M272 Balance Shaft - In 'affected range', but not broken (yet)
 

I have an early-2007 E350 with an M272 engine ( 30 396553, affected range is <= 30 468993), but the balance shaft issue hasn't cropped up yet.

I did have a P0015 code (*** NOT the dreaded P0016 or P0017 ***), which came & went for awhile before I got around to replacing the passenger side exhaust solenoid (and while I was at it, I replaced the sensor as well). This took care of the P0015 code, and the CEL is off. That's a cheap fix, but I have ~105,000 miles on the engine, and I'm worried a bit about the balance shaft issue cropping up in the not-too-distant future (with my luck, it'll be the same week as a kid's college tuition check is due)...

Is there anything I can do to extend the life of the balance shaft? That is, to delay the point at which it'll finally give up the ghost?

Not that I am aware of. Keep your maintenance up, oil and fluid changes, etc.

I also have an early model year 2007. Yep, I got the dreaded codes and had to have the shaft replaced at about 75K miles (am now at 192K). Got some help from MB on it, blessedly.

Thanks. I think MB's answer to me is "take a hike, Jack." The settlements were capped at 10y. I bought my car in Feb 2007.

Sell it ASAP or start shopping for a good replacement engine now.

My wife's car is a 2006, so same notion of waiting on the shoe to drop. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Some here say that all the cars in the affected range will ultimately fail, and there is some logic to that argument. We plan on just driving the car until we have a problem. Short of selling the car and moving on to something else, I don't know of really any other way to do things.

I would view it like smoking. There's no safe amount of smoking, but some smoke and are still alive very late in life. There's no actual safe mileage where you can rest assured it won't happen to you, but it's possible that it might not happen. There are actually youtube videos on how to check the status of the balance shaft without taking the whole engine apart. There's some theory that it only affects 10-20% of the cars out there, but I've no idea where that number really came from and MB isn't talking.

5,000 mile oil changes max. Factory recommended oil (https://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/index...age_id=1#close, and OE fleece filter). Fleece filters can be MB, MANN and Bosch. All the same filter in the box.

It's a manufacturing defect. Frequent oil changes won't help when the sprockets were made with a softer metal than expected.

Actually it's cheaper to replace the engine. In order to do the repair, you have to buy the parts and remove the engine, do the repair and reinstall it. With a used engine, you just remove and install the new one. Less labor. The used engine would probably cost more than the parts, but I think you save on the labor of doing the repair. Might be a wash. Many people just sell it when the problem crops up. Lots of craigslist ads which say the check engine light is on and then go on to say it's probably a minor repair....

Yeah late 07-09 E350 engines are around $1300+ on eBay including shipping. I don't think anyone is going to fix the balance shaft for less than that.

Most large dismantlers selling on ebay have a reputation to uphold and many will provide compression numbers, proof of mileage and the vin of the vehicle it came from so you can check it's service history. It's actually much easier to hold an eBay seller to their word than most direct transactions. Also pulling and reinstalling an engine into the W211 is a breeze. The engine bay is massive and all the connections are easy to access. I don't think it makes sense to try to rebuild one of these engines especially when you consider that the chain and other sprockets could be damaged. Part out the bad engine or sell it as a rebuildable and core.

I don't understand this position at all. Given a choice between two engines, one which requires installation of ~$500 worth of parts and its history is fully-known, and one which costs >$1000 and its provenance is advertised, but history is unknown, why would one choose to spend more on a less well-known engine? In either case the/an engine needs to come out, and the/an engine needs to be installed.

The difference seems to be $500+known vs. >$1000+unknown. Please explain why the unknown option is better?

Who exactly will rebuild this engine for less than $1,300?

You wrote that the engines are selling for $1300. That's what I'm comparing against:

Option 1: Buy $1300 engine. R&R engine. Sell old one, as broken, for a few dollars.
Option 2: Buy $500 parts. R&R engine.

Even if the old, broken, engine is worth $800 (1300-500), you've still got an engine with an unknown history.

You're missing the part about the cost to install those $500 parts. They have to take the engine apart to put those in. With a used engine, you just put in the used engine, no need to take it apart to replace the balance shaft. Unknown engine isn't better, it may just be cheaper that's all. Also if you search some of the old threads, some indys don't know what they're doing and when they take it apart to replace the balance shaft, the engine doesn't quite run right afterwards.

