help me please if you can.. Ideas .. info .. etc.

[wwwben]

Hello,
I have just purchased a

2012 Mercedes-Benz S550 4MATIC
W221 Body style
91K Miles
M278 Engine

bought it cheap .. guy said it had a check engine light on

while driving... it like clunks from the engine .. I believe it may be camshaft adjuster. (based on research)

I live in a remote area with no one wanting to work on it .. and I took out a loan to buy the car .. and will have trouble with figuring out how to pay for the reapirs

I bought the car because I have always wanted a Mercedes of this type and the thought of a twin turbo engine sounded appealing

since purchasing I found out my insurance on this vehicle is $510 per month! and is required since I took out a loan to purchase

Money is tight now and now spending $750 per month on a car im scared to drive :/

Any idea or help ? there is a Mercedes dealership 5 hours drive from me .. but they will not return my call (tried 4 times now)


Thanks for your time in reading this, and I realize I am an idiot for buying this car.. but I really love it and want to drive it

 

[Srdl]

Welcome and sorry to hear about your problems. Sorry but yes, you are an idiot! Firstly, tell us where you are please.

 

[wwwben]

USA Michigan

 

[Jason63]

If you can't fix it yourself you may need to spend thousands to get it fixed. Those engines have a lot of (expensive) problems.

Find a German car specialist, not a Mercedes Benz dealer, and get them to give you a quote. Mercedes will only fit genuine parts, they won't repair anything, only replace it, and their labour rates are as high as you can get.

 

[wwwben]

If you can't fix it yourself you may need to spend thousands to get it fixed. Those engines have a lot of (expensive) problems.

Find a German car specialist, not a Mercedes Benz dealer, and get them to give you a quote. Mercedes will only fit genuine parts, they won't repair anything, only replace it, and their labour rates are as high as you can get.

ok, yes I will keep looking .. not very much in my area

 

[Richard Moakes]

Find someone who is willing to perform some diagnostics for you, code reading, check cylinder bores with a boroscope, oil analysis etc.

Don’t agree to them fixing the car, agree a price you can afford for the diagnostics. Once you have evidence, then seek estimates/quotes for what needs to be done.

I think you know there is no easy solution, but don’t panic, be methodical and make informed decisions.

As someone smarter than me says, “Condition, Cause, Correction, Confirm”

 

[Wighty]

Find someone who is willing to perform some diagnostics for you, code reading, check cylinder bores with a boroscope, oil analysis etc.

Don’t agree to them fixing the car, agree a price you can afford for the diagnostics. Once you have evidence, then seek estimates/quotes for what needs to be done.

I think you know there is no easy solution, but don’t panic, be methodical and make informed decisions.

As someone smarter than me says, “Condition, Cause, Correction, Confirm”

That might have been me that said that buddy ?

 

[Richard Moakes]

 

[Chrishazle]

Cancel the insurance, default on the loan, let the lender re-posess it and have the problem of getting it fixed! Take a deep breath, start again but next time be much more careful about what you buy, especially with no nearby specialists to help!!

 

[wwwben]

Cancel the insurance, default on the loan, let the lender re-posess it and have the problem of getting it fixed! Take a deep breath, start again but next time be much more careful about what you buy, especially with no nearby specialists to help!!

ouch, cant do that... thanks for the idea .. but ..

 

[wwwben]

so I found a shop that works on Mercedes .. not too far from where I am .. does anyone have any experience specifically with the M278 Biturbo?

 

[AMGeed]

If you haven't already done so, get yourself joined up this this US based forum

MBWorld

Mercedez-Benz & AMG discussion forum, news, and rumors for owners and enthusiasts of Mercedes vehicles

mbworld.org

You'll get far better info from local guys than from us 3k miles away.
Hope things work out for you. I'm guessing you are pretty young to be hit with a $510 per month insurance bill.
Too late now, but always get quotes before purchasing.

 

[brandwooddixon]

The M278 is a pretty good engine but can still suffer issues. Poor maintenance is a cause of many problems, oil changes in particular.
Timing chains and cam adjusters are potential weak points - rattle on start-up that then goes away. There was a work instruction to add a leak back check valve to the timing chain oil supply to help reduce start-up wear.

There have been reports of valve guide and cylinder liner wear, but personally I've not experienced it in 80,000 miles of driving my last car.

