Etienne Lau

The recent diesel recall has a warranty that DOES include timing chain failure and a long list of other parts NOT directly related to emissions alone. So short answer, "Yes you're wrong".

Ironfistt

yep, ive adjusted the rubber liner several times to make sure thats not the issue but my dog does ride back there and who knows, maybe she shifts it some. I should remove it fully for a week and see if the tailgate starts to work perfectly.

BlownV8

You are saying they are going back and paying for the above list of failures before the AEM is done?

Bwbob

2012 Bluetec 150k miles. No big issues. Vacuum pump and oil filter housing leaks fixed. Dealer said oil cooler seals were leaking but Indy shop found the other leaks and no seal issue. Seals were replaced at 70 by PO. 28 mpg after emissions update.
radiator replaced as it had a leak.
did have to replace the adblue line from the tank and rear springs and breaks but I do all that myself.
overall very happy, has odd intermittent “won’t shift from park to D or R” issue that I believe is more of a software timing issue than hardware but could be a module. Only does this when below 0 or so. Startup only, never after its warmed up. No noticeable rattle from timing chain yet (crossing fingers here)
check from MB made me smile, paid 15K for this rig at 100K so I feel good about this thing and would even put a new motor in it if it failed.
should get more than 45K on a set of tires though in my opinion, especially with mostly highway driving.
I have always felt that diesels work best when run consistently for longer times. 3 miles to Starbucks and back isn’t good for any vehicle let alone a diesel.
I would buy another one like this for the right price any time. Can’t find any deals like I got right now though

chassis

104k miles now. No major issues. Still on factory front rotors and pads.

Œuvre

I have a 2015 gasoline ML 350 4MATIC with steel spring suspension currently sitting at around 84,000 miles on the odometer. The car was purchased pre-owned last year from a dealership, whose parent owns several Mercedes-Benz dealerships in the area (one of which performed the dealer inspection and service when it had been traded-in to them). The car had been maintained by its original owner at the Mercedes-Benz dealer shops in the area regularly and exclusively ever since its purchase, and there is nothing peculiar in its service history/Carfax. Just prior to the sale, the dealer's Mercedes-Benz service technicians re-sealed the front timing covers (they were just starting to leak), replaced the camshaft adjuster magnet/solenoid O-rings (and all associated single-use bolts and the intake plenum/flange donut gaskets), performed an oil change, did a brake job, and balanced the tires (they were relatively new, as the previous owner had them installed only months earlier at his Mercedes-Benz dealer). I had my own purchase inspection performed at my local Mercedes-Benz dealer for free (summer multi-point inspection and SDS scan promo). They found that the other shop had missed a broken rear coil spring (common issue up here in northeastern New England, as corrosion inclusion through the springs' outer coating leads to fatigue cracks -- particularly at the very bottom and also at the top sometimes), and the selling dealer agreed to pay for all replacement parts, labor, and the alignment and even added extra to the check to pay for the inspection fee (I opted to have both rear coil springs replaced at that time, by the way). The main battery was the original and already marginal according to load testing but still OK. In January, I ended up getting it replaced with an OEM battery (by then, the old battery was ~7 years old and the car had 80,000 miles on the odometer) at my local independent shop, as I noticed a slightly longer crank one morning when it was very cold outside after the car had been sitting over a long 3-day weekend. Load testing at the shop confirmed that it was time to replace the old battery. No related issues after that. Apart from this, I had the following done last year:

1. Removed a little bit of surface corrosion from the trailer hitch using detailer's sanding blocks and a wire wheel on my drill, performed a proper metal surface prep, and then applied several coatings of POR-15, followed by a top-coat anti-corrosion paint (trailer hitch corrosion is also common up here in the northeast);
2. Preventative maintenance: Replaced all camshaft position sensors with the latest revision and also installed the adapter wiring harnesses for camshaft adjuster solenoids (i.e., Mercedes part#: A2711500156...what some refer to as the camshaft adjuster solenoid "pigtails" or "sacrificial harnesses") between each of the solenoids and the engine wiring harness connectors. Although these components were specified for the earlier M272 and M273 engines as part of Service Campaign No. 2012070002, they are also compatible with the camshaft adjuster solenoids for the M276 engines. This was done to avoid having oil leak from the connectors of these components into the engine wiring harness;
3. Paint correction and Ceramic Pro coating;
4. NH Oil Undercoating service in the fall;
5. 80,000 mile service performed at my Mercedes-Benz dealer at the end of the year

