ultraman206

I hate to post threads like this especially as my first official new thread; I would much rather do "here are pics of my ride" posts (which I promise I still will try to after I get my car back for the Nth time) but I have to rant...

First, I am not the type to gripe and moan about every little thing; but frankly, I am getting tired with the constant problems I am having with my car. For the short period of time that I've owned the car (less than 6 months); it has seen almost all the "common" problems mentioned on here.

Currently, it is in service again for the "common" tranny jerk (third time brought in by me), the semi-"common" steering grinding noise, and the semi-"common" passenger xenon headlight failing intermittently (second time brought in by me). These are of course only the latest setbacks; in the short 6 months I've also previously taken the car into service for the "common" dead battery from failing seat control modules (each side at seperate times ), the "common" suspension noises from failing control arm bushings, and the "common" failing bottom heated seat pad elements. I haven't even mentioned to my service rep I think my SC clutch bearing is starting to make noises. Obviously, this is not counting all the problems encountered and addressed by the previous owner and the owner before that. Yep, the "common" IC pump failure was done by the previous owner plus a whole bunch of other things from what I've seen on the very long rap sheet everytime my service rep pulls up the history.

Anyways, I just got a call from my service advisor and they will be replacing the radiator and transmission for the transmission jerk problem (they've already replaced the TCU from my previous trip) and they will be replacing the steering pump and rack and pinion for the steering grinding noise. Of course they couldn't duplicate the headlight problem; but all I can say is thank god for Starmark Extended Warranty. They said the bill would've came out to be over 7K . I am lucky the car came with a warranty and more lucky my local dealership has such a cool service dept.

I have to say, this being my first Mercedes-Benz, I am just shocked at the poor reliability of Mercedes-Benz. I know I bought the car used and it's at a higher milage (currently at 65K) and maybe I have a problem child car; but I didn't see this much issues with any of my previous cars. I will not compare to the Hondas/Acuras and the Toyotas/Lexuses I've owned; but I was a bmw guy for a very long time and I don't remember this much issues... minor or major. My previous bmw cars were '96 E36 M3, '98 E39 540i, '99 E46 328i, '01 E53 X5 4.4, and currently an '03 E85 Z4 3.0. It definitely makes me think twice before buying another MB. Are all MBs going to have this many problems? I would like to give MB another chance and maybe upgrade to an E55 one day... hopefully they don't have this many inherent problems, do they?

<end rant>

zoink

Go to NA.... my C55 and E55 don't have any kinds of those engine related problems...

But either way, that's the risk of buying a used car.... it may have been abused by previous owners... I'm selling my cars and I can't tell how many times prospective buyers ask me whether the car has been tracked, abused,

Eurocharged Rick

you would be ranting more if the dealership wasn't going to remedy the problems...be thankful, it will be like a whole new car when you get it back

amgmark

I have had almost all of those problems too + different ones. I bought mine with 80k miles.. with starmark.. thank god.. Happy to say it has been about 15000 miles without any significant issues.. Knocking on wood in.. 3, 2, 1...

Heated seat just got fixed for the 3rd time though.. LOL.. my warranty ran out a few months ago but think I must have fixed everything, and they fixed the seat free of charge because I just had it "fixed" a few months ago under warranty.. almost at 104k miles

ultraman206

Sorry I should be more specific... a W211 E55.
I am thankful I have had very little problem getting my dealership to address all the issues so far. What I fear the most is more problems or even repeat of fixed problem popping up after my extended warranty is up.

ultraman206

lol... good timing. This is exactly what I hope to hear... that after everything is fixed I can enjoy a "trouble free" car for at least a little length of time.

zoink

Sorry also... LOL I mean if you want to have a less problematic car, go w/ N/A.... C55, W210 E55... (W211 E63 is still TBD). At least it has one part to break.... and so far I don't have any problems... even w/ my 72K miles W210 E55

I do hope my W211 E55 is holding on...

ultraman206

beautiful cars you have for sale bro.

So you have a W211 E55 now? How is it compared to your C55?

FrankW

all the things that have been fixed for me have not happened a second time, so I'm very pleased with the car. as the car gets old there are going to have problems no matter what. MB drivetran other than the recent supercharged AMG cars has always been very tough and durable.

what I can tell you is "always" purchase extended warranty no matter what brand of car it is.

I can also tell you from my experience with BMWs and MBs in the family and relatives. BMWs has always had more problems in the long run which reoccurance rate is much higher for the same problem or they turn into something you can't fix it right.

i.e. my 2000 328Ci has had more problem in the first year than my C32.

zoink

Yes... https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/188758-please-welcome-me-back-w211-family.html

To C55?

Power wise, it's not even comparable... E55's torque is a lot bigger and available at a lot lower RPM. The only areas C55 wins is handling, exhaust tone and steering wheel.

