Tonycpa

MB of Smithtown called me today. The engine noise was caused by the chain tensioners and I'll have the car back tomorrow. Covered under warranty.

Thanks again for the info!

M177_HAMMER

Bump! Just dropped off my 2013 E350 for the SECOND TIME. (For a rattle start up sound that lasts 3-4 seconds, quite loud mate!)

So.. The first runaround they gave me the car back after two days and told me that it was just a issue with the model of the car and that I shouldn't worry and it sucks that Mercedes built the engine that way.

Fast forward a couple weeks and now I'm at 49,700 miles. My words he ends up ceasing to exist in 300 miles so I decided to drop my car off for the sound once again to have it checked. To my surprise this time they call me and say that this sound is because of timing belt chain tensioner issue and that they replaced it with a new one. They also told me that this would've costed about 900 to 1200 $$$. It was covered under warranty.
I HIGHLY SUGGEST any of you who have a W-212 with a with a rattle sound to get it checked and specifically ask them to look at the timing belt tensioner!!

Cheers!

Tonycpa

^^^MB of Smithown charged $1,288 parts & labor. Covered under warranty.

mans9100

Hi,

Thanks for the great info, i had the same exact noise from my S500 m278 engine and after seeing this post i was able to find that the linkage was not even connected to the gate !!!!!! My car only has 26k miles and unfortunately where i live it is out of warranty.

I did temporary fix by putting a screw but still there is a carcking noise.

The other side also making a little noise but is connected to the gate.


Does any one know where to get a replacement parts for the turbo because it is too expensive to get a new one from the dealer.

Thanks

sleeperZ96BT

Bumping this up.


I have a 2013 E550 that has 40k miles on it and is CPO. I bought it in May and the weather here in MA has been pretty warm so I haven't had a true cold start yet until recently. The weather turned and we had a few mornings in the high 50's/low 60's and I have noticed that I have a rattle and the turbo's whistle. The rattle is not as bad as it is in this video, but, that doesn't mean it isn't the same issue.


I've never heard a turbo whistle at startup, either, and have had several turbo cars before.


I want to bring this to the dealers attention but can already anticipate the 'it's normal' thing. Can you share with me any pertinent information to expedite this? Work order descriptions, open recalls, etc. I would PRESUME no open recalls or anything based on CPO BUT one never quite knows.


Thanks!
Brian

J.M.G.

Hello Brian,
unfortunately -as you assumed- NO RECALL. Nothing! In fact I had to fight Mercedes Germany. When I was ready to bring the issue to court, they finally sent out an engineer from the factory to inspect the car.

This guy gave the clearance to replace the turbos to my dealership within 10 minutes or so. He immediately knew, where the problem came from even though Mercedes Germany was claiming up to that point, that the car is in perfect condition...

So I my guess is: MB USA will not make it easy for you guys!

BMW for example has the same issues with the N54 engine over here (3.0 R6 TwinTurbo). To cope with that problem, the have an ECU "tune" where the wastegates are fully open during cold start and idle. No more rattleing...BUT an TREMENDOUS turbo-lag. When applying power, the wastegates have to close before full turbo pressure can build up.

Greetings from Germany
Johannes

He

sleeperZ96BT

I can get that sometimes there's a bad batch of stuff that goes into cars and that they don't need to fully recall them. I know yours is a 2012 but I am wondering if this also impacted the 2013's and 2014's and to what degree. I am looking to try and garner enough information to let MB know I am not just making it up.


As I mentioned, it is not quite as bad as yours but that doesn't mean it's not potentially the same problem at an earlier stage/lesser degree.


Do you have any info you can PM with work order information (which may be in German, I realize) that I can reference? Or any correspondence?


Thanks!
Brian

J.M.G.

I can give you my case number with the MERCEDES-BENZ CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER in Maastricht (they also speak English!):

CS-1-5262457076

I know of several E400 (2014) which became new turbos due to the same issue. Even very low mileage cars where involved (10,000 mls!).

sleeperZ96BT

Great - thank you!

sleeperZ96BT

JMG - did you hear an audible turbo whistle as part of this?

J.M.G.

Only with the windows down.

sleeperZ96BT

I hear the same - but only when the windows down. Was this part of the problem or is this normal for our cars?

J.M.G.

in my opinion it is normal.

sleeperZ96BT

Does it still exist after the repair?

sleeperZ96BT

Car's at the dealer getting evaluated for this. I sent over the info that Konigstiger provided as well. Will keep posted on what, if anything, they find.

sleeperZ96BT

Quick update: service guy told me they ordered 'a couple of transmission mounts and bearing' for the vehicle.


Update tomorrow I think.....the bearing order is interesting as the transmission mounts are probably the vibration/shaking issue at idle and about 1500 rpms I noted to them.

sleeperZ96BT

So here is the update. They ended up doing several things, none of which fixed the rattle at start-up. The tech couldn't replicate it. So they held it inside overnight, waited for me to pick it up, and then I pointed it out when they started it and the foreman, service advisor and I all heard it and acknowledged it. They said it was normal wastegate noise at startup.


All the bulletins and what not flagged in this thread had been done as well. I saw that on my VMI and they confirmed it as well. So I guess I will keep my eyes on it. I really want to hear another E550 at startup but they are so few and far between around here. I've been surprised by acceptable things by MB standards already with this car (the decoupling of the driveshaft being one of them) so I don't really know at this stage.

jonUF02

Mine has a little bit of a clickety sound from deep down at cold start. It goes away after maybe 30 seconds. Everything operates fine, so if it's not broken... don't fix it.

sleeperZ96BT

JMG's thread here could indicate that there is something pretty broken......maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but certainly (joking) when it is out of warranty something will happen, haha.


I just wanted it in writing that I raised it, a foreman & service tech heard it, etc.

Rovel

Thanks everyone for this chain.

My E550 W212 (M278 engine) had the same noisy engine on cold starts. Took the car to the dealership and mentioned the TSB provided by konigstiger LI05.1o-P-056435 .

They replaced the chain tensioner and installed check valves into cylinder heads.

So far so good.

jonUF02

It seems that some amount of noise is normal. Mine has done this since I bought it (used) 1.5 years ago. Has not gotten worse, just a couple seconds of noise at cold start only. If it's not a recall, I'm not going to pay whatever it costs to do the "fix". It doesn't bother me.

Rovel

Not that I am a car mechanic nor do I want to scare you, but loose chain may potentially hard the chain itself which can cause engine damages in a long run.

Although my service advisor said that he hasn't seen anyone who have had engine problems caused by chain tensioner - chain, I don't think that anyone with a high mileage car with such a problem would go to a "stealer".