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Mercedes-Benz C-Class Maintenance and Repair
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Comments
Dealer here in Las Vegas is Fletcher Jones, with a captive audience. Interestingly enough his operations includes the huge dealership on the West side of Las Vegas, way, way out on Sahara and a maintenance/parts only operation on the East side of the valley out in Henderson, NV. That East side location doesn't even have his name on it, and I have found them to provide rip-off service.
In comparison, at the dealership operation I have always felt fairly treated.
Was kind of interesting also last thursday while waiting for my wife's car to be washed and brought down to us, to wander around looking in Maybachs and drooling over a Silver McLaren SLR. Enough to keep your mind off the fact you were waiting for delivery of a car that probably cost less than a front clip for either of them.
Chuck
I was actually at the dealership picking up my car when I saw a 211 sedan coming in on a flatbead that had been T-boned. Their was major impact damage, but not very much intrusion to the cabin. I spoke to the driver of the car after she got out of the tow truck, and she said a Dodge Ram pick-up had blown a stop light and hit her as she was going through the intersection. Side air bags deployed, Tele aid made the emergency call, and the driver was shaken but completely uninjured. This tells me alot about the safety about a Mercedes.
After I was hit in a similar type of accident( Ford bronco blowing a red light into my Honda Accord), the outcome was not so sweet. The driver's door, seat, instrument panel, and me were literally sitting in the middle of the vehicle. I know this from pictures taken at the accident site, and my personal viewing of the vehicle at the impound yard. My collar bone was broken, my ribs on the left side were broken at my sternum, half the teeth on my left side were either broken or shattered, and my spine was described by the physical therapist to have a question mark shape. Two weeks in I.C.U, and a year of physical therapy, in which time I could not sleep in a bed, only on the floor.
Sorry to ramble, but unless you know what thresholds and limits are built into a vehicle, don't going making assumptions about how a brand of vehicle is of poor quality just because you didn't receive what you "think" should have been the outcome. I am sorry to hear about your injuries, but I don't think that blaming a manufacturer without concrete evidence of defect is just.
My 2004 C230 Kompressor Sport Sedan is OEM equipped with staggered wheels and directional low profile tires. The car tracks straight, although it would drift to left or right depending on the curve of road's surface. In the first 5K miles from delivery, I noticed feather like wear on the outside edge of both front tires. As time goes by, both front tires have worn excessively on the outside edge. At 21,000 miles, the treads on outside edge are gone.
A four wheel alignment was performed by MB dealer at 14,000 miles; but, the problem did not go away. The service manager at the same MB dealer stated that the way these front tires wear is normal, and the normal wear life is around 18,000 miles. He suggests to dismount the front tires from wheels, and swap them left and right, so that the good tread is now on the outside to take the wear.
During parking, I have noticed that the right front tire leans into the turn when the steering wheel is turned to the right. The left front tire does the same, leaning into the turn, when turned to the left.
The rear tires have worn evenly across the width of each tire and still have good tread left.
I'd appreciate other owners' inputs if they have similar experiences with front tire wear issue, and any suggestion to cure the problem.
Thanks.
-First, the observation about how the suspension geometry seems to make the wheel assembly "lean" when turned - yep, that's the way it is designed. Most cars have some of this dialed in, but it varies a great deal by make and model.
-Assuming the alignment was done correctly, I would throw away the front tires and put new ones on the car. The dealer is right about what constitutes reasonable expectations for wear on these ultra low profile Z-rated tires - 20k is a high number. Many people get less. The fact that your rears are still in good shape is a minor miracle.
-It is precisely because these tires wear faster, and are difficult-to-impossible to rotate, that I avoid staggered sizes and unidirectional tires at all costs. This is also why I tell potential buyers to think twice about the "sporty" C230 over the C240. The ongoing costs of replacing the tires is just part of the price of owning this kind of car. An alternative is to go with standard 16" wheels and 205/55x16 tires all around - wheels can be had for $160-$200 each online - a total switch would be a $1200-$1400 investment, but you would be done with the whole exercise [except rotations, of course] for 40-60k miles. A similar strategy with 17" wheels would be more expensive, with the equivalent tire all around being 215/50x17s or 225/45x17s - there are now some reasonable all-season alternatives out there in the latter size - you don't have to go with a Z-rating or a unidirectional tread. Even if you stick with the staggered sizes, try to find a tread design that is NOT unidirectional, so you can swap them side to side every 5k miles or so.
