First time MB owner saying hi!

[cubbyq]

Morning Frosty,

Thanks, and it's re-assuring that I'm not imagining this!

And thanks for the advice on the tyres, and it was my first thought yesterday too, checked and they were up 1psi all round, so just dropped them to where they should be. Once I get the car back and working, I'll experiment with the lower tyre pressures. The rears are hardly worn and have even wear, however try fronts are a little more worn and quite worn on the outside edges, so that could contributing to the steering (the alignment was out when I tested it and they've obviously sorted that out as it drives straight now apart from the constant adjusting on the uneven roads).

Like I said in a previous post, it's the way issues are handled, and the dealer seems genuinely concerned at what's causing the problem and are wanting to put it right...

It's a used car, and every used car has it's problems, so not throwing my toys out the pram, it's just frustrating - I think If I'd not bought it from a main dealer, then I'd be in a different situation!

Cheers,

Nick

 

[John Laidlaw]

As above stick with it- the brakes should not be like that and component wear will be a factor
Tyres, again agreed - drop the pressures , dealers always have them to the recommended settings which most of us on here agree are ridiculously high, only to try to achieve mpg

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Like I said in a previous post, it's the way issues are handled, and the dealer seems genuinely concerned at what's causing the problem and are wanting to put it right...

It's a used car, and every used car has it's problems, so not throwing my toys out the pram, it's just frustrating - I think If I'd not bought it from a main dealer, then I'd be in a different situation!

Cheers,

Nick

Welcome to the Forum Nick. Sorry to learn about your "teething troubles", but I believe you are being very philosophical. You have certainly been unlucky. The four MBs I have had since 2003 have given me a grand total of no problems. My wife is on her 5th since 1991 and likewise has had no problems. Hopefully, once this episode is over, you will enjoy the same reliability.

I used to work in the engineering industry, and our company had lots of factories in Germany as Tier 1 providers to all the major manufacturers. The consensus among the German engineers was "We drive Audis, we would prefer BMWs, we would kill for a Mercedes Benz" - they can't all be wrong!

Alex.

 

[cubbyq]

Morning John, many thanks for backing Frosty's comment regarding the tyre pressure, and it seems there's a solution!

Hi Alex, many thanks for the welcome, and also for your comments regarding me being philosophical...I consider myself very fortunate that I'm able to afford a luxury like this, and in a position to only have issues like this in my life, when you look at how others in the world are struggling with considerably more serious problems just getting on with their lives...

Sorry, off on a tangent there!

So yes, I have known people with MBs that have gone on forever, and it's great to see old early eighties (W104?) estates every now and again being used as trusty workhorses; how often do you see Audis & Beemers from that era on the road still?

Funny to read the comments form the German engineers you knew!

Thanks again.

Nick

 

[Sylar]

Probably air in the system if the pedals travelling far......

 

[cubbyq]

Hi All,

Good news!

I'm back home after spending a few hours at the dealer this morning and have a car with working brakes!

One of the technicians took it for a spin with me this morning and agreed that there wasn't something quite right, so got it straight up on the ramps to check it over.

I was sat in the waiting area for a while when the service manager came out, introduced himself and asked me to come and look at the car while it was up in the air, as he wanted to make sure I was happy with what they were doing, and more importantly restore some faith in the car.

The long and the short of it was to remove the pads, clean and grease everything and reassemble, as it looked like the inner rear pads were sticking in the calipers. All done, and while I've still got a bit of travel at the top end of the pedal, I can feel the brakes engaging a lot sooner, and more progressively, so guess that's just a different feel than I've been used to.

As an aside, they did a full firmware update on the COMAND system too.

Needless to say, the drive home felt a lot safer and more enjoyable than the drive there!

Thanks for all your comments regarding this, and now time to play with tyre pressures, find the perfect driving position and enjoy it.

Have a great weekend all.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[Craiglxviii]

Agreed with Frosty, I had an Audi A3 (which has famously crisp braking response) and moved to a W212 facelift, noticed that the 212 was if anything more crisp/ sharp in contrast. Similarly the 211 is also snappy on the brakes as is the 215.

The good news is this- one can always tell the caliber of the people one is dealing with by the way they handle an unpleasant situation. The seller here has done everything right- stand your ground, be firm in what you expect and they do seem to be playing ball.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Dammit, pipped at the post! Great result there OP.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Glad the selling dealer is sorting things out for you. Drove my 12 plate 212 this morning and thought about your post, the pedal has about 0.5in travel before biting and feels just right. I'd give everything a couple of weeks to bed in and if you are still unhappy take it back again. At some point in the past and the car (Ford Focus) having had a 2 yearly flush the pedal felt as if there was too much free travel but within a few weeks everything settled down

Enjoy the car they are well screwed together and a pleasure to drive, if I was being pedantic the only negative on mine is the steering self centring is a little strong but other than that 10/10

 

[cubbyq]

Thanks chaps,

Yep, great result, and not taking the car into account, my experience with the dealer has been one of the best I've experienced, so no complaints there.

I'm definitely going to monitor it Malcolm, and will get used to the feel quite quickly I'm sure!

Funny you mention your thoughts on the steering, as I'm actually starting to really appreciate it as it feels less dead in the middle than the Beemer did.

And the bog-standard stereo puts the Beemer's to shame - I have both bass and a decent amount of volume, which I never had before!

