So after purchasing my new E550 last weekend and putting all of 15 miles on it last Sunday, I had to go out of town on business all week so it sat in the garage. Rained all day here in NoVa yesterday so today I finally got to take her out.

That's when I noticed it. A slight depression, about the size of a dime, in the HK speaker grille on the driver's side. At first I thought it was a shadow but you can feel the depression when sliding your finger over it. It's not visible when standing outside the car with the door open -- you can only see it from the drivers seat. Obviously I hadn't noticed it when I picked the car up last Saturday.

So what to do? Shall I have the dealer replace the grille? Or is the potential for even bigger annoyances, such as a rattle, too great to risk? Is this a DIY item? Anybody pulled a door mount grille?

 

My vote is to absolutely have the dealer replace it. I doubt you'll have a problem.

Similar story: with 1K on my car, unbeknownst to me the little button on the driver's seat belt that prevents the buckle from sliding down the belt broke. The buckle slid down and settled at the exact height of the driver's door speaker. Subsequently closing the door caused the buckle to penetrate and put a huge hole in the speaker grille. Dealer replaced the entire seat belt and the speaker grille and you couldn't tell anything had happened! They even replaced the speaker itself, just in case I had a problem down the road.

Good luck.

Al

 

Off to the dealer you are.

 

If you are super picky about your car and you have to look very closely to notice anything I'd leave it alone, as collateral damage is always a risk to your car when it enters the service dept and it doesn't necessarily have to even be in the exact area they worked on. So many times they've fixed one thing and I've found marring to another plastic piece they needed to take off to get to the part that needed replacement. Just offering another perspective.

 

Thank you all for your responses. Yes RJC, that is my concern. I think I will have a word with the dealer though to get a sense of the work involved.

 

A speaker grill will be a simple and easy fix. Unless they remove the original part with a sledgehammer or a grenade, there is little chance of any real damage. Personally, I would not refer to this a "first ding" but more of a sample defect. To me, a "first ding" implies damage to the outside of the vehicle by some outside force (usually an inconsiderate person that parked next to you) that is not going to be covered by warranty...could just be me, but the thread title is a bit misleading.

 

Agreed, hence the "sorta" modifier.

 

I wouldnt be surprised it it takes a whole new door panel...

The doors on these things are a p.i.t.a. to work on

Let us know what the remedy is!

 

At least the OP's sample defect is covered by warranty.

 

I have an appointment tomorrow -- if it does indeed require a new panel I'll live with it. As RJC pointed out, I fear collateral damage. We'll see what happens.

 

I visited the service department this morning and spoke with a service advisor. He was able to see the dent despite the poor lighting and seemed sympathetic. He confirmed they would have to pull the door panel to replace the speaker grille. He said he'd need a couple of days notice to order the part.

He suggested I drive the car for a few weeks at least to see if it continued to bother me and that perhaps I could work out a deal with sales to get some accessories if I decided not to do it.

We'll see. I have just 100 miles on the car -- it's rained every day for the last week here in NoVa so really haven't been out much so I will leave it as is for now to see how I feel about it down the road.

I wonder if they laugh when people come in with such issues. But I gotta figure that other folks are probably more **** than I am about these types of things.

 

You want to know what a first ding is! Drive your beloved MB for 12 years and have some AH run a shopping cart into it, especially when you always park in the north 40, in order to avoid this from happening. Now that's something to get upset about.

 

When you buy any car touted to be the best, engineered like no other etc you'd expect things to be built right, obviously this missed inspection at the factory, port and or dealer. They may be able to do a flawless repair but when they have to insert the plastic tool to remove the panel is where the trouble usually begins with marring to the panel. Now in your case since they have to replace the entire panel with a new one you should be ok providing the seals etc are completely intact or replaced before the new panel is put back. Can you post a pic so we can see just how bad it looks?

 

Here's an iPhone pic I took late this afternoon with the sun pretty low in the sky. It's the worst I've seen it; it looks pretty bad from this angle. With the sun high, it looks like a shadow.

I think I'm going to have them replace it.

 

They have to replace your entire door panel just for that? I agree it looks bad.

 

That will be fixed with no ill side effects. No worries.

 

i have notice in my car that it only says harmon kardon in the driver speakers and not in the other ones

 

The service rep said they have not had success in pulling the grille without removing the door panel. They won't be replacing the door panel itself, just the grille.

 

Got it. Just warn them that you'll be very carefully checking (top and bottom) for any pry marks against your door panel and if you find any they'll have to replace it.

 

Don't fuss over this. It's a simple procedure that the car jockey can do.

 

I agree with you. That happened to me this week. I was at home depot parked way out in the back. When I came back to my car, some piece of s**t had rammed two carts across the passenger side of my door, causing scratches on both doors on the passenger side and a dent above the right rear wheel well.

I mean who does that. I was so angry. Now I have to find someone to repair the damage.

 

Two carts?!? Probably some inconsiderate, oblivious and/or jealous a-hole. I don't know what's worse, this kind of crap or as an example we took my wife's car in for service and they scratched the upper front fender from grit on the fender protector they used and of course they completely denied it and this was after they inspected the car top to bottom on the pre-service report even making note of the tiniest little chip on a rim.

Hope the repair comes out perfect.

 

I found a 1/2 inch scratch on my front fender while detailing the other day.....

LAME......

Sharpie?? LOL

 

jealous F-head haters....sorry to read it cousin

 

Ahh, that sucks. Condolences. It'll be just like new again, just gotta bare with it.

This car has so many sharp and crafted creases and complex surfaces, it's just blasphemous to have it get dinged or dented up.