2001 SLK - Camshaft oil seal ++++

[Wizard]

Hi, My first post and also my first ever moan about MB quality! does anyone have any experience or comments on this?

Car pads warning light coming on - booked in car for new brake pads? as now done 22.5k miles, seems not unreasonable? came out with a £1500 bill!
1. New Pads and new front discs (discs below limit after a relatively low and not hard driven mileage
2. New Brake sensor switch, broken after 22.5k miles?
3. New front ball joints??? after 22.5k trolling arount mostly country a roads?
where was this built again - malaysia?
4. New camshaft timing oil seal required as oil leaking into timing magnets and into wiring loom...(£650+)...What is this crap? evidently it's not the mileage but the age of the car??? really?

I wish I had kept my VW Corrado Storm, bullet proof, performance and style, I bought a Mercedes to surpass that car, not look up to it.
(Very Dissappointed owner, still love the car too much to ditch it, but what is the next surprise? and this was built in Bremmen !)

 

[television]

Hi, My first post and also my first ever moan about MB quality! does anyone have any experience or comments on this?

Car pads warning light coming on - booked in car for new brake pads? as now done 22.5k miles, seems not unreasonable? came out with a £1500 bill!
1. New Pads and new front discs (discs below limit after a relatively low and not hard driven mileage
2. New Brake sensor switch, broken after 22.5k miles?
3. New front ball joints??? after 22.5k trolling arount mostly country a roads?
where was this built again - malaysia?
4. New camshaft timing oil seal required as oil leaking into timing magnets and into wiring loom...(£650+)...What is this crap? evidently it's not the mileage but the age of the car??? really?

I wish I had kept my VW Corrado Storm, bullet proof, performance and style, I bought a Mercedes to surpass that car, not look up to it.
(Very Dissappointed owner, still love the car too much to ditch it, but what is the next surprise? and this was built in Bremmen !)

Hello and welcome,though you may not feel very, well dont know what to say but.

I have never heard of disc going in 22k, 35k is the lowest i have known for the front, the rear should do double the front ones,or nearly.

the Brake light switch cost £9 and can be fitted in 10 mins

Ball joints in 22k, thats impossible.

Camshaft seals I have seen somewhere, I can look this up later, in all though it looks very expensive for what has been done.

Wait for some comments from the others.

Malcolm

 

[jberks]

Hi, My first post and also my first ever moan about MB quality! does anyone have any experience or comments on this?

Car pads warning light coming on - booked in car for new brake pads? as now done 22.5k miles, seems not unreasonable? came out with a £1500 bill!
1. New Pads and new front discs (discs below limit after a relatively low and not hard driven mileage
2. New Brake sensor switch, broken after 22.5k miles?
3. New front ball joints??? after 22.5k trolling arount mostly country a roads?
where was this built again - malaysia?
4. New camshaft timing oil seal required as oil leaking into timing magnets and into wiring loom...(£650+)...What is this crap? evidently it's not the mileage but the age of the car??? really?

Understandable
22k for pads is reasonable. Disks wear out these days due to the EU changing the pad material. You normally get 1 set of disks to 2 sets of pads so it's a bit premature.
The brake sensor switch is a common failure - sounds like they've done yours pre-emptively - but they are cheap anyway.
Ball joints - ok it's only done 22k but it is 6 years old - some things go with age too. These may be one of them and 22k over 6 years on A roads is equivalent a lot more over a shorter time on motorways so I wouldn't be too concerned.
As regards the biggie - the seal was a design/manufacturing fault. Plain and simple. There should have been a recall to fit a small mod to stop the contamination as I understand it. I would enquire why this wasn't done and what contribution MB are prepared to make.

Bottom line is that a dealer will change all sorts that don't really need doing. It's a matter of degree. I once had a BMW dealer suggest a new starter on a 3 1/2 year old 3 series. I dare say it possibly was drawing a bit more current that the spec sheet said - I never tested it myself, but we said no anyway. We sold the car, with the original starter still working perfectly, 11 years later. With many of these things, you can say no, just leave it and it will be fine.
I've said this many times before. The dealer only sees new ones, yours is 6 and just too old for them to be able to judge it correctly. Get yourself a decent indie and you should see the cost fall dramatically as they'll bring a bit of sense to judging what you need.

 

[daveenty]

Just had a phone call from MB Bolton as mines in for a B service today.

Ball joints need replacing. 29,000 & just 4 years old

Checked with warranty company who said they're covered, so they're being done. I have to pay upfront, but got an order number for the job from said company.

Also Poly belt(s) for blower?....At under 30,000 miles says I? *It's an age thing* I was casually informed.
£50ish, but an hour and a half to fit @ £98 per hour. They're not getting done, neither are plugs @ £350

At least I've now got my stamp in the book and complied with my (aftermarket) warranty terms & conditions

Going to do as is generally recommended on here. Dealer for basic service, Indy for anything else.

 

[television]

Re Jberks comments on possible re call camshaft bit.

In all of these instances the wording is always very wide open,in the case of the rads leaking into the gearbox, the valve seats splitting on the CLK heads and others, it more or less says that if the customer is upset or complains then do it under a guarantee,or try and get something from him.

In all,ver vague.

malcolm