My 2011 S212 recently developed a whining noise from the transmission which was speed related and still present when coasting in neutral. The car is 8 months out of warranty and the dealer initially quoted $7500 for a replacement. I was terribly disappointed as this is my first Benz and the car has only covered 28000 miles and has been cherished since I became the 2nd owner at 7000 miles.
After some dialog with the dealer I was told that MBUSA would goodwill the parts and that I would be responsible for labor. I now have the car back and all appears to be well but I feel very jaded by this experience. I'm relieved that my expense was limited to $1300 worth of labor but I can't help thinking that I should not have been required to pay anything as this was obviously a defect that is very common if you spend some time on Google. My invoice stated that the output shaft bearing of the transfer case had failed.
Whilst sharing my story with friends and coworkers I discovered that two other associates had both experienced the same symptoms and needed a 722.9 trans replacement at almost exactly the same mileage i.e. Sub 30k.
This is more than a coincidence and has recall or class action written all over it.
My concern now is that I can probably expect the same whine to appear in another 30k miles unless anyone can assure me that the problem has been root caused and a solution implemented.
I have 36 month/ 36k warranty on the new trans but I'm not happy and wondering if I should bail on this bad Benz experience. If anyone had told me at the time of purchase that I would be parting with $1300 to fix a power train issue in less than two years, I wouldn't have believed them.
Any words of encouragement for a disillusioned newbie would be very welcome.

 

So, they replaced the whole transmission for the transfer case problem?


I remember reading about these issues in this forum before and it set my mind not to buy a 4-Matic. If I needed a 4-wheel drive it would not be a MB.


Perhaps someone in here knows if MB fixed the issue in the new parts, like they did with the Airmatic?

 

In my experience, my 2012 ML350 4matic has 81k miles and never had s single issue, I'm the original owner. I get my tranny fluid changed every 50k miles. I know the manual says 70k but living in Texas it gets hot. I also change the transfer case, front and rear differential fluid every 50k. I have an independent German specialist shop do the job with MB parts and fluids.

I know you are down from your experience but MB makes a great vehicle. I have a 2014 E350 also. I hope you just had bad luck and it's all good from now on.

 

I bought new a 2012 ML350 4Matic and I do not believe the manual says 70K. I will have to double check but I think tranny service is due at four years or 40,000 miles, whichever comes first. The 70,000 mile transmission service began with the 2013 ML model year - if I recall correctly.

My vehicle does not have many miles on it but four years comes up in May. Since I will trade next year for something else and because there will probably only be 35,000 miles on the car by then, I will forego this service due to the high expense (unfortunately, there is only one dealer near me and no MB independents).

 

Yes. The whole trans was replaced. I'm not sure why myself.
Can the shards of bearing find their way into the tranny/torque converter as both were replaced at the same time?

 

Page 34 on the MY12 Service Manual. The ML350 is engine 276.

 

Yep, you are correct. I checked my manual and the first transmission service indicated for the 276 engine is, as you indicated, not until 70K.