saintvir

38,300 miles and the differential is shot. That is the dealer's diagnosis after I complained about annoying noise at 45 to 50mph. (Dealer described it as "worring noise"). In any case, dealer will replace the differential tomorrow under MB warranty.

While they're at it, I asked dealer to perform transmission and transfer case service (which is due at 39000 miles anyway). Now I am wondering if I should have waited until I reach 39K ... hmmm ...

MB211

You are 700 miles shy of 39k? Six of one, half dozen of the other.....

vettdvr

No you did the right thing. This way it will be complete and save you time having another visit.

saintvir

That's essentially why I decided to have it done now ... avoid another visit in a couple of weeks.

SA called this morning: a new differential came in and they are now working on the car.

gavingray

Mine went at about 52k - slight whine off-throttle at cruising speed was the sign. Have a 2004 E500 4Matic Wagon... kind of unbelievable the amount of stuff that's been fixed on this car that only now has 62k miles on it. Including but not limited too:

Rear diff
All 4 air shocks - twice!
Steering Rack
Ball Joints
Sway Bars
Rear Diff
HVAC motor
Keyless GO door switches
NAV antenna
Motor Mounts - twice!
Trans mounts
Passenger Seat Belt

Wow. Thank god for CPO.

vettdvr

Nope not unbelievable In addition to yours I have had Ignition Key, door locks,cracks in wood grain panels, and more.

This really isn't what I would consider a Quality car.! Some say that you should expect having lots of repairs on a car of this type. However my definitiion of a quality car does not include having camping rights in the dealer waiting room.

saintvir

I agree. As it stands now, the rear differential was repaired with a new unit and the car runs as quiet as ever. Problem solved, right? Not quite.

Yesterday, I was backing out of the garage and noticed oil on the floor right below where the differential was. Being Memorial Day weekend, I can't get back to the dealer until Tuesday. Another day wasted ... Unbelievable?

nopcbs

Your definition is a good one. People who are apologists for mediocre to poor quality in high priced products, like Mercs and Beemers and Audis just amaze me. Instead of being enraged that they paid 3-4x as much for their car as an excellent quality Honda Civic would have cost and getting to be on a first name basis with eberyone in the dealer's service department, they seem to think this is just part and parcel with ouwing an expensive car. These people need an eye-opening experience with a Lexus or an Infinity...or even a Hyundai to see what someone who actually cares about build quality can do.

I've had my Merc since last year and only have about 5,000 miles on it. It has been reliable, other than the funky AC system odor thing that W211s are prone to and that the dealer fixed with a fungicide fogging. If it becomes a maintenance hog, I am not going to make any excuses for MB. I'll get rid of the car and never buy another Merc. It's that simple. For what these things cost, they owe me excellent reliability.

007_e350

ThankGod I sold mine - I kinda knew there was stuff comin my way having blown the warranty timeline ... never shall I drive the beautiful benz again -- I miss it though

vettdvr

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.... If it is in the shop being repaired that doesn't meet MY definition of Beauty..

Beauty would be a worn out MB that only went in for routine service, not all of the hard parts I have been replacing.

Next car.. UMMMMMM it will have to be beautiful but my daughter says the one I am considering is ugly. But it is V8,,, 360 hp RWD 4 door, leather, 25mpg+ and meets my engineering criteria. Only time will tell if it is beautiful.

ZenMonster

Had mine replaced last week on an 08 E350 with 25k miles. Excessive noise starting at 30mph+. MB warranty covered the replacement, so far so good.

Is this a common thing to happen?

SteveC325

I had my 2008 E350 4-matic in for the 39K transmission & differential fluid change about 4 weeks ago. Last week I noticed a significant increase in "road noise" when traveling above 30-40MPH. I took it back to the dealer, who told me that my differential was bad and needed replacing. Amazingly enough, they had one n stock, but it still required an overnight stay (which is required with almost anything they do).

It seems fine now, but my concern was that they might have caused this by refilling with an improper fluid type, when in for the change or, worse yet - by not even refilling with any fluid!!!

Seems like I am not the only one with a low-mileage differential replacement required.

WEBSRFR

I agree. The most important thing I expect from my car is safety and reliability and I think I've paid enough to expect that. I basically want to get on with my life and have as little to do with fixing issues with the car as possible. I don't understand apologists who makes excuses either. Maybe the next time they want a car they should go to the dealer and say, "I love Mercedes and as long as it has a three pointed star, I don't care about reliability so give me the best lemon you have in the lot." Reliability is everything. If MB is not careful is is going to kill the resale values of these cars and in turn they will kill the lease rate of these cars that would not be good for anyone.

