hk9583

Hello everyone
Here is my 2001 430 Coupe I picked up recently. Body is in near mint shape. Only 95,000km (59,000miles). The color is Quartz Blue and the car has a two tone navy blue/grey interior. Is this a designo interior? I was also wondering do you think this could have been a special order car? No sunroof (first time I seen a Clk without one), no xenons, no heated seats, no nav, but has the power sunshade, two tone interior, and the color isn't common at all.


Anyways I have a few questions. About a week ago the car started to develop a rough idle. The check engine light came on and I had the codes scanned. I got P0170, P0173, and P0100. The problem got worse and now the car is running very rough. The engine is shaking bad and hesitates when you accelerate. I took the car into my mechanic and he wanted to replace the spark plugs and wires for a cost of $1400 . I then took the car into an Indy who works on mainly Mercedes. He said cylinder 3 and 6 were misfiring. He said he checked the plugs and wires and that they were fine. I was also told that I need to replace my air filters and MAF sensor as that should cure the problem. The previous owner put K&N filters on there and he said that K&N allows oil to get through which will screw up the MAF. He wanted to replace the sensor and filters for $700
I tried cleaning the MAF yesterday with crc cleaner and it seemed like it improved the problem for a bit. Now before I order the Bosch sensor and filters online is there anything else I should try or look for? Thanks for the help!


Here are some pictures of the car. By the way I've already removed the Walmart vents on the fenders

MagmaRed55

I believe the color is called "Orion Blue" and that is certainly the designo interior.

It sounds like a bad MAF to me. Judging by those fender "vents" could have been caused over oiled filters. I run K&N filters without any problems, but someone who adds unnecessary vents to such a beautiful car could and possibly did over oil the filters.

I hope you can figure this problem out before more unnecessary repair bills add up.

hk9583

For some reason the car looks really blue in the pictures but in real life it looks like a light purple color. Anyways I'll have to order a new MAF online after the Easter weekend. Hopefully that solves the problem

MagmaRed55

Looking at it again It seems too light to be Orion. Still a vary fun color, and without a sunroof makes it even more unique. Beautiful automobile, sir.

MarcusF

It’s a very clean car. I just looked through the 2001/2002 option list and all designo cars had heated seats and the wood was either natural maple or auburn maple. That car has the bird's eye maple wood and the heated seats buttons are missing. The two-tone interior option was allegedly no charge, but dealers charged a $1,150 special order fee. Also, I think that car has the pre-2001 wheels. 2001/2002 430s had the AMG thin spokes.

The MAF costs about $160 from Autohaus AZ and it takes less than an hour to install. Mahle filers cost about $45. Alternatively, Mann filters cost $26. Both of those are from Autohaus as well. The work is straightforward and here is a DIY link. If you don't know how to do the work, then you'll have to pay.

BTW, $1400 for plugs and wires? When I did mine, a set of Bosch wires cost $170 (they are currently on Amazon for $120), and plugs were $70. Of course, like the MAF, if you can't do the work, the car cost $50K new and the maintenance fees reflect it.

jonUF02

PLEEEASE TAKE THOSE STUPID THINGS OFF THE FENDERS!!!!!!!

Otherwise it looks very nice.

MagmaRed55

He said he already took them off. Haha

hk9583

So I changed the air filters and MAF today. Didn't make a difference. Car is still running rough and the check engine light still on. Not sure what to do now

MagmaRed55

I personally would do the cheapest thing first. Have those codes cleared. With any luck you will at least get rid of that p0100. Check vacuum lines around the motor. These are another area that seems to be an issue as cars get older.

jonUF02

I searched the P0170 amd P0173 quickly and I would start with checking all the vacuum hoses. Replace the breather tubes on the top of the valve covers if they are cracked and leaking vacuum, you should hear that distinctly. The rest of the hoses come off the front and back of the intake manifold. You have to buy special vacuum hose size, it's not a standard size you can pick up anywhere. MB dealer sells it for $18/meter here, ouch! or you can order by the foot or meter I think from AutohauzAZ site. You only need a few meters to do everything.

Another thing I would look into are the fuel injectors. You can "rent" a fuel pressure gauge at the local auto parts store and hook it to the valve on the end of the fuel rail to check that you are getting pressure. If you are, then maybe time to order the o-ring kit and start taking the rail off and test the injectors. There are some nice DIY videos on Youtube on how to make a rigged setup to test the operation of each injector, or take them to a refurb place. Since the car has so few miles, maybe the fuel filter or system got clogged due to not being run enough and having old gas in it.

Another thing to look at is a possible issue with your O2 sensors. A mechanic should be able to monitor the "lambda" between the forward and rear sensors to tell you if it looks like the cats and sensors are working properly, but you would probably get different codes if that were the case.

Josh K

Beautiful car, man. Glad you took off the blang blang. I really love that color + the two tone. Welcome to the forums.