WHPH28

WHPH28

38 seconds in, you can hear it.

Mike5215

If anyone cares I'm driving a C because the S needs a front strut from Germany and its two weeks out, and because I figured since I have half a pecker and one good nut I should just complete the total package and rock a base C300 with MBTex and a stereo made by Fisher Price.

It does have a cool video game in the dash where you try to be an economical driver and watch acceleration and coasting and it awards you bonus miles. I think it's like Skeeball where at the end it spits out tickets and then you go to the Mercedes boutique and pick out prizes. I'm hoping to get either the drink coozy or the hat.

2014CL600

So, we know how hard it is to downgrade but all that aside why would you have to order a strut ? Is your warranty paying for the strut? If not why not get your fixed from Arnott?

DaveW68

Mike's car is covered under a CPO warranty. A strut was was ordered due to a failure that caused his car to slam to the ground. He addresses it earlier in this thread.

Mike5215

Yeah it's a CPO covered repair and MB will only use OEM. They're on national back order. Also getting a cluster and some engine work. Meanwhile before the S went in for the strut I got rear ended in it at a light. It'll need a new rear bumper cover and it messed up my friggin back again. I'm looking forward to this year being over.

MrRat

Wow. Bad year, It just keeps getting worse. Punished from behind. And the car was hit too.

Mike5215

And not so much as a reach-around.

MrRat

Well, the struts gone soft. And then there was that suspension problem.

MrRat

On the bright side, if there is a bright side. Couldn't you re-spec the rear cover with an S65 cover to mate with your s65 diffuser?

Mike5215

I'd need to hit insurance up for a new OEM cover and then use the funds for an aftermarket S63/65 cover. It's basically two dimples, didn't break the paint. I may just leave it and pocket the money.

2014CL600

I did that with my first Bentley. Insurance paid for a new front bumper and I found a year newer but used and kept the 4K left over. It just needed painting. Took it to the Bentley certified body shop with the old bumper off and they put the new one on blended the paint to the body and I kept a large chunk of the proceeds.


Anyway great idea. It really makes that car look new and much prettier in my opinion. I like the first Gen but prefer the 10-13 facelift best of all.


Mike glad to hear you had a CPO warranty that paid for the strut. You must have hit something really hard. The newer bag style that is on your year have a very low almost non existent failure rate. At least that is what the guy at Arnott was telling me. Originally from what I am told the older style bags were made by Goodyear and totally different in construction and the newer style are made by Continental and are almost indestructible. Did you hit a massive pot hole or go over a massive speed bump or something that would blow just one of those bags?

MrRat

Doesn't look that bad. It would at least partially buff out.

MrRat

On my prior BMW, I was stopped in traffic and the car behind me drove into me and damaged the bumper cover. I went through his insurance company, collected the settlement and eventually had it fixed and repainted just prior to selling it. It was done well enough, it avoided replacing the cover, and it helped offset some of the depreciation.
It was minor enough that I preferred to wait, just in case it happened to get hit again..

Mike5215

No, it was actually on a very smooth "scenic highway" going around 40 a half mile from my neighborhood. I heard the pop but the system held enough air that it didn't drop or give the warning until I was pulling on to my street. My 220 had a pump fail from overuse due to an undetected leak. Then the whole car was slammed. My other 220 was giving all the signs of a pending pump failure and a leaking strut. I gave EasyCare a chance to replace the strut but the shop couldn't prove it was leaking. A couple of weeks later they got their proof.

Mike5215

I think the cover is deformed just enough where it'll have to be replaced. The car has 83k on it and probably 95k a year from now when CPO expires and I need to trade it. The wavy bumper isn't going to affect the dismal wholesale value at that point.

