1999ML320
Active Member
When I brought my 1999 ML320 (80K miles) to a Mercedes dealer nearby for an oil change, they have come back with an impressive (of course this is a sarcastic comment - just to be sure) list of work totalling $6000+:
1. Front pads and rotors
2. Rear pads and rotors
3. Rear main seal leaking oil
4. Need four tires
5. Valve cover gasket leaking oil
6. Spark plugs due
7. Engine air filter dirty
8. Transmission fluid dirty
9. Coolant dirty
10. Front and rear axle fluid dirty
11. ATF dirty
12. Fuel injector (flushing?)
After some clarifications they said I can wait tires and valve cover. But still I have $5000 or so to do. So I need to decide (1) what to be done, (2) which I can do, (3) which I have to ask professionals, and (4) which can be delayed.
I have experince on working on suspensions and brakes myself, so probably other than main seal replacement (they say transmission should be removed to do this), it is worth trying to do myself.
As brakes are important, it sounds reasonable that I start with front and/or rear brakes. Does this sound OK to you all?
As for rear main seal (to be honest I do not know what this is - I need to do some research), is it OK to wait some time, or is it urgent? This has more than $1K price tag. Probably I will shop around who offers better price than the Mercedes dealer, but still I expect it expensive. Would be great if I can wait for some time.
Thanks for your help!!
1. Front pads and rotors
2. Rear pads and rotors
3. Rear main seal leaking oil
4. Need four tires
5. Valve cover gasket leaking oil
6. Spark plugs due
7. Engine air filter dirty
8. Transmission fluid dirty
9. Coolant dirty
10. Front and rear axle fluid dirty
11. ATF dirty
12. Fuel injector (flushing?)
After some clarifications they said I can wait tires and valve cover. But still I have $5000 or so to do. So I need to decide (1) what to be done, (2) which I can do, (3) which I have to ask professionals, and (4) which can be delayed.
I have experince on working on suspensions and brakes myself, so probably other than main seal replacement (they say transmission should be removed to do this), it is worth trying to do myself.
As brakes are important, it sounds reasonable that I start with front and/or rear brakes. Does this sound OK to you all?
As for rear main seal (to be honest I do not know what this is - I need to do some research), is it OK to wait some time, or is it urgent? This has more than $1K price tag. Probably I will shop around who offers better price than the Mercedes dealer, but still I expect it expensive. Would be great if I can wait for some time.
Thanks for your help!!