cmcbenz

Benz has had my car for a month... trying to fix the airbag problem for the FOURTH time. They gave me a nice 2012 c loaner ... but still, drives me nuts. I asked them to let me trade it in.. and asked for an incentive, they came back with free warranty to 75k miles or $2k off a new car.

Any advice. I'm about to just trade the *$&# thing in on a range rover or bmw.

ronsc1985

You may be trading a headache for an upset stomach. Friends of mine who have BMW's and Range Rovers have the same kind of problems when anything having to do with the electrical system has to be repaired.

Possibly you can take it to a different dealership. The skill level of techs at various dealerships varies a lot. A lot of times the diagnosis tree offered by the manufacturers just leads to mass confusion by the techs for anything out of the ordinary.

Aside from that most OEM's have roving experts that can be called in for problems such as yours. I don't know if the dealership has to cough up some bucks to get them and are therefore reluctant to access their help. At four times for the same problem I would think it's time for a skill upgrade.

cmcbenz

thanks for the input. that's just the thing though, i am not going to inconvenience myself in any way for this problem. i'm not going to drive to a different dealer or tell them how to do their job. i'm just tired of not having my car to drive... and when i do have it, the problem reoccurs in spite of their best arguments. they had to have the part rebuilt in Germany and shipped over. it's under the seat... some airbag manifold thing.

drove a range rover today. mb said they would give me <$40k for my e550c (loaded, 2010) with 42k miles. gonna get opinions from BMW and RR and let you know. KBB says $45ish.

el-coupe

BMW maybe a +1 but range rover will mostly likely put you in the same boat. Think it fully through

cmcbenz

got the car back last week. passenger airbag warning light came on after three days. gotta go through this for the FIFTH time.

range rover offered $34k for my car, audi offered $36.5k and BMW offered $37k. range rover came up to $36.5k.

after driving my car for a bit, hesitate to trade it in even with the problems... too fun to drive.

ronsc1985

I would think you have to get it fixed permanently before you could trade it in anyway since if the light pops up while attempting your trade you may take a hit on the trade in value.

Even if the light is not on a read out of the computer may indicate a pending problem. The way it goes with a lot of errors in diagnostic systems these days is the car recognizes a problem but does not report it with a error lamp until the fault is present for a certain time or engine turn on/off cycles. I don't know if your MB is doing this but any oncoming inspection at a dealership will reveal this simply by reading out the on board diagnostic port.

I'd suggest you insist the MB roving expert/experts be present to evaluate your problem before you bring the car in again. You might also ask if the air bag problem is actually a situation which will keep the air bag from deploying or if it is a situation where some parameter is just slightly out of the spec window. If they can't answer the question find another dealer PITA as that may be.

SeeTeeSee

You"re not alone...neighbors of mine had a similar issue with their 2010 E550 Cabriolet.
It was an even more serious electrical problem which was shutting the car down and thus stranding them around town. MB was never able to fix the problem and they had to sell it back to MB for what they described as a fair price.

cmcbenz

no kidding! maybe i'll try that.

cmcbenz

bought an X5 loaded for $70k. big engine. so over mercedes.

SeeTeeSee

Wow...that was quick!

cmcbenz

yeah it was in the works for a month or so. just needed this airbag light to come on AGAIN to push me over the edge. BMW gave me a good deal.

sinape62

Glad there are deals out there. I got a great deal on my Mercedes. I traded my 2008 Range Rover Sport which by the way had no electrical issues. I just wanted something quicker with better gas mileage, but it all hinged on THE DEAL. So good for you!

cmcbenz

they are going to give me my car back on tuesday. they said a wire was pinched and they are working on building my driver's seat back together properly this time.

SeeTeeSee

What about the BMW X5?

cmcbenz

they are building the X5 for me with my customized options in south carolina, i'll have it in two weeks.

I got the new 4.4 bi-turbo V8 with 400 HP and 440 Torque. Should be fun to drive. They gave me $37,250 for my 2010 w/ 41,000 miles. MSRP was $73,000, they gave me $3,400 off or so..

I wrote a letter to MB NA and cc'd the owner of my dealer in Atlanta. I asked for $800 for the return of a bike rack I just bought but never used. I feel it's a reasonable request, since I'm waiving the $2k offer.

What a mess . Oh well, the loaded X5 5.0 beats the ML IMO on power, design, and functionality. And I wouldn't think about getting the Audi Q5. Too small and weak.

ronsc1985

You should not expect a performance improvement. You are taking a 35% hit in power to weight ratio.

cmcbenz

i'm talking about the ML350, not the E550. are you?

ronsc1985

Your avatar indicates you are driving and had your problems with a 2010 E550. Going from that to an X5 is moving to the slow lane with the soccer moms.

Whether is is quicker then a ML350 is kind of irrelevant since they are both performance dogs compared to most any decent performance orientated car.

Unless one needs the extra interior room and the all wheel drive they are all slow and fugly.

cmcbenz

Why would you compare the two? I am making a lifestyle change decision to get an SUV ... In parallel, I've had these electrical problems. Your comments are correct but irrelevant... Ok

cmcbenz

MB is writing me a $1,500 check for my trouble.