Overall, I'm quite happy with the delete kit. Part of the reason that I purchased this vehicle, was knowing all that had been done to it. Mileage is quite good. I get 20-25 MPG (I'm guessing). I did have trouble, as the DPF filter was still installed, and ended up plugging after awhile. This issue caused stress on other parts. I had the DPF filter removed, and then most issues resolved. It blew black for a little while, but is fine now.

 

Thanks for your input. It definitely appears this way.
Also, I don't think I want the hassle of going back to all this stuff, with risk of computer issues, sensor concerns etc, when I'm quite happy with my delete kit.

I was simply looking at taking advantage of an opportunity, and wished to weigh the pro's and the con's.

 

It's been four weeks since I took the R350 in for the field measure job. The last update was that in trying to fix the 'long cranking' they'd heard a 'metallic sound' and then decided to change the timing chain. In doing so, they stripped the threads for the timing chain pulley bolt in the cylinder head (blaming that on the shop that replaced the timing chain in 2018) which I would think would necessitate a replacement cylinder head. 'Metallic sounds' are never good from an engine, so my concern is that they've somehow caused a catastrophic failure, and the complete lack of communication is a sign that they either don't know what to do, or they don't want to do what they should..

I'm sure MB Canada is not keen on covering this, which means the dealer either eats the cost, or they try and put the cost on me.. Quite frankly at this point I wish I'd never even heard about the field measure as it was running perfectly when I took it in.

 

Are you saying they've had your car for four weeks instead of four days? That is definitely an unreasonable period, and my guess is that whatever dealership you took it to misled you in the first place by telling you they could get parts when Midtown and most others could not as all of the parts come from the same warehouse. Midtown was the premier corporate dealership and adjacent to Mercedes HO, and they (still) run a very tight ship even after the Zanchin Group bought all of the GTA corporate stores as it's the same staff, technicians and service manager.

The dealerships and techs get paid their full rate for the field measure installation, and the person who decided how long the job takes in Canada did not rush through it so they are all well compensated for it. Whoever you took the car to instead of Midtown lied to you because they wanted to collect the field measure installation money from Mercedes, and unfortunately you now have to deal with the fallout.

If you brought in a working car for what is essentially a recall and they break something in the process, it's on them to fix it. I am sure they're on the hook for a lot of money right now (putting in a new engine costs more than three used R350s), but at the end of the day it's on them to make you whole one way or another. Request to speak with the service manager in person, and tell him/her that you would like to have your car returned to working condition and back to you ASAP. If they give you any more excuses, ask them to put everything in writing and also ask for a loaner while they sort out the issue with yours.

P.S. MB Canada is now part of MB NA - it is not an independent entity - and is no longer involved in the retail side of things in any way, shape or form. And, it's no longer MB Canada that determines whether something is a warranty repair or not - it's the specific shop foreman who in turn reports directly to (and receives approval from) Daimler AG. Mercedes got out of sales completely.

 

now it make sense how quality of work isn’t what it used to be

 

A shady dealership is a shady dealership - but that's not Mercedes' fault.

 

Thanks for the feedback, which is exactly what I was thinking. It's actually at one of the other ex-corporate, now Zanchin dealerships.

Had a long conversation with the service manager this morning, and the summary that I posted above is pretty much exactly what happened. Bottom line is they decided to change the timing chain and in doing so, that has turned into a replacement of the cylinder head. There is no way for me to know if the destruction of the threads for the idle pulley bolt were done by a previous mechanic or whether it was an error on their part, but it is being covered under warranty at no cost to me which is all that really matters.

They're telling me the delays in getting back to me, while not excusable, were a reflection of the time it takes to get the all the warranty approvals which, when dealing with people in Germany, can take many days of questions and answers etc. The story goes on that warranty approval somehow fell through the cracks (after the German people approved it) and with the service advisor being off sick for a few days the ball was truly dropped on a few different levels.

