So check this out guys....

I'll make a long story short.

I've own my '05 e.three.twenty. for about a year now..love her to death and I've probably been back and forth to the service department about 4 times regarding computer errors and malfunctions. I've had problems with the passenger seat sensor going off 2 times, brake squeeking once and I've had the SRS malfunction twice on me. The first time it came on MB had reset the computer and it seemed to have resolved the problem temporarily. After a few days it displayed again on my console.

I took my baby in last week and the my SA advised me they can take care of it and make sure it wouldn't happen again. So I put my confidence im him and the service dept and drove away in a 06 ML350 rental from enterprise (which might I add was a pleasure driving for the weekend. man was she sweet?)

I came by to pick up my car today. My SA told me that they had reprogrammed the computer, replaced a recall on the battery module and they claimed they had ran several tests. With all that said I hopped into my e.three.twenty drove off not even 20 yards away from the dealership and my car is having difficulty accelerating. It started to jerk and had a hard time accelerating. It was so bad when I stepped on the accelerator it would take about 5 seconds just for the car to take off. I was thinkin that maybe the engine was cold, But I was wrong. I drove 2 blocks down and my baby wasn't like how she use to be. It was like she was gasping for air. At that point I was getting a little frustrated. I drove back to the dealership not even 2 mins from leaving. Flagged down my SA and told him what happened. I brought up that the SRS indicator has been resolved, But now my car isn't running to it's maximum potential.

He had the odacity to tell me to hang on for 20 minutes while he runs a quick diagnostic.... "I'm thinkin quick diagnostic????"

Now I didn't want to seem like an @sshole because I'm not. I spent 50 grand on a car. (My first MB btw) I pick it up from being repaired and the car isn't even in running like it's suppose to. What the? I'm thinking don't you guys make sure everything is in tip top running order before handing the keys to your customers. I told my SA "look..... I'm not going to give you 20 minutes to run a quick diagnostic. I don't want your technicians working under a 20 minute time frame to make a quick fix so you can put a smile on my face." 20 minutes is not worth my safety. I'll give you guys a day or two....however long it takes just get it done." It was practically rush hour in SF, If i took off in my car within the next 20 minutes without a positive resolution, I could have hit another car on the bay bridge for crying out loud.

I'm sorry guys... Just a little frustrated.
And thank you to everyone that took time out of their day to read my post.

Have any of you guys came across a situation like this on your e classes?

 

I am willing to be that 1/2 the problems with MB cars is Dealer-Induced.. sounds like these guys totally phucked up your ECU/Gatway... have them re-flash everything to like-new and start over.. their incompetence is nothing less than amazing. I witnessed it myself when they were trying to update my "gateway" to the latest software, and "by accident" zapped my ECU! I mean the moron who was working on my car was a 20 year old, tattoo clad, pierced nose, baboon! These are the "German mechanics" you're paying $120/hr for!

 

Worst experience yet I tell ya.

I don't have my car for yet another day or two until they resolve the problem that they somehow created. *CE750* How do you think this might have happened with the ECU? A slight ***** up on their end perhaps? Could they have just rushed it? Anybody out there with similar experiences that care to share?

Good morning by the way fellow mbw members!

It's a beautiful Tuesday morning!

(just wish I had my e three in the garage.)

 

JTMarlin, who was your dealer?

 

Schumacher?

 

yup... thank God the guys over at Renntech were only too happy to re-flash my ECU back...

I asked Schumacher why they did the ECU, and the guy basically said they did it by accident instead of the gateway, which indeed had an update that needed to be done. The ECU didn't need anything!

My point is that these techs (most of them) hardly understand these cars any more.. they've gotten so complex, that you really need a design engineer at every dealer to explain how the various components interact.

 

my point is that the mechs make many operator errors (in my anecdotal observation) and so sometimes taking your car in for service can actually lead to more problems than keeping it away from the dealer.

 

Honestly, you have no idea what you are talking about.. just please keep your ignorant comments about the dealership to yourself. The errors when flashing the CGW were not dealer induced...

