This may be due to, you have a bad starter and water pump. If the water pump get damaged then then there will be the chance of some noise when the engine starts. In most cases this is caused by the starter drive not retracting and disengaging from the ring gear on the flywheel and or flex plate. But don't worry you can change it, go and find any auto repair service in your area they will fix that.

 

just purchased an ml350 today for the wifee. didn't hear any issues at dealer. drove it home to the garage, and wife asked what all that rattling noise was about. i can't believe a brand new car can have such issue on day 1! do they not do any QA coming out of deutschland?

thank goodness for this forum!

 

Fixed

 

I have an ML350 2011 bluetec (170,000km) and it's also doing that annoying noise every morning.... It's an OM642.


mb techman you said it does not applied to diesel... in your perspective, do you think it's valve lifters then?...


Dan

 

I have a GL350 x164 Blutec and it has started making the same noise, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I also have a 2011 ML350 bluetec and I had an odd fluttering or flapping sound coming from the engine on first start of a day. It was occasionally happening (i.e. not always or consistently) but mentioned it to the dealer when in for something recently.

It was reported to me that this noise was a due to the timing chain stretching. Ticket says technician performed timing chain inspection and found that timing marks are 30 degrees off to TDC. Timing chain is stretched and will need to be replaced in order to perform recheck after repair. I kept asking questions because I didn't fully understand "how it stretched". Finally I asked was it a problem with a gear and the response I got was yes. I was told there was some sort of bulletin out there around this problem and other 2011 ML's have experienced it (unsure if just bluetecs at it wasn't presented as wide spread but all reported the same sound I did). I have a whole list of part numbers they replaced. Unsure if you are hitting the same problem I had.

I feel like I'm getting better mileage after they did this fix on the same commute.

I really want to either trade in for an E wagon or buy an E wagon and keep the ML. I'm starting to get nervous that it is a good idea at this time. I don't wish to have engine issues and I was a bit disappointed this happened on my 2011 though they took care of it.

 

Thanks for letting us know! At least there is traction in the right direction! I have a few questions if you don't mind:
1) Was the repair done under warranty?
2) Is there any way that you could follow up with the dealer to find out what bulletin may exist for this issue? - It would be really helpful for others that are experiencing this issue on their BlueTec's.
3) If there is any way that you could share the work order including parts replaced (personal info blanked out) so that I could show it to my dealer. (I'm still not sure if I will have them do it or whether I want to try this repair at home.)

Thanks again for your help!

 

If you are having this issue. Tell your SA they need to replace all 3 chain tensioner and oil check value.

I now have 23K miles and ever since they replaced the Oil Check Value, noise is completely gone!

 

I think this solution applies only to gasoline/petrol engines. Please confirm as we are having this issue with the diesel/BlueTec engines.

 

Video I posted on the first page should be working again. The Diesel engine are loud so idk if it sound like mine. Check out the video.

 

My diesle GL makes the exact, same, identical noise as the gasoline ML in the video. Not sure if the same fix can be applied as these are very different engines (perhaps the timing chain tensioner design is the same?) Because the noise is identical, I wonder whether a good dealership/tech could reference this service bulletin to diagnose? Any help/thoughts from anyone who might be able to assist would be appreciated.

 

Our Diesels (OM642) only have one long timing chains. No check valve in the oil system is noted on the parts diagram, just a tensioner which is hydraulic and spring.

 

Answers to your questions/request

1) repair was covered under warranty
2) Most likely won't get the actual bulletin but they referenced they had found one (maybe it was the one that mb_techman had referenced earlier in the thread that didn't apply to my model however my dealer did know enough to say other 2011's had been impacted
3) I'll list the parts the ticket had on it for the repair:

Qty ~ FP-Number ~ Description
1 ~ 000-993-63-76 ~ DOUBLE SLEEVE
1 ~ 642-050-03-11 ~ CHAIN TIGHTEN
6 ~ 000-078-05-80 ~ SEAL
3 ~ 611-017-00-60 ~ SEAL RING
3 ~ 000-997-63-20 ~ PROTECTIVE CA
8 ~ 000-990-82-03 ~ SCREW
10 ~ 910143-006002 ~ SCREW
10 ~ 910143-006005 ~ SCREW
1 ~ 003-989-98-20-10 ~ SEALANT MB
1 ~ 642-016-02-80 ~ GASKET
1 ~ 642-094-05-80 ~ SEAL F CLEAN
1 ~ 642-094-04-80 ~ GASKET
1 ~ 001-989-42-51-10 ~ GREASE
6 ~ 000-990-29-07 ~ SCREW W FLANG
1 ~ 004-997-57-48 ~ SEAL RING
1 ~ 642-094-05-80 ~ SEAL F CLEAN
1 ~ 642-094-04-80 ~ GASKET
1 ~ 000-010-15-85 ~ FILLER CAP

I do realize that some parts are listed more than once on the list versus on the same line with a qty higher than one, I just typed the list as is from the ticket.