Other than the battery replacement earlier this year, I've only had an annual oil change done since. I have an Autel MX808 with the latest Mercedes-Benz updates (including the latest "active test" and "hot function" features that they added for free this past summer...) that I use periodically to scan the car, and it has been clear of codes except for an intermittent one that gets thrown once or twice a month: "DTA (Telematics Service Control Unit) B142E31 The GPS antenna has a malfunction. The signal is not present. Active and stored(Event codes)." However, the GPS navigation feature works just fine (apart from the fact that the maps haven't been updated in 4 years...) even when that code appears. It's very strange, but I'm ignoring it for now. Does anyone know why this would occur?
***
Until last month, I would have said that the car has been absolutely trouble-free, but I experienced my one, and only, breakdown...and it was a strange one. I had just completed the first 100 mile leg of my trip on Saturday of Labor Day weekend and, following the brief 45 minute stop at our destination, was about 20 miles into the return leg back home when I suddenly stalled on the interstate turnpike/tollway. The check engine light then came on as I coasted into the breakdown lane. I had my Autel scanner with me, since I was on a car hunting trip for my mother. I plugged it in, turned the key in the ignition to the first/"on" position (i.e., but without attempting to start the car), and then pulled the following codes and saved the freeze data:

• ECM (Engine Control Unit) P008A00 The pressure in the fuel low pressure circuit is too low. Active
• ECM (Engine Control Unit) P008700 The fuel pressure in the system is too low. Active and stored
• ECM (Engine Control Unit) P241500 The signal of oxygen sensor 1 (cylinder bank 2) is implausible. Active
• ECM (Engine Control Unit) P241400 The signal of oxygen sensor 1 (cylinder bank 1) is implausible. Active
• FSCU (Fuel Pump Control Unit) P008700 The fuel pressure in the system is too low. Active and stored
• FSCU (Fuel Pump Control Unit) P008A00 The pressure in the fuel low pressure circuit is too low. Active and stored

The codes seemed to indicate a problem in the low pressure part of the fuel system, and the data indicated that the pressure was indeed too low. I then tried starting the car several times while waiting for the tow truck, but it would only crank and then fail. The fuel pump wasn't making any strange noises when I turned the key to the on position, and I had not experienced any problems whatsoever previously that would have suggested problems in the fuel system. The tow truck arrived 10 minutes after my breakdown, and I tried one final time to start the car to no avail. I had it towed to my local, independent Mercedes specialist shop, where it sat over the entire duration of the Labor Day holiday weekend. It also rained all day long on Labor Day. When the mechanic tested the car the following day, it started right up and didn't throw any new codes. They pulled the old stored codes and freeze data with their Mercedes-Benz Xentry Diagnosis system, but they only saw what I had found and nothing else. He checked the rear of the vehicle where the fuel system control unit is located, and it was bone-dry (and prior to my trip, we had not had any substantial rain for over a week). There was no evidence that there had ever been any water intrusion into the rear of the car. He pulled the control unit and tested it and then checked for shorts and other electrical problems in the system, but there were none. He also had a camera up above the fuel tank and saw no evidence of animal nesting/damage to the wiring for the components in the fuel tank. They also tested the high-pressure fuel system and sensor. They checked the pressure with gauges. Everything was OK. I left the vehicle with them for about a week-and-a-half, and they were never able to repeat the failure. At the time my car stalled, it had almost exactly a quarter of a tank of gasoline in it. They performed lengthy test drives (~50 miles or so) while measuring the pressure with a gauge and also having their diagnostic system reading the live data via the ODB2 port for comparison...and running the tank down even lower before refueling. They encountered no problems. As a sanity-check, they also ran the same exact tests with another Mercedes (but a 2016 MY vehicle) that has the same fuel system and M276 engine as a control and compared data...and the data were similar. At that point, the only option would have been to drop the gas tank and dig into that (i.e., swap the low pressure system pressure sensor at the top of the tank, suction jet pumps, new jets in case of cracking, check for loose lines, new low pressure fuel pump, new fuel filter while they're in there), but we did not pursue that... They only charged me the $135 diagnostics fee. I spoke to 4 different Mercedes-Benz master mechanics that I know in the area at several shops. In the small number of instances in which they had encountered this out of the blue in these cars, either animals had damaged the wiring at the top of the gas tank, it was a damaged control unit, or, more frequently, they just dropped the tank and replaced the fuel pumps, sending unit components, and filter (especially, if under warranty -- in one instance, a customer whose car was out of warranty just told his service advisor that he wouldn't let the fuel run down to a quarter of a tank...). At the time of the breakdown, my car was driving at a slight incline. Perhaps air was getting sucked in even with a quarter of a tank of gas, and a pump overheated? Since I've owned the car, I've never let it run out of gas. The "reserve fuel" warning has come on about 4 or 5 times over the past year, but I've always stopped at the nearest gas station within a mile or just a block... Of course, I have no idea whether the previous owner had allowed the car to run out of gas multiple times and/or made a habit out of driving for miles after the reserve fuel warning message had popped up... Over the past month or so, I haven't had any hints of a problem, and I'm not getting any new codes from the car whenever I scan it... Thoughts?

