bigh123

I just ordered my first Benz. If the engine is a dud on a new e350, I will be very upset. I can accept electrical problems but mechanically it better work perfectly to 100k miles for a 60k car.

ttoE550

See this is just backwards to me: I'd MUCH prefer an engine failure to electrical problems. You never know what an electrical problem can do to seemingly unrelated components in a car.

K-A

That's a good point. Also, Ferrari's for the most part I believe have to have their entire motors pulled for mere oil changes. When getting an engine replaced, just like when getting a window motor replaced, you'd never know as long as the installation is done correctly: Perfectly brand new car, not "defected", no signs of "a construction sight", etc. If this is the step they take, the most important thing is making sure you're dealing with a very competent group of techs.

bigh123

To me a car should first and foremost get you from point a to point b and not strand you anywhere. If you can drive with an electrical problem fine. As long as the components still works (although not perfectly) its more of a pest.

Second, a car should keep you safe. I narrowed down to the e class because it is one of the safest mid size sedans out there especially with the driver assistance package.

Raymond Lee

Don't know correct right words to say but I have faith in E350. Your case must have been some odd ball case. There are so many E350s on the road with solid records of happy ownership. Even if the engine was replaced, there would be nothing wrong with the car.

telemakhos

If I recall correctly there was a recall campaign for cars built in a certain time frame with defective engines. I think it is in one of the "sticky" threads. While replacing an engine sounds pretty major, I think you will be fine with the new motor. Getting an extended warranty on it to 7/100 or so should allay your fears, at least somewhat, though I can completely understand your point of view.

Good luck.

bigh123

I always had the impression that the best people to take out and put in an engine in a car are in the assembly plants not the dealerships. Can we trust mechanics in a MB dealership to correctly take out and install a motor? (OP I'm really not trying to scare you. I hope you get a brand new car or get a service manager to guarntee the install)

leapingpoint

just curious, if dude got a new engine installed, how is the new engine number gonna match the number on the chasis and under the windshield? mercedes give engrave the same number on the new engine? are they legally allowed to do that? how does that work?

MCF

SURE it is...just like a heart transplant. Let's see, Germans in Germany putting in the original motor or some knucklehead here in the states attempting to put in a new motor.

God put in your original heart, you think anyone can do as good as job when they attempt to put in another heart...hehehehehe!!!

RJC

To answer the question further back, the car will no longer be a matching numbers car and will negatively affect the car's value. If your engine failed with over 10,000 miles getting a replacement (which may not even be new, but remanufactuered) would be acceptable and somewhat of a positive starting off with zero miles; but with only 1000 miles would not.

Another thing to consider, it's not just a simple as plug and play, as the exsisting engine must be seperated from the trans/flywheel etc with the new engine then being installed and no matter how tatented your local service dept is, it will never be as good as factory assembly.

Take my first advice and if they don't want to replace your car let them kill another 2-3 weeks getting and replacing the engine then head toward lemon law; that's what it's there for...

K-A

Damn, RJC! Haven't noticed you in a while, and that Jag you were so excited about turned out to be a Lemon?!

F'ING Jaguar, huh?! Can't get it right. Not the first person I've heard from who was so excited about one and had to write it away due to shoddy build quality. Oddly enough, my Cousins XF Diesel in rigorous streets of Paris has been a work horse.

K-A

If it was God who sat in a lab assembling all our hearts, then he didn't nail it the first time with many people who've suffered defects, and in fact some guy in a white coat and bright lit room turned out to fix the problem.

mjsbenz

The difference between a great dealership and one that is simply churning out cars is how they support their customers.

Mercedes will definitely replace your car if your dealer principal and service director make the right calls. With that said, if MBNA has become numb to wanting high levels of loyal customer satisfaction, then demand the 100K warranty and reimbursements of 3+ months of payments. There are many lawyers that specialize in lemon law and other auto defects that can push this along if your dealer refuses.

Lastly, can you name the dealership either here or in a PM so I can stay clear of them.

Spinny201

Again, thank you for all of the responses. We have filed a formal complaint with MBUSA. Today the service agent called me and said "I don't know what you did, but you did something right, MBUSA has a field tech here and corporate offices have been calling my manager all morning".

Plain and simple - we are not accepting a brand new car with a replaced engine. It's not an option. Yes this may be a normal occurance with a ferrari or a porsche, but this is neither.

