RickyE430

Hey All,

I'm nearing 60k miles on the E430. I plan on taking the car in here in the next few weeks for the service. The dealership is recommending a plug change nearing 600 dollars. Along with everything else this is running near 1400.00. I had the B service done at 53K. How important is the plug change at this point?

ClayJ

I'd change the plugs at 60K...but that's just me. 60K miles is enough miles for new plugs....IMO

MBTECH2003

I would reccomend it as well, because when they get old they cause misfires, which will cause a check engine light. You dont want to pay that diagnostic feel soon down the road only to find out that you needed to do the plugs. I have had many customers get burned by going that route. Maintenence on a Mercedes is very important. When you follow the maintenence on these cars you see it later in their life, I regularly see well maintained E classes with over 200k and running very well... all in the care taken.

RickyE430

Great advice. Thanks

VRCL55

I recommend you find a good MB shop. $600 to change plugs? Last time I checked plugs were $7.50 each ($120 set).

RickyE430

Do you guys think using someone other than the dealership for the plug change is safe? Not sure how complex changing the plugs is

VRCL55

Changing plugs on your car is not that difficult. Go to mercedesshop.com and do a search for a good MB shop in your area.

RickyE430

Solid! Thanks

RED-CLK

If you are near Scottsdale I would recommend Goody's Automotive. They are Mercedes specialists, priced very reasonable, and you get to talk to the mechanic that wil do the work. I would trust them over the local dealership any time.

Jayhawk

If you followed your MB recommended service schedule (A @ 10k, B @ 20k, etc.) your 60k service should be a B service. At 60k they do a B service plus a lot of other stuff, which includes plugs, wiring, etc., etc.. It is about twice as much stuff as a normal B service, and I highly recommend you have it done. $1,400 is very reasonable for a 60k mega-service.

paulv

I have an '03 E320 with those "100K mile" spark plugs. I changed them all (12 plugs) at 50K miles. I've heard too many horror stories about trying to remove plugs that were in motors with aluminum heads -- even with nickel plated plugs.

The entire job took me 2 hours and I was meticulous -- a light coat of anti-seize compound on the plug threads, dialetric grease on the boots and under the coil packs (I removed the coil packs for easy access to the plugs), and proper torquing of the plugs.

As someone else said, the plugs are about $7.50 each for the Bosch OEM. By the way, those plugs are a "single platinum" . Double platinum plugs (platinum on the ground terminal) such as NGK 4292 (PFR5R-11) are around $14-15 each. The NGK 7090 (BKR5EGP) which are equivalent to the Bosch OEM, are about $3.50 each.

I stayed with the Bosch plug because even though I'm out of the basic warranty, the car is still under the Federal emmisions warranty of 70K miles. The next time I replace the plugs, I'm going with NGK.

levelr123g

what relevance does a Bosch plug have over an NGK plug in regards to emissions? It doesnt matter what type of plug barnd you use, it has no effect on emissions.

BudC

I have a 2004 E320 and a 1991 300E. It takes me about 15 minutes to change plugs at a cost of $14 on the 300E. I can change the rear brake pads with little effort at a cost of $20. The front pads are actually easier to change but the pads cost about $50.

My 300E is going on 15 years old, looks and drives like the day I bought it and will outlast me. It's really depressing to own a car (E320) that will cost me a relative fortune to maintain.

Unfortunately, I haven't much choice.

RickyE430

Update- Car hit 60K couple weeks ago. Took it in for the service and even though it was a small fortune it was well worth it. The car ran great before but it sure feels like it got a hell of a boost after having the plugs, fuel filter, TB cleaning, and all fluids changed. All done for the low low price of 1400.00. ( Dealership was kind enough to knock off 200 )

ClayJ

Good stuff, Ricky. It is so nice to have your baby running so smoothly again, isn't it?

RickyE430

It's a wonderful thing!

paulv

There is no relevance -- I see now how my post was confusing -- sorry! The single platinum NGKs are about half the cost of the OEM single platinum Bosch plugs, and I've always used NGK plugs in my past cars with excellent results. By the way, the double platinum NGKs are about $14 each -- somewhat expensive considering I only want them for 50K miles.

Regards,
Paul...