hachiroku

i'd recommend swapping in a used motor.

secondly...your write off amount will be negligible and you're better off selling the car as is. your car is a clean wagon and honestly you could swap in a used motor and sell the car. while the motor is out you can proceed with basic preventive maintenance and reseal all oil pans, oil thermostat o-ring, etc.

your car would still sell for a nice dollar figure with a used motor. i too am like you and have done the very most preventive maintenance. this past service i sucked it up and went with a head bolt replacement for safe measure. sorry to hear that you are dealing with this but we all know beforehand Mercedes/AMG really doesn't care about the head bolt issue. It's like with certain model GM's trucks...their transmissions fail around 80-100k and since they're out of warranty you're out of luck. with the margin of failure so low prior to warranty end, its really a tough luck to the consumer.

Strigoi

Did Mercedes make updated head bolts or is going with the Weistec/ARP studs the only option?

cetialpha5

I'm pretty sure they did as the problem was fixed in 2011. Just amazing that the problem lasted so long before new parts came out, but I guess it probably took a few years for the problem to appear.

hachiroku

The problem was never resolved in form of recall because of the small occurrence of issues prior to warranty end. If I were to take a shot in the dark you'd say something like every year 1000-3000 M156's were produced. Of those engines inflating figures of failed engines lets just say 100 engines have failed world wide for years 2007-2012. Of those 100 how many were failures within factory warranty? Since this number is low most likely due to the fact that AMG owners don't generally put massive miles on their cars per year this has not been a mandatory recall.

Look at the Audi B6-B7 S4 engines...they grenade between 80-140k because their cam chain adjusters run down to the metal, their tensioners fail entirely, or their cam phase adjusters bolts sheer straight off. Audi hasn't recalled that..."sorry, you're out of warranty" also they don't have updated parts for any of these pieces.

The updated M156/M159 bolts are around 480-500 a set vs 1200 for the Weistec units. Also APR won't sell you these bolts directly. The only way to order these is to order a batch of these bolts with exact specifications and they come out to 800 a set I believe. Not sure the quantity that will need to be ordered though.

The updated bolts have survived 800bhp without issue thus far on a few members supercharged engines.

Strigoi

I talked to my mechanic and he said updated head bolts are available from MB. He said the new head bolts were $240 for a complete set. Not sure if that's his price or retail.

VictoryRoadPerformance

Both Updated and ARP are good options, if youve already snapped a bolt go with the OEM as you will be removing the heads. if you plan on doing a one at a time swap the studs would be your best option

hayseed

iTrader: (2)

Porsche motors and Intermediate Shaft Bearing -- there are issues everywhere when the mileage starts creeping up there -

hachiroku

156-016-07-69
Cylinder Head Bolt
$8.40
20
$168.00


is what i paid for from Genuine Mercedes Parts website prior to shipping. my local dealer charges double for everything. hence the previous price i mentioned.

tw2

There is an awesome diy in the cls forum if you are so inclined. The cam timing tool is available on eBay.

alenpepic

Im sorry man that you had to go through this, but did you realize this car has this problem???? Its like a m3 v8, if u get it, you do a rod bearing maintenance because you don't wanna pop the motor. Everyone knows that the headbolts are horrible on the m156. Like all these guys are talking on this chat are just beating around the bush I'm honest. If you replaced them you wouldn't of had this issue. Tomorrow if i were to buy a c63 prelift, i would take it straight to a dealership and do the headbolts because now they have revised ones that won't leak coolant. Its just sad that you weren't informed or choose to not do it. MB are crooks they should have covered this but one day they will because it took w211 owners many years to get the fuel sender units and fuel pumps replaced after leaks.

hachiroku

M156 Headbolt > BEEEEMER M3 V8 rod kaboom

tw2

It's nice to say everyone should know about it and fix it preemptively, I would, but some people just buy a nice car to drive it and have fun. They aren't on forums and don't have this semi-technical knowledge and certainly not the skills for a DIY.

6172crew

Driving a high end sport car takes money, you might get lucky and never need to replace a transmission or engine but you should do what needs to be done to prevent it. The ZF tranny in my RS6 is the weak link and it’s keot me from tuning the car or even servicing it because it has 90k on it and I can’t tell if it was ever done.

Im planning on doing the headbolts, even though the E63 only has 30k miles I don’t want to fork out more in the end if they fail. Amazing to me MB got away with this one. I can’t do much now, the car is out of warranty now.

Shame me to see the wagon go to auction with a bad engine. Would be a fun car.

Frank Barrett

If I were you (but I'm not) I'd find a used engine and have it installed by a pro.

Strigoi

Very much this. I would have at least tried selling it on here with the bad engine before basically giving it away.

Even with a bad engine that car is still worth a pretty decent amount of money.

Z_de_Suisse

Really sorry for what happened to you and really scary as I also have a E63 Wagon that also has almost 100k miles ...

oneslow55

The more newer they get the more junk they put out .Plastic valve covers pulleys etc pure crap ..Best benz they evermade was the w211 m113k e55!

hachiroku

haha...if you take out the faults of the M156...its a pretty amazing engine. I think it won some awards for best V8 engine. i initially was on the search for a CLS55 but ended up with an E63...after owning this engine I love it every day.


https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ds-2010-a.html

new55

not to dismiss the OP's issue, isnt the newer biturbo e63 based on the m113k and the mcclaren's (i cant remember where i heard that so maybe i am off base) ? it seems like any motors that have forced induction are better designed/over engineered have better internals and seem to have better longevity

hachiroku

no...the M113K was succeeded by the M156 naturally aspired. The M156 was succeeded by the M157 Bi-Turbo. The M157 was succeeded by the M177 hot-v Bi-Turbo all completely different architectures.

exhaustgases

Sorry to revive this thread. But I was curious. Did you spend all that money they quoted you in the beginning? And then you said they call and say it hydro locked again????? That all should be on them, meaning improper work done to have it happen there at the dealer? and I would have said remove that $2k starter. So in the end before donating it what was the out of pocket expense paying the dealer for absolutely nothing? I'd just like to hear the details about it hydro locking again when the service advisor called???

Critter

The engine hydro locks after you shut them down as the coolant is under pressure and will flow to where the opening is, ie head gasket, why do these experts not pull all the spark plugs slowly turn the engine over by hand, to verify which plug hole or holes has water( coolant ) showing.
Then pull the heads off and do the job right, replace the head gaskets and replace all head bolts.
Those so called mechanics just tried to get the engine to turn over when filled with coolant, and then burnt out the starter in the process, just how much extra batteries were boosted on the original to try this starter toast. Check the battery terminals or hook up in the engine compartment.
Just shows you MB fools playing with your car and your wallet.
I trust few so called mechanics with any of my cars. Hence very few issues.

Feuerdrachen

Yes, I'm also confused by this. Overall, this was sad report but enlightening to read. M156 issues make me nervous to jump in.

Yuille36

This is why, I'm having my head bolts replaced next month, for peace of mind. Other than head bolts to worry about, my car has been relatively trouble free. Well as much as a 12 yr old car could be.

hachiroku

the M156 issues are well documented and a million times better than BMW's "service interval rod bearings" or their VANOS pumps that explode destroying engines from top to bottom.