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Hey everyone. Just finally got my 2014 ML550 back from the dealer. Dreaded cylinder 5 misfire turned into replacing both heads, camshafts, cam adjusters and sensors and a LOT of other stuff in the engine. Took 2.5 months but I finally got it back. Now it’s time to start the mods. Just waiting for it to warm up a little as it’s still freakin cold outside. Anyways here’s a couple pics to get started. 21x10 AMG wheels coming soon (this weekend hopefully) and prob lower it a tiny bit, half inch maybe. And wow the Oem ambient lighting is super dim… need to do the 12 color upgrade kit asap.
2014 ML550. All stock. Fully loaded with everything except Designo leather. Love the HID headlights with the active curve light. They work really well.
Last edited by Doubleredrolex; Feb 5, 2022 at 05:13 AM.
Ohh you had that cylinder #5 issue with the valve seat leaking? I assumed that was only common on the GL series. Did warranty cover it or did you have to pay out of pocket?
Ohh you had that cylinder #5 issue with the valve seat leaking? I assumed that was only common on the GL series. Did warranty cover it or did you have to pay out of pocket?
yep the Valve seals were faulty. It’s all the M278 engines in a certain production range. I had just bought the ML used from Mercedes back in November and I took it back the next day because it was misfiring. They covered all the repairs thankfully.
Ohh you had that cylinder #5 issue with the valve seat leaking? I assumed that was only common on the GL series. Did warranty cover it or did you have to pay out of pocket?
Strange, why would you think it only affected the GL when they use the same engine?
I gave my headlights 1.5 turns counter-clockwise on the adjusters to bring them up, and wow what a difference. They are aimed very low from the factory. Prob twice the light output now and nobody has flashed me yet so I think it’s about right. Two turns was too much. One turn woukd be enough also to make a big difference. Takes 2 min with a long 6mm Allen key . Super easy. I also ordered some 5000k Morimoto D1S bulbs to replace these old original yellowish bulbs I’ve got now. They seem a little too dim and considering they are 8 years old it’s prob time to replace them. The Morimoto bulbs are really good. I’ve used them before. They are also about 3x cheaper than comparable bulbs like Osram cool blue intense and about 4x cheaper than Nightbreakers. Just don’t use cheap $20 Amazon bulbs. They usually burn out quicker and can instantly destroy some OEM Valeo ballasts in Audis, Chryslers and Cadillacs.
These are the wheels I’ve got for it. 21x10 with et37 from a 2011 GL63. The wheels on it now are the 20x9 AMG wheels that come with it. I’ll be using the 20” wheels for winter tires next year. These new 21’s will be my summer setup. They are at the tire shop right now getting 295/35r21 tires put on. I should have them on middle of the week hopefully. After that I’ll figure out how much I need to lower it. They are gunna be wide. It’s an aggressive offset. 10mm wider (further out) than an OEM ML63 wheel in 21x10.
Last edited by Doubleredrolex; Feb 5, 2022 at 05:15 AM.
145,000km on it when I bought it in November. Not sure when it started happening though, but I suspect it’s the reason why the previous owner traded it in. It would explain why they drove 10 hours away from their home to trade it haha. The Mercedes dealer mechanic obviously missed the problems when they inspected it and put it on the lot for sale. I noticed the slight misfire within about 20 min of taking it home. I took it right back and they said they would investigate. They took care of everything no questions asked. The list of parts that went into it would be absolutely terrifying if it was coming out of my wallet. I’m guessing the repairs and labour in retail price would almost exceed the value of the vehicle. I got really lucky with this one.
Last edited by Doubleredrolex; Feb 5, 2022 at 08:26 PM.
145,000km on it when I bought it in November. Not sure when it started happening though, but I suspect it’s the reason why the previous owner traded it in. It would explain why they drove 10 hours away from their home to trade it haha. The Mercedes dealer mechanic obviously missed the problems when they inspected it and put it on the lot for sale. I noticed the slight misfire within about 20 min of taking it home. I took it right back and they said they would investigate. They took care of everything no questions asked. The list of parts that went into it would be absolutely terrifying if it was coming out of my wallet. I’m guessing the repairs and labour in retail price would almost exceed the value of the vehicle. I got really lucky with this one.
Scary but yes, you got lucky and thankfully the dealer worked it out for you. This seems to be a common issue around 100k miles, for some reason.
