2012 ML350 Hesitation and Dealer Denial
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The diesel was smoother and very quiet under heavy acceleration. But it did have a lag.
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Quite obvious accelerating from a stop or slow roll - not so obvious if cruising down the highway, but I turned off the radio, turned down the fan, and paid attention - there it was - same or similar 'stumbling' / 'hesitation'. Idle is very smooth, pedal down acceleration is very good.... so what is it?
Initial dealer reaction was "nothing wrong" saying they could not duplicate the problem. I brought it back and insisted someone either drive it or ride in the car with me to witness. Sure enough, quite the hesitation, so into the dealer it went. After about a week or so, it was pronounced "fixed".
However, after driving out of the dealership - not more than 100yds - it hesitated while pulling out of the parking lot and almost launched me into busy traffic right outside the dealership.
I let the 1/2 tank of fuel run down to reserve and filled up with diesel from a busy station, let that run down to about 3/8, then put in (2) bottles of Techron - drove a few miles, then filled up again. After a full day, the hesitation abated noticeably, but was still present.
My children have a late model VW diesel and do not experience this hesitation, and our old 1981 240D never has any hesitation. And my aunt's 2014 Chevy Cruze diesel has NO hesitation!
By the way, the dealership originally said my case was unique, but upon recently taking it for a check engine light on, the service mgr mentioned that since my visit, several other MB diesels have been in for the same or similar problem. Service tech believes it is fuel related. I partially agree.
In my locale (NJ) state regulations require fuel formulations to change with
the seasons. This could produce some driveability problems.
But wait a minute! We're not talking VW or Chevy Cruze here, we're talking Mercedes Benz - - for which I paid just a tad extra for better performance.
The fact that the pedal position produces the same hesitation regardless of vehicle speed tells me that this may be a software problem and the design of the fuel injectors may not be as tolerant of varying fuel formulations as required in the American market.
I will be taking my ML 350 Bluetec back into the dealership next week for another go at this problem - 2nd time. Want to be sure to have this documented before the clock runs out on the warranty.
I have been treated courteously by the dealership and they have acknowledged the problem - which is a start - but so far no fix. Will post again in a couple weeks to let you know what happened.
Anyone else having hesitation as I have described?
Anyone had their vehicle fixed?
Quite obvious accelerating from a stop or slow roll - not so obvious if cruising down the highway, but I turned off the radio, turned down the fan, and paid attention - there it was - same or similar 'stumbling' / 'hesitation'. Idle is very smooth, pedal down acceleration is very good.... so what is it?
By the way, the dealership originally said my case was unique, but upon recently taking it for a check engine light on, the service mgr mentioned that since my visit, several other MB diesels have been in for the same or similar problem. Service tech believes it is fuel related. I partially agree.
In my locale (NJ) state regulations require fuel formulations to change with
the seasons. This could produce some driveability problems.
But wait a minute! We're not talking VW or Chevy Cruze here, we're talking Mercedes Benz - - for which I paid just a tad extra for better performance.
The fact that the pedal position produces the same hesitation regardless of vehicle speed tells me that this may be a software problem and the design of the fuel injectors may not be as tolerant of varying fuel formulations as required in the American market.
I will be taking my ML 350 Bluetec back into the dealership next week for another go at this problem - 2nd time. Want to be sure to have this documented before the clock runs out on the warranty.
I have been treated courteously by the dealership and they have acknowledged the problem - which is a start - but so far no fix. Will post again in a couple weeks to let you know what happened.
Anyone else having hesitation as I have described?
Anyone had their vehicle fixed?
Quite obvious accelerating from a stop or slow roll - not so obvious if cruising down the highway, but I turned off the radio, turned down the fan, and paid attention - there it was - same or similar 'stumbling' / 'hesitation'. Idle is very smooth, pedal down acceleration is very good.... so what is it?
Initial dealer reaction was "nothing wrong" saying they could not duplicate the problem. I brought it back and insisted someone either drive it or ride in the car with me to witness. Sure enough, quite the hesitation, so into the dealer it went. After about a week or so, it was pronounced "fixed".
However, after driving out of the dealership - not more than 100yds - it hesitated while pulling out of the parking lot and almost launched me into busy traffic right outside the dealership.
I let the 1/2 tank of fuel run down to reserve and filled up with diesel from a busy station, let that run down to about 3/8, then put in (2) bottles of Techron - drove a few miles, then filled up again. After a full day, the hesitation abated noticeably, but was still present.
My children have a late model VW diesel and do not experience this hesitation, and our old 1981 240D never has any hesitation. And my aunt's 2014 Chevy Cruze diesel has NO hesitation!
By the way, the dealership originally said my case was unique, but upon recently taking it for a check engine light on, the service mgr mentioned that since my visit, several other MB diesels have been in for the same or similar problem. Service tech believes it is fuel related. I partially agree.