hmg9194

Figured I'd chime in.. Bought mine at 88,XXXK miles summer 2019, now have 115K or so.

Sat for about 6 months in 2020 without being started, which is my bad I should have gone and started it every 2 weeks or so but was more or less out of my control, started up with some misfires and threw check engine light. Smoothed out after a minute or so but took it to the shop anyway and they replaced an injector. In hindsight I don't think it needed replaced at all but the shop did.

Beyond that, all preventative maintenance. Recently had the transmission/diff/transfer case fluid + trans filter swapped and some new rear rotors.

Hoping she makes it to 300k!

Gray_Panther

77k miles. Only unexpected issues were one camshaft solenoid gasket and electrical (blind spot sensors)

Replaced fluids on diffs/tcase/brakes/trans.
Spark plugs at 60k and a couple ignition coils since I broke them.
Front brakes

Œuvre

Update: Mileage on my 2015 ML 350 4MATIC is now over 90,000 miles. The mysterious fuel pump issue I described in 2022 never came back. I have driven the SUV with well under a quarter tank of gas several times since then (to the point where the reserve fuel warning has come on about 4 times over the past year-and-a-half right before I arrived at a gas station) and have driven over the exact same stretch of the interstate highway as when the breakdown had occurred (with roughly the same fuel level...and even when pulling an enclosed U-Haul trailer once) two times since then, but I never experienced that problem again. My shops's service manager laughs about it and, half-jokingly, chalked it up to "bad gasoline." I haven't gone back to that gas station since then (and a neighboring gas station had to have its fuel tanks dug up and replaced over a year ago...it's a marshy area that was filled-in decades ago)... Anyhow, I did have our local Mercedes-Benz dealership perform the water intrusion recall service a year ago, and I told them about the fuel pump issue and handed them the printout of the diagnostic codes. They didn't find any evidence of water intrusion near the fuel pump control module either. Since then, the car has been trouble-free, aside from having to replace typical old/worn-out components and a minor failure described in the list below:

1. If you are near or over 100,000 miles and haven't done so already, I would consider replacing the ignition coils at the same time as you replace your spark plugs. At least on the 2015 ML 350s (not sure what other model years are applicable), it's pretty common for them to fail at around 7 years/100,000 miles. You can search through the forums to confirm this anecdotally... In my case, I didn't quite reach 90,000 miles before having a problem with one of my coils. When I started my car one morning during the Fourth of July weekend last year, the SUV ran REALLY rough, and the Check Engine light came on shortly thereafter, so I shut the vehicle off and scanned for codes. This is what I found:
   
   1. ECM (Engine Control Unit) —— ( 8 )
   
   1.1. P13B200 Electrical fuse 1 for the ignition coils has a malfunction. Stored
   
   1.2. P035196 The actuation of ignition coil 1 has an electrical fault or open circuit. There is an internal component fault. Stored
   
   1.3. P035296 The actuation of ignition coil 2 has an electrical fault or open circuit. There is an internal component fault. Stored
   
   1.4. P035396 The actuation of ignition coil 3 has an electrical fault or open circuit. There is an internal component fault. Stored
   
