Buzzy ML350 motor?
 

Our 2013 ML350 has what I call a "buzzy" effect on acceleration between about 1600 rpm and 2200 rpm. Reminds of a poorly tuned 4 cylinder motor.
Motor has good power and this is the only symptom. Just does not seem very "Mercedes like" to me.

Perfectly smooth at idle and above 2500 rpm. Maybe like a vibration but buzzes like a bee. It can be felt in the steering wheel, the accelerator pedal and the seat.

Anybody else see/feel this?

Many owners have reported a rapid pulsation, variously described as a "baffling" or "buffeting" sound, around 42-47 mph. It seems to be more of a resonance in the chassis, rather than an imbalance in the driveline.

More here:

https://mbworld.org/forums/new-m-cla...n-driving.html

i have a buzzy sound (especially cold start), back to dealer , found out is the piston rod gapping in engine. now still in dealer place for maintenance, need 1 week.....-_-

Piston rod? Sounds significant.

Do you know what they are doing to fix the problem?

Thanks

My car (2012 made) always have minor problems
initially i just think this sound is normal but after their inspection they told me it is a known issue which is recorded in Germany (they record the sound and send it to Germany) (there are other owners with the same problem). the only thing they need to do is to replace the problematic rod and the problem will be solved (according to them). but the down side is they need to take out the whole engine block to work on that. I will keep you updated when i get back my car next week.

another problem i have experienced was - when i reverse or park my car there are a lot of shaky / vibration sound (sounds like a bus -_-). It is another known issue according to my dealer that the material used to stabilize the exhaust pipes is not good for the first batch of ML made. after changing the materials by my dealer there are no longer any more vibration sounds.

hope that my experience can help those who have encountered similar issues

Thank you for the information.

I think I need to take my car in right away!

We bought ML350 2013 last month. When I saw the post from red308 I knew I wasn't crazy. He described exactly and perfect what I experience.
I even decided to register to reply. I convinced my husband to take the car back to the dealer, one of the top mechanics drove it and said this is the way its suppose to be.
But I don’t think so. Red380, please let me know what the dealer told you.

I am hoping to take the ML350 in next week. It will be interesting what they say.

It is possible that the motor is set up to get the maximum power while optimizing the fuel mileage.Sometimes this causes a buzzy vibration because of the ignition timing and cam timing. If it is this way, then it could be solved with a software change. But Mercedes may choose not to make a change.

I will be disappointed if they say that it is supposed to be this way. Mercedes should be smooth and powerful, not sound and feel like a cheap car.

MB has a history of saying "its normal" if they can't or won't figure out what is really wrong. This may also be a dealer issue since some owners are getting their cars repaired.

I have had situation where the dealer could not tell if anything was wrong because their computer diagnosis showed "normal". They would drive a similar new car and if it acted the same they said it was normal. Even a call to Germany indicated that it was "normal".

But normal may not be right. I have insisted that they register the problem so that Mercedes in Germany can see if a pattern of complaints is established around a specific problem. That at least gives the engineers in Stuttgart a chance to resolve it.

This has worked a few times. But it has taken a long time for a fix to appear at the dealer.

You have summed up how MB diagnoses a problem. They let the computer figure it out. THe NEVER use the computer between their ears. If you took you car there with 4 flat tires and their computer said that all the tires were properly inflated they would say you have no problems. Even though you can see the problem with your own eyes.

THey tried that line on me and I told them they just proved that there is another vehicle with the same problem and now they need to fix both of them.

Ha. I really like your reply to them. I will have to use that next time around.

But Mercedes really pushes back on the dealership if they don't run all of the computer stuff. And it takes a really aggressive service manager to get MB to pay attention when the computer says everything is ok.

I guess that makes a difference between a good service department and a not-so-good service department.

What speaks to MB is a pattern of enough complaints that they can get a picture of what is going on. Until that pattern is established they are really hard to work with.

Usually what gets MB attention is a number of "warranty" claims against a specific problem. That "warranty" claim costs them money. They really look hard at these and a lot of times they reject them. But at least the problem is registered so they can start to see the pattern.

You hit the nail on the head. Its all about money. And one way MB saves money it to say its normal. THat way they pay zero for the repair. And as the consumer I could care less about how they look at the problem. That is all internal stuff to MB. I just wan't the car fixed. Folks need to remember that the computer that looks at the vehicle is programmed by MB. If MB knows of a problem they just squash it from the computer. Even though you can see and hear it.

But then that is why they have the Lemon Law.