Again, I'm not convinced I'm being told the whole truth as there's a fair amount of finger pointing going on, but at least I know what the story is and approximately when it should all be done. Luckily my buyer is being very patient and still seems to want it despite all the delays. Lucky for me that I bought the replacement car before taking the R in for the field measure as this would have been a lot more frustrating if we were reliant on having it back in a timely manner!



So, lots of apologies but the bottom line is that the warranty was all approved this morning after the service manager followed up with MB Canada, and they are ordering the parts so it should be done by the end of next week, hopefully.

 

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Midtown was adjacent to head office and all the corporate bigwigs would walk though there on regular basis, so everything was always spotless and run by the book - but Midtown was the only one. The rest were no different than any other dealership, corporate or not.

A number of the service advisors have left Midtown since Zanchin bought them out, but the techs are still mostly the same and so is the service manager (they are relocating the dealership to Etobicoke and the service guys get to keep their jobs and seniority, which was a point of contention with the purchase). The real estate where the old HO and Midtown are located is now worth a lot more to condo developers due to the proximity to the Eglinton LRT (the land is already sold).

Sorry for the thread hijack everyone... back to regular programming.

 

Interesting and yes that land would be worth a ton more now given how the Eglinton corridor is being aggressively redeveloped with the Crosstown rail.

It seems that a lot of dealerships that were located in the city have turned into land lottery wins for the owners, but the downside is that they're all going to have to relocate further and further away to get 'affordable' land. Midtown was ideal for me even though I haven't really used them since the warranty ran out, but with the new car I will need to use a stealership so I'll have to figure out which one as Etobicoke is not good for me. Do you know the timing on relocating Midtown?

 

Their lease is up in a few months, but I don't know if the new Etobicoke facility is / will be finished on time. Likely sometime this year either way.

I am in the same boat - not only is Midtown convenient and does quality work, but I have an AMG-designed and supplied oil cooling package on my C63 (AMG developed it for the Formula 1 Medical Car) as I used to track it and still occasionally take it out at Mosport for a lapping session or two to clear the proverbial cobwebs. The kit was ordered through HO, shipped here in two large crates from AMG Germany and installed on my car by the shop foreman and their top technician, and that tech is the only guy that knows what's what and can actually work on my car when I bring it in for service as there are only two cars in Canada that were retrofitted with this package including mine. I haven't really given it any thought until now... for the C63 at least I will most likely follow the tech to Etobicoke (when I last spoke with him around Christmas he told me he was staying with the company despite the fact that his commute will more than double), but it would make things inconvenient for me as well.

 

Sounds like a pretty special C63. Hope the guy doesn't retire anytime soon, but I'm sure if he does he'll still be happy to take care of it regardless of where he's employed (or on his own time at home) and in the meantime I'm sure it will be worth the trip to their new location rather than taking chances with an unknown technician. I got an E53 wagon - not quite as exotic, but for the next few years at least I'll be using a dealer for the scheduled maintenance, so I guess either downtown or one of the north GTA dealers would be easiest for me. I have inherent distrust of all dealers so it will be tough!

 

I'm good regarding service - I have been tracking and racing cars for some 20 years now so it's not like I can't get anyone qualified enough to work on it or for that matter do it myself - it's just convenient when a tech you trust at a dealership you trust is ~20 minutes away on foot. And, the E53 is a VERY special car... I had the privilege of driving an E53 sedan for a couple of weeks, and I owned an E63s wagon myself for a year and a half. All Mercedes wagons are by definition sacred! I loved the torque of the E53 - the new inline 6 with the 48V hybrid system is a joy to drive... to be perfectly honest, I can't think of anything that is a better all-around car than an E53 wagon. It's comfortable and luxurious, very quick when you need / want it to be, and it handles like a dream - but unlike the 63, it does not cost you $10 in gas every time you simply look at the accelerator pedal. Enjoy it!