In my locale (NJ) state regulations require fuel formulations to change with
the seasons. This could produce some driveability problems.
But wait a minute! We're not talking VW or Chevy Cruze here, we're talking Mercedes Benz - - for which I paid just a tad extra for better performance.
The fact that the pedal position produces the same hesitation regardless of vehicle speed tells me that this may be a software problem and the design of the fuel injectors may not be as tolerant of varying fuel formulations as required in the American market.
I will be taking my ML 350 Bluetec back into the dealership next week for another go at this problem - 2nd time. Want to be sure to have this documented before the clock runs out on the warranty.
I have been treated courteously by the dealership and they have acknowledged the problem - which is a start - but so far no fix. Will post again in a couple weeks to let you know what happened.
Anyone else having hesitation as I have described?
Anyone had their vehicle fixed?
On the 2011 the dealer adjusted the shift adaptions several times only for the hesitation to come back after several weeks each time. Then MB did a software update that once again worked for a short period of time before the hesitation came back.
On the 2012 MB did a software update that made it better but the hesitation was still there.. MB claimed the ML was "operating as designed".
The service manager and shop foreman both test drove it with me and experienced the hesitation crossing an intersection while I was in the back. This was one of many close calls both me and my wife had encountered.
Even though we just had a close call crossing the intersection their response was, "there's nothing wrong, they're all like this". To which I responded "well that doesn't make it right".
We lived with the hesitation until we turned it in. Good luck, I know how frustrating this can be.
Quite obvious accelerating from a stop or slow roll - not so obvious if cruising down the highway, but I turned off the radio, turned down the fan, and paid attention - there it was - same or similar 'stumbling' / 'hesitation'. Idle is very smooth, pedal down acceleration is very good.... so what is it?
Initial dealer reaction was "nothing wrong" saying they could not duplicate the problem. I brought it back and insisted someone either drive it or ride in the car with me to witness. Sure enough, quite the hesitation, so into the dealer it went. After about a week or so, it was pronounced "fixed".
However, after driving out of the dealership - not more than 100yds - it hesitated while pulling out of the parking lot and almost launched me into busy traffic right outside the dealership.
I let the 1/2 tank of fuel run down to reserve and filled up with diesel from a busy station, let that run down to about 3/8, then put in (2) bottles of Techron - drove a few miles, then filled up again. After a full day, the hesitation abated noticeably, but was still present.
My children have a late model VW diesel and do not experience this hesitation, and our old 1981 240D never has any hesitation. And my aunt's 2014 Chevy Cruze diesel has NO hesitation!
By the way, the dealership originally said my case was unique, but upon recently taking it for a check engine light on, the service mgr mentioned that since my visit, several other MB diesels have been in for the same or similar problem. Service tech believes it is fuel related. I partially agree.
In my locale (NJ) state regulations require fuel formulations to change with
the seasons. This could produce some driveability problems.
But wait a minute! We're not talking VW or Chevy Cruze here, we're talking Mercedes Benz - - for which I paid just a tad extra for better performance.
The fact that the pedal position produces the same hesitation regardless of vehicle speed tells me that this may be a software problem and the design of the fuel injectors may not be as tolerant of varying fuel formulations as required in the American market.
I will be taking my ML 350 Bluetec back into the dealership next week for another go at this problem - 2nd time. Want to be sure to have this documented before the clock runs out on the warranty.
I have been treated courteously by the dealership and they have acknowledged the problem - which is a start - but so far no fix. Will post again in a couple weeks to let you know what happened.
Anyone else having hesitation as I have described?
Anyone had their vehicle fixed?
When the car is cold, it has a lag, then shifts very hard in the 1 -2 shift. Once it warms up it lessened the problem but if it sat awhile it it would start this problem again. It was a dangerous situation if you pulled in front of a moving car because it essentially stalled in a dangerous situation, then kicked hard and took off. It mostly seemed to be a transmission issue but could have been a fueling (stall) issue.
Dealership reflashed engine and trans software - Then inspected and tested the fueling such as fuel pressure. They replace the accelerator pedal assembly....all with no change. They got the OK from MB to start tearing down the transmission and inspect certain parts. Eventually it looked like it could be the 'B" bands of the trnasmission but they were on a 4 month back order. At this point I had been in the loaner 5 weeks. They got MB to approve putting in a NEW transmission which just finished up today. They tell me it drives like new and the problem is resolved. After 7 1/2 weeks, I pick it up in the morning and it is supposedly fixed.
I'm just sharing this as a reference for others that may have issues like this. I'm really really pleased that my dealership went the extra mile to chase this down and get MB involved when I know other dealers wouldn't have put in this effort. And I didn't even buy my car from the MB dealer.




