Alright so I'll start off by describing the vehicle. Its a 2011 Mercedes E350 4matic with 37K miles and under factory warranty until November 2015. I purchased the vehicle about 2 months ago from a local non MB dealer. The car was a lease turn in and is in immaculate condition. After purchasing the vehicle and doing some research I noticed that the wood trim was all horrible faded. Brought the car to the dealer to get the wood looked at and after much hesitation and back and forth bickering my SA agreed to replace ALL the wood in the vehicle under warranty. Now the interior looks amazing and as it should look like it was brand new. I also noticed a very distinct wrapping and knocking noise coming from the engine on the passenger side valve cover. I brought this to the attention of my local dealer and when I brought the car to have it looked at I was generously provided the TSB for the scorn cylinder walls to bring in from konigstiger. After they looked the vehicle they informed me that they couldn't reproduce the knocking noise and weren't going to do anything until they could. Fast forward to a couple more times visiting the dealership with no results. It was to the point where I am getting very angry that I can hear the noise every day and the dealership is telling me they can't. I then called another dealership 3 hours from my house and explained the situation. I also told them that if they kept the car overnight it was more likely they would hear the noise as I wouldn't have to drive on the highway and get the oil completely circulated. I dropped the car off on wednesday and I am leaving it there until tuesday. I received a phone call yesterday and they told me they couldn't reproduce the noise, REALLY? They agreed to look at it again today and call me back. After that phone call I sent an email to my SA at the new dealership with a video of the noise telling them that if they couldn't reproduce the noise from the video that I would be meeting with the SM, GM, Lead tech, and hopefully the MB rep for the area. Today I hadn't received a phone call back so I decided to call myself, this time they agreed that they heard the noise. SUCCESS!! NOT!! He informed me that he and the tech agreed that "all these old motors make this noise and that there wasn't anything wrong" HUH? All the M272 engines make this knocking and wrapping noise? I DONT THINK SO and I told him that was completely false and my friends motor in the same car doesn't make that noise at all. I told him this was unacceptable and he said I would have to talk to the manager who is not back until tuesday. I told him that I will be there tuesday morning. I also called back and spoke to the GM and he referred me to the SM as well and said he would help in any way.

This is the link to the video I sent the SA and around 25secs you can really hear the knocking.


PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! If ANYONE has ANY input on this situation that would be so awesome as I feel like I'm up against the world and dealerships that don't want to do anything about the problem. Probably because I didn't buy the car from either of them.

 

Very easy to hear the noise in that video.

 

Take it to a different dealer.

 

posting the TSB and sound file that konigstiger sent me about this issue. While my engine is in the range, turned out not to be the sound I was hearing on my car. Listening to your video and comparing it to the mp3 file, I do hear similarities.engine noise.zip

 

Vehicle is covered by initial factory warranty next step, contact CAC to oversee dealer effort http://mercedes-benz.custhelp.com/

 

Absolutely not normal.

 

Thanks everyone for reassuring me that Im not crazy and that this is NOT normal operation!

mleskovar - This is already the second dealer I have brought the car to and this second one is 3 hours from my house. I live in the northeast and there aren't many dealers within a reasonable distance.

thefisch - Thank you for the video clip! I also received that clip from konigstiger and I agree the noises are very similar. What was actually wrong with your vehicle?

konigstiger - Thanks again good sir! What is CAC? lol If I call MB support who should I ask to speak with? Supervisor? Manager? What do I tell them to do call the dealer? Thanks in advance! I'll be there first thing tuesday morning to meet with the SM and asking for the lead tech as well. If they tell me that they all make the noise they have 5 different used cars on the lot with the M272 engine so we will be walking out to every one of them and starting and listening to them so I can prove that they all do NOT make that noise.

 

Nothing was apparently wrong. When that thread came out about the noise, I noticed what I thought might be the noise based on the description given by the poster. But after listening to the sound file, I determined the noise I heard was not as distinct as the file (or your video clip).

CAC may be the MBUSA customer assistance center - basically if you feel a dealer is not addressing your issue, you can open a case with MBUSA and they will look into it. It was at least get the attention of the higher ups at the dealer.

 

Same engine car with over 100k miles doesn't make any noise! Don't stop trying until you work it out. Some dealers are just a pain to work with.

