califix

My Mercedes R500 has 57700 miles and has been making a noise which sounds like it is coming from the left wheel as I accelerate. We were told they thought it was the bearings and took it in today to have the bearings replaced. They drained the differential fluid and found black fluid with pieces of metal. I have read some of the forums and several state they saw metal pieces. I'm not sure how large the pieces are but other people I spoke to say it would be unusual to have to have the differential replaced with the type of driving I do. The cost to repair will be $2600. Any ideas?

rmfnla

That is a really unusual item to fail. Have you checked for advisories?

Since you are out of warranty you might look into finding a used diff; it could save you some serious $$.

califix

Thank you for your reply. My husband took my car to a Mercedes dealer and, yes, it was the differential. One mechanic with 17 years Mercedes service had never seen one and another mechanic with 18 years of providing service on Mercedes said he had only seen one. I hadn't thought about a used differential. Would I have to find a used differential for the R class or are differentials interchangeable? I am wondering about availability. This is my first Mercedes. Although used when I purchased it, it is a great car but now I am concerned about the cost of repairs.

rmfnla

I have been a "car guy" for over 40 years and I have never seen a differential go out in 57K miles on any car, let alone a Mercedes.

There might be some interchangiblity; you would have to ask either your dealer or a good MB parts seller. The good news is there are numerous parts sellers out there for Mercedes; I used to use these guys when I lived in Atlanta:

http://www.benz-store.com/

and there are lots more on the Internet.

You can also check junk yards (now called salvage yards) online.

More good news is a differential is fairly bullet-proof (except yours, apparently ) so even when a car has been in a bad accident there's a good chance the diffy is still good.

You don't mention where you live but you might want to check into independant garages to find the part and do the work; they will be much cheaper than the dealer and will be willing to install a used or rebuilt unit (which the dealer will not).

Your car already has almost 60K miles on it so there is nothing wrong with putting on a good used part.

Good luck!

califix

Thank you for the information. Unfortunately, we were told that we shouldn't drive the car because the wheel could lock up at any time. We have been driving with this problem for some time because we were originally told it was the bearings and today the mechanic could hear it without even driving out of the parking lot. My husband is on leave this week so we have the luxury of using one vehicle but next week we need the Mercedes so we are "stuck" at paying full price. I was just hoping that it might be something else. Oh well.....Maybe buying the Mercedes wasn't such a good idea

rmfnla

I'd be surprised if your dealer has the diff in stock, meaning you will probably wait just as long for them to order it as an indy to find a decent used part, but the dealer will charge you 3X as the indy.

j21importer

i have replaced a few front diffs on r classes. they are not that uncommon to fail. We even stock front diffs for r classes and ml's
2006 to 2008

califix

Is there a way to get Mercedes to reimburse?

rmfnla

That's right; this is a 4WD.

The OP didn't say if her bad diff was front or rear; does that matter?

Ruination Fan

Ditto, i think i have seen 3 get replaced before.

rmfnla

I guess I really should have called it an AWD...