We have our 2007 S600 with 58K miles at the dealer for service C. I received a call from the SA telling us that we need a Service B and also a transmission service/maintenance. He said it was supposed to be done at 39k miles but was never done. He said they replace the oil, remove the oil pan, replace the gaskets etc. and said it costs $550. I see there is a 40k transmission oil and filter change in the maintenance service schedule booklet. But, $550 for that?

Also, he said that the 4 wheel alignment is more expensive for cars equipped with the Distronic because they have to check the ABC ride height and re calibrate the distronic etc etc to do an alignment??? Has anyone heard of this?

I'm seriously calling BS on both of these issues, but wanted to check on here to make sure.

Thanks!

 

I don't know about the Service B and transmission service, but I'm definitely going to call BS on the second issue. Unless it's unknown to me, I have no idea what Distronic would have to do with an alignment. ABC, maybe, but Distronic, definitely not.

 

Distronic definitely has to do with alignment as it supposedly affects tracking angles. I had my dealer check the alignment twice in the past 6 months (they still can't get the steering wheel to be perfectly centered), and they had to re-set Distronic both times.

 

Since the transmission oil and filter change is needed, does anyone know how much it should cost at the dealer?

Supposedly the ride height of the car could be off, which could affect alignment. They wanted $400 for an alignment because of all the other systems that had to be in check before doing the alignment.

 

That's definitely a rip-off, the dealer here has a ongoing special for $138 per alignment.

 

Yeah, actually, he quoted us like $160, which is what we paid, but he said it's normally $400 cause of that distronic thing.

 

which dealer in socal is it? and name of your SA (so I can stay clear of him/her)

 

That's BS; Distronic adjustment is part of the package, not a majorly complex procedure AFAIU.

 

I would like to know also.

Btw, how much is service C?

 

I know when I had my Service B done I paid around $600.00 for everything, so it's a good chance that the dealership is on the level. I would call another dealership and get a quote for the service.

 

We go to house of imports... they've always taken care of us but lately I feel like they try to slap on any additional charges and services they can think of, now that the car is out of warranty. Also, our SA is actually on vacation so we've been dealing with someone else at the moment. Our usual SA is good tho.

I don't recall exactly what the service B costs, but they quoted about $1k for service B, the $500 transmission service, new wiper blades and new engine air filter. So I'm guessing the Service B is around the range of $400. The guy said service C just means it's service B plus some other extra stuff that is needed.

 

I've had Service C conducted also and it was around $200.00 so you definitely may want to check with MBUSA and as them if this is a comparable price to be paying for this service. Because Service C was no more than an oil change, filter, and inspection.

 

Distronic needs steering wheel angle info but the steering wheel should be correctly aligned when the car is heading exactly forward and that should be the case before the suspension alignment, if not, at least after the alignment.

Distronic is able to adapt to steering wheel misalignments, I cannot remember the limit, perhaps 12 degrees, anyway a lot more than the owner would never accept. The only thing here is if the steering wheel angle is changed, resetting the Distronic adaptation would make it reach the correct reading sooner (otherwise it would find this while the car is driven).

However, the same steering wheel angle info is needed even more accurately for ESP and since ESP exists in all cars, the alignment procedure would not be different for Distronic models. I'd like to see a WIS document if someone is aware of some Distronic related issues (I admit I have not looked at the alignment sections).

Suspension alignment as such should not affect the ride hight, or if it would ABC or Airmatic should be recalibrated to reach the specified ride hight. This means the vertical alignment of the main Distronic radar would neither be affected.

If instead the car suspension is adjusted to reach a different ride height, theoretically the main radar would need to be adjusted. But this would not be suspension alignment any more, even if suspension alignment is typically needed after the height adjustment. I still doubt that any reasonable suspension level adjustments would result to the need to adjust the main radar, the main radar beam is wide at its working distance and a difference of a centimetre or an inch would not make any real difference.

 

Not my thread but just a thanks to Diesel for your consistently helpful, accurate, and timely posts.

 

From what I've read - S600 service sometimes costs $10,000 on older models - just something you have to get over to drive the "flagship." You're getting off easy. (I spent $500 for a simple oilchange at my last R-class service).

 

Are you joking???
That's what I call a ripoff. Even in Canadian dollars (if $ Jamaican - that's a different story)

I pay $125 at the dealer...and that's for V12. (probably no difference from V8)