Scary but yes, you got lucky and thankfully the dealer worked it out for you. This seems to be a common issue around 100k miles, for some reason.
the valve guides or valve seals weren’t installed properly at the factory. It’s a known issue. There’s a Technical service bulletin for it. No recall, but it’s a known issue for a certain range of the M278 engine serial numbers between years 2012-2015. It’s covered under warranty obviously but after that you’re on your own. It should be a recall or should be covered by Mercedes. These engines should be able to last longer than 100k miles without having catastrophic failure. Just my opinion anyways. After going through this, I would never recommend an M278 twin turbo v8 to anyone. Not worth the risk. If you had to pay for the repairs on your own it would be devastating. Most people would prob just have to sell the thing for scrap or find a junk yard engine to put in it.
Last edited by Doubleredrolex; Feb 5, 2022 at 08:42 PM.
Did you buy aftermarket warranty or did they repair it as a goodwill?
i do have an aftermarket warranty but the Mercedes dealer covered the repair because they sold it to me when it was already broken. Great customer service.
the valve guides or valve seals weren’t installed properly at the factory. It’s a known issue. There’s a Technical service bulletin for it. No recall, but it’s a known issue for a certain range of the M278 engine serial numbers between years 2012-2015. It’s covered under warranty obviously but after that you’re on your own. It should be a recall or should be covered by Mercedes. These engines should be able to last longer than 100k miles without having catastrophic failure. Just my opinion anyways. After going through this, I would never recommend an M278 twin turbo v8 to anyone. Not worth the risk. If you had to pay for the repairs on your own it would be devastating. Most people would prob just have to sell the thing for scrap or find a junk yard engine to put in it.
I still find it strange we only hear of such M278 major issues mainly on the GL and ML.
I still find it strange we only hear of such M278 major issues mainly on the GL and ML.
yeah you don’t really hear about it having issues in any other cars, but maybe that’s just because I’m not active in the other sections and haven’t seen it. They sure put that engine into a lot of different cars. Maybe it’s because the ML and GL were made in the USA factory in Alabama and they somehow screwed up the cylinder heads there.
The M278 was fitted in the following models:
2011–2017 Mercedes-Benz S-Class S 500 in Europe S550 in the US 2011–2014 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class CL500 in Europe, CL550 in the US 2015-2017 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe/Cabriolet S500 in Europe, S550 in US 2011–2018 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class CLS500 in Europe CLS550 in the US 2012–2020 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL500 in Europe SL550 in the US 2012–2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class E500 in Europe E550 in the US 2012-2014 Mercedes-Benz M-Class GLE-Class ML500 in Europe ML550 in US 2013–2014 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class GL450 in Europe and US 2013–2019 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class GLS-Class GL500 GLS500 in Europe GL550/GLS550 in the US
Last edited by Doubleredrolex; Feb 6, 2022 at 11:15 AM.
These are the wheels I’ve got for it. 21x10 with et37 from a 2011 GL63. The wheels on it now are the 20x9 AMG wheels that come with it. I’ll be using the 20” wheels for winter tires next year. These new 21’s will be my summer setup. They are at the tire shop right now getting 295/35r21 tires put on. I should have them on middle of the week hopefully. After that I’ll figure out how much I need to lower it. They are gunna be wide. It’s an aggressive offset. 10mm wider (further out) than an OEM ML63 wheel in 21x10.
Actually these are almost 20mm further out than OEM ML63 (21x10 et56) wheels. There will be quit a bit of poke. Lowering of course will help to reduce the poke to visually acceptable.
Actually these are almost 20mm further out than OEM ML63 (21x10 et56) wheels. There will be quit a bit of poke. Lowering of course will help to reduce the poke to visually acceptable.
did they change the offset from the w164 ML63? My 2010 ML63 for sure had 20x10 et 46 from the factory. I assumed the w166 AMG 21x10 for the ML would be the same wheel. Interesting. I guess we will have to wait and see when I get them back from the tire shop tomorrow haha. Good thing I ordered mud flaps. I might have to do the Star lowering sooner than later because yeah it might look funny if it’s too high like you said. It’s already pretty low in sport mode so I’ve been waiting to get the tires before I start messing with the sensors.
Last edited by Doubleredrolex; Feb 6, 2022 at 08:35 PM.
did they change the offset from the w164 ML63? My 2010 ML63 for sure had 20x10 et 46 from the factory. I assumed the w166 AMG 21x10 for the ML would be the same wheel. Interesting. I guess we will have to wait and see when I get them back from the tire shop tomorrow haha. Good thing I ordered mud flaps. I might have to do the Star lowering sooner than later because yeah it might look funny if it’s too high like you said. It’s already pretty low in sport mode so I’ve been waiting to get the tires before I start messing with the sensors.
