matt5555

After owning a 99 E, 96 E, 93 400 SEL, and 89 420 SEL and never having any problems I have lots of problems suddenly with my '03 E.

First the steering column and power seats have died. No longer work and steering wheel is stuck in top most position. Radio sometimes doesn't work. When I turn on the car the screen says Mercedes Benz and has the 3 pointed star but does not work. Restarting the car sometimes fixes this.

"Rumbling" sound. Not sure if its the brakes or the tranmission or tires but passengers always complain of a rumbling sound especially when coasting.

Car is 1 year old, 22000 miles.

These aren't "major" problems plan on having them fixed next service. Anyone else have these problems?

nyca

check the current autoweek - head to head test of a S500 and a Phaeton. The S500 had a failure of the instrument panel (which went away after restarting the car), then finally had what appeared to be a cooling system failure, with a blast of steam coming from under the hood - car had to be flatbedded from the test back to Mercedes.

MBE55AMG

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experiences with your car, Matt. I hope all gets patched up.

benggolf

Been lucky so far with mine. Ticking like a Swiss clock.

DavidNJ

benggolf,

How would you compare your W211 and TL?

David

nyca

Honda has a recall on their automatic transmissions with V6 engines, for 2003 and some early 2004 cars. some TLs will be caught up in that. they install an oil jet kit to keep 2nd gear from failing due to lack of lubrication - what it means for the tranny if you already have alot of miles on it, is anyone's guess. I guess you hope it blows under the 36K warranty.

benggolf

Well, obviously the W211 is a lot more car specially with the 5.0L V8. The overall finish on the MB is better, interior more plush and ride/handling (in sports mode) is more confident and has more road feel.

The TL is a nice solid car with lots of equipment. I love the NAV. Good value for your money. If you don't push the car hard, it drives and handles quite well. No torque steer until you start stomping on the gas. What impresses me is the how quiet the car is. The exhaust sounds just right but I miss the V8 rumble.

For the money, I would definitely buy the TL over a C-Class any day.

matt5555

I had no problems up to about a week ago. I think the "rumble" and somewhat jerkiness of the tranmission has been around for a while but as a driver I never noticed it. Not until I was a passenger and someone pointed it out did I notice.

Anyway I looked at the tires last night and gasp!! excess tread wear on the inner front tires. Tread is almost gone! That is crazy 22,000 miles/1 year old and tread is gone on the inner edges!

scorchie

All of these problems are symptoms of an Audio Gateway Failure. There are three steps that may fix this problem.

1) reset audio gateway by pulling fuse for 10 minutes

2) reload flash software with updated version

3) replace complete audio gateway unit

-s-

benggolf

Did you lower your car Matt?

FJPM

I have also a kind of rumbling noise in my 61000 km 03 E500. I looks to come from the front drivers side.

I am afraid it may be a bearing noise.

What tyres have you ? I have michelin primacy.