Back in the old site, I mention that I thought I had an exhaust leak, or could it have been a water drain hole in the muffler. Wolfgang, posted an excellent picture showing no hole.

Finally got mine into the dealer, the inlet pipe that is welded to the muffler has developed a crack in the weld. This is the first time the dealer has seen an exhaust leak, and had no replacement.

My 'B' service is 4000kms away, so I am going to have it replaced then.

Drew, bought the MB stone deflector, as per your recomendation. I'm glad I did, good fit and hasn't affected the wipers. I also prefer the style of it compared to what I had seen in aftermarket.

Some other heads up:

I had the dealer install my Yokohama winter tires which were off my old vehicle but new last year, because Yokohama is not a MB approved mfgr and also since the size was slightly larger, 275-65-16, I had to sign in three places warning me that MB is not responsible for me using these tires. Even though the tires had adequate clearance. Yoks are great winter tires, if any one is wanting more info on them, just email me, I'd be glad to answer your questions.

My 6 pack cd changer has been skipping while playing. Turns out it is extremely sensitive to slight smudges/dirt on the cd's. These same cds played no problem in our other car or home stereo. Once cleaned, problem gone.

Something that surprised me is that at the last service, 03/01, it was filled with 10W30 Quaker State Conventional oil. MB of Can is now using full sythetic. I had asked my service mgr if I would be alright going into the winter months with this heavier oil, he has assured me it will be fine. Any other vehicle that I have own required you to use 5W30 once the temp dropped below freezing. Call me cheap, but I'm not about to dump this oil for a lighter grade, only to change it again in a couple of months when I'm ready for the 'B' service.

When I got home, I used some MB light alloy wheel cleaner on the old rims. There was a heavy build up of brake dust on the back side of the rims, as expected. This product did a good job of cleaning them, but required some brushing action to finish the job. I have read how corrosive the brake dust is on the alloy rims. I saw proof of that on the backside, some pitting has started. After cleaning I gave them a good coat of canuba paste wax. Hopefully this will slow down the corosion. I had already waxed the backside of the used rims prior to installing the winter tires. I sure don't want to be pulling off my tires once a month to clean the back side of the rims.

Drew had posted a company name that sells winter wiper blades for the MB. I haven't ordered them yet, but did check with the dealer. They are unaware of any winter wiper blades for the ML, but did suggest that coating the contact points of the wiper blade with vaseline will prevent them from freezing. This is basically what the cover on the winter blades do. So I think I will give it a try, if it doesn't work, I'll be buying winter blades.

Found out the hard way, when your spray pattern of the windshield washer jets are not spraying where they should, you cannot adjust them using a safety pin as you can on North American cars. Had to order a replacement set of three. The dealer removed the washer reservoir and found debris at the bottom. Some must have worked down the line plugging the jets. He also back flushed the lines for me.

Learn something everday, even if its the hard way.......brian

 

Odds are your CD changer will need replacing eventually. Sensitivity to dirty, fingerprinty CDs is the first sign of a failing unit in my unfortunate experience. Don't start a long driving vacation with it in place. Trust me on this. The available radio in the hinterlands is awful.