 

jdawg21, did you get to the bottom of this? I have a similar sound to both your car (and more disturbingly, the sound file posted from Xentry)

 

After bringing it to a 3rd dealership and getting MB Corporate involved they still told me it was normal use. My cars sound matched the Xentry video as well and still they didn't believe there was something wrong. I was sick of the car and the problems so I traded it in and leased a 2015 e350. Corporate gave me $2000 towards the new lease for the problems I've had. I guess anything was better then nothing. Now that they have the new direct injection motor and are no longer producing the m272 they don't want to deal with it at all and couldnt care less if it isn't broken. I did get a really good deal on the 2015, 13k off MSRP.

 

Hello everyone, I just biught a 2010 E350 with 68k miles and have started to hear this noise...I think. It's certainly more prominent when the car's hood is closed and does come from the passenger side...it's almost not noticeable when I open the hood but I can tell it's still there... So what is the general consensus on this? Think it could just be the way the sound is reacting to the barrier of the hood when it's closed amplifying it? Is it a serious issue or not? Will MB do anything for me since the car is out of warranty?

Thanks for the help. I'm beginning to get a little nervous about my new purchase

 

Have there been any engine failures as a result of this noise?

 

One of the reasons Mercedes Benz does not care about problems like these is consumers who reward them for poor performance.

They did not meet expectations, yet you rewarded them by increasing their new car sales

That's the message they got.

 

I disagree, I think Mercedes went above and beyond giving him the $2000 toward a new car, after all, the car in question was driveable and fully functional. If the noise in question renders the car unsafe to drive or affects the operation of the car in any way, that would be a different story. My guess is that the noise some sort of design issue which does not affect the performance of the engine.

 

Sometimes the term given is used loosely. They really didn't give him anything, it's more like imaginary money. So I tend to agree more so with @Tony even though I can see your point as well. It's more like a discount on a car that was already probably being sold above it's true value.

 

To state they didn't give me anything is completely false. By giving me the discount on a new vehicle, that is over priced to begin with which I know, it lowered my monthly lease payment by nearly $100. Every car on the road is over priced so that to me is a shaky argument at best. They didn't have to give me anything at all and yes I will applaud them and lease a new model. If they hadn't given me a discount then I was trading it in on a Lexus lease so they kept a customer by doing the right thing. What I have learned from them is that unless it is broken then they won't do a damn thing and couldn't care less. But as for the extra discount that made me happy enough to stay with the brand and enjoy a brand new beautiful e350. Which I lease for $359 a month thanks to all the discounts. So any people who don't agree or think that I didn't get anything from Benz on this can look at my lease payment for a $63k car every month you make the payment on that POS Honda for the same price lol.

 

I agree, the $2000 discount is not cash back but it is more like a store credit, its definitely better than nothing. I remember years back, Lexus had the piston slap problem on some of their V6 engines and owners would complain about the noise to no avail. BMW also had this ticking noise in their 4 cylinder engine and the owner's complaints went nowhere.

 

I had the same problem. Bought an immaculate 2011 e350 4matic w/ 34k on it April 2014. From non MB stealer. I have the same engine noise as jdawg21. Took it to 2 stealers, the closest one had car for two weeks at the longest visit after previously having had the car in 7-8 times for the noise. Initialy nobody at the dealer could hear the problem. I made 15+ videos with my ipad and then emailed the video clips to the dealer service manager. They, the dealer scoped all my cylinders and found no scuffng, flushed the injectors and replaced the passenger side exhaust manifold under warranty. These were not the problem or solution. Now they tell me the sound is "normal" and that "they all sound like that." My e350 idles like an 80s diesel.

 

I also took mine to the dealer, and they said it was normal so I took it my private mechanic who specializes in Mercedes look into it. He told me that the noise is strange but the engine checked out fine....

 

If anybody ever finds or has found a solution for this please post it!

 

I have the start up knocking at 100k miles now .... On other posts , fix is to replace main bearings and shells and perhaps con rod pins .... But that is not cost effective outside of warranty. I think the wear is happening at start-up but goes away as oil circulates to the bearings - but I have to eventually believe the engine will detonate ? Did that happen to anyone yet ? I guess if there are no/low engine failures outside of the 100k certified warranty - mbusa does not care - but I would expect better from an Mbz engine ...