E55 hit side-on (with photos)

[mlsports]

Hi Guys

I bought an E55 four weeks ago - I'd been after one for around a year (damn - the 7 seater estate is hard to find in an E55!)! It's a 1999 210 shape.

Four weeks to the day after buying it someone drove stright into the side of us - see the photo's

They hit the front wing, buckled the wheel over etc - as you can see.

Immediately as the car was hit steam came from under the bonnet, and the car continued to drip something (looks like water) for the full hour and 20 minutes we had to wait before it was towed away - you can see the water/fluid in the photos.

Now, yesterday I got a repair list from the garage who is repairing on behalf of the insuer (Tesco). And it lists NO internal repairs or parts - only external.

I called the garage and told them about the steam and dripping, and they said "well, it's not dripping now - and we've started it a few times and it seems ok". I reported this back to Tesco who recorded that I was not happy.

Where do I stand - I don't want to collect the car and then three weeks later the head gasket goes (if that happens by the way, the insurer has no liability once you've signed for the car and taken it away). As you can see - it was a reasonably hard shunt which would have given the engine a big jolt.

Also, there is a groove in the alloy around 7 inches wide which has been carved in by the other car (look carefully at the third image and you can see about half of it). I was expecting it to be replaced. But they're going to 'test' it to see if it's bent and then fill and paint it :neutral:

I'm considering having an inspection done by a professional inspection company prior to collecting it. However - it's £250 and I just had one done four weeks ago before I bought it - ARGHH!

Any ideas, suggestions or bright ideas very welcome.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

sorry to hear of your accident, but I think you're right, I think it's worth the inspection fee for peace of mind. Is it an MB dealer who is doing the work? It may just be that the collision dislodged a pipe somewhere, although the fluid has come from somewhere so if it was a disloged pipe, what ever came out needs to go back in again.

I guess you need to ask them bluntly where the fluid came from (you have photographic evidence that there was fluid) and why it hasn't been replaced.

As for the wheel, as long as it is refirbished correctly and isn't buckled in any way it should be pretty much as good as a new one. If you are not satisfied with the result, don't accept it back again until it's put right

 

[jibcl500]

Tell Tesco you want to take this chap with you to inspect the car on collection, also suggest they pay for the inspection, or go half and make a point about the disatisfaction so far, only sign for it when the inspection shows all is ok.

jib

 

[mlsports]

Merc dealer for repair?

Hi there

no, the garage doing the work is not a Mercedes garage. However, they only use genuine parts and the work they do does not invalidate any Mercedes warranty apparently (I don't have one anyway as it's a 1999). So I assume they're recognised by Mercedes in some way as a repair centre. Not sure how that works, but there you go :roll:

 

[mlsports]

Tesco

I have told Tesco I am considering an inspection pre-collection, and they said that is fine. They're actually very good customer-wise and have made a note of what the garage told to me (the garage even hung up once when I asked fro their Email address to send images of the water puddle to!). Apparently Tesco removed over 100 garages from their list last year due to customer complaints - which of course reflects badly on Tesco (it's great to see someone taking a stand against crap garages - there's a lot of them around and they are a law unto themselves). So they take things pretty seriously - which is nice. They actually suggested to me that I should not sign for the car unless I am 100% happy - can't argue with that sort of advice from an insuarnce company!

I just couldn't beleive that there were no internal repairs listed on the job sheet, and the garages flippant attitude towards my request (which was basically - well it works now and doesn't drip). I understand you can't ask them to dismantle the entire engine to find a problem - BUT they should take the customers request more seriously - but I guess their customer is Tesco and not me.

I won't name the garage at this time - for obvious reasons :-?

 

[Blobcat]

When you say just external parts are you getting a new steering rack? Judging by the angle of your front wheel new strut and new steering rack would be on my list. I would recommend a pressure test of the cooling system as that is most likely where the water/steam came from.

 

[mlsports]

parts

The parts they listed are as follows:

Repeater Lamp 2108200921
Wing Moulding 2109601662
Badge 8175420
Upp control arm 2103308807
Steering Knuckle 2103300120
R/Tie rod 2103380415
Wing 2108800218
Lower wing moulding 2109602662
wheelhouse cover 2106989630
Ball joint 2113300335
W-BRG Rep kit 2103300051
R/Tie rod ball joint 2103380615
(parts listed at £630 incidently)

So no, no steering rack. Actually some internal parts - but nothing that contains or leaks water/fluid.

 

[Pipemaster]

Paintwork

I understand your frustration

You say that the garage work will not invalidate the warranty but I wonder if it will invlidate the Mobilo 30 year corrosion warranty. Having just gone through a bit of that as soon as they detected that the paint was not the original factory finish and hadn't been done by MB then they did not cover the remedial work that needed to be done. may be a good idea to check this out too.