Again who is going to fix the engine for less than 1300 bucks? You can take the VIN number of the donor vehicle into any Mercedes dealership and they will give you the service history. It's a non-issue.
The other issue you're ignoring is damage to the rest of the engine from metal particles floating in the oil for thousands of miles. Even if you successfully replace the balance shaft gear you still have an engine that is down on compression versus one that didn't experience the balance shaft failure. Then there's the issue of damage to the chain, Cam and crank sprockets. You won't know how extensive the damage is until it's in pieces. No matter how you look at it trying to repair the engine is a waste of time and money.

I did this repair and I can see both sides.

Because it is a non hardened steel gear versus a hardened chain issue I have seen the teeth wear down but not break off metal pieces. I think that is why they typically start showing the codes at 70-100k miles. Not a good scenario but if oil changes were done then I wouldn’t expect the engine to blow or have compression issues after the repair. I see the point of concern though.

If I took the engine out and had option to fix for $400 (which includes all sorts of new parts and not just the balance shaft) or buy an eBay one for $1300+ and plug in then I would fix.

Maybe I would change my mind if I was paying labor.

Replace vs fix the original. If the OP is an expert mechanic then yeah fix it. If he or she is just an occasional wrench twister that does brakes and such, then the fix job could end up being a total replacement after the fact. Learning mechanics on a high end and needed car is not the place to do so.

Hi
has anyone tried this, see YouTube video of this guy making adjustments without removing the engine, also below is my story about my problems.
Link:


About my issue:
I don’t know if anyone can help?
i bought a w211, 2005 e350 petrol auto a few months ago and all was fine and was driving just great and then all of a sudden it became slow to start up when the engine was hot and sometimes would feel like it would conk out when driving along but never did, at first I thought it was the battery but I had that checked and all was ok as it’s a new battery, I then plugged in my diagnostics and found out it was the crankshaft sensor, cam position sensors, ignition coil and also found out that the intake manifold was stuck.

The codes I had at that point were:
p0335
p0336
p0016
p0017

p0352
P2006

Today I replaced the cam position sensors & magnets, the ignition coil and the crankshaft sensor, everything is working perfect again, the car fires up first time whether it’s hot or cold and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to conk out when driving, in fact drives much better than it did.
I plugged the diagnostic back in and now only have 3 error codes
p0016,
p0017
and
2006 (intake manifold problem that I haven’t attempted to fix yet).

when I replaced the cam position and crankshaft sensors there was a lot of oil in the wiring connectors, I tried to wipe it off but I’m worried that it’s got into the wiring itself and is causing me to have the p0016 and p0017 codes, I can understand how oil got into the cam sensor as there was a leak from the magnets but I can’t understand how there was so much oil on the crankshaft sensor connection?
Has anyone else had that issue before?
Could this be why I’m getting the P0016&17 codes?
also when I disconnected the old crankshaft sensor the connector latch piece broke off so now the new sensor is just plugged in with nothing keeping it into position so maybe that’s another reason why I’m getting the error codes?

if there’s anyone with any ideas or have had similar problems I would love to hear back from you.

as I said the car is starting first time with no hesitation and is driving really well.

2007 SLK 280 Affected Range
 

I experienced the same thing. About a month ago I bought a 2007 SLK 280 with 74k miles. I relied on the carfax that said there were no recalls. I test drove it plenty of times no CEL. Then of course after the purchase I find out about the balance shaft issue and the serial number for my engine is affected. Shortly thereafter I get a CEL with DTC P0015 (cam magnet) and P0128 (thermostat). I’m a pretty good DIY’er so I fixed those. I also watched the video and did the procedure for checking symptoms for the balance shaft issue due to timing chain slack by removing the intake cam position sensors and checking to see if the marking symbols line up perfectly. Fortunately mine do (so far).

After much self research and lots of car experience I have gained over the years I have a couple of opinions:
1. Heat treated or not the balance shaft is going to fail because it’s a weak component. It’s just more likely to fail sooner if it wasn’t heat treated.
2. The best way to prolong the life of the balance shaft is to get regular oil changes AND more importantly take it easy during acceleration. In other words, drive like grandma headed to church on Sunday. Say yes to slow and gradual accelerations and no to foot stomps on the gas that jerk your neck back like you’re in a drag race. It’s not a fun way to drive and the M272 is capable of so much more but the teeth on those balance shaft gears are gonna go if you’re stomping on the gas all the time.

In addition to the repairs stated above I made others and have relied heavily on the posts made in this slkworld forum to complete the repairs on my own and avoid the MB dealer so far. I appreciate the knowledge everyone here provides. This is my first post so hello and thanks again.