Cheers,

Nick

 

[John Laidlaw]

Good result there and after it all settles down I think you may see that this cloud had a silver lining in that you have a dealer I think you can trust to do whats right. It's easy to overlook or forget when things are going well but its how they are handled when (inevitably) something goes wrong we should judge.

 

[Wighty]

Glad it's all sorted , this stuff does happen but it's only nuisance factor if it all gets sorted . When I picked up my E320 on collection day a few years ago the engine management light came on as the salesmen was presenting me the keys . The car had spent a couple of months being driven round the car park without going anywhere , they replaced something and a few hours later I went back to get it ...hasn't gone wrong since .
Don't know where you live but having a good Indy in case you need anything doing is worth pre planning (it's a lot cheaper ) . That's wether you stick with main dealer servicing or not (whole other discussion ) .
What mileage has the old girl got on her ?

 

[cubbyq]

Hi John, yep, pleased with the result.

Those pads must have been stuck, as we were travelling along quite a long twisty downhill this morning, and the brakes started to grind a bit before quietening down and becoming a little smoother still - when we got to our stop, there was a faint smell of brake burning, so checked each wheel centre and they were no warmer than I'd expect, so OK...I think when it goes in for it's next service, I'll get the discs and pads replaced just as a matter of course.

Which brings me onto how the dealer have handled this, which is by giving me two years free servicing, without me having to ask for any sort of compensation (which isn't really my style anyway)... so Wighty, in answer to your questions, for the next couple of years at least, it's going to get more main dealer stamps, and it's currently on 45k.

I'm really liking the effortless and relaxed pulling power, and a tankful of BP Ultimate has made the engine a little quieter than it was when I picked it up (it did the same for the E60, which I ran exclusively on it).

Also loving that cavernous boot - I'm just learning to Scuba dive, and did my first open water dives today, and didn't appreciate how much gear I had to take...it all just disappeared...glad I bought the shallow plastic boot liner with all that wet gear in there. Now to find a bumper protector as the boot lip was the perfect height to sit on to get in and out of my drysuit, and I put a little scratch on it

Enjoy the rest of the weekend all,

Nick

 

[Wighty]

If it's on 45k , does that means it's had its ATF changed at 37,500k OR is it the later service requirement of 75k AND/OR 5 years (I think yours is made around the time they changed to the longer gearbox service requirement ?? )

 

[cubbyq]

Hi Wighty,

Thanks for the reply, and the gearbox servicing was something I did look into and am pretty sure (but not 100% certain!) that it's the 75k service version...however I hadn't taken age into account, so guess it's not been done.

I've got the digital printout of the service history and it's just had the routine stuff done.

I do like that MB have a service schedule for the 'box, compared to BM's 'Sealed For Life' approach for the ZF boxes, which do have a service interval of around 75k miles according to their own website

Cheers,

Nick

 

[cubbyq]

Evening all,

Well sadly, I've given up on the car, as there was something fundamentally wrong with the brakes on the wagon...

I really have to give the dealer credit, as they've given me a full refund, but not before trying to find another suitable vehicle, which I had asked them to do.

Unfortunately with my budget, there was nothing else suitable.

So, I've not given up on MB, as I was really starting to like the good bits of the car, and I'm going to look at a couple at the weekend...and I know a few more things about them now, thanks to the replies I've to this thread.

I'm also sure that once the dealer find the issue with mine, it'll be a good car for someone, but I'd simply lost all faith and confidence in it.

Thanks for all your comments and advice so far, and hopefully I'll be back in a few days with a new wagon!

Cheers,

Nick

 

[Wighty]

Evening all,

Well sadly, I've given up on the car, as there was something fundamentally wrong with the brakes on the wagon...

I really have to give the dealer credit, as they've given me a full refund, but not before trying to find another suitable vehicle, which I had asked them to do.

Unfortunately with my budget, there was nothing else suitable.

So, I've not given up on MB, as I was really starting to like the good bits of the car, and I'm going to look at a couple at the weekend...and I know a few more things about them now, thanks to the replies I've to this thread.

I'm also sure that once the dealer find the issue with mine, it'll be a good car for someone, but I'd simply lost all faith and confidence in it.

Thanks for all your comments and advice so far, and hopefully I'll be back in a few days with a new wagon!

Cheers,

Nick

Not a bad result , at least you found out early on , and like you said you know a bit more about Mercs . If you post the links up here to any cars you are looking at , some of the folks on here have some good comments ( not usually me ) .
Remember that most cars before 2012 (or whenever the changeover date was for ATF services ) need the ATF done at 37,500 miles (no time limit ) later models are 75k and/or 5 years

 

[cubbyq]

Thanks Wighty,

Agreed, real shame, but sometimes the car's not meant to be!

Definitely paying attention to the gearbox servicing schedule, thank you.

So, I'm checking a couple out at Mercland...

Like the spec of this one, but not sure about the interior colour:

http://www.mercland.com/car.html?id=3948

And there's this one, although I'm a kind of once bitten, twice shy guy:

http://www.mercland.com/car.html?id=4016

And there's this one, which I really like, although it's a 220...I was starting to love that 250:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...E CLASS&sort=price-desc&price-to=16000&page=2

Don't anyone gazump me before I get a chance to check these out

Cheers,

Nick

 

[Frosty149]

I prefer the 1st (blue) car and the interior is good imho.

http://www.mercland.com/car.html?id=3902
Did you see this one?

 

[Frosty149]

I know it's probably a bit far but a big choice...

https://www.bigmotoringworld.co.uk/used/cars/mercedes-benz/filters/order/age/