Need to quit being so stereotypical of "mechs" as you call them. I went through a lot of training with MB to get to where I am at right now. I have an excellent understanding of MB electrical systems and how to diagnose them.

 

I will not keep them to myself.. I've seen it with my own eyes at two different dealers.. these guys (most of them) don't understand the car.. They stumble thru their diagnosis of the car, rather than "know" what is wrong.

We're not talking about the Tapper Bro's here or Pat Goss... we're talking about 20 year olds with minimal training pulling pats, and re-flashing software etc.. rather than having a understanding of very complex cars.. I'm paying $120/hr for them to learn on my $60K investment with, and you want me to chill?

In another dealer induced fiasco.. same place..

I took my car in for oil, was charged for 9 quarts, took it home, found found 4.9 Quarts in it, so I went back and they said sorry.. we should have put in 6.0.. so the brought it up to 5.3... I then RETURNED AGAIN.. to ask what is the recommended capacity as I only have 5.3 and was charge for 9... I got two different answers.. finally I called MB directly and was told 7.5... so I had them bring it up to that, and made them credit me for the mess-up.. That isn't what I call competent service, do you?


What dealer do you work for pray tell, so I can go to them for service and ask for you, as you seem to know the car? Tell me, as I can use a good mechanic.

 

Tell me about it, my car has or had perfect alignment before the dealer gave me the curtesy alignment (which I never asked for) and my car pulls to the right after I drove off.

 

Let me tell you my experience at my dealer and you judge what kind of service I got. About over a year ago, I took the car in for some warranty service. I don't remember which one because I have been to the dealer so many times in my short time of owning the car. However, I do remember this. I picked up the car in the evening and headed back home. Lord and behold, my freaking steering wheel was off center! Now, I was really concerned because there was no alignment service, no suspension service, nothing mechanical to cause the steering wheel to go off center. I immediately drove back to the dearler and told the SA the problem. I was pissed to say the least. I check the mileage and noticed that close to 25 miles were added to odometer! To me someone took it out for lunch or errand to add that kind of miles to the car, and hit a curb or something to make the steering to go off center I gave the SA a lecture on this kind of service. A week later, I wrote to the General Manager about this episode. Guess what, I got a reply from the sales manager that they were sorry about it. The GM was too proud to reply himself and asked a freaking sales manager to reply a serious service issue You think I would buy another car from this dealer? What kind of confidence level do I have with the experienced tech? I also ownd a 2004 G35, which I drive most of the time. I have 20K on it and have yet been to the dealer for any warranty service

 

I won't say exactly where I work but it is in the southeast...

I would love to work on everyones car b/c I see and fix some stuff that other guys do. I take pride in what I do b/c I realize how pissed I am when my own car gets screwed when I take it to service. Believe me, I bought a 35K 2004 Cobra and it was basically my dream car. I had some issues with the alignment and a couple other things... The first time they aligned it, they shifted the front subframe to gain caster on the passenger side. They ended up shifting the drivetrain so much it created stress on the entire engine/trans and a wicked vibration through the entire body at around 1200 rpm.. I was beyond pissed that they returned it to me like that. They put me in a loaner and sorted it out a couple days later. I took it back again b/c the alignment still wasn't fixed(apparently a common problem specific to the 03-04 Cobra.) This time they removed the upper strut mounts(which are not adjustable from the factory) and drilled out the holes to allow extra adjustment. When I got the car back, you could see touch up paint all over the strut towers under the hood where they scratched the **** out of the paint. This put me over the top. I took the car home, pissed, and vowed never ever ever to let the dealer touch the car again. I considered my warranty void. Untill..... my throw out bearing started squeaking a couple hundred miles later. I researched online and found a tech bulletin regarding the noise requiring replacement of the throw out bearing retainer.I decided not to do it myself b/c the parts were going to cost me close to $500. I got a recommendation from a co-worker and took it to another dealer. They DIDNT EVEN DO THE bulletin as requested and I spoke directly to the shop foreman. They replaced the clutch assembly and the noise came back in around 700 miles!!! The car had less than 4000 miles with two botched alignments and the trans pulled out once, and it needed to be pulled again to FIX the problem. A few months later, I tore the bumper off hitting some debris after a "storm" and decided to get rid of the car. I took all of my mods off of it which I spent close to 5K on and sold them online. I then traded the car in for the E350 I have now that I can actually work on myself.

