Well the check engine light came on tonight while driving home. No malfunctions listed in the MFD, just the yellow light in the clock.

Last year this happened to me twice.

First repair was a Charcoal Canister replacement which totaled $729.75

Second repair one month after the Charcoal Canister was a Leaking Fuel Filler Neck on the Purge Valve which totaled $701.85.

Hopefully this lights is one of those items again and this will be warrantied under the 12 month warranty for parts and labor. Otherwise I pay.

I guess I really cannot complain. I am the second owner of the car and bought it with 17K miles in 2003. I now have 76K on it and those two repairs and some front Ball Joints and Thrust arm bushings are the only out of pocket repairs outside of normal maintenance expenses.

So in basically 60K miles I have spent $2500.00 in unexpected repairs, and actually the charcoal canister is an expected replacement at 60K according to the Owners Manual, so maybe I'll call it $1700.00 in unexpected repairs over 60K and four years.

Not so bad I guess. What do you guys think???

Randy B

 

Randy,

You should have the OBDII DTC read at an Autozone, etc to see what emissions related problem you have. I have an 03 E320 with 70Kmi and I just had one of the lower ball joints replaced (the other one can go a while), which really bugs me as those joints are of poor quality.

During the time I've had the car (bought new), I've spent under $500 in unexpected repairs so far.

Regards,
paul...

 

Not that BMW is any better on minor flaws than Mercedes. I just feel this E has wore me out on repairs. I have a file folder thicker than all my other vehicles I have owned with repair receipts from the dealer.

I spoke with the technicians this afternoon working on my car (Yes plural). They both said that these purge leaks are driving them crazy as well, as the owners. They had my rear seat removed and the car high on the lift trying to smoke test all the purge lines from the filler-neck down to the O-rings on the fuel pump where it attaches to the top of the fuel tank. After three and a half hours, no luck yet they know a leak exists.

Can't knock the talent of the technicians. They too would like very much for my car to be out of their shop. However I can knock the engineers. They went too far on this system for fuel fume recirculation.

Anyway, hopefully they will find the problem and have it fixed by Monday or Tuesday. After I pay the "Ransom" for the fix and clear the check engine light, I'm headed to the BMW dealer to give a 550i a hard look. Who knows according to their online stock they have two 550i's that fit my likes.

Randy B

 

We can always expect headaches from the intro model year, and the 2003 W211's are no exception. I'm really glad I bought the E320 with a minimum of options -- I originally wanted the E500!!

Good luck with the car!

Regards,
paul...

 

Picked up the car tonight from the Dealer. The Service writer wanted to replace the fuel tank as the seals were not holding the required amount of vacuum and therefore tripped the check engine light.
In all my years of driving, owning vehicles, and managing a fleet of police cars, I have never replaced a fuel tank (plastic or metal) when the vehicle had not been in a crash or punctured it with something extraneous. I asked in depth why the fuel tank needed to be replaced. I was informed the holes where the fuel tank sending unit and fuel pump are respectively have warped.

While the fuel tank may be made of plastic, I find it hard to believe MB would use such a product that could withstand certain thresholds of crashes and fires and yet somehow end up being warped by a part that does not move.

I asked to speak with the Service Manager and he asked for some time to look into it and call me back. I gave him the time and in the meanwhile I started some in-depth research online about the fuel tank and the Purge control system on the W211.

Turns out on higher mileage (60K) and up W211's technicians have been experiencing failures of the Active Charcoal Canisters (Owner's manual says to replace at 60K), Filler neck assemblies (Mainly because of the failure of the integrated reservoirs), and the finally the O-Ring/Seals on the top of the fuel tank where the fuel sending unit and fuel pump are mounted respectively.

Mercedes has even gone as far as issuing an updated part for the O-Rings/Seal (203-471-03-79) and they are a different color from the originals.

I advised the Service Manager to replace the O-Ring/seals and reset the check engine light. If this held then we would stop, if the light came back on, please call me.

We agreed the labor would be about 1.5 hours for the O-Ring/Seal replacement.

He stressed I should replace the fuel tank to ensure no leaks. With this repair he would not guarantee the light would not come back on.

I thanked him for his thoughts and recommendation and stayed the course.

I paid $244.26 for this repair vs. the estimated $1544.00 for the fuel tank and seal replacement they recommended.

Now we will see if I was right or wrong and I will surely abide by the decision the car makes.

Now that I have finished ranting, I thought all of you might at least like to see something to look for when you experience the same issues.

Randy B

 

Randy,

With all this going on, did you get the fuel filter replaced, or did you have it done prior to all this?

The W211 (gas models) require the fuel filter to be replaced between 50-60Kmi (when the FSS says so).

Regards,
paul...

 

Paul, actually the fuel filter does not get replaced I asked about it. I was told it is part of the fuel pump assembly and not sold separately. They do not replace them as they are not quite the fuel filter design as most external models.

Randy B

 

Randy,

Sorry, but I disagree with you as I changed my fuel filter last year. The gas 211's have two access ports on the fuel tank (under the rear seat). The one behind the driver's side has the fuel filter and a level sender (one unit). The one behing the passenger's side has another level sender and the fuel pump (also one unit).

An MB special tool (claw wrench) is required to open up the two access ports, and the fuel filter is around $100 if you buy it from one of the contacts on MBWorld. The job was somewhat a PITA and took me about 2 hrs to complete.

Also, replacing the fuel filter is indicated on the W211 FSS service sheet as Service Item #5, so I don't know what your SA is telling you.

Regards,
paul...

 

Hi all! I have a 2003 E320 125k miles. Check engine light came on, changed the gas cap, light still on. Took to AutoZone today and code said Canister Purge Valve. Does anyone know where this is located and if there is a video for a DIY fix? I'm not interested in taking it to a "stealership" since their quotes have already been double in the past from a local mechanic. Thanks in advance!

 

Current part # is 0004707193 (see diagram) located right rear see here: http://workshop-manuals.com/mercedes...ion/locations/ + attachment.