I am still really bothered by an instrument cluster rattle near the stearing column that my dealer has not yet been able to fix. It's really taking away from the ownership experience as I now have to again find time to take the car in.

If I wanted a temperamental expensive car to maintain, I would have have bough an Italian sports car.

TheGreatOne45

motor mounts are covered under cpo?

Ichabod

at 55,000 miles. Fortunately, when we bought the car used in 2008, we got a warrantee extended to Jan 2012 because the original owner had not purchased the car until Jan 2007. The vehicle is an E500 with 4-matic.

In our case, the noise began as a whistle about 5 months ago and then gradually turned into a wheel howl as we made almost weekly 350 mile trips to visit the new granddaughter. The noise did not seem to be affected by throttle position or gear but seemed to vary a little on corners, so at first I assumed it was a wheel bearing.

bigben320e

DAMN! You had all that to go wrong? That sounds like a Lemon, if this is becoming the norm for Mercedes, it is a pity and a shame. People seem to have been dumping quite a few of them and moving back to American, Audi's, or Hyundai's.

My CLS has been pretty solid, 98 E320 only left cat, aux fan, and rear window motor after 203K miles. R500, airmatic motor at 25K.

bigben320e

Excellent posts. People are getting tired of poor quality on high-priced cars, and are dumping them. MB said they put 1 billion into R&D, quality control, etc, hope that has turned things around with the newer MB's. IDK, There is a reason why Hyundai sold more cars in 2010 than most automakers.

kkanuck

I have 34K on my 06 CDI and have a whine at 45-55 mph approximately when there is no gas being applied, s almost coasting, if one presses the gas pedal, noise goes away. Seems like it is coming from the rear. Not loud at all, but I have a keen ear for these kind of things.

Does this mean driveshaft for sure, or is on the way out? I mentioned this sound to my dealer in Dec 2010 when car was finishing its warranty, and it is on that invoice. They stated sound could not be reproduced on the invoice and did not do a thing about it. Have I any recourse? Should I bother, or is this a normal noise at this speed and I should not worry?


Thanks for any input in this matter in advance

Plutoe

Think about your request----------two years ago, repeat two years ago, your good ear hears a whine--------------now two years later you are still whining because you still have a whine-----If your ears are as good as you say I would live with the whine and turn the radio up or always drive with the wife, she may out whine the cars whine and you could listen to a new whine!! Or alternatively---

Put the car on a lift, away from the wife, and try to duplicate and locate the whine!!

DCAMV6

will mercedes cover the shaft out of warranty? I only have to pay labor which is 1295. Told me is a $4000 part. my warranty was up 6/15/2012

ozusa

I see no reason Mercedes should cover the part outside of warranty, but you don't get shot for asking them.

I suggest you web search for "used mercedes parts". Tristar is one company. A used rear shaft for my 2004 E320 4matic was less than $300, with about 50K miles on it. You can buy a dozen of them for less than the new part, if the price you were quoted is correct (and you can get a warranty of some kind), so even if it is not perfect you're still ahead. I presume it won't need balancing, but ask.

bigben320e

Have you checked other sources for the part? MB dealers are known to jack prices on parts to even past double of other vendors that carry OEM/OES MB parts.

vettdvr

One thing I have experienced in testing gear oils. (I retireed from fortune 500 co that bought and used lots of oil) Synthetic Gear is great In SOME applications. I changed diff oil in one of my cars (not MB) years ago and went to major name brand US mfg of oil for synthetic gear oil. About 60,000 miles later I had a bearing failure and had the diff open. The gear face was worn through the hardened surface into the porosity of the cast gear.

I found that the molydisulfide used in conventional gear oils is probably the best for sliding ring/pinion gear wear lubricant available and prevents gear damage. Granted it may be in a thicker oil and take more energy to turn the gears. (read here MPG). But it is a superior gear oil. I have NEVER had a failure using the moly in conventional oils. MB if I remember correctly uses synthetic oil in the Diff. Granted the older conventional oil is thicker and not apporved but I still can't help but wonder. If these failed diff, would have use it would they have failed??

I am considering draining my diff and putting the conventional oil in it. I know it isn't recommended BUT it IS my car and there is no warranty and if it fails I have to pay 100% of the repairs. Just my thoughts on this matter. AS Forrest said,, That's all there is to it".

DCAMV6

Thanks for the post gang, Ill look into used part.