Support your modifications...I went and asked my Service Manager, and he told me that there is no possible way to support any modification that I do. He also told me that if he found out that I had anything done...if he wanted, whatever went wrong, he could relate it to whatever mod I had. I just wanted to be like . So for you who have dealers who may install/or support your modification (i.e.- do not void your warranty even though they know you have mods), is there any way to convince my dealer to let me do this stuff.

I really really want to modify my car but I cannot afford to loose my warranty on my car. PLEASE HELP!!!

Matthew Haynes

 

if you cant afford to lose it then just wait till it runs out.

 

 

mine ran out a lot faster than I expected. 4 years came and went. lol

 

Funny you should ask. I heard perhaps the most assinine comment I've ever heard in my life today. I was experiencing a very slight vibration in my steering wheel when slowing to a stop (once the brakes get hot). This usually points to warped rotors. I had to have rotors replaced at 15,000 miles already. I have approx. 3,500 on this set, so needless to say I was not happy.

So, while waiting to speak to my SA I see the GM who I've known for a while and get along well with. We exchange hello's and I tell him this car is killing me. He tells me that I was the topic of discussion at their service meeting earlier that morning. How unusual this is and what could be the cause etc. etc. He looks me dead in the eye and says "You know what's causing this don't you?" You ready for this - "your brakes are shot becaue of that chip in your car" I swear I almost fell down. I didn't know what to say. After I composed myself I asked how a "chip" can affect my brakes? He starts to say how he gets real nervous doing any mod and blah, blah, blah. And they are not responsible. In fact, he tells me there are other customers who have done stuff and they refuse to work on the car at all. He says they won't do that to me since i'm such a good customer but these mods are the reason for my probems. AT this point i'm shaking i'm so mad. I ask him a getting a car to speed a little faster has anything to do with the rotors wearing out. I tell him I don't track the car, never had the warning lights come on etc.

Part 2 of this story gets a little more interesting. Based on his comments it seemed that the brakes were shot and they were trying to figure out how to reconcile it with me. I leave him and see my SA. The SA tells me that the shop foreman drove the car and could not find anything wrong with the brakes. We go find the foreman and I describe to him what happens. He says that I would typically feel the vibration in the brake pedal, not the steering wheel. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not. Anyway, he says that what i'm describing sounds like a "bushing" (?) and if I leave the car he will fix it.

So, for you gear heads out there. What exactly is a bushing, and could it be possible to need it replaced at 20,000 miles? (it's not a daily driver).

I guess i'm now wondering if the brakes were bad and to avoid any confrontation they said they're ok and now looking at the bushing?

So getting back to your question. If your dealer is anti-mod you will not change their mind. I've bought lots of cars from my dealer and have always gotten along great with them. I do inform the foreman of what i'm doing and he seems OK with it. I told him today that I will be installing a larger water pump and headers. He seemed fine. Especially with the waterpump. I think i'm ok as long as they can't point to a mod as the cause of a problem (although the GM tried that today with that genius comment).

You're only other shot is to find another dealer. I know members here who have great dealers with regards to their mods. But, if something were to go seriously wrong the dealer is going to have to fight MB. Will they go that far? I don't know. They can be as supportive as they want now, but who knows what happens when the s**t hits the fan?

 

Well, that is the law

In order to LEGALLY deny warranty service, they have to prove your modification caused the failure of the part. Also, since violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a federal offense, you are eligible to recover attorney's fees used in fighting the manufacturer (from ftc.gov - Section 110(d) of the Act makes breach of warranty a violation of federal law, and enables consumers to recover attorneys' fees.)

A summary of the act is available at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/...s/warranty.htm and there is information at the bottom of the page to order the entire text of the act. If someone else can find a link to the full text, I'd love to see it.

 

WOW - that's a nice story!!

Mhanes - if you cannot afford to fix the car if smth goes wrong - then don't mod it! You drive almost 100k vehicle and you should be able to afford to fix it. Otherwise what is the point of it??
It's like my friends - they've bought a nice expensive Audi - and now they don't drive it cos the don;t have money for gas, and they don't want to put miles on it - meanwhile they paying huge payments loosing money on depriciation and drive 91 Civic that cannot go up the hill. ;-)


I never go to a dealer - I always try to fix the problem myself or in 3d party shop. I trust them better.
Dealers are only good for buying some parts you cannot get eslwhere. Or do work that no one esle can do (special tools - mostly copmuter stuff e.t.c.)
They are worthless otherwise.
Each time I called MB to ask a question about my E55 - i got very stupid answers like CTE430 did or no answers at all.

And....if you do Kleeman - I think it will not void the warranty.
So why won't you do that???

 

My dealer is pretty cool w/ mods they are lowering my car as i speak via star/diag.

 

Yeah I told him that when he told me that he can refuse to do any work on the car. "No you can't", I said. "yes I can" he said. I mentioned the MM warranty act to him. I'm sure they can tie you up for a LONG time though.

 

Wow, it's not what you say it's what the other person hears (or in this case reads). LOL.

Okay, I didn't literally mean I can't afford to loose the warranty, it's just that with my car always being in the shop and getting warranty **** fixed, I would really hate to loose that warranty completely because I modified my car. Also, I asked the service guy about the modifications and said they would be Kleeman and he was like . So I went further to explain that they make modifications specifically for Mercedes-Benz and basically he didn't care, and he didn't want to fool with it.

Also, by the time the warranty is up, I will probably have sold the car.

 

Doesn't matter if it's Kleemann or anyone else. They can still technically void your warranty.

I need to find a good shop. Only problem is like you mentioned a lot of this stuff is computer related and the shop would need the MB computer, correct?

 

another reason to hate MB dealerships...

 

I wonder how much my dealer's service reps are going to **** when they get my E55 up on the rack and see the giant horn set up (God help 'em if they ever accidently hit the magic button in the bay). They didn't touch any of the OEM drivetrain or wiring on the install so it would be way more than a stretch if they ever tried to decline warranty service on my drivetrain over it.

 

Yes - but there guys who even have computers just like dealers have.
Here in Denver I there is a ex-Mercedes mechanic with 12 years experience.
Does probably almost everything with the car - and much cheaper.
Some things will probably have to be done at the dealership, but not a lot really.
Ask around - if you live in big city - you should have someone who des Mercs.
Try asking for Russian mechanics ;-) they will sure charge less for the same job. You live near NY.......there should be pretty of those around. I think I even saw posts of them here.
Another words - there are ways.

How can they void the warranty is Kleeman states that their mods will not cancel the warranty - that they are approved my Daimler..e..c.t.??? I though it's like AMG....similar thing.

Mhayness - sounds like you have one of those Monday made cars ))
Sell it and get a new one that doesn't brake ;-)

Anyway good luck!

P.S. - one more reason I don't like dealers is that first they are tied by fear of a lawsuits e.t.c. - and this and their lack of knowledge make it really hard to work with them. They do everything like the MB book says - and they won't even consider smth creative. (99%) of the time.
Do you know if you have to have a masters in engineering or mechanics or at least physics or smth to become GM or SA???
Cos some times they say crazy things like brake rotors warping cos you have a chip or smth like