 

Thanks - that is precisely the same reasoning and conclusion I came to on the E53, and so far I'm loving it. Smooth, refined, and the epitome of automotive responsibility most of the time, and a giggle inducing hooligan machine in sport+ when I feel the need for some entertainment. To round it off, the trunk has the same area as the R350 (not quite as high) so I'm not giving up any practicality for hockey shuttle duty and ski trips - it is basically the perfect all round family vehicle for a car enthusiast. E63 is awesome and I've got a couple of friends who have them, but I decided that it was overkill for my DD family car needs, particularly when the price difference is factored in to the equation. I have a 930 so hear you on the trusted mechanic thing - when you find someone good and trustworthy, you stick with them wherever they are..

 

What year is your 930 and who looks after it?

 

1982 - I do most of the routine maintenance and simple fixes myself, everything I can't or don't want to do I go to Brent Hunter. Ive had it 22 years and have been going to him for about 10 years

 

Before field measure

7km local + Hwy 401- Durham region to Toronto

00:54 Time

71km

79km /Hour speed average

6.2/100 Fuel economy

 

update

Took car back for them to look at the oil leak

now they’re are saying maybe engine is pushing excessive oil through the pcv

My question to them was where is oil exiting the system to accumulate in valley?
Got to be leaking from somewhere…

They said they will get back that I should come in so they can explain it better…hmmm

meanwhile the boost pipe is dry , front of engine is dry by throttle body too

 

Any advice please?

 

Hi Everyone,

We purchased our used 2012 ML350 Bluetec in the US in August 2012. The vehicle was registered in my wife's name in Ontario and it's still registered in her name as of today. When we heard about the suit against MB, we contacted the US law firm who informed us that the claim needs to be in the country where the car is registered. We also confirmed that information with the Canadian legal firm-KM Law. In order to get the Field measure update done, the MB Thornhill dealership had to contact the MB National Warranty team to confirm the VIN. Everything went well and the Field measure work was done in Toronto. We submitted all documentation for the claim and they have now come back saying that the VIN is Invalid, even though i told them that the car was purchased in the US and that the MB Warranty team had to be called for VIN confirmation. Has anyone else gone through this? Do you have any suggestions to collecting the claim? Thank you!

 

Are you sure that they rejected it based on the fact that it is a US car as opposed to you simply making a mistake in the VIN itself somewhere in the submission form? If yes, you may be in legal limbo... I haven't recently looked at the settlement language, although I would think that it makes no difference whether the car was originally destined for the US or the Canadian market. If it was legally imported here through the RIV and plated in Ontario, it technically becomes a "Canadian" vehicle that meets local emission requirements (otherwise you would not have been able to plate and legally drive it here in the first place). I would reach out back to the settlement administrator and ask why it was rejected.

 

It's a 15 year old car with 300K kilometers... with all due respect, that's pretty much the life expectancy of any car. If you can work on it yourself, you may be able to keep it on the road a little longer, but it doesn't owe anyone anything.

 

Finally got it back yesterday after 48 days. So far I've noticed a longer wait time until it cranks on a cold start, and then it holds the gears longer before shifting when it's warming up, but other than that it's running great. It should be, Mercedes probably could have just paid me top retail price to buy it and been way ahead compared to the cost of the work they did.

Unfortunately the buyer I had lined up lost patience and bought another vehicle, which I certainly can't blame them for - I wouldn't have waiting that long either, so I'm back into sales mode if anyone knows somebody in Toronto looking for a very nice R350 with a significantly refreshed motor!

The experience with the dealer was pathetic - horrible communication, and at the end of the day they really didn't give a rats a**. No contrition, no apology or further explanation though I did get a last dose of BS from the service advisor just before picking it up.

The dealer would have been a good alternative for future service on my E53 when Midtown moves as it's close to my wife's office, but based on this experience I wouldn't trust them with a lawnmower and will never ever go there again.

 

Give me a call, I sent a message with phone number

 

Hi guys. I need your help.
I brought today my GL350 to the dealer for FM (Vancouver, Canada). VIN is valid, car is eligible. I'm not the first owner of the car and I don't know its hystory, but I suspect that engine was replaced at one point (not surprising, hah?).
Service advisor tells me if they check and find out that engine is not original, they will refuse to do FM. Is that right? If he's not right, what kind of proof I can show him to tell that car is still eligible?