BenzE350

My 2011 E350 with less than 4 months and 5K miles on the clock "died" yesterday.

I'm crusing home @ 70 mph after a long day of skiing with my wife and daughter when the check engine light comes on and the power is diminished. I start heading for the breakdown lane and barely get off the road before the car feels like it is running out of gas. (Not easy crossing 3 lanes of rush hour traffic with loss of power!) Coast off the ramp and luckily right into a Shell station. Heart beat gets back to normal.

I have a half tank of gas but fill it up with the thought that the feul gauge may be broken. Car only takes 10 gallons so I call MBrace for service. An hour and 45 minutes later the flat bed truck arrives to drive me to Mercedes service.

The dealer was kind enough to drive 50 miles from the dealership to rescue my wife and daughter and drive them home. They also had a new C300 loaner waiting for me when I arrived at the service department with the tow truck. Much appreciated.

I'm still very upset in the reliability of my first Mercedes. First time I have had one of my cars in for unscheduled service in probably 12-15 years.

Waiting for the service advisor to call with a diagnosis. Probably something with the fuel delivery?

black-clk500

Fuel pump?
Do you run on empty a lot?
That's my guess--sucks to hear, hopefully something simple.
GL

BenzE350

Never.

DNAPoPo

Keep us informed. I'm curious as to what would cause such a problem.

Tjdehya

Did the engine shut down or was it just a loss of power?
Sorry to hear. Keep us informed.

BenzE350

Initially, sudden and dramatic decrease in power. Very scary on the highway. I tried restarting it after trying the fuel refill and I couldn't even pull away from the pump. The engine was misfiring so I shut it down.

I expect to hear back from MB service by the end of the day.

sinister55

Damn, i would like to know the problem, i was thinking about getting a E350...
I might be a sensor. MB isnt really known for reliability, but damnnn

K-A

Damn, scary, that sucks. Let us know when you find out what it is.

Arrie

My guess either cranck or cam shaft position sensor.

hyperion667

wow, I'd be freaked out and raising hell........

good luck pal

sosh

This is an inappropriate way to handle this. Your not going to get far with this attitude.

BenzE350

Update...

The problem is a faulty Engine Control Unit (ECU). They originally said they would have the part today, however, I was just told they need to order the part from Germany and it will take about a week.

DNAPoPo

Wowsers, sorry to hear that. Hope MBZ makes it up to you somehow, cause this situation sucks pretty bad.

hyperion667

it's a figure of speech..............go figure.............

Tjdehya

lol, dont worry I know what you meant. Maybe he thought you were literally going to raise hell and he was worried about you making the snow melt.

ash_cpe

When ECU crashes, car just stops? These cars should have sort of failover mechanism, in case of a faulty ecu or tcu car should at least keeps moving for safety, and bypasses any faulty electronic modules since they have CAN "Controller Area Network".

BudC

I thought they had a *limp home* mode when this happens. Of course, limping on a busy Interstate isn't very practical.

BenzE350

My understanding from the MB service advisor is that if the ECU malfunctions, the engine can't get proper instructions on how to run. Very scarry stuff.

My family is safe today only because I was alert and lucky. Alert that I noticted the tiny red engine symbol by the speedo (imo not a prominent enough warning), and immediately started making my way towards the breakdown lane. Lucky that I was able to avoid an accident crossing 3 lanes of traffic with loss of power - and lucky that as the car was completely losing power there was an exit with a down hill slope to coast into a Shell station. Very lucky.

Racing Dad

WOW! that is very scary! Damn... funny how you're not the first person to say that exact same thing happened to them.

UK-C200

Ah, sorry, but how does having a network help you if the ECU dies? All modern MB engines - and most others - die if the ECU dies - unless you are proposing that MB put 2 ECU's in every car?! The fact that the engine didn't just outright stop actually kinda surprises me, as "limp home" mode is an ECU function.

In any event, damned shame to have it happen, and glad they had a loaner waiting for you. This is the first I've heard of a > 2.8, non-modified, ECU dying, and the fact that there was not another one in the US kinda supports that.

Like any electronics device, there's always the possibility of a component failure - at least the dealer is treating you right.

El Cid

Reliability is issue that had delayed my getting an M-B until last year. If reliabilty of E Class was not rated above average by Consumer Reports, would not have gotten the car. Hate to hear this. Worse thing is how many times people post that a critical part has to come from Germany and may take weeks to get here.
In 2007, I had a Hyundai Azera and asked dealer to re-program the limp home code. On Hyundais you have to do a thing with the ignition to activate limp home and it is set at time of purchase and I wanted mine changed. They tried, but somehow it "killed" the computrer. Dealer gave me a rental car and Hyundai over nighted a new $2,500 computer for the car. Ironically, by letting the car sit overnight, the computer re-booted and everything was OK.
Bottom line is, Hyundai had the part in the US and they overnighted it as warranty work.

ash_cpe

Not another full redundant ECU maybe a smaller scale ECU in case of emergencies or ECU fail/open logic architecture.

BenzE350

I didn't hear back from the service advisor in over a week so I called for an update. 2 hours later they call me back and tell me that it will be at least until Tuesday of next week before they get the part from Germany.

I'm not enjoying this ownership experience.

Make me wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to own one if these cars out of warranty?

sosh

I have owned MB's exclusivly since 1998 and a couple before that. Since 98 I have had 3 E Class and 4 ML's. I have never had to wait for any part longer than the next day and never from Germany!Believe you may have a dealer problem of some sort. Even if the part was in Germany it could be here overnight. Ever hear of Fed Ex?? If I were you I would call customer service at MB USA and explain the situation to them.

K-A

Sounds like a lazy Dealer for sure. If they were on it, and/or not backed up, I assume they should have had that part in and installed, and your car freshly washed by now, back into your hands.