The numbers will not match, I do not have faith that the any tech has that much experience swapping an entire engine in a 350 and on top of that, if they messed up building the motor, who knows what else could have been neglected.

The car is currently being serviced at another dealership because we refuse to go back to where we purchased the car due to the horrible sales experience we had. It was seriously the worst experience of our lives purchasing a car. This is not the first car that has been purchased there but it will be the last.

I will keep this thread updated as I find out more information. Again I thank everyone for their insight.

BenzMan369

WOOHOO!! Great fighting words!!

Hey, if they're foolish enough to mess with you and all else fails, we can all band together with you and do an "Occupy Mercedes" sit-in on their NJ campus!! Y'know, we'll embarrass the hell out of them, litter their HQ with dumpsters and crates, set up housekeeping, bring in some porta-johns and............er.........uh.........hmmm......of course my schedule is kind of tight and I probably won't be able to make it and.....well.......

But seriously, best of luck and to be continued.

BenzMan369

YO RJC!

Not to hijack this thread, but: what K-A said. Good to see you back.

Didn't know you wound up with a Jag. What the H happened to it, that it turned sour?

I know you will love that SL550. My 350C is still purring with zero issues. All cream and no lemon, so far.

Best regards.

EmE247

Sorry, I don't care what all of you are saying about this being an okay thing...

I'd be pissed about having to replace a new engine after 1k miles after buying the car new. I'd do what I could to get a new replacement.

Good luck to you op. Hope things work out in your favor.

PS. What's with all of these heart analogies? Stupid. Would you rather have the heart you are born with or one that has been transplanted into you?

RJC

Al and KA

Good hearing from you guys. Yes the Jaguar turned out to be a problem child, here's the whole 9 page thread about it http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk...e9/#post511744

Aside from all the many initial quality issues the car was quite nice and beautiful in and out, but there has been a problem with cold start misfires on several new 11-12 Jags being reported that are/were requiring new engines or cylinder heads on brand new cars. I'd be willing to try another one but I don't know if Jag will allow that; I'll know more next week.

In the meantime I figured I go with the new SL and get the driver's seat modified to cool vs just vent, we'll see. Here's a great thread on this mod from the 211 AMG forum and might interest some here; apparently it's quite easy:https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...d-anymore.html

Regards,

listerone

I haven't read all the posts so please excuse me if this question has already been addressed...have you explored what options might be open to you under your home state's "lemon laws"? I ask because,IMO,unless you're a long term,big $$$,Mercedes buyer (or a member of the automotive press) I'd be stunned if they give you a new one unless compelled to do so under state/Federal law.

ImInPA

To the OP: The route you have chosen is certain to be frustrating. Good luck to you. Keep in mind, you did not accept a brand new car with a replacement engine. You bought a brand new car that now needs the engine replaced under warranty. That is what warranties are all about. I still recommend to you to accept the remedies and get out of the car sine you will not be happy with it. I hope you are successful, but, the laws are unlikely to be on your side here.

K-A

Whichever one keeps you alive and healthy for longer.

ttoE550

Hey, if I could get a brand new, never-been-used heart and, sad to say, liver that was specifically designed for my body, I'd certainly consider it an upgrade!

EmE247

LOL me too... But that's talking after running it 100K+ miles... Especially the liver...

But 99% of everyone out there that started w/ a good heart would not want a transplanted heart. And the 1% that started with the bad one would want the new one. And even that 1% would wish that they were like the other 99% that started w/ the good one in the first place...

sosh

I can tell you from first hand experience that it does happen to Japanese cars and the end result is just fine.

petee1997

Replacing an engine is not a big deal. Rebuilding an engine is. Lemon law is for repeat problems. This is your first problem and it will be rectified by MB. As far as non matching numbers, this is not a collector's car it's just an entry level premium car. Do you actually think people check for matching numbers when buying a three or four year old car. This will not affect the value.

In 2004 the transmission failed in my brand new SL500 when it had 3000kms(1800mi). MB replaced the transmission at a cost of 10K and the car was back driving like new. When I traded the car in 2006 on a new 2006 Porsche Carrera no one checked if it was a numbers matching car because it did not matter. I did very well on the trade value.


It's quite common to replace an engine in Porsches because of harder use. A carrera S is worth twice as much as a E350 and Porsche would not replace the car for a defective engine.