The description on the repair states:

Technician performed test drive depart at 9:20 A.M. xx,xxx miles return at 9:50 A.M. xx,xxx miles. Performed R & R of the right front valve cover and injectors. Replaced timing chain and chain tensioner. Removed and reinstalled camshaft.

(I blanked out my mileage as well on the test).

Hope that helps. It seems like it is a similar but different issue. It was not painted as widespread to me but for sure it sounded the same as the clip that is on the beginning of this thread. I had heard it multiple times but finally the door was open when I started the car and then I finally could describe the noise better and I already was to drop the vehicle off in a couple days so I brought it up and luckily they could get it to make the noise as well.

 

thanks for the part numbers and further details. Does it say how many man hours it took on the ticket for the work?

 

It doesn't list any labor times or even an dollar amount under labor. It doesn't even list the price of the parts (put warranty under those). I guess that is because it was covered.

 

I have a 13' ML550 and had the horrible sounding rattle(chain tensioner) issue since day one. I was originally told that it was the Direct injection system. Although I didn't believe it as far as I could throw my truck, I didn't have much choice. It was wonderful to start up my brand new 82k truck and have it sound as though it was a 25 year old beater with no oil... Thankfully I happened upon this thread and went in to the dealership with far more information, problem solved, for a few months at least.... It's back, not as often but after approx 40 min of sitting after getting up to operating temp. First time I brought it back I received the "can't duplicate" response (along with them putting ML350 rotors on my rear wheels, another issue...). Now I'm going back in Tuesday armed with cell phone videos... Hopefully it will be fixed again, properly... Just a hunch but I'm guessing that far more people have this issue than realize, I use my remote start often as I'm walking up to my truck and that is the only time I notice it. As quiet as the ML is, the noise is probably being missed by many.

 

Hi guys, just wondering if anyone has the service bulletin that mb techman had posted and removed? I have a 2012 CLS550 (M278) and it's sounds like marbles in a can when it starts cold, it drives me nuts! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Oh wow, fancy this issue raising it's ugly head again.

And so interesting that mb techman has deleted all his posts. Guess he got in trouble.

Anyway, I feel your pain, so give me some time I'm sure I can locate the document you're looking for again soon.

I should also add that my car has now done 31,000kms and the issue has not returned fortunately. In fact, the car is the best now it's ever been. Almost 2 years old now and running like a charm. Fuel economy is mindblowing for such a heavy vehicle with a huge motor. Best Benz I've had by far. I'm not ready for a newie yet, maybe another 12-18 months, but then the ML500s (550s) will be gone so who knows what I'm going to buy then!

Cheers folks, and Happy Halloween

 

Found it ... good luck!

 

get ready for a slew of problems. this car is a total POS. so glad I'm finally done with this car.

 

Sadly, my car also has this noise on start up, but in cold startups its hard to notice since the v8 roars and those turbos spool. Unfortunately my dealer has little knowledge on servicing and a really bad reputation here in my country. I guess I will start to live with it. Hopefully someone will come up with a solution.

 

Thank you so much

I'm in London, Ontario, Canada and the dealer here is actually quite good, but I don't want them to try anything like I've read about from others, "Oh, that's the way it's supposed to sound." Now I'm prepared and besides, it's kind of fun watching their faces when I have more information than they do.
Cheers!

 

There is a solution. Print out the pdf document in my earlier post, then take it to your dealer and it should be fixed under warranty.

 

You are totally welcome!

Yep, the service manager at my dealership was quite amazed that I was able to locate this information but they weren't, and surely felt like a bit of a fool after telling me for a couple of months that it's normal and not to worry about it.

 

Thank you for this post. I test drove an out of warranty 2012 E350 4amatic today and heard what sounded like a lifter noise but I'll bet that this is it. My sister has complained about the same thing. As you might expect they can't reproduce it.