Advise on Headbolt Issue
 

I bought my 2009 C63 back in Feb of this year. The car is completely stock with 62k miles;

• Low coolant popped up about 2 weeks ago
• Bought the coolant from MB topped it
• 2 days later same thing
• Took it to the dealer
• Turns out that the head bolts is the issue and now the head gasket is leaking
• Car does not have factory warranty or extended warranty
• Dealer quoted $5,400 for the repairs
• Got MBUSA involved, however they are only willing to pay $500 as a "courtesy"

Now what would you guys do in this situations?

I'd at least get a quote from an independent shop. It's most likely less.

If you decide to repair definitely look at an independent it could be half the price.

Me personally I would not dump $5400 into the car as it will add no value. Consider trading it in for something else? The dealership is not going to knock $5K off your trade in value especially if you buy another car from them (they will do the repair on their own time or auction the car). I don't know how movable the car is, but you could trade it in elsewhere as well.

Go to a smaller shop that focuses on Mercedes and knows these engines. There is no way around doing this work now. Hope you aren't driving it.

Jeez. Really sh*tty of Mercedes to simply throw $500 your way. I know it's out of warranty, but I expect more from such a well respected auto manufacturer.

OP, for what it's worth, I was quoted $3k to replace with the "one at a time" method that others have successfully gone with. New M159 tappets included in that price as well.

IMO $4,900 is a decent price assuming it includes the SLS buckets. Does that include a one year warranty on the repairs? My dealer quoted me $4,500 a few years ago, have not heard of a lower quote from a dealer for the same complete job.

Sadly you can't do the "one at a time" method after you've got a gasket leaking. $5,400 is about $1,400 more than I paid for an AMG trained engine guy to do mine with the heads off (and replacing all the parts, including SLS buckets, and everything on the from of the engine).

Bummer. Just a bummer. Sorry to hear about your situation.

I agree that maybe $1K or a labor discount would be nice as it's a known fault, but you can't expect Mercedes to cover this engine forever. It's a 7 year old car with 62K miles. OP chose not to purchase a warranty or a newer car and this is one of the risks of that.

You've only had the car six months? I wonder if the previous owner saw a low coolant message and traded it in. Unlikely, but not impossible.

Yeah, you're right. I'd be content with $1k.

That's not a bad price at all.

Sorry to hear you ran into this problem. I'll be following closely to see how it works out for you.

Just my $.02 as I'm also an owner of a 2009. I'm at 72k miles. I chose not to get an aftermarket warranty because to get one that would actually cover this specific repair would have cost around $5k at the time. Most of the cheaper warranties won't cover this. So there really is no way around paying that amount. It just comes down to paying it to the warranty company or the repair shop. In my case, I didn't want to pay it up front and I'm hoping to get the bolts swapped out one by one before it becomes an issue.

Best of luck getting it back and enjoying it again.

I've only owned the car for a few months which sucks, but trading it in is the last thing on my mind.

No I haven't drove the car in about 2 weeks. You would think a high end auto manufacture like MB would do better. Taking it somewhere else is my only option at this point.

I would take it to a MB indy with a good name i see you're in Miami, I've heard a lot about a shop called JS Benz. Its labor intensive, but Ive read in a bunch of threads to be in that 3500-4000 range... i plan on changing mine out in a year or so as precautionary maintenance along with the sls buckets

A little update

Pull the motor.


https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8486/2...40c63426_c.jpg

This one bolt is corroded, a few of them completely snapped off. Horrible engineering by Mercedes Benz
https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8191/2...ece2aa12_c.jpg

The old head bolts v.s the new design

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8194/2...00da32c7_c.jpg



https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8109/2...a6335be3_c.jpg

I hope to have the car back on the road by the end of the week, I am also changing the buckets

Jeez. The thought of breaking a bolt makes me terrified of taking on this project...

Good news is that now you can enjoy your car knowing that the issue is fixed:y. My car is in the shop for this as well right now.

Looks like you went with an indy shop? Who did you use? Thanks for update and let us know how things go when you are back on the road.

What was the total cost and what parts did you replace if you don't mind sharing?

Any pics of the broken ones?

Mine looked similar to what you saw, but I caught them before snappage.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...45af0a1368.jpg

Mine ended up going to auction after I traded it in. Someone got a smokin' deal!

You're lucky you got symptoms of a head bolt failure vs hydro locking the motor for complete engine failure. My indie shop quoted me $2400 for the bolts as a future reference for when needed. I also plan to send the heads out for pnp if I ever do the bolts. Are the rest of the components required to be replaced or that'll be determined upon inspection of condition?

Yes can't wait.

Did you go with the Weistic APR studs?

Mercedes Autobahn

The total cost was 3,400. They changed the head bolts, the buckets, cylinder head gaskets, sealer gasket, intake manifold gaskets, tensioner, spark plugs, fluids. I sure I am missing some misc stuff. I'll give you some more details once the car is done.

That will be most likely determined upon inspection.

I'll grab some more pics later.

Glad to see that your car is on the road to recovery. Now you can enjoy it again.

I haven't started the work yet, but yes I plan on going with the apr studs and all the neessary parts through weistec (buckets, gaskets etc) and Im most likely going to get the forged internals kit form them too! Cars been down for over a month now, the anticipation is killing me.

This has been a long intense journey, when I got the car back the mechanic told me that the lifters are a little noisy and that it should go away within a few days. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago I brought to car back since the noise was still noticeable and the car started making a weird knocking noise upon start up. Turn out the cam adjuster are going bad which are almost 700ea, he suggested I change all 4 including the washers. I had no idea these cars were so problematic!

My man, my heart goes out to you. Im sorry you are have such issues. Were you ever able to squeeze MBUSA for any more than the 500?

Jeez, sorry to hear man. I wonder what went bad in the cam adjusters.

Honestly, when I was DIY'ing this, I was looking at these dang things and couldn't for the life of me figure out what they did...

$3,400 sounds like a great deal.

Has been a little over a month since the repairs were done and she is running flawless.

Any one have a procedure for doing this DIY? I would like to try this myself since I have done some rather intensive work in the past, such as rebuilding a manual transmission, etc. Or am I way off base and should not attempt this? How can you tell that they are old style bolts that can break?

PM AMG3.2 who posted on this thread, he has what you need.

Can you check if it is affected wddgj7hb3cf824186?

No it is not, none of the 2012's are affected.

my condolences.. you got a really good price on the job though. this makes me want to sell my 09 c63 immediately.

Sorry to hear. Did you get a low coolant light or you just notice by checking under the hood?

You guys know this thread is three years old, right?

And he said in the very first bullet point that the low coolant light went on. Pay attention please.

Good thread for educational purposes though. The head bolt issue is real and those getting into anything with an M156 need to know about it.