E250 CDi Sport Manual - Help Wanted!

[neilybhoy]

I have the displeasure of owning the above car which has caused me nothing but grief since I bought it. Anyway, the latest problem is that while cruising the rev counter fluctuates (maybe by about 50 revs). As this does not appear as a fault on the computer my dealer says that this is normal for this engine?? Has anyone with the same car observed this problem. Even if you haven't I would appreciate your response.

 

[prm]

What kind of grief?

 

[Developer]

Hello and welcome - sorry to hear all is not well with your new car - tell us more.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

Are there any other clues apart from the fluctuation on the rev counter? Does the engine speed vary perceptibly?

When you sat "nothing but grief since I bought it", what other problems have you had? Might they be connected?

 

[neilybhoy]

Thanks for your responses. The car had the injector problem so was off road for 5 weeks, then a door handle broke, then after 4 visits to the dealer they managed to get the LED daytime lights to work correctly.
The latest problem was that the car would lose power when driving. If you switched the ignition off then the problem would disappear (no warning lights on dash at anytime). After a few visits, my dealer changed the engine management system (sounds expensive!!) and this appears to have resolved the loss of power. The rev needle still fluctuates though, you cannot really feel any fluctuation in speed or hear any noticable different engine noise.
Anyone got any thoughts??

 

[neilybhoy]

Issue still ongoing, despite new engine management system, various attempted soft ware upgrades and now they want to replace the instrument cluster next week - can you not please just buy the car back from me and save us all the hassle??

 

[david arthur]

Hi neilybhoy,

So sorry you have had so many problems with your car, i think
which magazine said the problems with the W212 was unacceptable for a luxury brand car.

I think it came last in a comparison test with BMW Audi Jaguar, it
certainly does not bode well for the three pointed star.

I for one will not be visiting a Mercedes dealer again, my W211 will be
the last.

Dealers today can't repair cars they just replace parts, Mercedes are not the superior brand they once were.

 

[jberks]

I assume if you got the injector issue, yours was one of the early 212's?
Sadly, that makes you the tester for all the owners that followed. One of the reasons (cost being the other sadly) that I'd never buy any new car that hadn't been around for at least a year. Ideally 3. The early 211s were troublesome too.
On the upside, as they replace parts, you get new ones with the updates and modifications done.
From your description, as there's no 'feel' of surging, I'd tend to go along with the dealer on the idea that your cluster is simply misreading. I guess a small fault in the voltage control within the cluster could give this effect. This wouldn't show up on any diagnostics. A cluster is around £800+ from memory so it's costing MB nicely for your inconvenience. I'd also be asking the dealer for a free service in lieu of all the inconvenience and for MB to extend the warranty by another year as a goodwill gesture as you have little confidence in the car.
Having said I wouldn't buy a 'new' new car. I did have a release freelander2 (one of the orange ones), bought as an ex demo. In it's first year it was a pain in the !&*! and probably spent as much time at the dealer as it did at home. Year 2 was better but we still had things fixed. We asked LR to honour any warranty claims in year 3 (car was 4) as we expected similar trouble. They agreed to do this on a goodwill basis, gave us free AA cover and a free service.
Over that year, it never missed a beat. No faults or problems. A perfect car. All the dodgy new components had been replaced with updated ones, all the software updates had finally reached a reliable point and I had a great car.
So hang in there !

 

[MERCSPORT]

I bought an 8 month old 203 C180 on a 57 plate (one of the last ones) with about 16k from Mercedes-Benz Of Whitefield.

Year 1 - Many software upgrades
Year 2 - New Gearbox - Ticking Noise resolved
Year 3 - New CV Balljoints, Suspension lubricated, handbrake & handbrake shoes lubricated

204 C180 Sport 57 plate bought this year in February -
This year many problems,

Tapping Noise Resolved after 4-5 visits
Power Loss (also sounded very rough)
Sluggish Gear Changes
Ticking noise coming from engine
Weird stretchy noise coming from handbrake.... These were resolved

Going in for tomorrow (Friday 23rd December 2011) -
Middle Fans for the air vents not working including the screen fan
Electrical issue, says some light bulbs are working, then all of sudden they are not... Sometimes they are working when the computer says they are not.
Squirrelling noise as you turn the steering wheel right.

I bought this car just over 3 years old.... Imagine the amount of work done on it prior to my purchase! I have not even had the car for a year yet.

But I still love it and am grateful that I have a warranty, as I know over time she will get better, from looking at my other families cars who have also bought Mercs from new, after about 4-5 years old, they start being very reliable... With your car, it seems all the faults are coming now, and that in my opinion is good, as your car will become reliable sooner.

These are all things that should have been done when the car was being manufactured, the work that is being done on them is just the main dealers correcting them as far as I am concerned...

jberks is right, hang on in there, you will start to love your car again soon!