   1.5. P209000 Actuator 'Exhaust camshaft' (cylinder bank 1) has a short circuit to ground. Stored
   
   1.6. P208800 Actuator 'Intake camshaft' (cylinder bank 1) has a short circuit to ground. Stored
   
   1.7. P034300 The position sensor of the intake camshaft (cylinder bank 1) has a short circuit to positive. Stored
   
   1.8. P036800 The position sensor of the exhaust camshaft (cylinder bank 1) has a short circuit to positive. Stored
   
   To get to the bottom of what exactly had caused the fuse to blow for that bank, I needed to have some actual diagnostics performed. Unfortunately, between holiday family commitments, an ongoing building remodeling project in which I was our own general contractor, and the non-stop, record-breaking rainy weather up here, there was no way I could get to this job myself. I called our local independent Mercedes specialist shop in the area, described the issue and the codes I had read with my scanner, and suggested that it might be a frayed section of the wiring harness to that bank (this car sits outside for extended periods, and squirrel damage is always a possibility...) or a bad coil that had shorted. They already knew that I had checked to make sure that there had never been any oil in the engine wiring harness and that I had performed the necessary preventative maintenance to avoid this problem back when I got the car (i.e., I had all of the camshaft position sensors replaced with the latest revision, checked the camshaft adjuster magnet solenoids, and installed the adapter harnesses/"sacrificial pigtails" as a precaution). I had the car taken to the mechanic right after the holiday. It turned out that the ignition coil 3 was shorting, so I had him replace all of the ignition coils with the current Genuine Mercedes coils from the dealership while he was in there (I'd recommend just getting the OEM Bosch, since they seem to be available again...there were supply chain issues over a year ago). The ignition coils were on special order from the local dealership, so we had to wait 2 days for them to arrive. The previous owner had the dealership replace all of the spark plugs at around 52,000 miles. I did have the mechanic check spark plug 3 for fouling, and it looked fine (they had been replaced only ~35,000 miles earlier, and I had not experienced any misfiring during my ownership), so I didn't bother to have them replaced yet. These spark plugs tend to have a long lifespan from what I have heard. As for the ignition coils installed in that particular model year...not so much, it seems. The manufacturer for the OE coils back then was BERU, and many customers reported even more premature failures with BERU aftermarket replacement OEM coils during the pandemic, when the updated Genuine Mercedes and OEM Bosch ignition coils were still on backorder. FCP Euro, for example, doesn't even offer the BERU coils for the M276 engines anymore...
   
2. In the late summer of last year, I was inspecting the windshield cowl drains prior to bringing my car to the car wash when I noticed that two of the rubber wiper spindle/linkage grommet seals (i.e., the one on the driver's side/left end and the second one over from the left, near the middle of the windshield) had cracked open due to exposure to the elements over the years. I noticed that the grommet seals were permanently fused into the cowl as one piece with the entire water drain panel/cowl (without Magic Vision feature; Mercedes-Benz part#: 166-830-00-28), which would have to be replaced. Parts sites, including both Mercedes-Benz dealerships' websites and independent parts dealers (and eBay Motors), listed the part as "discontinued," and MBUSA's sites fail to even display a page for the part. Luckily, the parts guy at my dealership in town was able to track one down through their dealership network and request it via special order for around $170 back in August. I asked him whether it was a common part request, and he seemed to think not. ...However, when he took a look at his own ML 350's windshield cowl, he discovered that the same grommet seals had torn... Lesson: Inspect those seals. There are some Chinese knock-offs available online, but I have no idea as to their durability. Used ones pulled from junkyards that I saw online seemed quite weathered and not especially cheap when factoring in shipping. After replacing the water drain panel/cowl with the new one from the dealership, I saved my old one and picked up some of the cheap, older wiper spindle/linkage seals (Mercedes-Benz part#: 170-824-00-98) and some 50mm wire grommets. Using some industrial-strength (i.e., much stronger than JBWeld) 3M PR600 Scotch-Weld, I was able to replace the seals in the old water drain panel/cowl with the new grommets and seals. I'll offer it at some point.
   
3. I had been putting off replacing the chrome-finished plastic rear bumper step pad (Mercedes-Benz part#: 166-885-21-74), which the SUV's previous owner had gouged in several places, as I had been informed that the entire rear bumper cover would have to come off to replace it. By last fall, it had begun to peel in those spots. Based on what I read in the X166 forum, it seemed possible to carefully pry it out on the GL/GLS chassis models and replace it without removing the bumper cover. Comparing the bumper step pads' fastener tabs for both chassis, it seemed like that might also work for the W166 chassis, so I gave it a try... In the course of performing this replacement, I discovered that the slots in middle of the W166 bumper cover are thinner (the two slots at both ends appear to have been designed with a taller cut-out to allow the tab to be slid out after prying it upwards...but not the middle slots on the W166 bumper cover, for some reason...), so simply prying up doesn't work, unlike with removing the tabs from the two sets of slots at either end (those tabs slide out easily when prying them upwards). I ended up having to snap off the plastic tabs in the middle of the old step pad. Luckily, I did not damage the bumper cover whatsoever and was able to replace the step pad without any further issues. Whew... I have photos of the entire process and the end result.

