I have an '08 GL 320 CDI and love the way it drives - the car just makes me happy. It feels solid, has plenty of power, gets great mileage for a vehicle that weighs 5300 lbs., is likely safe and I love the way it looks. I also feel that I got a good deal on it, esp. when I see the MSRPs on the new Sequoias and Land Cruisers. Anyway, my enthusiasm was somewhat tempered 4 days ago when, after a normal drive of approx. 10- 15 miles, I pulled into my garage and, upon shutting off the engine and getting out of the GL, I immediately smelled something burning - sort of like a mix of plastic and electronics. The garage got a little hazy and I soon determined that it was coming from under the hood. I backed the SUV out of the garage for fear that a fire might start. I looked under the hood and could see no source of smoke and no melted parts. Then, over the next 2 to 3 hours the car would intermittently make odd high-pitched sounds that seemed to be coming from one of 2 black plastic boxes on the driver's side of the engine compartment. (and I am familiar with the sounds made by the air suspension working and occassional "electronic sounds" I've attributed to the nav. system). It hasn't smoked again but persisted in making these odd sounds after it is stopped. I brought it to the dealer service dept. (in fact it's there now) and they told me that they can reproduce neither symptom and that the "diagnostic check" (whatever that is - I am assuming it's some type of electronic interrogation of the car's computer like the OBD-II) is normal. I'll pick it up tomorrow morning undiagnosed but I feel a little uncomfortable driving it as it defintely was not normal and I know what I smelled and heard. Any ideas out there about what this could be ? Has anyone encountered a similar situation?

 

I guess the car is new.
Possible causes:
1. burning smell- because its new it may be the brakes, setting in or just heated the new plastics in the car.
2. high pitch sound- this maybe the sound of the turbo which I always hear on my 2008 Gl CDI after I turn it off.

I would not worry about it, it is still under warranty.

 

BurnsDiesel,

You may want to check out this thread; https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-x164/218574-electrical-meltdown-my-gl320.html

 

Thanks for your input. Yes, it's a 2008 with only about 2,800 miles on it. I picked up the car this morning from the dealer (EuroMotorCars in Bethesda, MD) and, true to my earlier report, the dealer found nothing to explain the symptoms I experienced. It seems to be running great and I'm happy to have it back (I had a 2007 c230 as a loaner - which was nice but I missed my larger car). I'll report again if anything else comes of this but hopefully it's gone forever. BTW, my father suggested that maybe a plastic grocery bag or something got under the car and melted and that's what I smelled but that wouldn't explain the odd noises I heard and in all of my years of driving it's never happened before...so who knows? Anyway, this board is great, thanks for reading my post and thanks to those of you who responded as well.

 

I have not noticed this with our GL 320, but when my Duramax's particulate filter regenerates or self-cleans, it puts out an odd odor. It resembles burnt cooking oil to me. It does this once or twice weekly. I'm not even sure if the filter on the GL regenerates this way. Just a thought.

 

I hope this will not come off as condescending, but i assume you are familiar with the unique smell of deisel, which does have a slight odd plastic smell. This of course does not address the sound issues.