In so far as the garage work is concerned the garage are legally responsibkle to give accurate and detailsed answers to questions posed by either you - the proporty owner - or the insureance comapny who as you say are their customer. Any business that specialises ( not just garages) hold themselves out to have "a particular skill" in the eyes of the law and as such should make thorough and detailed reports on their work in a language you can understand. Then the whole thing goes under the "Reasonable man test" i.e. if you went up to an average person in the street and gave him the facts what would his conclusion be. Clearly a puddle of liquid being drained from your car afte the accident would indocate the integrity of some fluid based system has been breeched and if they havent itemised items used to fix the issue or a procedure down to fix the issue eg. reconnected hose from coolant expansion tank then a "reasonable man" would think it right you have a concern and bona fide case should soemthing happen afterwards and especially after you expressly sought reassurances that the problem had been identified and rectified.

Hope that helps

 

[mlsports]

Mobilo

Many thanks for the advice - very very useful!

By the way - what exactly is the Mobilo 30 year anti-corrosion warranty? I'd be very interested to know what that is please!

Many thanks

 

[Blobcat]

Many thanks for the advice - very very useful!

By the way - what exactly is the Mobilo 30 year anti-corrosion warranty? I'd be very interested to know what that is please!

Many thanks

Have a read of your service booklet when you can get your hands on it. The warranty as applied to your car is all listed in the front.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

Many thanks for the advice - very very useful!

By the way - what exactly is the Mobilo 30 year anti-corrosion warranty? I'd be very interested to know what that is please!

Many thanks

if you have your user manual it will probably be detailed in there. Basically MB warantee against rust for a period of 30 years as long as the car has been serviced at an MB garage or MB approved garage. There are also a number of people on this forum who have had rust repair work done under the rust warrantee even though their cars were not serviced by MB.

e-classes of the age that your is have a rust problem so the rust warrantee is very very useful. If you have this work done by a non-mb dealer it may invalidate the warrantee.

 

[turnipsock]

Isn't there an overflow bottle in inside the offside front wing...there is on a 230TE. It sit's behind the front wheel, right about the point of impact.

 

[television]

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GA=722.624&CT=F&cat=45P&SID=50&SGR=165&SGN=02

Going by the dent it looks like the top up tank could be damaged, dont worry about the engine,the damage is too far back for that,
'
Malcolm

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Could be the coolant reservoir, or any of the pipes coming from it. Could also be the pipes going to the heater matrix, they run down that side of the car.

 

[Dave's E55 AMG]

I think the expansion tank is in that corner, it's probably split on impact. I wouldn't let them run it either if its low on coolant.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Sorry to see the damage to the car. As the car is a specialist vehicle I think your idea of paying for an independant check on delivery post repair will give you more peace of mind.

Most owners of SH mercs including me go for the lower premiums offered nowadays by general insurers and then cross our fingers knowing full well that in the event of an accident the car will end up at a non franchised repairer.

As the repairer has said that only genuine parts will be used that is a good start, the main consideration for me would be reusing what is an accident damaged wheel. Judging by the severity of the accident I would expect the alloy wheel to be x rayed for hairline cracks before reuse. This would probably not be cost effective so a new replacement should be fitted, and you are within your rights to ask for this as it is a safety related item.

Hope things work out well for you.

 

[D3Less]

As Blobcat says I would question about the steering rack also.

My father in law curbed his 2 month old Astra, the front wheel was pushed back.
The Vauxhall garage wanted to replace quite a bit (parts £1300) saying that being safety related they would not mess around.
Insurance engineer cut their quote to the bare minimum.

The bodyshop manager was not happy at all, not because of loosing the work but that safety was being potentially being compramised.

The wheel itself only had a small curb mark on it but he was adament that this was to be thrown in the skip. The engineer did give in on this point.

Might be an idea to organise your own engineer sooner rather than later.

Good luck with it and keep us informed.

Cliff

 

[benz girl]

The parts they listed are as follows:

Repeater Lamp 2108200921
Wing Moulding 2109601662
Badge 8175420
Upp control arm 2103308807
Steering Knuckle 2103300120
R/Tie rod 2103380415
Wing 2108800218
Lower wing moulding 2109602662
wheelhouse cover 2106989630
Ball joint 2113300335
W-BRG Rep kit 2103300051
R/Tie rod ball joint 2103380615
(parts listed at £630 incidently)

So no, no steering rack. Actually some internal parts - but nothing that contains or leaks water/fluid.

Does your car not have a steering box,,,,not a steering rack,i see some steering parts in your list.

 

[230K]

Does your car not have a steering box,,,,not a steering rack,i see some steering parts in your list.

210 has a Steering Rack. Boxes finished in the 124 and 202 etc

230K

 

[mioba]

from looking at the pics the damage is only minor, i doubt the engine has moved one bit. a panel and a few suspension parts... the list you prvide seems fair.
the fluid could well be from something like the windscreen washer fluid lidding popping off.
if the car drives OK and there are no apparent leaks then all is well( you know how the car sounds so if its sounds OK, then so be it), anyway, your insurance is from a huge company like tesco, they will have a guarantee on the work so any problems you are covered.

ps you should find out mobilo