Motoroger

Anyone know how long it takes to get a subframe in at the dealer? Mine has been at Mercedes of Louisville for the weeks now with no ship date on the part.

Raj1471

Following...I have an appointment tomorrow with dealer for my 2011 S212 to inspect my rotted subframe.

Motoroger

Raj1471

The good news: the dealer inspected the rear subframe and confirmed that it was rotted and covered under the extended warranty. The bad news: the dealer noticed that rear brake lines that go above the rear subframe to the rear brakes are showing rust and need to be replaced before failure at a quoted cost of $1800. The dealer "recommended" that the brake lines be replaced the same time the sub frame warranty work is performed. If done at a later date would incur approximately 24 hours of labor (!!!) to replace brake lines...wtf!!!

Quint22

Dont know for sure but if you have to drop the subframe for the brake lines that is the bulk of the work, sounds to me if they do it at the same time it should a much better deal then that since they are already getting paid to drop the subframe.

Raj1471

The dealer quoted $1800 for the rear brake lines if they are done the same time as the subframe. I know the dealers upcharge but don't you think the "quoted" 24 hrs of labor to do the rear brake lines ( if I do it at a later date and not with the subframe work) is a bit excessive even if they have to drop the subframe?

cetialpha5

How bad is the rust? Seems like a lot for just brake lines. I'd get a second quote at an indy. I think anytime a dealer sees any rust, they want to upsell immediately. Got quoted several hundred/thousand for a rusted power steering line. 8 years later it's still fine, maybe a bit more rust. I suppose a power steering leak isn't as bad as a brake line leak, but if they did leak, you'd lose about half the brakes but probably a bit more than that as just having half the brakes works means stopping distances will be much worse. There's also flexible and make your own brake lines out there, doing it the MB way might be the most expensive. I suppose you could just carry around a bottle of brake fluid and remember, if you have a brake line leak, pedal might go to the floor but you can pump the brakes and it will still stop, just take longer.

pierrejoliat

If they are replacing all the way to the front, and all four brake lines this is a fair price, otherwise no, I did this job from master cylinder back, both rears, in 14 hours on jack stands in my garage and I'm 64. No sub=frame removal neccesary. copper-nickel brake lines and fittings were less than 200 dollars

DFWdude

Brake lines on my 22-year old C-Class have never been touched. Maybe I should look at them... sometime...

juanmor40

, and the worst part is that for $1800 MB will use original brake lines which have already shown they do not last, i.e. basically throwing money out of the window.

cetialpha5

The other point to be made is that there seems to many threads about rusted brake lines being replaced and the high cost of replacement but not actually many stories of brake lines that ended up leaking.

juanmor40

Unfortunately, I know what it means that a brake line breaks while driving due to rust, twice in my life so far
1 - First, a 1964 VW Beetle brake line broke just after the single circuit master cylinder , @1984 (20 years run),
2 - Second time, a 1993 Toyota Corolla rear brake line broke @2010 (17 years run but 11 of them in Ontario, Canada).

Definitely, a second opinion and estimate is needed before making any decision.

cetialpha5

I actually took a good look at my subframe on my 2011 E350, looks fine, has a little bit of surface rust on a couple corners but overall, it's all solid and no patches of rust and rusted holes like other pictures people have posted. I actually get several under carriage car washes every time the winter is over to try and get all the salt off the car.

I have had brake lines fail before but they'd just get the brake lines at the auto parts store and bend it to fit. That's why I knew about pumping the brakes when the brake lines fail and it's a split system so you only lose half your brakes when they fail but braking is much worse than half as the other half is doing twice as much work and can't quite do it. No one seems to sell pre-bent brake line kits for Mercedes so I guess the cost is probably just bending the lines to fit the old lines so an indy could probably do it just as easily as the Mercedes dealer but probably at 1/3 to 1/2 the cost.

pierrejoliat

Did it live most of it's life in PA or TX? LOL. I'm in the snow belt of Cleveland, between storms when the roads are dry, the roads get cloudy from the salt dust whipped up by traffic, my street is just white Asphalt!

pierrejoliat

Both my rear brake lines were leaking, one was just wet, the other was leaving a spot on the garage floor, I also get the underbody wash at the car wash every two weeks in the winter and wash the car of salt almost daily in the winter, I am retired and have a heated garage with hot water, I do open the door to the house until the floor is dry and all the humidity goes into the house, saves the humidifier from running for a while.

Motoroger

Dealer received the new subframe today. Total of three weeks from the date ordered.