F1 as an example - do you think the grid starts with cars (shy of Minardi!) using anything less than 'perfect' components or electronics - and is it ever THAT big of a surprise when a driver has a wave-off before the lights go off???

Does anyone know of an auto manufacturer or supplier that doesn't have a failure rate? You want a starter that will last the 'life' of the car (whatever that is) - then be willing to spend significant dollars. It can be produced... WITH AN EXPECTED failure rate!!!! Heck - MB doesn't even make the starter that failed!

Nevertheless, you've got your new starter - enjoy the car - that is... until the next failure.

StapleGun

It is without question that the quality of MB has seen a steady decline during the course of the years. Anyone not questioning or not upset at having this kind of failure at 11K is delusional. Whether an C, E or S class...MB quality across the board is crap.

MBTECH2003

I am willing to bet that when they replace the starter the car will still not start. Let me know the result of the starter replacement, because I HIGHLY doubt that its the problem

cntlaw

thanks . may be you missed some on the thread. It was the starter which they had replaced. and it IS the problem at least this is what the dealer told me. Anyway, MB afreed to do an investigation at the dealer's service center for me.

cntlaw

Well, in fact , I am just like one of the many C55 owners here, love this car so much and could possibly live with the problems as long as the hand built engine is still healthy. The most upset is still my wife , she is still not convinced that I have paid USD 110K for a MB would be that crappy.

scovit

After reading these postings I more than most have reason to question both MB quality and BMW, yes BMW quality.

I owned a 1998 E39 528i with an unfixable airbag safety system. Car was returned to BMW and I got all my money back. I then got a 1999 540i, wonderful car, no problems at all.

I just owned a 2005 CLK500, Cadet Blue, with so many problems electrical, steering, alignment etc, this too was returned to the dealer and Mercedes and I received all my money back. I then got an 05 C55 and loving it. this is a quality ride.

I'll tell you this, it's all how you hit it. It has little to do with the manufacturer, even cars from the far east suffer from problems. My son's 03 Mazda 6S has had serious wear problems on the front end 21,000 miles and he's gone through 2 sets of Pilots. Tranny problems and my daughters Subaru has had brake problems and AC problems, so go figure....

It's a machine and things are going to need replacement. It used to be worse 20 years ago, when cars were only warranteed for 12 months or 12,000 miles believe it.

M_M

my pervious w208 clk had the exact the same problem after 3 months of purchased. after the fix, I sold it out right away.

kjb55

Thanks Scovit for a dose of reality. "MB quality across the board is crap" is such a generalization it's too easy a target to blow holes through. Specifics would help - and when you get to that level EVERY single car could be considered crap. Any quality study (ie JDPowers) tells you all you need to know - every single car has defects - just some less than others.

What the consumers are never told is what is behind the scores. In MBs case - they were dinged in 2003 for excessive brake dust and tire wear on AMG models, and excessive wind noise in MLs. Yes, these are considered defects by JDP. Several years before that Porsche was at the bottom of the list because nearly every Porsche owner that responded dinged Porsche for not having cup holders!! Yep - a defect according to JDP. However, due to MBs discredit, they did experience electronics gremlins migrating from D2B to MOST - however, MOST is a much better platform moving forward. That was in 2003 also, but gone my MY2004.

A starter craps out at 11months and you're going to throw a hissy fit and sell your car... only to buy another car and experience a failure somewhere, sometime. My dishwasher just broke, it's only 2years old - therefore my house is crap and I should by a new one to get a dishwasher that won't break.

What's with all the drama?

Childish///AMG

All in all, I think that he just wanted to "Vent" and this a positive place for him to that. No one wants he to go postal do they

cntlaw

Really want to know if any C55/W203 owners with Bi-Xenon have encountered this problem. It was after the dealer returned my car (after replaced the starter); then I found that the folding mirrors no longer fold up automatically after door is locked. And, somehow, the Bi-Xenon (right side only) had expereinced some intermittent problems , which is like blinking and even switching off for a half a second and on again....and blinking ...just repeating itself like this.
The bi-Xenon problem is causing big issue on the road , as other drivers would think that I am making fun with them!
So, I took it back to the dealer and the answer was strange :
As said, both folding mirror and bi-xenon problems was caused by a faulty signal processing circuit board. And, it will take a week to wait for this component to be replaced