mbuskuhl

My first post to gripe, my list of problems has grown so I made an appt. this AM to bring it to the dealer (first available was next Monday). Just a few hours later I was driving and my SRS light is now on and I get a humming from the top vent on the dash with the car off. The radio won't work now, not that it mattered because the driver side speakers stopped working yesterday. I called back and tried to get in earlier to the dealer, they moved me to Saturday. The SRS light couldn't get me in quicker, unless I wanted to forego a loaner car.

This should answer the questions for those looking who always ask, "what kind of problems have you had with your _____________"

2003 E320 Sport, 23,xxx miles. This will be the first time the dealer sees it with the mods, I am curious what they say about the exhaust and lowering or if they will notice the euro impact strips.


March 06 to present problems, going in on Saturday for…

1. Sport II light does not come on
2. Driver door right top corner interior weather stripping bubbled out
3. Check engine light came on for a day and then went away
4. ESP light came on more frequently for about a 3 day period
(roads were not wet)
5. Drivers side speakers have gone out about 5 times for a day or two
each time.
6. Steering/Alignment – slight vibration at 50+ mph, tires have been
balanced and did not fix problem
7. transmission jerks or shifts at incorrect points sometimes
8. Sunroof cover sometimes will close with sunroof half way
9. driver front seat mounts cracked


New Problems occurred today, Aug 9th and are added to the above...

1. SRS Light on/ Radio no longer works
2. Humming from center top vent on dash when vehicle turned off

Barry45RPM

Your Sun Roof rails need to be lubricated.

rodE350

i can hear your stealership blaming the vibration on lowering the car. however, there are stealerships that are mod. friendly. G/L

csumt76

Was the alignment checked after it was lowered? Just curious.. definitely will change alignment angles and create abnormal tire wear. How many miles have you put on it since you lowered it?

mbuskuhl

No. I know it needs to be done but I'm been too busy to make time/procrastinating to go get it done. I've put about 6k miles on it since lowering, 3k with the tires and haven't noticed uneven tire wear yet.

I got my car back from the dealer tonight, below are the results. All covered under warranty. I sure missed it, driving the C class loaner made me appreciate my W211 more.

Dealer said nothing about the mods except when they brought the car to me, the front marker right and left light out malfunctions were displayed. I've never had a problem, turns out they took the bulbs out. Read my post on Euro Impact Strip - Do NOT tape the bulbs.

1. Sport II light does not come on
- Replaced airmatic switch
2. Driver door right top corner interior weather stripping bubbled out
-replaced driver door interior seal
3. Check engine light came on for a day and then went away
-blamed on low voltage, replaced systems battery
4. ESP light came on more frequently for about a 3 day period
(roads were not wet)
-blamed on low voltage, replaced systems battery
5. Drivers side speakers have gone out about 5 times for a day or two
each time.
-updated software (again! - they did this in March 06 as well)
6. Steering/Alignment – slight vibration at 50+ mph, tires have been
balanced and did not fix problem
-dealer could not replicate, no action taken
7. transmission jerks or shifts at incorrect points sometimes
-dealer could not replicate, no action taken
8. Sunroof cover sometimes will close with sunroof half way
-replaced sunroof cover
9. driver front seat mounts cracked
-replaced trim covers
10. SRS Light on/ Radio no longer works
-blamed on low voltage, replaced systems battery
11. Humming from center top vent on dash when vehicle turned off
-dealer could not replicate, no action taken

csumt76

Well, here comes the good part.

When I got into your vehicle to work on it, the battery was completely dead. I had to jumpstart it to get it into the shop. The check engine light was a code for "increased idle speed due to SBC low voltage." Basically a request from the SBC unit to increase engine speed and subsequently the vehicles voltage to keep the brakes from failing on you. That was the only code stored in the engine control unit. The ESP light was also triggered by a low voltage code and also the loss of steering angle sensor normalization. It is possible that in the first couple days the light was on, you did not complete a full steering wheel turn lock to lock to renormalize the sensor.