I wouldn't expect to hear any clunks from the engine even if somethings worn, obviously a regular knocking may be a worn main bearing due to oil starvation. MB stipulate that oil consumption of up to 1 litre per 1000km is acceptable, being a twin turbocharged vehicle its likely to use some oil if on boost a lot, its not been unknown for people to run them low on oil if they're of the "oil gets checked when its serviced" opinion.

First step, get someone with a decent diagnostic scanner to inspect the vehicle and read out any fault codes. A decent mechanic should be able to do that without needing to work on the car.

 

[wwwben]

The M278 is a pretty good engine but can still suffer issues. Poor maintenance is a cause of many problems, oil changes in particular.
Timing chains and cam adjusters are potential weak points - rattle on start-up that then goes away. There was a work instruction to add a leak back check valve to the timing chain oil supply to help reduce start-up wear.

There have been reports of valve guide and cylinder liner wear, but personally I've not experienced it in 80,000 miles of driving my last car.

I wouldn't expect to hear any clunks from the engine even if somethings worn, obviously a regular knocking may be a worn main bearing due to oil starvation. MB stipulate that oil consumption of up to 1 litre per 1000km is acceptable, being a twin turbocharged vehicle its likely to use some oil if on boost a lot, its not been unknown for people to run them low on oil if they're of the "oil gets checked when its serviced" opinion.

First step, get someone with a decent diagnostic scanner to inspect the vehicle and read out any fault codes. A decent mechanic should be able to do that without needing to work on the car.

this is great information thank you... I did notice today there is a small bit of oil on garage floor .. how can I check the oil? I have no idea how long its been leaking!

 

[SL63 Mark]

You need to get the car on a Mercedes Star diagnostic scanner. Without that we are just guessing. This is a UK forum, so we have no way of knowing who to recommend in your area. You need to find a US forum and ask on there. MB World forum is well known, and long established, ask on there.

And good luck.

 

[brandwooddixon]

this is great information thank you... I did notice today there is a small bit of oil on garage floor .. how can I check the oil? I have no idea how long its been leaking!

There is of course the dipstick on the engine. The colour of the oil will give you a clue as to its state. If black then its probably due for replacement.
If its low, top it up so that it registers half way between the marks (if the engine is cold) then run the engine until it is warm, turn off the engine wait 5 minutes and recheck. This is to ensure that you don't over fill it. The oil will expand as it warms up and the wait period is to ensure that any oil in the top of the engine has a chance to drain down to the sump.
It's possible that the leak is from the rear of one of the cam covers, these can weep oil as they get older - you'll need to shine a torch down the back of the engine to see it, a bit awkward as the engine fills the engine bay pretty well.

 

[wwwben]

Again thanks for the great information!

I will get on the US forum and ask about the diagnostic thing .. that's a great idea.


So, I checked the oil situation .. oil seemed to be a lil above the marks when cold .. and perfect when warm .. the oil leak seems to be coming from the bottom front of the engine .. possibly an oil pan gasket or something.

oil looked brown not black

for some reason I didn't think the car had a dip stick (other than me LOL) ... and the fact that it doesn't clearly state OIL on the stick baffles me.

drove the car to work today .. and the clunking in the engine didn't happen till after about 20 minutes of driving 80MPH

 

[Bay Leaf]

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=afbe3b39cdc63532JmltdHM9MTcxOTYxOTIwMCZpZ3VpZD0zYjQxZGNjNy1kYzdkLTY0OWItMjMyYy1jODQxZGRiNjY1ZjgmaW5zaWQ9NTI4OQ&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=3b41dcc7-dc7d-649b-232c-c841ddb665f8&psq=mercedes+benz+forums+repairs&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9tYndvcmxkLm9yZy9mb3J1bXMv&ntb=1

This is the forum you need. I really hope you get this problem sorted at a price that is reasonable for you. Come back on here and let us know how you get on.
Good Luck

 

[wwwben]

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=afbe3b39cdc63532JmltdHM9MTcxOTYxOTIwMCZpZ3VpZD0zYjQxZGNjNy1kYzdkLTY0OWItMjMyYy1jODQxZGRiNjY1ZjgmaW5zaWQ9NTI4OQ&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=3b41dcc7-dc7d-649b-232c-c841ddb665f8&psq=mercedes+benz+forums+repairs&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly9tYndvcmxkLm9yZy9mb3J1bXMv&ntb=1

This is the forum you need. I really hope you get this problem sorted at a price that is reasonable for you. Come back on here and let us know how you get on.
Good Luck

Thanks..
I will keep you updated .. car goes to shop on July 11th