My guess would be that is the best case scenario. If he did run through a rain storm/huge puddle and sucked up water causing hydrolock, insurance will cover less deductible.

 

There doesn't seem to be rain in his pics.
Im more inclined to think engine coolant, especially if the cylinders are next door under the same head.

 

This is truly crazy.. I'm with the tech. In 9 years on the forum, I've never seen anyone report such sudden catastrophic engine failure. But it can happen to any car.

Hopefully MBUSA will help you out, though I am not personally optimistic.

 

Maybe the last pic just showing just the rear trunk lid? Seems like the area past the two stop signs, a puddle? Definitely cloudy in the background and ground looks wet, could be just my phone.

Guess OP can opine?

 

Everything looks dry in those photos except for the coolant and oil trailing behind the car and where she bleed to death upon stopping.

 

The fact that the dealer isn't talking to you anymore tells you all you need to know. They want to avoid any blame in this situation and are keeping their mouth shut. I wouldn't trust them with the car at this point. Time to get it towed to another mechanic who can consult on it or put it in storage for now. It might make sense to get the oil tested too if you can get a sample. Since you mentioned an attorney, obviously you should take their advice first.

There was hardly any time passed since the last service and there was no noticeable sounds or change in engine response. It sounds like your engine just seized up. But given the age you can't blame it on wear and tear. Oil issues are probably the cause or something else went wrong with crankshaft putting stress on the rods. Can't imagine what that would be.

There was another thread on here by a guy whose engine seized due to sludge. IIRC he thought the oil was changed but it wasn't.

EDIT: Here is the thread. https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...iles-help.html

 

Update:

The dealer called me this morning and was finally willing to discuss an offer. They stated that the MB regional office had reached out to them to discuss next steps so they had some things to discuss internally with upper management and would get back to me in the afternoon. They also stated they were going to look more into the engine to see if anything from the last service could have caused this or any external factor such as hydro-lock, oil filter/air filter, too much oil etc.


I know I know... I made a huge mistake when the car was dropped off at the original dealer that there was a risk to bringing it there and having any possible evidence removed or denied but when the incident happened them deceiving me was the last thing on my mind.. I was more concerned with getting my car towed there because I never would have thought it would come close to this point and I trusted them.. I figure if they wanted to deceive me they could have done it the day I dropped it off so I told them to look into it since they are offering at no charge.



They called me back a couple hours later and said they had two separate mechanics look together as much as they could at the engine. They found no evidence of hydro-lock and the oil filter had all o-rings etc. and there wasn't anything alarming that stood out. I think the damage was to #5 and #6 cylinders however I'll make sure to upload the service receipt once I pick the car up tomorrow. I'll also upload the last service documents once I can remove my info on them. They said Mercedes corporate came in with an offer for $5000 towards repair and that they were willing to put in the same. Out the door the total would have been $19,000 and some change. Definitely still way out of my price range for an unplanned repair on a car I paid 20k for a year ago and then spent 5k to fix 6 months ago.

I'm just going to store the car in my garage on stands and purchase a cheap car to get me around for now until we can get enough money to purchase a used engine. I'm just not sure if I feel comfortable attempting to replace the engine myself or if I should talk to a good shop in the Milwaukee/Chicago area that can maybe source an engine and get this done for me in the future. I have an unlimited amount of time so I'm willing to learn new things. I'm an engineer so I know with time I could figure it out but at what cost? I have experience working on Ford and Pontiac pretty extensively down to replacing engine components and can get all the proper tools etc but I've never touched anything engine related in a foreign car except brakes. I would HATE to replace this engine and have some other critical component fail costing me another 2-8k on top of a new engine if this isn't done right.

If anyone lives in the Chicago/Wisconsin area and wants a new hobby and friend or knows an amazing shop let me know!

 

If you can find a copy of the Star, the MBCA magazine, there is a company that advertises in it by the name Patomic. They are basically a Mercedes used parts dealer. I destroyed a Diesel engine and purchased a low mileage engine out of a wrecked car. It ran me about $4000.00 and it had a 1 year warranty. They shipped it via Fed-Ex to my independent shop on a flat bed transport. That may be your best shot. It worked out very well for me. Good luck.

 

In for results.

Used engine is the only way to go, you should be able to find a nice used 273 for a reasonable cost and the swap on that car isn't bad, either you can undertake it yourself or pay a shop a very reasonable rate and get it done, but there's no reason to spends 20-30K at a dealership, that's just insane and they know it.

 

The fact that they made an offer is encouraging, it means that they accept responsibility (how much, who knows) for what happened. You can always make a counter offer or see if they will buy the car back. You have to look at this situation in terms of limiting your loss. You're going to loose some money on this, but hopefully you can minimize it as much as possible. If you can do better than 5-6k for putting in a used motor yourself, that might be the way to go.

 

Definately get a used engine , and id say take it to an indy shop , unless you have a lift and a whole lot of tools at home then maybe it would work... otherwise might as well install it professionally so down the road you wouldnt have any ilissues or if you do you had that indy to help/blame lol jk about 2nd one. But yes... quality in this case is advised , and they should technically provide some warranty i would imagine.

 

If you need a good MB indy I highly recommend MBS Automotive in Northbrook,IL. They only work on Mercedes and started on BMW last year. They are very reasonable and have great knowledge(MB Techs). Google them and you can see what others think about them.

 

Manfreds in Fox River Grove is also excellent. Talk to Alex he can locate a engine for you. They do all my Euro car work

 

Call Carmine Burdi in Schiller Park. Burdi motors. All Mercedes for decades. Personally, I would not mothball it for too long. These cars do not like to sit for long periods. Other issues can crop up.

 

Aren't you still going to be making payments on the vehicle? So I wouldn't even waste the money on a hooptie (Hold over cheap car). Just put that money towards a short term rental car and begin the process. You can probably get from beginning to end in about a months time.
This way you don't have to pay for the 2nd car and add it on insurance while paying the note on the Benz.

 

Alpha Performance is in Chicago... you could always build yourself a nice bulletproof engine with them. Sucks that you have to go through this though.

 

Don't beat yourself up for taking it to them. Their offer seems like a good faith gesture to limit their exposure which they are doing to avoid any further implication.

Have you looked into any salvage value for the car? Just something to keep in mind when you run the numbers on repair or move on.

 

^Yes, the other option as Fisch is implying is to just sell it off to someone who will complete the repairs and take your losses. Sorry again, this happened to you with such a reliable engine.

 

we have a shop in schaumburg IL that can easily help too. They do big builds and motor swaps all the time and could easily handle this one.

 

I can vouch for MBS Auto in Northbrook, IL too. I've been taking my E550 to them for scheduled service for a few years now.

 

Just wanted to provide everyone an update. I'm getting my car towed to MBS Automotive in Northbrook this week. The car will live again!

After looking at several options locally it seems like MBS is going to be the best choice price wise and the shop has great reviews. The engine they found has 57k on it.

I'll take some photos before/after and will continue to keep everyone updated through the journey!

 

Telly is a good guy to work with. He looked over my E just before the factory warranty expired and found coolant leak around thermostat that was covered under warranty.I had my car at the dealership 3 times during the last month of factory warranty and their worthless "multipoint inspection" did not find anything wrong.

 

Good for you. Nice to see you moving forward. Best of luck.

 

Yes, please keep us updated. Have they given you any estimates yet?

 

Great little by little you'll get there. Good luck the rest of the way.