FLYNAVY

So the C43 went into service this morning and the service rep just gave me a call to let me know it was about ready, but will need new plugs at 100k (about 2k away). Thats all good, and I'm sure I'll probably do them myself once I get moved into my new place, but for reference he quoted me at $1460 for the change if I had them do it. I know service fees can be expensive, but holy ***** that seems a bit overpriced, am I wrong? Also, since I'm on subject, what plugs do you all recommend using?

SeeKlasse

yeah 1460 is ridiculous. typically plugs are like 10-15 bucks per plug. i would go with some denso iridium plugs, i hear theyre pretty good. these v8 monsters we drive around have a heap of plugs in 'em. 2 per cylinder, thats 16 plugs. lets say you pay 20 bucks per plug, that still only comes out to 320... a far cry from 1460.

hope this helps

MarcusF

The C43 and CLK430 use the same plug. I bought mine at the dealer. The dealer part was 004159190326, and I think the Bosch part was FR8DPP33. Without the MBCA discount, list was around $10 per plug. With the discount, they were $7.50.

Miscellaneous ramblings:
$1460 for *just* the plugs? Man - o - man, that is a LOT - o - LOOT!

If they said two air filters (2 x $30 plus labor), the fuel filter ($118 plus labor), a coolant service ($100?), the B service ($300), a brake fluid flush ($100), AND the plugs (16 x $13 plus labor) for a total of $1460, I’d think it was explainable. I’d still do "der werk" myself, but I could understand how they came to that figure.


But wait, there's more miscellaneous ramblings:

• The driver's side rear plug was the toughest.
• Removing the headlight/windshield fluid heater/tank freed a lot of room for the other plugs on the driver's side.
• I unbolted the coils but left them connected to the wiring harness. I also left the plug wires attached to the coils.
• A spark plug wire puller tool ensured that I didn't need a set of wires when I was done.

silence

I use Champion copper plugs @ 1.99 each

drs088

From what I've been quoted - plugs with labor is about $480.00. Few indy shop quotes

SeeKlasse

MBCA = merc benz club of america?

youre tellin me that i can get a discount at the dealership for being part of this club?

FLYNAVY

yeah, I think they believe I am a moron. The first thing the service advisor said when I checked my car in was "you should be keeping the trans in S mode. Do you know what W means?" Haha....I laughed and told him that yes, it starts it in 2nd gear w/ a less aggressive shift program, and yes it is uncomfortable in stop and go traffic. They must be used to some real winners around there....

sick430

bro just did mine this weekend about 2 hours once i figured out what i need to do to do the job. remove the washer tank and heater it made all the difference also removed the coil packs freed up a lot of room. i bought the ngk iridium plugs plus dielectric grease and wire pullers everything was about 180. not that hard you may need to pull a little on the wires just make sure you grab from the metal part and not the wire!!! also when reconnecting the wires push till you here a click sound.

SeeKlasse

actually i enjoy the W mode, the c43 has plenty of power to negotiate traffic with 2nd gear starts. i mainly like it because it gives me improved gas mileage by keeping the car in a docile state...

where did you buy your denso plugs?

FLYNAVY

my thought sexactly

MarcusF

Yes, MBCA is the Mercedes Benz Club of America. And yes, with my MBCA membership, I get a discount on every part I buy at my local dealer's parts counter. In addition, I get a discount on service (parts and labor). Two thirds of the way through this web page is a chart where I listed various parts with their aftermarket/dealer list/MBCA discount prices. The discount on my plugs was more than annual MBCA membership fee. There's also a magazine - The Star.

ohlord

multi tip plugs and don't use champion copper,the oem or it's new day replacement is the fr8dpp33 and the ngk equal to it is the ngk 7090 single side electrode platinum plug about $2.79 at any auto parts store.You need the special boot tool 17mm offset so you can save abuse to your wires and it makes it easy to do the job.At our spark plug seminar i just taught we did a 2001 e320 and a 2001 c320 in under 3 hours with me teaching and them jumping in and doing and all it cost them was the price of the plugs.Diy of what is involved on benzworld.org w210 section diy.I have the plug boot tools and tips.
I saw a place that is an indie shop with better rates then the dealer and they wanted 500 bucks for the C320 and at the class i just taught at our get together The forum member diy and it cost him 12 plugs at 3 bucks.
ohlord
geez even the bosch oem 7422 replacement for the oem plug is only 5 bucks at autohausaz.com or $80 for 16 and $32 for the boot tool and a torx bit set for 7 bucks from autozone and a few hours of your time.That dealer is out of their minds
these engines run better on the single side electrode platinum plug so don't fall into the trap of the more tips the better.And don't use champion copper unless you like to lower your mpg and have to do the plugs every 20k miles instead of every 100k.
MBCA discount on a fr8dpp33 is $7.50 and you can get them for $5 or less,and the oe NGK for $2.79 learn to diy and never buy parts from the dealer club or not
No matter what the discount is from the club you can beat it at several online suppliers.

silence

i have my reasons-

also i got 24.8 mph recently (freeway miles)

20k plug changes aren't a big deal to me- i will certainly change them once a year at the least (so more like 7k changes)

Eurosport

http://www.mymbonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5428

it's pretty much the same on your car

DogWagen

For what it's worth, I purchased the OEM plugs Bosch FR8DPP32 and used a pair of snap-on boot pliers (about £20 sterling delivered) - I think they are specific to Mercedes. Total time for the job was 2 hrs including airbox strip and coil removal. Small hands, a pair of thin gloves and a selection of sparkplug sockets (short ones..) and extensions/universal Joints are a great help for this job! Mercesdes Stealerships wanted £150 parts and £170 labour to do the same job.

Dr. C36

I always use Bosche Super Coppers. IMO they have always performed the best on my engines, I've tried platinum & etc but honestly I always felt like they performed worse than the super coppers. The electrode on the platinum plugs were the size of a needle point but the bosch super coppers are massive and have much larger surface area. In addition they are only $1.50-2 per plus so they are far more cost effective. You need 16 plugs for your engine. I was quoted roughly 3 hours of labor for the plugs, but thats only 225ish at my shop rates so that + about $35 in plugs comes out to $260, how they hell they said $1000+ is beyond me.

NitrogenBalance

ohlord, the reason he put coppers in his motor is due to the supercharger as they are a colder plug. At least thats what I assume. I did the same only NGK's. I totally agree on the multi tip argument, not needed, running two plugs per cylinder makes it even more needless.

C36, what are the reasons to running a copper plug on an N/A motor?

ProjectC55

I use either Bosch or Denso iridiums. Whichever one it is ,I know they are Iridiums with magnacore wires

SeeKlasse

ive heard good things of magnacore.

correction to dr. c36. the larger the surface area the less concentrated the plug will be. it is scientifically proven that plugs with a finer tip using a denser alloy (like irridium alloy) makes better power because of the highly pronounced spark. the only reason they use the irridium alloy is to combat tip erosion because the electrode is already so fine pointed so the reliability is just as good as a cheaper plug with a larger base made of copper or some other softer alloy...

FLYNAVY

Hah. well as a follow up to confirm how much of a scam my initial contact w/ the service rep @ MB Pensacola was, I did a search through my old service records and found out that the plug service was done less than 5k miles ago, which should be good for a very long time. Wow is all I can say....

Eurosport

that sucks, i hope you let them hear it
good job catching that they are not called stealerships for nothing