FunklyFOOF

Hello all;

Let me start by saying how happy I am to have discovered this forum. I love my SL500 dearly, and there aren't that many people here in Iowa with whom I can share my passion.

I took my recently purchased 2003 SL500 to the dealer for a checkup. Following the "man, that's a nice car ... where did you buy it ... yada yada yada" conversations, they looked it over and emailed me a list of scary stuff. I was hoping to run this by you guys here to see what you think I may be able to handle doing on my own. The last car I worked on was a 1992 Buick Regal (yes, big difference ... but it took me a while to be as successful as I wanted to be). I was able to do quite a bit to it. Here's the list:

NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
1. Reseal Left and Right PCV Covers, $250
2. Replace Left and Right Lower Ball Joints (loose), $580
3. Right front lower torsion bar is loose, $480
4. Transmission pilot bushing is leaking, replace, $100
5. Lower oil pan leaking, $1230

OTHER ITEMS SUGGESTED
1. Flush ABC System and replace filter, $520
2. Replace ABC pump pulley, $360

Some of this stuff sounds scary, but the car runs fine. The dealer tried to talk me in to trade this car in for another one of his cars, so there may be some bias involved. What do you think? Should I let the dealer do all this stuff? Are his estimates reasonable? Should I do some of this stuff on my own (recognizing that I'm pretty handy and I'd love to work on this car)?

Thanks.

Untertürkheim

I would ask your SA for the best price he can give you, especially since it seems a lot of those items overlap in labor. The pricing should be for the jobs priced individually, but after recalculating with labor overlap and a decent discount, it should be a bit less. Either way, I would get it done, never put off service on a MB.

FunklyFOOF

Oh - overlapping labor charges! I never thought of it like that. Makes sense. Is this something only a non-dealer will do, or should I ask the service department in my dealership? Thanks.

sosh

Prices seem reasonable and I do not see much overlap in labor. Looks to me like most of the items are routine and normal as you do not say how many miles are on the vehicle. If it were me I would proceed with the work.

epmills

What you can easily do yourself as long as you can either get the car up on jackstands or a lift:

Easy:
-Pilot bushing
-PCV (I assume they mean the upper portion of the valve covers?)

Medium:
-Torsion bar (sway bar link from sway bar to lower control arm I assume?)

Hard (without proper tools...):
-Ball joints
-Lower oil pan (make sure its not the drainplug leaking....)

ABC flush, big bunch of ****, dont worry about it. Same thing with the pulley, unless you can visually see damage to it somehow-I have NEVER seen one fail or need replacement.

RichardM98

As you might understand, the dealer is going to err on the side of safety and recommend ANYTHING that looks like it might need attention.

If you have the time and have worked on cars before, most of these issues can be DIY. At a dealership parts are about 20-40% of the cost so you can see the kind of savings that are involved even if you have to buy a few tools. There are several people on these MB forums who have done these repairs and will be willing to answer your questions. Do your research first making sure you have the correct tools, torque values, procedure etc. There are DIY articles with pictures available as well for common maintenance issues like oil changes, plugs, trans/diff service. Always use MB factory recommended fluids/filters when necessary.

Some other DIY sites:
www.mercedesshop.com
www.benzworld.org

Good luck

Untertürkheim

The service department should be willing to remove overlapping labor charges to get your business.

To offer my opinion on the ABC, I must disagree with another member, the routine service will keep it in operation much longer and reduce the probability of failure, which has happened, and is extremely expensive.

If you like the service advisor/department of your dealership, I would reccomend using them, as a good relationship with a reputable service center/dealer will drastically improve your ownership experience.

mleskovar

Be aware that the service advisor is paid by how much work they can sign you up for. "Leak" containment is their favorite because there are usually no other symptoms than fluid where it shouldn't be. Every car leaks someplace after time. Every car. First find these 'leak' spots, clean them, and see how much is really leaking after driving a while. I bet it's next to nothing. Loose ball joints should be addressed for saftey reasons. Not familiar with the ABC system but have read horror stories about getting them fixed. What's wrong with the pulley?

bicylindrico

I agree. The most common problems with this system are issues with fluid contaminations and suspension valves not fully seating. The flush will help to remove these small contaminates. Dirty fluid will ultimately lead to valve block replacement which will require a flush anyway.$$$
It's called preventative maintenance for a reason.

Gullwing

1. Left and right valve covers, easy to do.
2/3. torsion bar? does not have one with ABC, probably guide link which is attached to the ball joint. Have the SA show you what is wrong.
Two guide links installed is about 4 hours, don't need to align it.
4. If you can get the car in the air, the pilot bushing is fairly easy to replace.
Hardest part is correcting the fluid level.
5. Lower oil pan should only be 1.5-2 hours labor $20 parts. Plus oil
1. ABC flush takes an hour or so. Parts a few quarts of fluid and filter should be $50 I think. So $520 seems a little high.
2. what is wrong with the pulley. Never seen one replaced, it is solid metal and shouldn't go bad.

It has been over half a year since I have looked under an SL so memory might be a little off on suspension and oil pan.

FunklyFOOF

Thank you all for the excellent advice you've given. It's so nice to talk to fellow car lovers. And I'm certain that you all understand that working on your dream certainly makes for a better "car relationship".

I've decided to tackle the ball joints replacement and torsion bar (once I clarify what my SA meant). You guys are saying that the PCV covers would be easy to do as well, but I don't know what those are - and google hasn't given me any help. The online parts stores don't return anything when I search for "PCV covers"

I'm trying to order parts and any necessary tools before I start. For the ball joints, all the online parts places list the same options: Moog, Lemforder, TRW. Any preference?

The SA said that the ABC pulley was cracked! I don't know how that could've happened, but I did buy the car used. I'll leave that and the oil pan stuff for professionals.

There's a website called AlldataDIY that claims to provide everything I'll ever need - but I have to subscribe before using them. Has anyone here had experience with it? Is it worth it?

AH1W-COBRA

"STAR Service"service manual library is a dvd format disc that the dealer uses to maintain/repair your vehicle.get this and the reality of maintaining a MB can be achieved.without it you wont be able to simply learn as you go.you have to have the tech info to correctly locate,remove and replace components on these beautiful cars.