So my rear AC vents have been acting weird... they only blow hot air, even when the fronts are blowing ice cold.

I scheduled an appointment with the dealer. On the way in, I noticed that there was a slight chirping sound (sounds like a flutter almost) when I would turn left at low speeds (like turning left at a light). I mentioned this when I took it in for service.

They gave me a new C300 as a loaner. Neato! Very slow, though.

I got a call from the service manager today... my supercharger pulley is going out! Holy ****! Apparently that's what causing the chirping noise.

Now, I'm no expert on these cars, but I'd imagine that this is a hell of a repair and quite costly. Thankfully, it's all 100% free. I can't imagine owning one of these cars outside of warranty.

Too bad I can't get them to pop a bigger pulley on the supercharger when they replace it... Although, it seems like with these cars, everyone's replacing the crank pullies, not the blower pullies.

If I had installed a bigger crank pulley, would they have noticed it when they replaced my supercharger pulley (and possibly voided my warranty)? Sure am glad I haven't modded the car!

A bigger pulley on the supercharger would put you at lower-than-stock boost.

As for "will mods void my extended/aftermarket warranty" - the answer seems to be "it depends" for myriad reasons.

Glad to hear your repairs were 100% covered - that's great peace-of-mind I'm sure.

Make sure they replace tensioner and pulleys as mine just fell off

What about your ac problem? What was wrong?

So here's what they replaced:

Heater exchange valve assembly / bleed system
Supercharger belt tensioner
Supercharger double drive pulley
Supercharger belt
Right & left front (RT SNF LT FT?) torque arms & bushings

I guess the chirping was suspension related too.

So I got the car back, and the first day I have it back, I fire up the heater and I'm smelling gas. A lot of gas. So I take it right back in.

I go over the underhood view carefully. Looks like there's oil leaking from a valve cover. That's all I can see. So it goes back in the shop for 3 days. I don't have the papers back yet from that, but they said they replaced:

Valve cover & gasket (it's all new and shiny now yay)
Fuel sender & seal (I had to pay for the seal, dang.)

So I got the car back on Friday night.

Went for a drive on Saturday, all was well. Then all of a sudden.... CEL shows up! OH GREAT. Mo warranty work mo problems. So I turn around and head home and then the *******' fuel light starts FLASHING! No, not just lit up, but literally blinking/flashing. I've never seen it do that, ever. I have over a half tank in the car. So I'm almost home and then the whole center speedo display lights up in blood red (like when you put the car in park) and says "CHECK FUEL DOOR". What???

Stopped, got out, checked fuel door. It was fine. Checked fuel cap. It was fine. Opened & closed it. Restarted the car. Starts fine, CEL's still on, fuel light isn't flashing. WTF?

Taking it back in on Monday. Man, when it rains, it pours. Any idea of what could be going on?

Oooh the joys of owning a 6+ year old car. Been there before!

DO NOT park your car in the garage tonight, or any other night until your 100% sure this fuel problem is fixed.

True & very true, but that is starting to scare me from purchasing a 03-04 E55.

Thanks

Bobby Ali

BA

Took it in today... the fuel sender is leaking. They are going to have to replace the entire gas tank!

You have to have a warranty with an e55 or expect to pay big dollars when it's repair time. I just got my car back from a warranty repair and all I had to pay was my deductible. so far the warranty has paid for itself, with what I had replaced.

yikes, when it rains it pours like you said. Good thing 99% of it is being covered under warranty.

Yeah there is a problem with the early gas tank, they develop a microscopic crack at the top mounting bolt, or so I have been told. They replace it with a newer part. This should really be a recall, I dont see how the consumer can be expected to deal with a cracking gas tank as a "wear and tear" issue.

Mine is doing the same "flashing fuel light" thing once in a while, less more recently. Also started happening right after I replace the valve cover gaskets.

Hah... so I just got the papers in the mail from the first time I took it in for the fuel smell.

"Notes: Front pads low 30-35%/dirty fluids. Recommend at next B service, perform SBC brake system flush & cooling system flush"

Bet that'll only cost $1500 or so

Any DIY's on a cooling system flush? What do front pads run for these cars?

Brake fluid flush ran me about $150. Robert Bosch's POS ABC system in our car is prone to potential failure if fluids are not changed out every 2 years, so the dealer says. Unfortunately, because our braking system is electronically actuated, the dealer has to bleed out old fluid via Star Diagnostic system. As for the brakes, I highly recommend that you do them yourself. Its a very straightforward process on the E55.

Sorry to hear about all the problems with your car. A $90K car should not have these kind of problems! My car had all of these things replaced in the past so they are fairly common issues. The sad thing is that I am not convinced that Mercedes re-engineered the replacement parts to fix these issues so they don't occur again!

just the more reasons you need a warranty...

So it turns out they didn't replace the fuel tank, just both left & right fuel senders.

Today, the CEL came on again.

This is ridiculous.

dynamic seat pump failure two weeks ago. $1500. thankfully covered by the warranty. just waiting for the airmatic to go out

Don't get discouraged the problems are not with your car they are with the hacks that are working on it. I'd go somewhere else...

I'm tempted to. My service advisor is really mad at the tech that has been working on my car. The only other MB dealership is about 40 miles away, though.

NO SHEEET, That thing has saved me about 15 grand easy so far...

This is ridiculous. They called me up today and said I could come get the car if I wanted.

Me: "...it's done already?"

MB: "No, but the tech had to overnight some parts. He said there were some wires or parts that were broken, likely due to someone messing around underhood, because the engine cover was off. The tech said the CEL was a misfire code"

Me: "So... it still has the CEL and isn't fixed... I don't see why I'd want to come get it."

MB: "Yes, I'd recommend waiting until it's fixed."

I pulled the engine cover off BECAUSE of the crazy **** it was doing (vibrating really hard when idling, barely getting any throttle the other day, etc). Pulling the engine cover off wouldn't break anything, and it certainly wouldn't cause a misfire & CEL.

Would it? I can't see how. I've removed that cover many times before, it's just a snap on thing.

I really, REALLY hope they don't try and stick me with some huge charge to fix something simple and claim that "I broke it by removing the engine cover".

Way to keep your cool! CONTACT MBUSA right away! Tell them about all this waste of time, they will make it right.

Not sure if this thread is about how great the MB warranty is or how shatty the MB techs and service writer at your dealership are. It sounds like they've done nothing but screw your car up and cost you for your time, stress, and parts you didn't want replaced or touched. Then, when things went south, they start finger pointing you as the culprit. Tell me again why the MB warranty is so good?

The fact you're trying to DIY a brake flush is telling of good it really is.

I still don't understand why on earth they would call me and say "hey, you can come get your car if you WANT to" when it wasn't fixed.