Nhaf

Hi All,

new to this forum so please forgive me in advance if I’m not posting in the right area or sound like a newbie.

So i just let go of my e46 m3 and picked up a 2009 c63 amg w 36k miles... I just sold my e46 m3 and have been an avid bmw fan so I’m a little to new to this Mercedes life.. hopefully it treats me well.

I’ve searched this forum far and wide about anything and everything related to the headbolt issue w/ these cars. I’ve read the word “ticking time bomb” one too many times for my likings..I literally won’t be able to enjoy this car if I don’t address the issue now so I’m going to save myself the stress and change the head bolts as preventative maintenance.. My mechanic (MB specialist) quoted me $800 for changing the head bolts and I’m assuming he’s going to do the “one at a time” method..

my qustion to you guys is if there is anything else I should change while I’m in there that would save me a lot of trials and tribulations down the road..

please advise

thanks!

Crya

iTrader: (1)

$800?? That can’t be possible as it barely covers parts. Does it include SLS buckets? Is he doing it for free?

Nhaf

no he’s just replacing the head bolts with the updated oem head bolts

ty-jelly

What shop? He’ll likely have another customer.

Nhaf

It’s one of my friends mechanic he’s pretty good.. according to him he’s done this job a couple of times before and has been working on Mercedes for the last 30 years..

Mort

Since the cams will be out you might want to consider replacing the cam followers/hydraulic lifters/buckets with the updated ones.

JPetros2008

where are you lcoated?

AnthonyiLLMaTiC

Curious as well!

Jaideep Singh

I got mine replaced one at a time for a similar price in Queens, New York.. BTW I live in Michigan and drove all the way to New York because of a great trustworthy mechanic providing such a lost cost of work

I have driven my C63 for 3000 miles after the job. everything seems to be working fine..

AnthonyiLLMaTiC

Can you link us to whom?
Did you see your previous headbolts physically?
What was the actual cost?
ONLY the headbolts were replaced?

Nhaf

I’m highly considering the sls buckets.. but I’ve been reading that hydraulic lifters usually aren’t an issue if your head bolts don’t go bad on you.. correct me if I’m wrong

Nhaf

Northern Virginia near Washington D.C.

deadlyvt

The lifters wear is totally unrelated to the head bolt failure

Nhaf

I also want to note that I have not checked out the head bolts yet to even see if they are replaced.. there maybe a chance that it’s been replaced.. previous owner installed a renntech air box... I’m hoping if he has enough money to buy a renntech airbox then he has enough money to change the head bolts.. keeping my fingers crossed on that!

Nhaf

oh ok I see.. is there a certain mileage that it typically goes bad at? This car only has 37k miles.. with the head bolts I know it can give out at any moment..

AnthonyiLLMaTiC

For that price it would be worth me driving down honestly man, I'm in North NJ. Able to post their info here?

Jaideep Singh

Can you link us to whom?
Evolv Automotive Services LLC Estimate# Q001021
121-11 14th Rd Date: 10-11-2018 2:43 PM
College Point, NY 11356
Ph: 718-635-0487
service@evolvauto.com
Person: Shaun

You can tell him Jay from Michigan referred him. I was referred to this guy from an AMG FB friend. I was really impressed after talking to him. This guy was an MB service manager for a few years before deciding to open up his own place.


Did you see your previous head bolts physically? Yes I was standing there almost all the time.. Previous head bolts were in good condition. They were the older design. I could see some rust on the neck of the bolt but nothing that indicated that they were about to fail.

What was the actual cost? I was given a friend's discount on this but it was close to 1K. This included all the gaskets needed for the job. Oil change (oil and filter), coolant change, adjusting the cam timing (which was off by few degrees on my engine), and few other small things which I must be forgetting.

ONLY the headbolts were replaced? I replaced Head bolts with updated MB design and SLS buckets. I bought my own parts on Thanksgiving sales from VRP

Nhaf

well I’ve known this guy for a while and my family does a lot of business with him... but regardless his rates are good.. I believe he charges $80/hr (could be wrong). Let me know I can pm you the name.

AnthonyiLLMaTiC

I just got quoted approx $1400 from him 2 days ago without head removal. Definitely was a friendly discount because he said that rate only applied to one by one replacement.

Definitely would like you to PM me his info if possible. Thank you!