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Got my new E63s last week. Already needs $2500 intercooler
So I know all about "wear and tear", Im a seasoned highline car guy and know I must pay to play.. However, this issue is disheartening and I fear this to be a often reoccurring issue due to poor design.
A road pebble hit my intercooler and puntured it. Day 7 of ownership at 700 miles, still in the "break in" period. After seeing fluid and smelling leak I drove it straight to dealer. They let me know a rock had punctured intercooler already and I need to pay $2500 to fix it due to it being non-warranty part, like a damaged windshield or rim would be considered.
I asked my dealers GM to assist me, as I have a good relationship with him. He tried. I even contacted MB Headquaters and the "escalated" call to executive referral customer service, who offered me a $500 credit for repair.
Ok, thank you for the offer MB. I appreciate it. However, Im in sandy Charleston SC and we have pebbles amd debris as bad as anywhere. At this rate, we are potentially talking $9000 a month in non warranty repairs on my brand new car. Because without a permanent resolution, like a mesh insert to protect the intercoolers and components, this is going to happen over and over.
The critical components to the drive train should be well protected against reasonable road debris and wear and tear. Otherwise, you have a track only car.
Ive browsed the interwebs and mb forums and have seen this issue described and it seems this is reoccurring alot.
Is there a recommend fix that wont effect intercooler effeciency? Is there another method thats better to contact MB tech side to discuss a fix, not so much a hand out or free repair, but an actual preventative repair and will put my mind at ease? I travel each week to Charlotte and back and our Carolina roads are riddled with debris, requiring 3M paint protectant film on my other cars to keep front ends from getting sandblasted. So this adds another obstacle. What to do, what to do... On another note, looking forward to getting my downpipes and brabus ecu upgrade soon... Right after I invest in custom fab mesh inserts I guess :-/ .... Wish they had caught this, its gonna end up costing alot of new owners unexpected $$$... So goes the love/hate automotive relationship, and "Its Complicated"...
Last edited by HeelHook; 04-09-2018 at 07:29 PM.
Reason: Fat fingers, mobile keyboard
Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your situation.
I'm also in Charleston, and my driver's side intercooler gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago.
However mine was a defective part so Baker replaced it under warranty.
It is indeed a design flaw of these cars that the bumper ducts don't have a protective mesh to protect the intercoolers.
There's thread about people trying to find a fix, although so far as I can tell no 'off the shelf' solution has come of it yet: https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...-catchers.html
I and many others would be all over an aftermarket part that solves this problem.
Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your situation.
I'm also in Charleston, and my driver's side intercooler gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago.
However mine was a defective part so Baker replaced it under warranty.
It is indeed a design flaw of these cars that the bumper ducts don't have a protective mesh to protect the intercoolers.
There's thread about people trying to find a fix, although so far as I can tell no 'off the shelf' solution has come of it yet: https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...-catchers.html
I and many others would be all over an aftermarket part that solves this problem.
Nice to meet you. Baker has been good to me. But MB has put both dealer and customer in a bad place here. Im taking to Charlotte to get some work done when I get it back. My guys there are good and may be able to fab something. But it shouldnt be required and intercooler effeciency will be a concern requiring more time and money to measure. I hope to see you around.
Nice to meet you. Baker has been good to me. But MB has put both dealer and customer in a bad place here. Im taking to Charlotte to get some work done when I get it back. My guys there are good and may be able to fab something. But it shouldnt be required and intercooler effeciency will be a concern requiring more time and money to measure. I hope to see you around.
If you do find someone to fab something, would you mind having a second set done for me? There's a Poe's burger in it for you.
There's gonna be a lot of these type of problems, I've gotta drive my car back up north (1400 mile drive) in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll have this set up done by then. I have the materials, just gotta take the time to cut it out and fit it and secure it. I got the material on Amazon for $60.00. One of my concerns is will the car run hotter with these? I really would not think so? Could mercedes void my powertrain warranty if a issue occurred where the engine or trans overheated? Maybe they'd blame it on my shields? There again I don't believe so on these concerns, but when I test them out I'll do Temp readings both oil and coolant before and after and see if there is any deviation. I'm a former Automotive QC engineer so this kind of thing is fun for me. I just had not got around to fabricating these and also I've not been driving the car all that much either, mainly been driving my S class lately. I was the original thread starter in the above mentioned thread. I totally agree with what Vic55 the mod here said in response to my original thread. "This is just annoying, why should any of us (who didnt take part in the engineering process) even have to worry about something so obvious. I cant believe that we have to "jimmy rig" our cars to protect certain operational items. I am not McGyver nor should I be when paying for a 130k car.". Heres a pic of what my car will look something like hopefully later this week. The 212 AMG had these sort of shields and you don't hear of many problems with those cars, I see no reason why our 213 AMG's should not have these too.
Last edited by 2012 merc amg; 04-10-2018 at 01:54 AM.
