After 15 years and 4 different Mercedes, it's time to say good bye for good. I was raised admiring Mercedes vehicles and they were universally considered pinnacle of engineering but no more. Along with many issues over the 15 years, changing water pump on my 2014 GL450 finally broke the proverbial camel's back. The estimate was $3.5K (see attached) from one of the most reputable shops in Atlanta (Revolution Benz).

• Side note: Couldn't understand so many pieces needed to be replaced (a line where business and greed cross is a separate discussion, not for this post) - shop charges hourly rate and then, on top of work done, makes huge profits on every part - thus piling up parts that don't need replacement (for example, the cap).

So, decided to change the pump myself. Several people (including a friend working for Mercedes shop) told me that I would need to change the coolant lines since the plastic parts would break even if I looked at them wrong way. Unfortunately, they were correct and even after buying OEM parts at 70% cost of what shop quoted and doing it myself, the cost was over $1,100.

Beyond using plastic parts that degrade and invariably break in a few years, requiring $1000s dollars worth of work, there were so many questionable engineering decisions. Please see the two "complicated" plastic pieces in the attached pictures. They have no other function (although they look like they do) than to make 90degree turns within aluminum line that takes coolant from one turbo to another. These plastic pieces divide the aluminum line along the path into different sections/parts - each costing around $100 (total of $400+ to get coolant from one turbo to another over 3 feet distance). Engineers could have used a single aluminum tube that should cost $5 total (they already have 90degree turns in aluminum sections, so plastic parts were not needed to make the 90degree turns). This way they could avoid plastic parts that are known to fail and significantly reduced the cost; instead, it almost seems intentionally over-designed to fail and make huge profits for the manufacturer and dealers. Please explain if I missing something.

This, along the countless examples of repeated failures clearly due to poor engineering documented on this forum and with Mercedes repeatedly failing to owning up for any of them is the reason for quitting Mercedes. I love these cars, I love how they drive (when they drive) and how they look. But, there has to be some balance, honesty and honor coming from the manufacturer.

Mercedes was about engineering without compromise; now it seems about overengineering to stupidity and with intent to maintain revenue streams by milking loyalty of the enthusiasts.

P.S. Don't get impression that I am trying to get good cars without paying for them. I don't mind paying whatever is needed but it has to be fair /honest transaction irrespective whether it's $5 or $5,000.

 

Spot on.

 

Dayum good post...

I feel All the good engineers @ MB retired during the late 80's and have been taken over by the playtstation generation who just throw stuff away before trying to repair.

Man I miss the 70's and early 80's when MB meant something and the cars were awesome.
450SEL - Love that car.
450SL with the soft top...
Hell even the 240D clattering around town was a great drive and simple car to repair... easily get 300K miles on them without touching the wallet.

Ah hell....getting old.

 

Good luck with your next brand. For what it’s worth - the prices on that parts estimate are higher than a kite. You got ripped if you paid those prices.

 

I understand where you're coming from. I didn't buy mine as a project car; I am OK with paying reasonable repair costs to have someone else do the work that needs to be done. In the case of the Mercedes, though, it really seems to be a free-for-all game of seeing just how much money you can suck from Mercedes owners, under the assumption that if you drive a Mercedes you either just don't care about money, or take some kind of perverse pride in bragging about how many thousands of dollars you've spent on repairs.

A leaking O-ring that cost me $7 and three hours of my time to fix had a $3600 estimate from a local shop to pull a turbo and replace the coolant lines -- which were perfectly fine, and it hasn't leaked since I replaced the O-ring. All of this would be tolerable, maybe, if the car itself didn't seem to be engineered by people who either want it to break frequently, or simply have no contact whatsoever with reality. Not only does there seem to have been no consideration given to reliability or maintainability, it almost seems like the design is intentionally the opposite.

My right license plate lamp is apparently burned out. I have to acknowledge the message on the instrument cluster every single time I start the car. It's going to take me a couple of hours of work to replace it with a new one. It's freaking insane. At least once a week I vow to sell this thing and not replace it.

And then I go drive it...