Next, I will refresh the rear tail lamp seals (Mercedes-Benz part#s: 166-826-17-91 & 166-826-18-91) and lift-gate backup lamp gaskets (Mercedes-Benz part#s: 166-826-06-91 & 166-826-07-91) and replace the backup lamp bulbs while I am at it. I have already purchased the replacement parts from the dealer. I am also planning to perform replacement of the transfer case fluid and differential gear oil of both the front and rear differentials soon (I use the vehicle for a lot of trailer towing throughout the year). Then, 100,000 mile/10-year service and preventative maintenance...

Potrice

2013 ML350 Bluetec. Currently at 300 000 km (~187 000 miles). The AEM (Bluetec recall) was done during the summer of 2022 and I still have about 30 000 km of warranty left or two years. I really like this suv. I got hit by some maintenance repairs around 172 000 km. It has been surprisingly reliable since. I think the trick to achieve high mileage on these OM642 engines is to lower the oil change interval (OCI) from 15k km to 10k km. I change all other fluids every 100k km (coolant, brake fluid, front/back differentials, transfer case fluid, transmission fluid). My driving is about 75% highway, 25% city (really helps the diesel shine imo). The suv doesn't burn oil and I never have to do top offs between the OCI.

Weird fact/situation. During DPF regens, my suv will sometimes run rougher. I can sometimes feel a vibration while driving, like a wheel that's unbalanced and the dash will send a message to check tire air pressure. Everytime I pulled over, the tires seemed fine and the SUV would have a very strong burnt plastic/metal smell. I know this is related to the DPF doing a regen, but this is happenning maybe once every 10 000 km. It's very weird. The rest of the time, the other regens don't seem noticeable. My Autel scanner shows no codes every single time.

Right now, the oil cooler seals are slightly leaking. They were never replaced and, since the leak is very minor, I'm debating whether to replace them or not. I don't even have to do top offs between the 10 000 km OCI. I do pretty much all of the work and maintenance myself, but this is a big job that goes beyond my comfort level. If anyone is near the Ottawa/Montreal/GTA region and can do the job please send me a private message.

The other thing (which is minor also) is during very cold or very hot days, the panoramic roof will sometimes squeak when hitting a patch of rough road. It's very bizarre and it seems to happen more often when the left wheels hit a bump/crack/manhole on the road. I will have to investigate some more. There seems to be other threads about this (from other models as well, not just the w166) and they point to the screws in the T pillar near the panoramic windows going loose.

I'm not sure what I'll do once my AEM warranty is over. I'm debating on whether to keep it and tough it out (since it's not worth much due to the very high mileage) or to sell it and switch to a 2018/2019 GLE400 with the gas engine. I made a thread about this in the W166 GLE forum.

Link to the maintenance sheet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...t?usp=drivesdk





​

Gray_Panther

Has rust been an issue at any parts of the SUV?
My 2013 is at 87k miles after this winter is over I plan to take off a lot of plastic trim and do a deep clean of the under carriage and inspect the body.
We decided to sell my GTI and keep the ML350 since my family is getting larger and I will need to drive the ML to the ground, hoping for as many years of service as possible!

Potrice

A little surface rust on suspension parts and the transfer case/differentials. The rest is protected from the salt (I live in the rust belt) by the belly panels. There are a couple of rust bubbles underneath the black trim pieces after the driver and passenger side windows. They are very minor and hard to see, but you can see them up close. The worst for me is the stone chips on the front grill/bumper. My suv has the dreaded diamond white mettalic paint and the touch up kit doesn't 100% match because the mix is very hard to achieve. I will never buy another Mercedes with a metallic paint. Just the good plain old polar white from now on.

Œuvre

Update #2: As I've stated previously, I have an Autel tablet (without the TPMS sensor RF/wireless diagnostic reader capability) and periodically perform a full scan of all of the car's modules (I last pulled down the Benz updates for MaxiSys in late 2022, when my subscription was still active) and perform periodic engine live data monitoring. The only code it found came up a little over two months ago and is from the TPMS module:
Tire pressure monitoring seems to be working fine right now (and I'm not getting any error messages in the car's cluster), but one of the TPMS sensors seems to have a battery that is getting weak, I presume. Is that correct? I don't know if they had ever been replaced under the previous owner when the tires were replaced. I assume that the Schrader OEM TPMS sensors are perfectly fine as replacements over the Genuine Mercedes ones, which cost 3x as much, right?

Also... Back in February, when I had its Service B performed, I had my Benz indy shop (603 MTech) check for oil in the engine harness connectors that I had not checked previously, including at the oil level sensor connector and oil pump control valve solenoid connector (I decided to have them re-connect it after inspection), and they were all clean...no oil seepage yet.