2012 Mercedes-Benz S550 (m278) Misfires Left Bank (cyl 5, 6, 7, 8)
My car is sitting at 44,500 miles and I have a bunch of misfires on the left bank of the engine. Car shakes at idle and can barely be driven. It happened once, I shut the car off and after turning it back on it was fine. Then about 300 miles later same thing. Only this time I could only get rid of the codes by resetting via obd. The car has always been serviced on time, however I do not have records of the spark plugs being done.
The Mercedes dealer diagnosed the spark plugs and two coils (cyl 5 & 6). I had it towed home and will be doing them this weekend, all spark plugs and all coils. However, I have a feeling this might not fix it.. I've never had a car where the plugs have gone at such young mileage.
These are the following codes I have:
P300 - Random misfires
P305 - Misfire cyl 5.
P306 - Misfire cyl 6.
P307 - Misfire cyl 7.
P308 - Misfire cyl 8.
Anyone had this happen? Any other thoughts on what it could be, or am I overreacting?
Thanks!
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After resetting the codes, we fired up the car. Ran okay for 10 seconds and check engine light started flashing and car was shaking again. Scanned and got the same codes.
We checked the connections of plugs and coils and tried again, without success. No oil on the ECU connections. He’s thinking fuel pump now. I’ll be towing it to his shop next week, where they can work on it. What a pain in my ***
Fuel pump problem would affect all cylinders.
Unlikely that 4 injectors on the same bank are all bad.
Did the cam sensor plate slip? Try replacing cam position sensors and cam magnets?
What retailer sold you the coils?
Bad chain tensioner or chain jumped a tooth or three?
Fuel pump problem would affect all cylinders.
Unlikely that 4 injectors on the same bank are all bad.
Did the cam sensor plate slip? Try replacing cam position sensors and cam magnets?
What retailer sold you the coils?
Bad chain tensioner or chain jumped a tooth or three?
Haven't looked at cam sensors or magnets yet.
Bought the plugs and coils from fcpeuro.com.
Will have to wait to take it to his shop for further diagnosis. Seeing the black plugs, we both thought it'd fix it (mercedes dealer was 99% sure the plugs were the culprit).
for an odd reason they keep throwing in petrol when it knows the cyl isn't firing
blocked CAT this is very common on Mercs ?
Will update later once the Indy shop looks at it.
Haven't looked at cam sensors or magnets yet.
Bought the plugs and coils from fcpeuro.com.
Will have to wait to take it to his shop for further diagnosis. Seeing the black plugs, we both thought it'd fix it (mercedes dealer was 99% sure the plugs were the culprit).
Did the friend explain why the fuel pump would cause problems on one bank?
Codes and black tailpipe confirm what you already know: you have a problem on one bank.
Codes in four cylinders rules out a scored cylinder for now. Focus on camshafts: sensors, magnets and chain drive.
Buy plugs, coils, sensors and magnets from the dealer only.
You have Chinesium coils and plugs and/or a failed cylinder head and/or a messed up chain drive.
Did you do a compression check yet?
If compression is good, replace plugs, coils, sensors and magnets with dealer purchased parts.
Last edited by chassis; Feb 19, 2023 at 01:17 PM.
Codes and black tailpipe confirm what you already know: you have a problem on one bank.
Codes in four cylinders rules out a scored cylinder for now. Focus on camshafts: sensors, magnets and chain drive.
Buy plugs, coils, sensors and magnets from the dealer only.
You have Chinesium coils and plugs and/or a failed cylinder head and/or a messed up chain drive.
Did you do a compression check yet?
If compression is good, replace plugs, coils, sensors and magnets with dealer purchased parts.
The plugs and coils are OE, not even OEM, so they should be good. Compression check was done on cyl 5 only and it passed.
Peter will suggest a used computer and a C4. He will send a 500gig SSD loaded with software. Plug it in and Peter will set the computer up remotely. Then he can assist with diagnosis and change any software in the car you wish for. Your car need not suddenly stop accelerating at 130.
I’ll help.... www.benzninja.com enjoy!
Last edited by JohnLane; Feb 22, 2023 at 12:37 AM.
They have also stated that it has reached the ECU a little bit. They will be attempting a cleaning of all affected areas and see if that fixes it. I have a feeling neither they nor I want to replace the whole harness.
I don’t understand how an engine can be designed like this.




They have also stated that it has reached the ECU a little bit. They will be attempting a cleaning of all affected areas and see if that fixes it. I have a feeling neither they nor I want to replace the whole harness.
I don’t understand how an engine can be designed like this.

How the heck did oil get there? Oxygen sensor is connected to the ECU that does not have oil in it to leak thru wiring to the oxygen sensors...
I thought the problem is with the cam shaft sensors and magnets. I know the cam shaft sensors as I had that problem already in two cars with this engine. Magnets problem I have not had yet.
How the heck did oil get there? Oxygen sensor is connected to the ECU that does not have oil in it to leak thru wiring to the oxygen sensors...
I thought the problem is with the cam shaft sensors and magnets. I know the cam shaft sensors as I had that problem already in two cars with this engine. Magnets problem I have not had yet.
I am not sure if I’ll be keeping the car much longer though, I bought it for reliability and this isn’t a good sign. It’s not even at 45k miles yet.









