Hi dear amg siblings it's been a while since my last thread.

My name is Kowalski i live in a small country named Sweden. I'm a 50% happy owner of a C43 AMG 1999, the rest of the 50% I'm unhappy owner,
So here it is,

#My car is loosing the clearcote on its silverpaint, inside the trunk, inside the right front door, inside the left front door so far. Did any of you experiance this on your beloved AMG car?

#I had miner rustproblems on the front doors on the upper doorframe between rubbersealing and metal even though I never drive my car in the winter.

#Had to change my trunk cylinderlock

#Had to change my O2 sensor the car has only made 75,000 km. O2 sensor is supposed to last 100,000 miles= 16,0000 km.

#My digital climate head unit is loosing it's digits and I have to tap the glas carefully so the digits come back.

#The infamous transmission is still working great (knock on wood) I changed the trans oil, one thing I found out is if your O2 sensor is busted the trans will not shift properly in D-mode if you drive sportystyle from standstill and racing other cars. automatic shifting between 1st. and 2nd. gear makes the trans hezitate and you will loose speed and the race, let go off the accelerator so the gear will kick in and stomp again then will the car go like a rocket the other gears worked perfectly but automatic shifting between 1st. and 2nd. was not normal this depends on a faulty o2 sensor after it was changed the car pulls like a train and it is great to drive so check your o2 sensors.

Here in Sweden seems like the Benz autodealer has no clue how to maintain AMG cars they are really stupid these people.

So did any of you amg owners had these or other problems pliz let me know cheers mate.

By the way there are no polarbears on the streets in Sweden

 

altho it doesn't snow here in san francisco, the front hood was of poor paint quality from the factory when we took delivery, uneven paint coloration. it was repainted at no cost to us by the dealer.
clear coat is still holding.
have had to replace the fuel level sensor twice already due to inactivity, as well as some rubber engine parts (oil sending unit iirc) for the same reason.

been to tahoe once or twice in the winter, so there were some minor road damage from the salt on the part where it's painted inside the fenders behind the wheel. no rust damage, but rust between the rubber seal was reported by somebody else on this board (can't remember who)

 

ive had various issues, but all taken care of by starmark warranty:

30,000 - 40,000 miles:

driver's seat air bladder stopped working
center console latch broken
rust spot on roof by rubber seal of sunroof
climate control unit replaced (the "disappearing numbers" thing also)
drivers door trim rattling, replaced

50,000 - 60,000:

steering damper leaking
driver's mirror "leaking"
head gasket
oil pan gasket
motor mounts

60,000 - 70,000:

harmonic balancer (service campaign)
o2 sensors
maf sensor
tranny leak
rear diff leak
control arm bushings


i think thats all ...

i still love the car, though!!!!!!!

 

Had mine only for a few months, and managed to put 4,000 miles on it! Well in those 4 months not one problem at all has been encountered. I'm currently just shy of 61,000 miles. So I'd have to say I am very happy with the quality of my C43 where I stand currently. Of course I'll update you guys if I have any problems.

 

im at 80k and only had the replace the crank pos sensor and front brake pads and oil changes, so far soo good.

im happy.

 

kowalski, here in the US they don't use so much salt as they do in Sweden! My colleague (from Sweden) and he was telling me stories about rusted cars in Sweden. Your C43 is probably 7-9 years old so I would consider that normal. I just replaced the O2 sensor too, I heart of a lot of car having to change the O2 sensors before 100k miles, I believe that there are a lot of other brands that use Bosh O2 sensors and those probably go bad as often as the MB ones.

I believe that the question would be how this car and in General MB cars compare with other cars of the same age and miles. In my opinion MB cars age well compared to their competition, for example I had the chance to compare the interior of my car with much newer BMW's, Lexus etc they had ripped leather, cracks/discoloration and in general the interior felt loose compared to my car. The letters in my A/C console have similar problem but I think that this kind of normal for an 8 year old car.

 

The Starmark warranty is an excellent way to ensure that these individually small issues don't collectively turn into one huge pain. Although mine is now expired I know the prior owner used it to the fullest extent and kept everything well cared for. I specifically look for this kind of history when buying used cars and have had phenominal results. Of course I've probably just jinxed myself....

 

I couldn't be happier. My car has 84K miles on it and looks like it is almost new. There are some minor issues that bother me, but for being 9 years old I'm pretty happy with it. You are never going to get a car that is 8-9 years old and be the same as off a show room floor unless somebody just stored it.

