I have an 01 e320 4matic with 103K on it. About a week ago I got a check engine light with an eas/bas lights. I turned it off then back on and they cleared. Then I was at friends house and started driving the car had a very strong gas smell, about 10 miles later all the lights went off, check engine light started blinking and I lost about half throttle power and when I came to stop lights the car started shaking violently, I felt like I had to rev the engine to keep it going to get home. It's parked and I'm to scared to drive it anywhere. I know that it shuts off power to protect itself. I attempted to start it again this afternoon and it sounded like a cylinder misfired. Any help would be great. I have read a few threads on similar issues but none with the gas smell and violent shaking at the sametime.

 

sounds like a cylinder shut down. I've exprienced that a couple of times. When it happens, normally you can turn off the engine and restart and it goes away till the misfire presents itself again.

For me, it was cured with a change in spark plugs. Your car should be 2 sparks per cylinder, so you would need 12 spark plugs to change them all out. If you have not done that, then I think it is time anyways. I believe you need to change the spark plugs every 100K miles.

 

mine did that ! and iv only just put a thread about my car cutting out and not starting again and i thought it was CPS but now im thinking its a mixture od spark plugs and cps do CDI's have spark plugs? im useless....but it was vibrating very bad at stationary but reving it solved it very scary thinking i was gonna break down...

 

can't solve them all but start by charging the battery fully or have it tested.
From the symptoms it sounds like a dead battery or one close to dead.
Rule that out first since those are the symptoms triggered when battery drops below a set voltage.

 

Alright I'm going to buy a new battery today I will post back
As for the spark plugs and wires were replaced in december of 05 would that still be a possability

 

plugs are due but not the issue
you don't need new wires

 

I have a contention with this. Starting issues can be infered to a bad battery but not running issues. Running issues can be caused by bad charging systems though not by a bad starting system. If you smell gas this does not mean that you have a bad starting system. That makes little sence.

Now, since the vehicle has drivability issues this could be due to a bad charging system. But then you would have a no-run condition if the alternater was bad. If you have a shutter or a stutter, this could be due to the air, fuel, or ignition system. Check your injectors, plugs, and air metering devices. You have a check engine light in memory, what was the code? This will show you the affected circuit, but not the causation of the problem.

From my experiance, this could be anything from a bad throttle body, stuck open injector, crank sensor, to a O2 sensor on the fritz. The only time I have seen a check engine light caused by something other than air, fuel, or sensor devices was 10 years ago. Back in 2000 I got a CEL for a customer's Hyundia Elantra; intermittent missfire in all cylinders. This was caused by low voltage output by the alternator.

 

Upon checking the battery it was replaced in 2007 with a duralast battery. I charged it for 4 hours and it doesn't seem to be affecting anything. I will get a OBD and post the codes next. I'm just hoping I dont have to tow it to get fixed, I live 40 miles away from the nearest shop.

 

With the strong gas smell a stuck open injector just sounds like the most probable diagnosis. Given the recent plug replacement, newer battery, and the fact that it starts, it just misfires and shakes like the engine is going to litterally shot out of the hood.

 

then onto the next issue to eliminate
A cat gone bad
car runs starves for power
goes into limp mode
gas smell from cat plugged up.
Misfire codes on the bank affected by the cat

 

Pending codes
P0300 Multiple/Random Misfire Detected
MIL DTC
P0300 Multiple/Random Misfired Detected
P0304 Misfire detected in cylinder 4
STORED CODES
P0304 Misfire detected in cylinder 4
P0306 Cylinder 6 misfire detected
P0306 Cylinder 6 misfire detected
P0150 Oxygen sensor fault, Left side, Post Catalyst
P0305 Misfire detected in cylinder 5



<TABLE style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 15px; WIDTH: 100%" id=freezeFrameTable border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Parameter Description</TD><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Value</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">DTC for which Freeze Frame was Stored</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">P0300</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Fuel System 1 Status</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Closed Loop</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Fuel System 2 Status</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Closed Loop</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Calculated LOAD Value</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">41.96 %</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Engine Coolant Temp</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">174.20 °F</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Short Term Fuel Trim - Bank 1</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">0.00 %</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Long Term Fuel Trim - Bank 1</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">7.81 %</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Short Term Fuel Trim - Bank 2</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">-14.06 %</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Long Term Fuel Trim - Bank 2</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">8.59 %</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Intake Manifold Absolute Pressure</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">19.84 inHg</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Engine RPM</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">1,975.00 rpm</TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">Vehicle Speed Sensor</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px">56.54 mph</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

You're a genius oh lord, any recommendations? Imust add that there is no rattle noise coming from the exhaust. Is possible that its only the O2 sensor?

 

For what it's worth, all 4 of your O2 sensor are suppossed to be changed every 100K miles too. Not saying that is what is causing your issue, but your car hit a milestone that requires a few things to be changed out.

 

that bad with just a pre cat o2 sensor that is bad open circuit drivers side before the cat.
As noted above you are due for at least the 2 pre cat sensors so no harm doing them and inspecting wires
and then see how she run

Sometimes blocked cats do not rattle they choke

 

I will go ahead and replace both cats and all four sensors and post back with results. Thanks for your help

 

Wow - replace both cats right off the bat like that seems a little excessive. Isn't there some way to determine if they really are bad before dropping that much coin on new ones? I can't imagine both going bad at the same time, and normally they are a part that only need to be replaced once they do go bad - and you only need to replace the whichever is bad whenever it goes bad. (somebody please correct me if my understanding of how the cats work is incorrect).

The O2 sensors are due, so I won't argue changing those out.

 

I tend to agree with you, replacement of both the cats seems excessive. I would replace the sensors and retest since they need to be replaced every 100k. Also, a visual inspection of the plugs and the wires would also be in order. Now with misfires on one bank that could also be a bad cam sensor, though not as probible when compared to cat's failure rate.

What I find interesting is the misfire codes that you posted. This is all in closed loop operation. From my understanding most closed loop operations normally do not use all the o2 sensors. Maybe this is the way the MB does things. Most of my technical experiance was on asian cars, not the euros I sell parts for daily.

 

I guess I'm just paranoid because if it is the cat thats causing the misfires then if and when the passenger side goes bad I dont want to be stuck having to tow my car back to my exhaust guy again. Just an added cost that could be avoided. Again I know it's rare i'm unable to drive the car but I'm paranoid.

 

should easily be able to test the cats.
Or a good indie mb shop with the test scan
universal cats can be fitted for far less than oem units.

 

Yeah i'm going with universal cats and bosch o2 sensors from autohausaz.com but they show two different o2 sensors and they dont clearly label which ones are pre and which ones are post, or if they are divided up by banks. The one thing I cant seem to get a straight answer on is where to find the front angeled cat for a 4matic, eastern cat is great but they only give dimensions and I cant even find thoose. The more I read about which universal cats fit the front the more I get confused if I'm wrong please correct me, I'm new to W210's(Clearly). I'm in minnesota and I'm currently unaware of any indies in my area.

 

I found the problem it ended up being a bad injector, found fuel in my oil and the cylinder is covered in it. Thanks to all that helped on this one

 

Please tell me u didnt replace the cats and o2's.

 

No sir not even the issue

 

i know it wasnt the issue, i was making sure. the o2's are basically telling on other sensors and/or issues with the car.

 

Yeah the tech said that theres no way it was the sensor or the cats. He nailed it and Im on the road and she drives wonderfully. Cylinder cleaned and replaced and oil change for $320 dollars. I dont know how to properly clean out the injectors so I was stuck paying the stealership for it.