55E63

I was driving down the highway in my 2012 E63 Wagon (70k miles) when entering the freeway I gave it normal merging power and noticed a moment of white smoke, I thought that the car may just be cold or carbons. I checked the temps and they were good and drove about 20 miles when the coolant overheat warning came on and told me to pull over and shut down. I did so an had the flatbeded to a local independent MBZ garage. They looked at the car and told me I need to replace "all the hoses because there are so many we can't pinpoint and the plastic clamps are weak junk, etc". Needless to say the estimate called for $600 in parts and $1800 in labor which seemed excessive....The car has strictly adhered to MBZ factory service recommendations and intervals. Any thoughts here?

GinDistiller

Unfortunately that is probably accurate, there are quite a few hoses and because of how much heat these engines generate they get brittle and fail (and so do the plastic bits). Worst offenders tend to be the ones by the turbos and you either have to pull the motor or take 1,000 things off to get to them.

If they are pulling the engine, it's a great time to look at oil in the wire harness/cam sensors etc, and check engine mounts (mine are failing at 67k) since both of those common repairs require the same amount of work.

Baltistyle

I might second guess using a shop that can not pinpoint the leak or is unwilling too. It takes like one minute. While it is true about the plastic, etc, make sure you know the actual problem. I had to diagnose this on my car due to deer strike and just poured water in the tank till I found the leak, before it went to the shop. It was a very inexpensive part that did not require any real labor. If it’s time for you to replace all of the plastic bits anyway, still make sure they know where the problem is first because what if there’s a small puncture in a radiator… and it’s not a hose.

lastly, if budget is an issue, the labor is not worth 1800 imo. Meaning I did my hoses vs paid when I did them for maintenance. Motor mounts, etc, that’s for a shop, for me.

good luck

55E63

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, I appreciate the advice on the sensors and motor mounts.

Rehabguy

I couldn't agree more. If that's how it goes... why stop there? Let's change out the whole cooling system! Ludicrous.

GinDistiller

True, they should offer an 'actual' diagnosis (especially if the OP has paid for said diagnostics and this wasn't just a courtesy initial look).

However, after spending years as a service manager at an independent shop I understand the suggestion to tackle all of the coolant hoses as a preventative. We'd get customers who would refuse to do anything that hadn't failed, then come screaming at us when another hose failed 6 months later and they have to pay all of the same labor over again. Yes, they should always give you the option to just replace what went wrong, but a strong suggestion to do it all is not out of place in my opinion.

It really just depends on how they delivered the repair suggestions and if you trust them and their reputation.

Best of luck!

Rehabguy

Agreed. The way OP lays out the scenario sounds very unreasonable to me. Like you said, the replacement of currently unaffected/uninvolved parts should only be a suggestion as part of a future proofing plan... not as "the only solution".