CZ 75

a1bray

He's right-on with that last bit about the oil thermostat plastic cap leak, Just did mine...while there I did my water pump (pulley walking out just as described), replaced thermostat (plastic housing broke while removing (as described)) and 3 turbo coolant lines...All those items are more annoyances than anything else IMO. The biggie is the cylinder wall scoring...I'm running liqui-molly Ceratec all the time, 5k oil changes and being careful to get oil temp to correct level before any loading on the engine...fingers crossed...

CZ 75

I did the exact same to mine a few months back plus the coolant lines and oil cooler gasket. I’m planning on bore scoping all of my cylinders here when I do my spark plugs. Ngl, dreading what I may find…

SilverE5588

I've seen alot of praise with the ceratec. Do you happen to remember how much you add @ an oil change / how often do you re-add it ? I also try for 5k oil intervals may be worth something
..

Does mercedes offer any engine oil supplements worth their weight ? May not do much, but I guess anything can't hurt to take a preventative step here.

kevm14

I ran LiquiMoly Molygen on my E55 so I stuck with it on this car. 5W-40. But this car had 98k of whatever the dealer runs (M1 Formula M?).

lampeater

I run LiquiMoly Molygen on my '14 E63S with Ceratec every change. Approaching 100k miles on my car with plugs due at 105k, which I will be scoping the cylinders then, dreading what I may find.

SilverE5588

I will be doing the same. How much ceratec are you mixing in with the oil ? I guess it could be a silent killer , but if there's no excess consumption - hopefully most of us are in the green.

CarlosAMGBR

I am one that started researching online and was scared to death (nothing I can do, already bought my C218 CLS with a M157 engine). I love the car, I love this engine and platform (I have owned a W213 AMG as well, which I sold to acquire a W204 C 63 AMG and a C218 CLS AMG), although I gotta say once I started researching I began to regret my decision LOL.

There seems to be a multitude of issues with these engines, and the worse part is that the fixes are crazy difficult or expensive. I would like to know how to make these engines more reliable, especially as I intend to keep mine long term (I have the intention of keeping my CLS with me until my grave), but I don't want it to be a giant paper weight.

lampeater

I use 1 bottle for every oil change, even though they do state that each bottle treats approximately 5qts, but I change my oil so often I feel that it shouldn't make too much of a difference.

SilverE5588

I haven't heard of these issues being really widespread prior these more recent posts . Doesn't mean it's not happening though... Would love to hear more from some of the higher mile m157 guys. To get a better consensus on how many had valve / and or cylinder scoring issues.

Obviously alot of variables come into play here , as most of these cars have had 2-4 owners at this point with uknown histories.. Aftermarket engine tunes .. extended oil changes etc... surely play a role in it to an extent .

kevm14

It would be wonderful to understand the failure modes and rates of the M278 which is what the M157 is based on. Those are in a ton of vehicles. Things that happen to the M278 will probably happen to the M157. But, the converse is not necessarily true, as the performance level and type of driving an M157 may experience is vastly different than the average M278 in an S550 or GL550.

CarlosAMGBR

The trouble here is that apparently the M157 is more robust and better built than the M278, especially when it comes to cylinder scoring. Its an odd nail to crack here. I have been doing research and the M157 is a tough nail to crack what to do.

Nonetheless Coolant Seals (especially the one on the side of the engine), Timing Chain & Tensioner, Coolant Lines, and Camshaft Sensors are no brainers to replace if you intend to keep the car long term and avoid a nasty surprise.