There's gonna be a lot of these type of problems, I've gotta drive my car back up north (1400 mile drive) in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll have this set up done by then. I have the materials, just gotta take the time to cut it out and fit it and secure it. I got the material on Amazon for $60.00. One of my concerns is will the car run hotter with these? I really would not think so? Could mercedes void my powertrain warranty if a issue occurred where the engine or trans overheated? Maybe they'd blame it on my shields? There again I don't believe so on these concerns, but when I test them out I'll do Temp readings both oil and coolant before and after and see if there is any deviation. I'm a former Automotive QC engineer so this kind of thing is fun for me. I just had not got around to fabricating these and also I've not been driving the car all that much either, mainly been driving my S class lately. I was the original thread starter in the above mentioned thread. I totally agree with what Vic55 the mod here said in response to my original thread. "This is just annoying, why should any of us (who didnt take part in the engineering process) even have to worry about something so obvious. I cant believe that we have to "jimmy rig" our cars to protect certain operational items. I am not McGyver nor should I be when paying for a 130k car.". Heres a pic of what my car will look something like hopefully later this week. The 212 AMG had these sort of shields and you don't hear of many problems with those cars, I see no reason why our 213 AMG's should not have these too.
Exactly... That install looks good, maybe bigger openings than Id prefer since my pebble was smaller. Ive read alot about these intercooler shrouds over oast couple days and they say 5-7% drop in intercooler effeciency which translates to very little about nothing. Thank you for sharing and I agree with you that I understand a windshield or paint chip, but to have to modify it ourselves is out of the box. I already have a Holden and a Chevelle I do that with.. lol.. i just wanted to punch the start button and go in this E class.
For now until everyone gets this squared away I'd keep a good distance behind trucks and other vehicles for fear of them kicking something up. What a big engineering mistake.
I'm working on mine, not too bad once you get started. Got the sheet from Amazon, then just use the cardboard off the box to make a template then cut out the size using some good shears. I don't have good shears and need to pick up some tomorrow and will complete the job. I spent about 10 minutes on it tonight and broke a pair of scissors, not designed to do this kind of cutting. I'll simply cut it the right shape and then hold them on with some picture wire. Not perfect but better that than a $2500 intercooler job and the inconvenience of getting stranded somewhere. In the picture with it on the car, was just testing fitting and decided I'm only going to use the center part of the material without the thick borders, the borders could interfere with cooling more. This was just a rough test fit so go easy on me . Gonna pick up some garden shears tomorrow and I should have the right pieces cut out in no time, think I can do it within a half hour or so. No big deal. It will only take around 3 pieces of wire or so on each side. Don't want to make it too hard to get off as I'll have to remove these every now and then for cleaning.
Last edited by 2012 merc amg; 04-10-2018 at 09:38 PM.
That sucks. Its definitely an issue here in Houston with all the random stuff flying around highways. One of the first things I got my 911 was the Zunsport clip on intake screens. Not only do they protect the radiators but they look really good too. It was an easy DIY install that took me less than 30 minutes and cost me less than $400. I don't think they make anything yet for the E63 but I'm going to send them an email to see if they can custom make one. It should be doable - the intakes are actually a simpler shape with fewer slats than the 991.1.
I think your right, I'll have to look around for some of that material, plus with the material I was thinking of using other debris like Leaves and stuff would still get in there, with something finer less likely. Maybe the hardware store has something like what I need? I don't think regular screen would be a good choice though because that could stand to block more air flow, what you posted looks about right. Back to the drawing board, lol. Oh well, I gotta get a coolant smell coming from my engine checked out at the dealer before I do anything, no leaks or anything, just notice a coolant smell after I turn the car off. I want to get this checked out before I take off for up north and don't want the dealer to say it was the screens I put on the car that caused it because I have not even put on the screens yet Although I do wonder if this material I have works ok as the 212's used something similar and you don't hear of them having any issues although their openings are smaller.
Last edited by 2012 merc amg; 04-10-2018 at 10:23 PM.
I was going to wait for the 10000 mile service to get the coolant smell checked but I noticed it again when I was just working around the car. I don't see anything but I think it could be just minor seep coming from somewhere and I'm about to take a long trip so better to be safe than sorry.
I have great news for people waiting on a mesh grille for the w213 E63. I contacted the guys over at Zunsports who make excellent clip on protection for (mainly) 911s and they've already got their hands on a E63 and are developing a solution that should be ready to ship at the end of may. They do excellent work and I had no issues with the 911 grilles I've bought from them. Here's a pic of my 911 GTS after I installed the Zunsport grille last year.
Thank you to that Member.. I look forward it. Since Ive replaced one intercooler already at 700 miles, imma tape racquetball racquets over the inlets until they get here.
Good deal on the Zunsport ones. The ones I made will do temporarily anyhow, just about done, spent another ten minutes today, not much time lately. Just gotta wire them tomorrow, just gonna run a couple pieces of wire. Just going with my original design since I had the material. It's similar to what benz uses on the C63 AMG that I looked at today in the Sarasota Showroom. The Service writer at the dealer told me they actually talked about this issue at a meeting he was at the other week but offered no suggestions. The AMG GT's have the same issue too. For whatever reason the C63 AMGS have this screen as shown, not sure why they forgot our cars and the AMG GT's, maybe for the sake of better air flow I guess at the risk of damage. They will make some extra money selling us those intercoolers, lol. I'll raise my screen up a little bit tomorrow when I wire it in.
Last edited by 2012 merc amg; 04-11-2018 at 11:32 PM.
Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your situation.
I'm also in Charleston, and my driver's side intercooler gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago.
However mine was a defective part so Baker replaced it under warranty.
It is indeed a design flaw of these cars that the bumper ducts don't have a protective mesh to protect the intercoolers.
There's thread about people trying to find a fix, although so far as I can tell no 'off the shelf' solution has come of it yet: https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...-catchers.html
I and many others would be all over an aftermarket part that solves this problem.
Nice meeting you today... It was a beautiful day to be on the roads.
04-09-2018, 06:55 PM
