Should I Sue Mercedes Over a Catastrophic Engine Failure at 80K km?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,882
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From: In my garage
E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
That would be a tough number to track. I'd bet MB has a good idea, but they are not releasing that data. Your engine may be fine if you never tune and stay on top of oil changes and drive it like a little old lady. If you like tipping into the throttle, I'd ditch it while it is still in perfect condition. The 3.0 in the GLS seems like a great engine. It gets fantastic mileage, but it does not have the guts of my M157 or M278. That's OK as the 63 is almost too fun to drive.
The M278 reminds me of the OM642 engine. I pointed out the flaws very early on with that engine but was relentlessly flamed by the touchy owners. We know how that turned out. The M278 doesn't have as many issues but it is a ticking time bomb with the cylinder wear issues. If you really loved the engine, you could drive until it fails and have a sleeved version on the side. To me, by then, the car will be just about worthless so it's really just your choice of poison.
The M278 reminds me of the OM642 engine. I pointed out the flaws very early on with that engine but was relentlessly flamed by the touchy owners. We know how that turned out. The M278 doesn't have as many issues but it is a ticking time bomb with the cylinder wear issues. If you really loved the engine, you could drive until it fails and have a sleeved version on the side. To me, by then, the car will be just about worthless so it's really just your choice of poison.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Sep 2018
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From: unbegrenzt
2017 GLE350 4MATIC
M278 = time bomb for several reasons, a noteworthy one being cylinder scoring.
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 846
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From: ATL
2017 GLS 550
That would be a tough number to track. I'd bet MB has a good idea, but they are not releasing that data. Your engine may be fine if you never tune and stay on top of oil changes and drive it like a little old lady. If you like tipping into the throttle, I'd ditch it while it is still in perfect condition. The 3.0 in the GLS seems like a great engine. It gets fantastic mileage, but it does not have the guts of my M157 or M278. That's OK as the 63 is almost too fun to drive.
The M278 reminds me of the OM642 engine. I pointed out the flaws very early on with that engine but was relentlessly flamed by the touchy owners. We know how that turned out. The M278 doesn't have as many issues but it is a ticking time bomb with the cylinder wear issues. If you really loved the engine, you could drive until it fails and have a sleeved version on the side. To me, by then, the car will be just about worthless so it's really just your choice of poison.
The M278 reminds me of the OM642 engine. I pointed out the flaws very early on with that engine but was relentlessly flamed by the touchy owners. We know how that turned out. The M278 doesn't have as many issues but it is a ticking time bomb with the cylinder wear issues. If you really loved the engine, you could drive until it fails and have a sleeved version on the side. To me, by then, the car will be just about worthless so it's really just your choice of poison.
I would add, in addition to staying on top of oil changes, do them at 5k miles, instead of 10K, disable the oil pressure valve as mentioned in other articles, and try to use top tier fuel.
Also there has been some back and forth, and I think it is finally believed that it is true , that M278s after a specific build number (some time in 2017) were built with cast in iron sleeves. It has been a controversial topic, because since the sleeves are cast in, rather than pressed in, it is impossible to tell if they are truly sleeves or the sprayed in iron coating.
"As of March 16th 2015,
Engine number start : 2789xx 30 266191, Mercedes change over to cast iron cylinder barrels. Along with new pistons and rings of course to match.
M157 V8 unfortunately did not get the same treatment because of the low volume and near end of its production cycle, and used silitec liners to the end of its lifecycle."
If you have time and want to do a deep dive look up arsupisemnet here on the Forum, he rebuilds M278s, he has alot of knowledge on the subject.
This is where Arsupisemnet talks about how to tell the iron sleeve in an M278 vs Silitec
Last edited by thtguy; Jul 10, 2025 at 11:54 AM.
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Joined: Oct 2017
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2015 SL550, 2017 GLS 550, 2010 G550, 1995 E320 Cabriolet
They don't post won loss records like baseball pitchers. It's how many billing hours can you generate. Why do you think there are so many frivolous lawsuits these days. People will sue for anything. It's ridiculous. Look at the OP. His car breaks, which sucks but that's life. He took a chance on driving a complex car with no warranty and he lost the bet. It happens. Instead of acknowledging that he made a bad bet he wants to sue someone.
This is the same nonsense going on over at GM with their 6.2 and 5.3 V8s (and 9 speed transmissions). Is Mercedes really operating on *GMs* level now? Should we be okay with that?
