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Just hit 82k, and I have original head bolts. The head bolt issue, didn't effect every M156 engine, but this engine still gets a bad wrap. I love this engine so much, all three AMG's that I've owned had this engine.
Just acquired a 2007 E63 and my Indy says the same thing. The paranoid owner in me wants to replace them. Note I also purchased an extended warranty when I bought the car (and it specifically covers the cylinder head bolts). For those that went preventative, how much did you spend and was it at dealer or independent shop? If you had a warranty at the time, did you call on that for the replacement.
May I ask where you got the extended warranty from, and how much that costs? I have 57K on the clock. Called many MB dealers and couldn't get extended warranty from them. My credit union sells one for 2000 USD but that only covers first 2500 USD of repairs or smth like that. Triple A said that they could sell me one for 6500 USD which I thought was way too high.
May I ask where you got the extended warranty from, and how much that costs? I have 57K on the clock. Called many MB dealers and couldn't get extended warranty from them. My credit union sells one for 2000 USD but that only covers first 2500 USD of repairs or smth like that. Triple A said that they could sell me one for 6500 USD which I thought was way too high.
I spent 3800 on the warranty. I just had a claim for 3.200 filed, so let me get back to you on whether my provider is worth it. Will revert next week.
repairs were approved. Warranty claims are managed by CUNA. Bought it through my credit union.
Thanks for sharing that! Glad to see that your claim got approved. Is CUNA the name of your credit union, or the warranty company? I googled them but it is not clear from their website.
My credit union sells warranty from Route 66, but claims can't be more than 2500 USD I think.
Also was the repair done by MB dealer, or they will only approve indy shops?
Im hoping to do mine soon. About to turn 187,000. I will probably be at 191 before it hits winter storeage.
4themasses,
So you have 187,000 miles on the original head bolts? If that is true, then that just proves my point to all of the E55 owners out there.
That talk smack about, don't buy a E63 they have head bolt issues. The head bolts issue didn't effect every engine out there.
I just replaced mine as insurance, so that I wouldn't have a issue in the future. I had one head bolt, second one from the left that was suspect.
Out of twenty of them, only five looked bad. So I know that I could have put a lot more miles on them. The valve tappets showed wear consistent for a car of this mileage.
I replaced the old ones with the Black SLS phosphate coated ones.
I have all the service hisory records and nothing shows up for replacement. Im not easy on it either. I commute a little more than 120 miles x 5 days a week. Good work on getting yours replaced. Did you d o the one at a time or complete head removal?
I have all the service hisory records and nothing shows up for replacement. Im not easy on it either. I commute a little more than 120 miles x 5 days a week. Good work on getting yours replaced. Did you d o the one at a time or complete head removal?
We replaced each head bolt one at a time, to preserve the clamping force on the heads, thereby eliminating the potential risk of a blown head gasket. They also pressurized the cooling system to check for possible leaks, and borescope each cylinder to verify this. I know a little over kill, but I wanted to be sure.
I have all the service hisory records and nothing shows up for replacement. Im not easy on it either. I commute a little more than 120 miles x 5 days a week. Good work on getting yours replaced. Did you d o the one at a time or complete head removal?
Im curious to know; what year is your 63? I daily drive my 09’ 100 miles a day (62k miles original head bolts) (also for sale)
Just curious, wouldn't changing coolant regularly help prevent this since it is a rust issue. Isn't coolant supposed to have corrosion inhibitors? I know the maintenance schedule is every 2 years.
Yes, you can buy rust inhibitors and introduce it into your coolant. And it's every 4 years, but I was changing my engine coolant every 2 years to help mitigate the possibility of corrosion build up on the head bolts. And when a changed out my head bolts, I had 5 bolts that had light corrosion on them, so I was thinking that by doing this I helped in some way to prevent a broken bolt. My experience tells me that the longer the coolant is left unchanged in the car the more corrosive it will become. Some people will agree, and some will not. But that’s my opinion.
This thread will make me sleep alot better tonight. I am a newbe to AMG and W211 E63 is my fav body style. so far i have this constant fear of injectors, cams, bolts etc breaking on me based on the readings i have done on the internet regarding the 07-09 M156 engine.
My car has 54,000 Miles and is 2007 model, 100 % Stock and with original head bolts.
My advise is stop worrying about the what if’s. Things will break, but perform the maintenance as needed. You can only do so much preventative maintenance. But understand that the head bolts haven’t failed on every M156 engine. There are many E63 with over 100,000 miles on them. My best advice is to start saving money for the issues that arise
yes, exactly! i was a bit paranoid. thank you for the encouragement!
That is a good looking E63 you have. I've owned three AMG's, all equipped with the M156 engine, and I can say neither of these cars ever left me stranded due to a breakdown. Each of them had their little issues; oil leaks, PCV valve, interior electronics.
