Autosport7

I have filed the complaint. I don't know if it will help get us anywhere, but anything to try and help out.

jvanbrecht

Maybe I should have phrased it differently. NHTSA responds to every single complaint that comes in. What that response consists of could vary from a form letter to the manufacturer, to a full blown investigation.

However, they do have to respond.

ex US DoT employee, so I know a little bit how things work there.

w204nyc

Spoke with my SA today. I asked him to check my headbolts and make sure everything is good. He said usually you will start hearing a noise before anything can be done. Also the foreman stated that the reason there isn't a recall is because 1. Its only a few cars its happened to and 2. Because they've monitored cars in the affected range and they headbolts seem perfectly fine. They also told me that as long as you're under warranty, they will pay for everything but also told me not to worry about it because it really hasnt happened to that many people.

jvanbrecht

Gee, don't worry about it, as long as you have a warranty we will fix it.. but oh wait, plenty of 09's are out of warranty.. and MB will screw them hard.

I tried to go in to my dealer to get a record of my past visits and numerous complaints about engine noise and their response was always "thats normal". They could not provide them as they were archived. So hopefully if push came to shove, there is a way to get those details, because I sure as hell am not paying for prematurely worn cams or head bolt failure.

andy_c63

This is exactly what my SA told me when I still had the warranty... You have to realize it is their job to keep you calm and happy and protect the interests of the manufacturer.

w204nyc

I hear ya. I purchased an extended warranty just for that but I'm more than happy to file a complaint.

w204nyc

Then my SA better sleep with one eye open lol. Me and him go way back so it wouldn't be wise for him to play that game with me!

andy_c63

Please file a complaint only if your vehicle has actually experienced the failure!!

Last thing we want is to flood NHTSA with frivolous complains and give Mercedes an excuse to ignore the issue.

w204nyc

I dont know of many ppl on the forum that have had the problem. Only read about two but you got it!

andy_c63

I counted a little under 30 owners on this forum who stated their vehicles experienced the headbolt failure. I think there are could be some who experienced the failure, but chose the not comment and also the unregistered users. The bulk of the affected owners, of course, are those not mechanically savvy who don't read forums and simply bit the bullet not knowing that the failure is a result of the manufacturer's defect.

Sidv22

I am hoping these guys will go ahead and file a complaint. I think for any issue to raise eyebrows, we need the numbers to back it.
I am hoping to keep my car beyond expiration of extended warranty but I will be forced to sell and jump ship if MB does nothing about this.

BiturboSF

This is a great effort, maybe it'll be good to post this on all the 63 forums/sections too

roadtalontsi

lol, what interest does a service writer have from the manufacturer? If you have a good service history with the dealer considering it's a known problem they should goodwill it. I see it all the time with all sorts of problems. You guys have to understand you cant just go replacing parts that havent failed or arent bad. That's warranty fraud. Theres plenty of somewhat common issues with every make,model,brand etc... if you ran around replacing all those things on a regular basis car companies would all be bankrupt or cars would cost 2x as much.

tofu-

i'm hoping for an extended warranty on it, just like BMW did with the fuel pump and turbos for the n54.

i don't expect them to recall it and go replacing the bolts on thousands of unaffected vehicles...

jvanbrecht

I'm sure that is what GM thought.. too expensive.. see where that got them.

The Issue with Head Bolt failure while in motion can be serious, loss of control of the vehicle. That is not a minor issue that needs to be fixed. Granted, I suspect if the engine did lock up in motion, at least the airbags would still deploy unlike the GM.

We know there is an issue, as they redesigned the head bolts for a reason. Which means there is significant potential for failure. At least they changed the part number... Unlike GM (yes I am picking on GM, but the recent documents released by GM and congress show tremendous malfeasance on GM's part).

If you think GM is alone in this, you are wrong, every single manufacturer does the same damn thing, cost benefit analysis. GM just happen to get caught (again, obviously they did not learn), and now the other manufacturers are probably going to be alot more sensitive to the issue of potential recalls.

NHTSA is not exactly innocent in the entire GM issue either, the ball has been dropped on both sides, numerous times. Now obviously I do not work for GM, or any auto manufacturer, but I did work for the gov (USDOT, and a few other 3 letter agencies), and I can tell you, when they get ***** slapped around by congress, they tend to over react for a period and throw money at the problem (in this case, probably more manpower), but that over reaction is where the manufacturers are going to get it, and we will probably see many more recalls, forced and voluntary.

SUNILP

I;m not sure if this will gain any traction. MB also has issues with plagued the 550 and 350 series vehicles for CEL's due to a soft metal used on the timing chain sprocket. I don't think anything came of this and it affected many more vehicles than the 63's

andy_c63

Guess what I received in the mail today?? Yep, it was a recall letter from Mercrdes-Benz for the taillight assembly!!! Unlike the headbolts, it was considered to be a serious safety defect... and it is all because the folks whose cars experienced the headbolt failure were TOO LAZY to file a complaint with NHTSA!!!

Very sad.

Sincity

Got my notice about the taillight panel also.

Autosport7

Ditto