2014CL600

That is strange but it does happen. The old bags made by Goodyear were always taking a dump rather quickly. The new style bags that Continental are designed so that only about 1/2 " of rubber is outside the metal band and shrouded. The newer design usually can take almost anything you throw at it. Glad it was covered!!! High miles on any Mercedes made after 2000 is a risk to own out of warranty. It seams like when they came out with the new designs on the S, CL, and SL in 03 were quality lacking (beautiful for the time) but plagued with troubles. In 07 it seamed like they started putting quality back in. Now even just a component that goes out is no less than 1-1.5k per visit. I honestly don't know how people can afford to keep one going out of warranty. I know I just don't put miles on my cars but even so age gets to these plastic parts.

Nickthegreek

I would say in general to own an audi, vw, mercedes, bmw or porsche, without having mechanical skills , a warranty is mandatory. they just have so many components that could fail and are expensive to fix. You could end up paying for the car all over again in repairs.

If you can do a lot of the work on your own you save a lot of money in labor charges which can be alot, especially in jobs that involve a simple cheap part that is buried in the car. Engine mounts are a good example. Or as you mentioned earlier you can go arnott And use a remanufactured strut which is a mb strut with a continental air bag for 500 bucks which is what I did on mine. The only big one is electronic modules that need to be programmed. That unfortunately requires access to their headquarters to reprogram and scn code which they reserve only to those that pay the dealer equipment/subscription fee or just have it programmed at the dealer. Even a diyer like me is denied the chance to do that.

Mike5215

The 220 guys were definitely guinea pigs for perfecting AirMatic, and the lessons MB learned in warranty claims got applied to the 221. Same with ABC, where a mild change to the valve body dropped the failure rates in subsequent years.

The 220 got hammered for the use of plastics and lightweight materials vs the 140, which looked and rode like it was cut from a single block of steel, but I don't see the 221 as being vastly different from the 220 in terms of drive ability or the ownership experience. Definitely better looking, but my 221 at 80k has all sorts of interior squeaks and rattles that the 220s at that point did not. The 222 is the logical extrapolation of the brains vs brawn development of the S/CL since 2000. Personally I like the way it's going, especially the interiors, but the new feminine, button down corporate exteriors, while not deal breakers, inspire zero passion in me.

My theory was proven correct when my wife, who isn't a fan of the S unless we're showing up to her high school reunion in it, got into the C Class loaner and exclaimed "Gorgeous!" We car guys are screwed.

2014CL600

Well, they fixed most all the problems from the beautiful 220 when they moved up to the new 221. I drove with a friend in a 2010 CL550 and it creaked and rattled, something horrific and the car had only 38K miles. I was not impressed. Then the (2011 Borolo red CL550 with 10K miles finally came along)that I bought for him wasn't like that at all. It was tight and firm and quite and didn't feel like the same car, in any way. (I'm thinking the 4matic structure had something to do with that). It was like going from a Chevy to a Mercedes in one year. As for the 600's I have never experienced a single problem with quality control. Nothing feels cheap in them, (the 600 or the 65).

Mike5215

You bought your friend a 2011 CL?

2014CL600

The Jaguar was a little more simple, the height sensor was an arm on the body and it detached and reattached. The Mercedes might have a sensor for the sensor, which like you say, needs reprogramming. I have no understanding of the Airmatic on Mercedes, I only know the ABC systems.

2014CL600

He was on a trip and he wanted to buy my car and I wouldn't sell it to him and so he was hunting and hunting and hunting but couldn't find anything but black or white and they all had the AMG body cladding (which he was dead set against). He left on a cruise and the 2011 CL550 came up, in the color he wanted, with only 10K miles for only 45K. So I bought it and the warranty was going to expire the day of the sale and I found one with an exclusionary policy for only 2,400.00. When the car came to me, it had NO sound from any of the devices. He waited the 1K/1 month waiting period and he took it in for the repairs. They paid 99% less the 100 deductible and they found it was a control module for something or another. The part was 2,200 plus install, I think the total bill was 2,500.00 and they paid all but $23.00 and the deductible. The warranty was so worth it. So, in a nut shell, Yes I did.

Mike5215

Okay, I have to ask. Are you by any chance a Kardashian?

2014CL600

LOL, no they are nice people but new money for sure!