Yes, all W166 ML63 have offset of et56 for 21x10 stock wheels. With GLE63 facelift, offset was reduced back to et46 for 21x10 because GLE63s have fender flares to "compensate".
Vs. stock 20x9 et57 wheel with 265/45-20 tire, 21x10 et37 wheel with 295/35-21 tire will be pushed out by 33mm. Because stock 20" wheel is seating too deep in the wheel well, the net "effect" will be poke of about 13mm (1/2"), because 21x10 with about et50 achieves close to 100% flush rear fitment. Front poke will be less pronounced. Usually lowering negates poke because when lowered, the top of the wheel/tire points "in".
i find this website handy for calculating offsets. I’m definitely going to lower it probably an inch. I’ll get those carbon fibre AMG style fender flares if I have too. This is a w166 with the w164 ML63 version of my wheels 21x10 et46 with carbon flares. So my GL wheels will stick out 9mm further than these. Im assuming these are the ML wheels, but the concave does look deep like mine. So maybe they are GL wheels. Who knows. I’ll find out soon enough I guess. Hopefully I can put them on tomorrow.
Last edited by Doubleredrolex; Feb 6, 2022 at 10:00 PM.
I use the same website as well. With fender flares, there is no need to worry about poke. You may not even need lowering.
Looking at the picture of your car I could not understand reference to ML550 while I'm looking at ML63... Of course I totally missed that you're in Canada and unlike the US, AMG package gets full ML63 bodywork. Yes for 63 bodywork with fender flares, high 30s offset for 10" wide wheels is non issue.
Yeah The only difference in Canada is that the ML63 front fenders are 1/2” wider than mine. The back is the same width. And I don’t have exhaust tips out the back like the ML63 does. But I’ll change that later in a couple years and upgrade to a GLE63 rear bumper and tail lights. Thanks for all the info. You sure know your stuff.
Yeah The only difference in Canada is that the ML63 front fenders are 1/2” wider than mine. The back is the same width. And I don’t have exhaust tips out the back like the ML63 does. But I’ll change that later in a couple years and upgrade to a GLE63 rear bumper and tail lights. Thanks for all the info. You sure know your stuff.
Yes that is why I am running lower front offsets (via 10mm wheel spacers) on ML63.
Well I got them on and they are pretty much flush with the outside of the body. Maybe 1/4” out but they look great. They don’t really stick out at all. Pretty happy with that. This is still stock ride height in Sport mode. I might bring it down and inch. Not sure yet.
I gave my headlights 1.5 turns counter-clockwise on the adjusters to bring them up, and wow what a difference. They are aimed very low from the factory. Prob twice the light output now and nobody has flashed me yet so I think it’s about right. Two turns was too much. One turn woukd be enough also to make a big difference. Takes 2 min with a long 6mm Allen key . Super easy. I also ordered some 5000k Morimoto D1S bulbs to replace these old original yellowish bulbs I’ve got now. They seem a little too dim and considering they are 8 years old it’s prob time to replace them. The Morimoto bulbs are really good. I’ve used them before. They are also about 3x cheaper than comparable bulbs like Osram cool blue intense and about 4x cheaper than Nightbreakers. Just don’t use cheap $20 Amazon bulbs. They usually burn out quicker and can instantly destroy some OEM Valeo ballasts in Audis, Chryslers and Cadillacs.
Great to hear that the Morimotos are working nicely, I was considering these exact ones for my 2014 with OE bulbs. Any more detail on where I can find the light adjusters? Sounds like something I would want to do
Great to hear that the Morimotos are working nicely, I was considering these exact ones for my 2014 with OE bulbs. Any more detail on where I can find the light adjusters? Sounds like something I would want to do
if you open the hood and right above the headlight you will see about a 1” diameter hole in the metal radiator support bar that goes all the way across from fender to fender.
If you look down in that hole there’s a little white screw thing. That’s the headlight up and down adjustment screw. You need a long 6mm Allen key. Counter clockwise is headlight aiming up. I went exactly 1.5 turns counter clockwise and it’s perfect. I circled them in red. Don’t turn them more than a couple turns because you can derail the adjusters. Two turns max I would suggest.
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