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This is a very long story but I will make it brief. On October 14, 2023 I bought a "certified" preowned 2019 Mercedes CLS 450 from a local dealer here in Carlsbad Ca. ( BMW of Carlsbad) Only 2 weeks later I was pulling into my garage and had turned the radio off and thought I heard a very muted knocking sound coming from the engine. I contacted the dealer and took the car in..and it has been diagnosed with trashed rod bearings. I bought an aftermarket warranty through the selling dealer for $6000. and am glad that I did. Of course the warranty people are dragging their feet because the engine replacement cost is $30,179. !! . The engine is now apart at the dealer waiting for the warranty company inspector which may happen today. The dealership ( sales) is treating me poorly and didn't even give me a loaner car and I have been communicating with their corporate office as I believe they should pay my costs for the warranty and I believe they knew or should have known about this problem. There is a lot more to this but I tried to keep it brief. Anyway some picks are attached.
Good luck, hopefully they get it going again sooner than later. Makes me bit paranoid as I bought mine CPO as well. Got the extension on the warranty too.
The mechanic did not see anything obvious during his tear down. He believes it is from oil starvation but it is only a theory. Interesting that while the rod bearings were heavily worn the main bearings looked new. When I did my own research I found 2 other CLS450 with engine failures...however, the mechanic said that they have access to info we don't and in reality there have been 10 engine failures and mine is the 11th. Mercedes uses this same engine in a lot of their models so statistically it is a very minor blip but if it happens to you it's a big deal.
Dec 1, 2023 update: The warranty inspector was there yesterday and viewed the damage. He listed the cause as unknown. Now the warranty people have asked the dealer for an estimate on rebuilding the bottom end rather than engine replacement. In my view the metallic shards from damaged bearings are everywhere in the engine.
Unless you completely disassemble the engine and hot tank everything there will be problems down the road. Will advise.
I have a 2019 CLS53 AMG. Black. Maybe you've seen me around.
Ha! i'm down the street in Solana Beach - 2022 Silver CLS 450.
I bought a BMW 530e from Encinitas BMW / AutoNation a few years ago and returned it after 72 hours when I demonstrated the battery didn't last longer than 30 minutes which was contradictory to what the sales team told me when they hood winked me into buying the car. They were first class jerks - i would never buy a car from them again.
Sorry to hear about the engine failure. I assume all historical maintenance was completed on the car at factory suggested intervals?
Yes, this particular car had a complete full and on time documented maintenance history. Yesterday the warranty company, after 5 weeks, finally approved a new factory OEM engine replacement including the turbo. It is supposed to be ordered today. Final price including labor is $29,000. with me paying the $500 deductible. I normally don't buy extended warranties but luckily I did this time.
I has also sent a letter to Autonation Corporate in Florida complaining about the dismal treatment and lack of a loaner vehicle and approx a week ago they said someone would contact me in 24-48 hours. Of course, no one contacted me so yesterday morning I sent a follow up to corporate and surprise, surprise an hour later I received a text that a loaner vehicle would be made available which I picked up yesterday afternoon.
So far the process has actually been even more painful than buying the car. Once I get my car back I am done with these people. Here's a pic of the beauty.
Update: Now the warranty Company wants a bid from the dealer on a rebuild. Dealer told them they would not bid that because the engine is in such bad condition. Warranty company came back and said they wouldn't approve anything until they had a rebuild bid so now the dealer is working on a rebuild number. Car has now been at the dealer for 6 weeks...this is a total circle jerk. More when I have it.
2015 CLS 550 2015 ML 400 Previous 2020 GLB 250 2019 A 220 2005 ML 350 1989 300 E 2001 SL 500
Originally Posted by sideways23103
Good luck, hopefully they get it going again sooner than later. Makes me bit paranoid as I bought mine CPO as well. Got the extension on the warranty too.
OP's car was not a Mercedes CPO car. He bought it from a BMW dealer and bought an aftermarket warranty.