The trans issue/vibration requires authorization for repair from higher authority than myself(shop foreman.) He was unable to duplicate the complaints. During the road test, I found the car to drive very similar to my 211 if not smoother. I have the most updated guide strut bushings on mine and braking characteristics were nearly identical.

The audio system initially sounded terrible, much static and distortion from all the speakers in general. That is the most updated Audio gateway software out there. I also checked the head unit again and found nothing for that. If anything further happens, the audio gateway will get replaced.

The SRS light/radio out 3 times... The communications platform dropped out of the MOST ring those 3 times. Had to change some version coding in the central gateway per a DTB.

Strange I originally read your first post over the weekend. Then what do you know.. I was working on your car Monday AM. I couldn't believe it.

I noticed all of the mods. Weird though, not once did the message for the sidemarker lights come on while I had it. I guess someone else had to deal with that this evening..

About the lowering.. who did it for you? Please send me a PM about this one. Mine is lowered as far as possible while keeping the level sensor voltages within range and the ride height even. A romess gauge is neccesary to measure the inclination values that must be entered when calibrating the ride height. It really tells you that you have the car level at all four corners. I have not realigned mine since, but I can definitely feel the difference in ride quality after a couple thousand miles. The increase negative camber is what does it, toe will cause problems as well. I keep mine rotated regularly to combat this. However, since you have staggered AMG's, that is not possible.

The other stuff was pretty self explanatory. Enjoy. Hope everything was to your satisfaction.

glojo

Good morning [MB]CRS,
I must commend you for putting your head above the parapet and saying it how it is!

The only thing I don't understand is the paragraph I have posted.

If there was a detected fault and IF the car is till under warranty then why wait for the customer to make a further complaint? This course of action might involve further frustration, further inconvienance and more important take up your valuable time

A very good, informative post,

Regards,
John

mbuskuhl

MB[CRS] -

Wow, what are the odds the tech who worked on my car is also on this forum. Thanks for your post! I was happy with the service, everything is good including the radio. I'm not going to let the problem list grow before bringing the car in next time, hopefully I can get one of the advisors (I've worked with Steve, Billy and Jimmy now) to send the car to you again.

The side marker light issue was odd, I am going to pull the Euro strips this weekend and see for myself what the sockets look like. Billy did show me some burnt tape that I had used to cover the bulbs.

I forgot to mention in my last post to the board, you guys also replaced the axle carrier bolts for an open service campaign. I couldn't tell on my receipt if the oil was changed, it's been about 8k miles since it had been done.

Glad there were no issues with the mods, I was afraid the car would come back with the suspension raised back to normal or comments on the exhaust or Euro strips. Thanks for being mod friendly!

PM sent. Thanks again - Mark

csumt76

I can't explain what exactly is done in the software update. Unfortunately I don't have that information. I have encountered many MOST problems, and am confident that his issue is resolved. MBUSA makes the rules, I just have to follow them. Odd thing is that most likely a replacement audio gateway will require the flash update as well.

csumt76

Bring it to me anytime. My advisor is Dwayne but you can always just request me if you wish. The oil was not changed. I believe your next service is due in around 4K miles or so.

mbuskuhl

I took [MB]CRS up on his offer. Had the speakers on the driver side go out again a few days ago. I picked up my car this evening and had a new audio gateway installed under warranty. I also got the wipers fixed as they were making noise, somehow these managed to get covered under warranty as well, even though the car is 3+ years old with 24k miles on it. Same day service and I had a free loaner car. Big thanks to [MB] CRS for his help and expertise!

vettdvr

Special thanks to the MB tech that helped. Nice to hear about someone who really gives service. My dealer,, "granted high prices" does give good to great service. I might compain about the $$,, but then I figured if I could afford the E500 I should be able to pay the $$ for service. However I don't mind doing some of the service myself just because it is over 100 miles just to get to the dealer for service and it usually takes more than 1 day.

Special thanks to the MB tech that helped

Jim