Fifth Ring

Honestly, I'm going to attribute 1/2 the rant to a buggy car, and 1/2 the rant to someone trying to convince himself he needs a new car. Buy the new car and enjoy it.

1. You ranted about the things the prior owner fixed. I'm sure he appreciates your sympathy -- but the rant is needless.

2. The rant includes a suggestion that maybe you hear your supercharger bearing going bad. Sounds like you're looking for troubles. Worse, your dealer might well swap the whole supercharger for no reason -- and that will add to the folklore on how unreliable the s/c is.

3. People suggested that your solution is to buy an n/a engine when your only gripe with the s/c is that you think maybe your bearing is going bad. All your other glitches are independent of the engine, and would just as likely happen to any other C class.

No doubt, you've had a litany of issues. The steering grinding is something I've never heard of. Maybe it's time to give up and move on. A car should not bring frustration - only joy. When I lost confidence in my 2000 Audi A6, I moved on. Life's too short.

zoink

LOL... I think I have to defend my view on this one...

The reason I brought up C55 is because it's at least 2 model years later.. so the bugs should have been sorted out... and I think they are, I haven't heard or experienced any big or repetitive issues on C55. My C55 is so far flawless... of course, that greatly depends on how you drive it. If you drive like a maniac when the engine and all oil is still cold, of course you'll eventually break the car.

Another reason is b/c C55 is NA. One less part to break and the engine is the same as W210 E55, which have been proved to have few problems over the years.... and if you don't mod your car at all, C55 is a better all around car than C32.

So that's for the engine related issues, which are typically the most expensive thing to repair.

What's the next one: Transmission. Not sure why I hear a lot more C32's having these issues, and almost no, if at all, C55. It could be b/c C32 is more popular (good analogy: white cars have the highest numbers of accident because there are a lot of white cars on the road), attracts more aggressive drivers.... or could be b/c C55 is indeed better.

For the rest of the problems... I think it shouldn't be a big deal... german cars are all like that.... but still, I've never heard C55 has this issue. Those bugs may have already been kinked out...

gkstar

Most trany issues are due to glycol contamination, i.e. faulty Valeo radiator. Perhaps this issue was addressed 100% by the time C55 came out.

zoink

That's what my main point is... C55 should have most, if not all, bugs we've heard and haven't heard kinked out... and w/ NA engine that has been used since 1998, I would expect C55 to be one of the most reliable AMG's.

cicbenz

if you don't want it i'll take it

ultraman206

Fifth, I appreciate your comments and suggestions however they are a little off base.
The point was that the car itself has already been in service a number of times before my time to cover some of the "common" problems like IC pump, humming from fuel pump area, and the tranny jerk. The point was also that some of those services are popping up again like the heated seats (yes, same side).
I am not sure what you mean by looking for trouble; but as stated I have not even raised an issue about this yet to my service advisor. The point was this may (or may not) be another upcoming problem added to my car's troubled history. Right now I am hearing a slight rattling/grinding noise coming from the engine mostly during initial cold starts. I will do a lot more research and will continue driving it until I can say for sure it is the SC clutch bearing issue. This is the approach with everything I do... both on this board and in the real world. I will not go on this forum and post every little thing like "my car doesn't start, what's wrong?" or "Please help there is this terrible noise coming from the engine every morning!" threads. Just as I will not drive to my local dealership frequently and say "I think my car is not making enough hp power" or "I think my car is defective; it feels sluggish when I first accelerate" claims.

Of the times I have brought the car in for service, I would catagorize it as "show stoppers"... i.e. car completely dead from defective seat control modules (second time 3 days right after getting it back from the first same issue); i.e. steering making loud noises with burnt smell and puddle of power steering fluid in my garage from defective power steering pump/rack and pinion, i.e. alignment was way off forcing to take it back after it was in for defective suspension bushings.

I don't think I am adding to the "folklore" so much as will be adding to yet another actual case of "common" problem failures.
The point of my rant was on MB in general based on the only MB I've owned (not even mentioning the problems my parents have had with their '00 S500).
Agreed... I am sure most of us on this forum are car enthusiasts first and formost and owning a special car like ours should bring more joy than pain... unfortunately, I am feeling more of the latter. My plan when I purchased the vehicle back in December was to keep it for at least 3 - 5 years and eventually upgrade to a midsized super sedan or even a P-car.

Anyways, my post was exactly what it is... just a rant. I appreciate all the comments and feedbacks. Like the title says, I am not giving up... I am hoping the storm has passed and I can enjoy the car a little more.

Fifth Ring

Sorry if I came off critical. I've spent more time than I should on car forums, and one frustrating trend I've seen is the person with an extraordinarily bad service history venting about the poor quality of the car and building an argument for why it is a bad car. It doesn't help that it is also MY car!

