$2,000+ repair rock chip in front intercooler/heat exchanger?
 

from past threads, there seems to have various end result depends on how much effort the dealer put into asking MB USA to cover it.

I recalled the last thread was a forum member had his covered partially. https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...lant-leak.html ... see post #8

Not sure. You should be dealing with the Service Manager for this though. I guess if you have a good relationship with your dealer and the service manager is willing to take one or two extra steps in convincing MBUSA that it is a design flaw by allowing bigger debris entering those big unprotected openings.

Wow, didn't know you could file it under comprehensive coverage. Thought that was only for fire, theft & vandalism to your car.

What year?
 

What year is your car? If it is a 2018, it may help that MB added a screen in front of the inter coolers to help reduce the likelihood of the occurrence on 2019 models. Looking a my 2019 it seems to be a pretty thin plastic screen that still has square openings all over. I would think the fact that they changed the design would be good evidence of a "design flaw" which may help your case for at least partial coverage. Also, if your car is a 2019,.. that is not good either because it means the update does not work all that well. FYI, you will also see past posts about an aftermarket screen that seems to protect fully without obstructing flow. Hope this helps!

The openings are the same, there is no extra film on the 19' cars

Wow,... good to know. I guess that is why they looked so thin to me:confused: But bad - I got to go see where I got that info from... that this was fixed for 19. Now I guess I need the Zungpsort covers... Aaaagh

A member on the M5 boards hit a piece of wood that punctured his engine oil cooler... he drove for 90 seconds and that was probably 85 seconds too long. His engine was toast and BMW obviously denied any warranty coverage even though the oil cooler is so poorly locate underneath the front of the car. His auto insurance covered it like the OPs here. Road damage is comprehensive in nature even when the damage is due to poor engineering.

I'd have to confirm with my wife who is an insurance agent, but as I recall, she once told me that if you hit road debris that is moving then it's an allowable claim. But if you hit stationary road debris then the claim might be denied. Guess the rationale is that you should have been looking where you were going . . .

Pebbles that puncture the radiators would seem to fit the moving category because if they were stationary they'd of course be on the ground.

Suppose it depends too on the state (we're in CA) and the insurance company.

Nothing really changed 18 vs 19. If there are huge openings, then it's matter of luck ... really.

Get the Zunsport protectors for the future to help keep this from happening again.

This happened to me a couple of months ago. It was $1900 for a new radiator (or whatever cooler is in the middle). I had pink coolant leak out onto my floor. It was not covered under warranty of course, but my SA was able to get MBrace to pay for half of it since the car was so new. They also threw in a free 2K differential fluid change, but it still cost me $900. I have the Zunsports grilles now, but have yet to install it.

there was the same plastic that my 18's car has too.

Sorry, meant $1900 for the total repair.
Actually, the SA felt bad since the car was so new, so he offered it. I did complain about the bad design, however.

Zunsport
 

Get the Zunsport grilles. Cheap insurance, very well made, plus they complete the look. I believe another member has an unused set for sale a few threads down...

https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...rt-guards.html

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...3e1101767b.jpg

Well that's night and day from me getting a door slammed in my face and being told negative reviews online don't matter, now isn't it?

Wait... are the Zunsport grills only for your bottom heat exchanger/intercooler? I don't see anything on the one in the middle right in front.

Would it make sense to have a welder patch the hole in my intercooler? $50 versus $1.9k? I know, Mercedes, don't skimp out... just curious.

Zunsport Grills installed for my E63S I took the risk for a couple hundred miles until I was convinced performance from air intake from another forum member was not affected using them.