Long story short.. I feel your pain. Next time you have a good experience, remember the tech number on the R.O. and insist that he works on your car from then on. With so many bays to fill, it is impossible to find 50 guys who are intelligent and capable of fixing these cars that also truly care about the quality of work. In the last two years, my survey rating average is around 97%. I'll admit I am not perfect, but I try my best to be damn close. I could not give a **** and make a lot more money, but it's just not me.

 

Understand, that I'm sure you are probably as good or better than you say.. My problem is here the dealers seem to always have very young and inexperienced mechanics on my car.. that's fine for an oil change, but not when the car is being inspected (for my 3000 miles).. that should be done by a seasoned mechanic..

Anyway.. best of luck.

 

I am a young technician, under 25. I passed up college and went to an automotive school and got an associates, and ended up training with MB b/c of my grades/testing/interview. I figured working on cars was a no brainer b/c im the computer nerd of the automotive industry. I earned some easy cash back in the day working on my friends cars doing aftermarket installs.

I did pretty decent in highschool despite my lack of motivation, and scored a 1240 on the SAT, 680 in math. I was a few days away from orientation at a university before I changed my mind. I am completely happy with my decision and have no regrets. Your abiltiy to make money and be successful does not depend on a piece of paper.

 

This is true..

 

I'm sure you don't mean because a person has tattoo's and piercings, there not good at what they do for a living???? Perhaps what you meant to say was because the wrench was 20 years old, still learning his craft and because of this he has not yet advanced to the level at which you expect for $120.00 an hour??? Mistakes are made by people of all ages.
In any case I hate stereo-typing...

 

Haha, no tatoo's or piercings here. I've only been at MB for a couple but was watching pops wrench on tons of classics since I learned to walk.

 

I am not suprised one bit with some stories.

A million years ago, I use to work in a garage to earn some extra money. Back then, anyone "technically oriented" would figure out a problem and sort it out. Sure, all cars had some peculiar solution or "tricks" but for all intents and purposes, they were all the same. Not anymore.

Now......

The cars are so complex and have so much electronics in them that I am amazed more cars don't crash when their computers crash. Well, I almost did but that's another story.

Mercedes has recognized the fact that they are having a lot of problems with the E-class and in fact, I read that they stepped down production by a quarter. That is why they are rushing the "mid life" E as fast as possible.

Anywho.....

When you take your car in, make sure that you ask who will be working on your car, jot it down. Then ask if he is "dealer expert" on the matter. More often then not, the SA's will give it to the next available mechanic but will think twice if he KNOWS that you know who should be working on the car. Not all the mechanics are trained to do everything on your car. Some are better at electronics, some on engines, some on injection systems, some on alignment, etc.

 

**UPDATE**

Alright guys...I'm not losing faith as of yet. I got a message on my answering machine this morning from my SA with the updates on my e.three.twenty

He sounded very apologetic and empathetic on the phone and told me that my car was fixed and he reassured me that everything is up and running smoothly.
He concluded that they replaced the SRS sensor AGAIN and that was the only problem which caused my car lag when accelerating. I'm thinkin' SRS= Cause of lack of acceleration...humm? Something smells funny. Do you guys smell that, it smells like BS. Anyhow I couldn't pick up my car today because I'm away on business. I'm gonna pick my baby up Thursday morning and I'll give you guys the update then. I'll get the real low down. I'm not gonna jump to any conclusions. Hey I'm a nice guy....

BTW (*DarkStar) my dealer is in San Francisco Folsom St.