In some cases, the problems are legit; but in others, it's just an attempt to build a roster of complaints.

The forum then provides support and ideas, and more often than not the visitor dumps the annoying car and buys another one, leaving the forum members mumbling and wondering when THEIR car is going to start falling apart. So the whole exercise is an effort by the original poster to convince himself to dump the car by trying to convince other owners of the same car that it sucks.

To me, if a car doesn't make me happy -- and I mean REALLY happy -- I don't care if it's because of the color, or the fact that Rosie O'Donnell drives one, or because I am mentally defective, I am getting rid of it. I promise I won't burden anyone here with my list of reasons.

moorfan

The forum then provides support and ideas, and more often than not the visitor dumps the annoying car and buys another one, leaving the forum members mumbling and wondering when THEIR car is going to start falling apart. So the whole exercise is an effort by the original poster to convince himself to dump the car by trying to convince other owners of the same car that it sucks.


I gotta tell you this point is well taken. When I first bought my C32 I got on this forum and I was a wreck. After reading all the posts, I had all these "issues". I had the original Valeo and the jerk...so I need a new radiator. Was there evidence that I had glycol contamination? NO. I replaced the radiator and flushed the transmission anyway. Then I bought a TCU based on advice from here...it didn't work. Had to buy a new TCU.
I was wondering how many parts I should replace prophylactically just because of the posts that I was reading.
What did I replace that was probably justified?
IC pump
radiator
Tires

everything else I did was either "preventative" or because of my neurosis.
Now, I just take the car out and drive it without "wondering" what may break next.
Although the squeaking from the front end is killing me....

regards,
pete

Fifth Ring

Sell it now!!!

Part of the reason I sold my Audi A6 is that I was finally learning all of the intricacies of the turbo system. Air comes in, gets filtered, then split, then goes down to the turbos where it gets pumped out to the intercoolers, back up to the top and into the engine. Turbos run about a billion RPM and blow up like flaming cream puffs, unless they stop working because some electronic or vacuum or hydraulic sensor or hose or clip comes off. When all 1,000 wires, tubes, hoses, pumps, sensors and fluids are working, it's a marvel. But how long can that last!

That's what attracted me to the C32. One, big air pump driven by a belt. Nice and simple.

FrankW

moorfan,

squeaking from the front suspension when driving over bumps are most likely coming from your sway bar or strut arm bushing. I had mine replaced a long time ago and the problem never occurred again.

I have to agree that sometimes I am pretty tire of reading new guys coming in and complaint about the car that they bought used off someone, etc etc. (no offense) especially when they are driven by paranoia from short readings of another new guy or from one of few that are just picky. A lot of time people just want any reason to upgrade their cars, tv, computers, etc. to make them feel better. I do it all the time with my basketball shoe and r/c car, but those are more of a hobby interest.

The most common thread is the transmission jerk. If you feel you have this problem why not just have the dealership check for glycol contamination? I'm pretty positive that a lot of time when new guys come in and start a thread saying "do I have the transmission jerk problem?" is that they don't have a clue on what symptoms to look for and mistaking the torque converter locking for transmission jerk.

Now, there are a lot of us these days on this forum compare to the old days. Doesn't matter you bought it new or used, the percentage of the people who has/had glycol contamination or supercharger failing is very small compare to the intercooler pump problem which is a simple fix. The clutch bearing is also a simple and cheap fix.

FrankW

I actually always thought the VAG turbo engines are very reliable. you had the A6 2.7t? those can be monsters

ultraman206

I also apologize if I sounded like I was bashing the car and building an argument for why it is a bad car... that was not my intention. This is not a "this car sucks, don't buy it" thread. Instead, it is just an account of one owner's experience with his car so far; and it shouldn't matter if he's only been a member for 6 months or 6 years. Maybe I made the mistake and should have posted more often everytime my car has an issue and NOT keep it bottled up inside until... *snap*.

Take this thread for what it's worth. If anything; a smart buyer will probably still buy this car and will heed the words of many on here, including myself, if you are going to buy this car (any used car in fact) get an extended warranty with it.

Fifth Ring

Bottom line. Name another car that can be purchased for under $25,000 that can run 0-60 in FIVE seconds, and still get you and three passengers to work every day in comfort and safety?

When I owned an Audi, we used to say that the European "character" of the car made it worth the periodic mechanical problems. The C32 (and C55) have 350HP and "character." Well worth the trouble IMHO.

amgmark

+1.. and its a damn sexy car with just a few subtle mods..

moorfan

Hell no.
It is a great car, and I enjoy it very much.
And to Frank, doing those things I listed reduced my jerk to 10% of what it was. Whenever you buy a used car you have to "sort" it. I have almost finished sorting this one and it is great!

Regards,
Pete