I consider spending a few hundred fixing pads, CPS, tranny fluid, plugs, filters, ect. much better than paying $55K for the car new. I'm still under $15K for the car + winter rims and tires and about $350 in preventative maintenance. Still need to do plugs (about $160), Green or K&N (About $100) and maybe a chip. In the future I'm planning on changing out the CPS, Oxy Sensor at 100K whether it is working or not, and saving up for when I need a tranny rebuild. All in all still a GREAT bargain for this kind of car.
Not many mid size, V8, RWD, near luxury Sedans running around out there for under the price of a Civic DX.

 

Great to hear your review...when its time for you to do the air filter I'd have to suggest Green, I did these right away due to my old filters being black when I bought my car with 56k. Made a noticeable difference and I felt was a great investment.

 

One thing my friend and I noticed yesterday was that the radio / cd player is extremely weak in the car. Is it like this for other people as well? Like my volume has to be up at like 3/4's of the way just to have it fairly loud. Then we went for a spin my friends (MilitantGrunt on the boards) ML55 and the bose stereo in there is 10x better. Maybe my Amp isn't connected properly?

 

Just to add to the mix - things I've done. Some things pre-emptively, some I'll classify as preventative maintenance the others by part failure and/or troubles, I'll categorize accordingly.

Of course oil/filter at 5k, I supplanted my K&N's with OEM paper filters.

Replaced for PM reasons:
- Fuel filter (~$40)
- Crank position sensor (~$35, has since gone up)
- AT fluid at 73K ($7 x 11 qts. and app. $65 for machine flush/fill)
- front/rear pads replaced when purchased (cash-flow thwarted replacing front rotors, $65 (f)+ $40 (r)
- steering wheel recovered , white portion looked horrible (ALL black now), app. $200

Replaced due to part failure and/or problem(s):
- Mass air flow sensor - CEL illuminated ($200 via ebay shipped for Bosch OEM)
- Engine starter ($165 app)
- reattached bladder inflation junctions for both seats and affixed zip-ties
- replaced pads, rotors, and sensors for front ($618 rotors + $75 for EBC reds)
- Harmonic replaced under campaign by Brumos

 

I'll have to check my settings, but the CD player doesn't have a problem blasting me out when I turn it up. Due to replace it with a better head unit here reall soon though. I miss satellite radio.

I'm definitely thinking Green filters. The only problem is that I checked my filters and they were almost new. I'm going to wait until at least spring to change to a green filter and plugs. Too freakin cold here (-5 out in the mornings).

All cars need maintenance. Unles you buy new and have a warranty. I consider myself lucky to find such a rare, fun to drive car in such good shape. Especially for 12.5K. Figure in a tranny rebuild at about 2.5K and the car is still a really good deal. The other alternative is to shell out 55K+ for a new C32 or find a used C32 for a minimum of 25K for a beat on one.

 

The worse thing about the radio, to me at least, is the am reception - it's extremely poor. Even stations that are 60 miles away do not come in at all, I have to record my talk radio shows to an MP3 so I can listen to it on the road.

 

You forgot to list the sparkplugs.You did a nice write-up about that.

 

Thanks for the compliment C43AMG - I also forgot that I swapped out the steering dampener, a $23 dollar part (through autohausaz.com) that Brumos wanted $76 for the part alone, a ten minute job to replace. Takes longer to jack up the car than it does to replace the dampener - all you need is a 16mm box-end wrench.

Yeah the plugs take about an hour to two hours to change, I clean everything while I'm there. Others could do it faster...

Most recently replaced the high-tension leads aka spark plug wires - took about an hour and fifteen mins. ($193 from aforementioned autohaus, wires by Karlyn)

 

I am very sorry with your experiences, unfortunately this is what happens when you buy used cars. I had a tiny rust problem around my sunroof, and will soon get it fixed. Also, small paint chips..... Never ever had a performance or mechanical problem (other than my SRS light is still on).

Other than that after 2 years of owning this vehicle, I am still loving it!!
It sounds like you either have a bad apple, or the previous conditions, and the driver abused the vehicle.

Best luck to you!

 

Zdravo Vardare I don't have a bad apple this is the common lousy mb qualität, my car is wellkept but maybe this is not enough, even so if a car is build like a tank and the manufacturer uses cheap parts that don't hold the quality there is nothing you can do about it only getting the updated parts if they are better? my previous car was a E420 1995 (124) this car is going to last longer than all the other new benzez that comes out on the market.1995 benzez holds the quality better,this was the last real car mercedes build after that it went downhill with the company

 

We have a big problem in the UK with rust W202 W210. I am a member of mbclub uk forum
If you click on the search (Rust) you will have lots of reading. A lot of it was repaired under MB's good will, you have to have a full MB service history though before they consider to repair the car,

 

I've had no problems with my C43 even after putting in the 5.5L motor.