But never an engine related failure. Take some satisfaction, that anything engine related can be fixed or replaced, barring throwing a rod thru the block. You mentioned injectors, they can be changed out with little fanfare.
Cams and Bucket lifters can be done as well, but a little expensive. You need to get to know your car, and perform some services yourself. As AMG stands for "All Money Gone"
Learn to DIY, I personally do whatever I can to save money, from oil changes, brakes, suspension, etc. A good rule of thumb would be to change your oil at least once a year, I personally do it twice a year.
Flush your brakes every 2 years. Engine coolant, Transmission, and Rear Differential every 4 years. Change your serpentine belt every 4 years, and spark plugs once every 50,000 miles.
If your that worried about head bolts change the engine coolant 1 every two years, that will help mitigate the corrosion that builds up on the bolts, that leads to failures.
Further up in the thread you'll see my head bolts, 5 of them looked suspect. But typically must of the owners started to see issues around 90.000 miles. And since my car was nearing the mark, I choose to swap them out.
In older M156 engines, it will become more critical. But like I said earlier, this head bolt failure has been blow way out of proportion. And there are many owners that never had any issue.
Some will say, that it's not a question of if, but when. But now I have peace of mind, since my were done. I would search a good independent Mercedes shop, that others in your area have used with great success and stick with them.
Personally I would talk with your local Mercedes Dealership, and speak with the Shop Foreman, and asked him directly whom would he recommend, since your car is out of warranty.
I developed a relationship with my shop foreman, and he told be about Benz Elite Automotive, like 10 years ago. And their my shop of choice for all my vehicles, including my X5 M.
If your were in the Northern Virginia area, that is whom I would direct you to. Everyone in the forum, that I told about Benz Elite have had great success using them.
And that is the best advise I can offer you. But in the future, post your questions and I would be glad to offer you some advise.
Last edited by Yuille36; Dec 13, 2019 at 10:48 AM.
That is a good looking E63 you have. I've owned three AMG's, all equipped with the M156 engine, and I can say neither of these cars ever left me stranded due to a breakdown. Each of them had their little issues; oil leaks, PCV valve, interior electronics.
But never an engine related failure. Take some satisfaction, that anything engine related can be fixed or replaced, barring throwing a rod thru the block. You mentioned injectors, they can be changed out with little fanfare.
Cams and Bucket lifters can be done as well, but a little expensive. You need to get to know your car, and perform some services yourself. As AMG stands for "All Money Gone"
Learn to DIY, I personally do whatever I can to save money, from oil changes, brakes, suspension, etc. A good rule of thumb would be to change your oil at least once a year, I personally do it twice a year.
Flush your brakes every 2 years. Engine coolant, Transmission, and Rear Differential every 4 years. Change your serpentine belt every 4 years, and spark plugs once every 50,000 miles.
If your that worried about head bolts change the engine coolant 1 every two years, that will help mitigate the corrosion that builds up on the bolts, that leads to failures.
Further up in the thread you'll see my head bolts, 5 of them looked suspect. But typically must of the owners started to see issues around 90.000 miles. And since my car was nearing the mark, I choose to swap them out.
In older M156 engines, it will become more critical. But like I said earlier, this head bolt failure has been blow way out of proportion. And there are many owners that never had any issue.
Some will say, that it's not a question of if, but when. But now I have peace of mind, since my were done. I would search a good independent Mercedes shop, that others in your area have used with great success and stick with them.
Personally I would talk with your local Mercedes Dealership, and speak with the Shop Foreman, and asked him directly whom would he recommend, since your car is out of warranty.
I developed a relationship with my shop foreman, and he told be about Benz Elite Automotive, like 10 years ago. And their my shop of choice for all my vehicles, including my X5 M.
If your were in the Northern Virginia area, that is whom I would direct you to. Everyone in the forum, that I told about Benz Elite have had great success using them.
And that is the best advise I can offer you. But in the future, post your questions and I would be glad to offer you some advise.
Thank you Sir, for the detailed answer and advise, i got busy so now i had the time to sit on the desktop and write a proper reply. Since my E63 came with bunch of service records from the previous owner, i will go through them and see which fluid has been changed and which has not, and go from there, since my car has only 54K miles, that is not a worry, concern is, the car is 12 years old and time will take its toll, so better to be safe then sorry. !
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The head bolt issue, didn't effect every M156 engine, but this engine still gets a bad wrap. I love this engine so much, all three AMG's that I've owned had this engine. 
I've owned three AMG's, all equipped with the M156 engine, and I can say neither of these cars ever left me stranded due to a breakdown. Each of them had their little issues; oil leaks, PCV valve, interior electronics.
