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The shop I've been going to for years, specializing in Benz work above all others in addition to all the other imports they handle full service on, recommended not worrying about it unless an issue comes up. They get cars in from a pretty wide area and said that they've yet to see this failure. However, the specific reason they mentioned avoiding doing it unless it's absolutely necessary is that there's the risk of breaking bolts off of course but also messing up the threading due to the nature of the bolts and block. I've had zero issues with anything I've had done through them so I'm inclined to take their advice here.
All I know is that Mercedes/MBUSA has made a mess of this with their obfuscation about numbers and not offering a standard reasonable rate for the repair should the need arise. Again, if the numbers on this are as low as they seem to be for most models it would go over much better stepping up rather than pretending like there's not an issue. Guess that's just life because it seems there's not a single manufacturer that plays straight up even when issues are dragged into the open.
Come next month, I know that I'll sleep better not having to worry about this issue anymore.
I recently had a road trip to PA, and I will admit this was in the back of my mind the whole trip.
I worry if something will happen, and how will I make it home, and how much will it costs me to get the car back home.
And I never ever worried about this before, but now that the car is getting older, I worry just a little bit more.
I just hit 86K in my 07 E63. And no, it's not one of those issues....sorry. I was at Benz Elite Automotive in Fairfax VA yesterday, having my both a new custom steering wheel installed and stability control steering angle sensor.
I sat down with the owners and we had several discussions, one question I had was how many M156 have you actually seen, that had head bolt issues. And the number was surprisingly small, but they advised me to have my head bolts addressed before they become a issue.
Emile said typically they see the issue arise around the 90k mark. And I'm a few thousand from that mark as we speak. So we priced out the new revised head bolts, valve tappets, valve cover gaskets, and cam adjuster gaskets.
Surprisingly all the parts come in at around $1600 and a $1000-1100 for labor for a grand total of $2700. So I'm planning on having this done, so that I never have to worry about it ever.
As I've said numerous times, I've never had any head bolt issues with any of my (3) AMG's I've owned. But as some have said, it's not if but when. Some of indicators are low engine coolant, or white smoke from the exhaust.
Keep in mind that the $2700 is just for replacing the bolts, the price goes up if any of the bolts are broken. Thereby warranting removing of the heads, to remove the broken bolts. I certainly hope I don't have anything broken.
So I think that is cheap insurance, if you plan on keeping your E63 for awhile, like me.
You used to be my “north star” as someone who have had 3 cars with M156 without issue, lol. I didn’t want to do mine preventatively. Since even you are doing it, I guess I can’t sleep well now without doing it too But maybe sometime in the winter. I am at 65k now. Already spending $2000 to get the tranny valve body replaced now. So can’t spend another chunk of cash on the car yet.
Working on consolidating all of the info for M156 top end service on our blog related to headbolts/lifters etc to make it easy for anyone who wishes to attack this themselves or just needs some clarity on what is involved.
--Kyle B
Really looking forward to that. I am in north east and can’t find a shop who can confidently say that they’ve done it and also will not charge 4-5K. If you have any recommendations please let me know.
You used to be my “north star” as someone who have had 3 cars with M156 without issue, lol. I didn’t want to do mine preventatively. Since even you are doing it, I guess I can’t sleep well now without doing it too But maybe sometime in the winter. I am at 65k now. Already spending $2000 to get the tranny valve body replaced now. So can’t spend another chunk of cash on the car yet.
Truth be told, I am a little hesitant getting this done. As I never had any issues before, but my MB trained mechanic has told me, around 90K is when issues start occurring from his experience. And this is my first AMG to near this milestone.
So it's better to take preventative action, then repairs later ($$$$), and that is my only reason for doing it. So don't despair, that North Star is still shining bright as before I know that money can sometimes be tight. I just purchased and installed a new custom made leather/alcantara steering wheel.
And, I have other things awaiting delivery and installation. I have a complete carbon fiber interior trim kit, a carbon fiber shift knob and newly purchased carbon fiber instrument cluster cover; all paid for. The good news is that installation is definitely cheaper, than purchasing. But the head bolts is priority #1
Seriously??????? Posted the same in 3 different threads.
Yes, because when you Google the issue different sources come. Not everyone know the forum as good as you do, man. But you surely had to say something and couldn't just keep scrolling.
After all this I’m sure that nothing but MBWorld will show up.
I know you want views for your YouTube channel but posting it once would have been sufficient.
You're free to think whatever you want. One thing I will say is that when I was doing head bolt replacement and had questions, I posted questions in few threads in this forum. Your response was very similar to the ones you're posting now — basically just sarcasm and nothing helpful.
Thanks to the rest of the community members who made themselves available and answered to my questions. Some even made themselves available for phone and video calls and explained the process to me. That is what this forum is for.
I wouldn’t try and give advice on changing M156 headbolts as I have no experience at that and wouldn’t pretend to.
But if you ask me to help with you or anyone else with anything collision related, or anything else I’ve had experience in I will do anything I can to help.
Tim, your just making new friends everywhere.... Just having a little fun.
Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about head bolts, although I did start this thread.
Thanks all for the encouragement and feedback on my posting frequency. Without this forum members and videos from Tasos I wouldn't even be able to open valve covers let alone replacing head bolts
08-08-2019, 02:32 PM
I know that money can sometimes be tight. I just purchased and installed a new custom made leather/alcantara steering wheel.
Just having a little fun. 