Update: (BTW the factory warranty ended about a year ago.) So after 6 weeks of slow walking this, the warranty company finally approved a replacement new OEM engine and turbo. Engine should be here in about a week with install and testing taking about another week. The warranty co. was still pushing to rebuild this pile despite their own inspector and the dealer telling them that it could not be rebuilt. The cost to rebuild was approx $31,000 vs. $29,000 for new so the decision was a no brainer. This is a classic example of warranty companies taking your money but don't want to pay anything out. Their profit margin has to be huge as I believe a lot of folks don't ever need to use their coverage, or forget they have it or sell the car not knowing that they can get a prorated refund for the unused portion.
2015 CLS 550 2015 ML 400 Previous 2020 GLB 250 2019 A 220 2005 ML 350 1989 300 E 2001 SL 500
Originally Posted by gary1944
Update: (BTW the factory warranty ended about a year ago.) So after 6 weeks of slow walking this, the warranty company finally approved a replacement new OEM engine and turbo. Engine should be here in about a week with install and testing taking about another week. The warranty co. was still pushing to rebuild this pile despite their own inspector and the dealer telling them that it could not be rebuilt. The cost to rebuild was approx $31,000 vs. $29,000 for new so the decision was a no brainer. This is a classic example of warranty companies taking your money but don't want to pay anything out. Their profit margin has to be huge as I believe a lot of folks don't ever need to use their coverage, or forget they have it or sell the car not knowing that they can get a prorated refund for the unused portion.
Aftermarket warranty companies will almost always take this approach on high dollar repairs. Another reason to get a Mercedes Certified car from a Mercedes dealer. I had an ex girlfriend whose Audi needed a steering rack. Warranty co took a month to approve the claim but insisted on a remanufactured rack.
Update: (BTW the factory warranty ended about a year ago.) So after 6 weeks of slow walking this, the warranty company finally approved a replacement new OEM engine and turbo. Engine should be here in about a week with install and testing taking about another week. The warranty co. was still pushing to rebuild this pile despite their own inspector and the dealer telling them that it could not be rebuilt. The cost to rebuild was approx $31,000 vs. $29,000 for new so the decision was a no brainer. This is a classic example of warranty companies taking your money but don't want to pay anything out. Their profit margin has to be huge as I believe a lot of folks don't ever need to use their coverage, or forget they have it or sell the car not knowing that they can get a prorated refund for the unused portion.
Lots of back and forth but happy ending, sorry to hear you are having issues with the M256.
I own a 2020 CLS 450 that had an engine failure from a spun rod bearing, it happened in October 2023. This appears to be systemic, luckily my car was still under warranty and a full replacement was covered to 100%. As I send this message my transmission is being bolted to the newly received engine. I'm not sure if I will be keeping the car since the probability of this being problematic is really high now.
I had 18K miles on the car at the time of engine failure. I purchased the car with 12k miles and only drove it a few months. The car was not a CPO it was purchased from a dealer in New Jersey and I had it shipped to Texas. I was going to order the car from MB but was told it would take 8 months to build, There were no cars with the spec I wanted in the US so it was either order or or buy it second hand and I couldn't wait. It was the first time not purchasing direct from MB and I am regretting that decision.
My dealer has been great through the whole process they gave my wife a new E350 to drive while they had the car in the shop. I have been using them for about 10 years so I have a really good relationship with the whole team there.
Since we are both in the same boat, do you have an idea of what the warranty is on the new engine? At this point I need to press MB about the warranty on the new engine or purchase an extended warranty.
I have been informed about the warranty situation on a new engine as of yet I am supposed to pick the car up on Friday. @gary1944
I just spoke to a warranty rep. at another MB dealer in the area and they told me that if I had purchased the engine directly from them and had them do the installation that I would have gotten the full 4 years 50k mile warranty.
Since this is warranty work I get no warranty extension whatsoever and the manufacturers warranty ended 12/19/2023.
I was not able to purchase the extended warranty from MB prior to the warranty end so I am trying to get them to give me some grace since they had the car for 3 months trying to make a decision on whether or not they were going to approve the warranty claim.
Not sure how it will turn out, I would prefer to have a MB warranty rather than 3rd party.
2 years is a decent amount of time, I would be ok with that.
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