-I rotate all 5 tires on our C sedan [I have an alloy spare] every 3500 miles or so. After a careful alignment just after the car was delivered [it had a pull that had to be corrected], the tires are wearing perfectly evenly and are still absolutely smooth and balanced at 17k miles. I estimate total life [these are the Contis - I prefer Michelins] to be at LEAST 60k miles, though for safety reasons I expect to replace them before that [we only put about 7k miles a year on the car]. Your results will vary, as they say, but even with perfect care and conservative driving, the OEM tires on a C230 Sport are likely to be long gone at 20k miles. Think about the alternatives I've outlined above.
-Again, assuming the alignment was done correctly, and you are not getting any other untoward symptoms [pulling to either side on a flat, unbiased surface], I would ascribe the outside edge wear on the fronts first to the possibility that the toe-in was slightly off when the car was delivered, and secondarily to the fact that some tread designs are going to feather a little no matter what you do - this is why rotation is so important, and why I am so down on staggered, unidirectional tires.
Let us know what you decide, and how it seems to affect the car - I personally don't think the extra handling margin that the staggered setup gives you is worth anywhere near the price that has to be paid, but to each their own. If you want to go with 4 equal width wheels all around, many dealers have takeoffs that can be had for a reasonable price, or there are numerous online sources.
I own a MBZ 320/01 i have the same problem, could you tell me if you find a solution?
second issue..recently had a strange humming and vibration that i could feel on the driver side and it seems from the front...left obviously...sometimes it lingers and goes away quick or sometimes not....it does not affect pickup, gears etc...it does seem to stop totally if i put the car in neutral..but the transmission does not jerk or slip otherwise when i am driving....i can feel the vibration of the humming....any clues ? thanks !
thnks!!
Good Luck,
The malfunction was fixed under warranty where a stepper motor was replaced and linkages adjusted.
Thanks so much for your detailed explanation and suggestions.
I am contemplating the option of replacing the staggered configuration and low profile uni-directional tires with same size of wheels and regular tires all around.
Your information on wheel size and tire size helps me a lot what to look for as I go shopping (on-line).
Thanks again.
The dealer has worked on it several times - replaced the stepper motor (in first visit), open and inspected the airbag in steering wheel (2nd visit), pulled the instrument cluster and inspected (3rd visit), tightened the steering lock device to steering column with plastic tie wrap (4th visit). The noise issue did not go away, as confirmed by test drive with dealer rep.
A second issue is strong odor coming from the front air vents. It is an intermiten one, which usually occurs after shutting off the A/C. However, with A/C being ON, there have been no odor problem.
The dealer stated that they had cleaned the system, but we are not sure what they really did. The same odor occurred again the next day after the issue had been supposedly worked on.
Both issues will be looked at again, next time the car is in for FSS appointment.
We'd appreciate feedback from readers who may have similar experience. Thanks.
Thanks
The second problem is that the up/down motor to position the steering wheel has become disconnected somehow. The motor whirs; the wheel she no move. They say it's a broken coupling, which is NOT covered by warranty! It's something like a $3 part, but it takes 3.5 hours to get to it! The estimate is over $300 to fix this! My copy of the warranty is in the car (in the shop) so I haven't tried to argue about it yet.
Incidentally, this is our first service out of the 50,000 mile "free service & warranty" period, although we did purchase the M-B warranty extension to 100,000. At 61,000 miles, we have spent exactly $0.00 total so far, plus gas and tires. We can't really complain.
I am mostly looking for comfort and safety with as much luxery as I can get in the low $20's price range. However, I hate dealing with car problems and don't want to buy something that will have alot of them and at a high price. Any feedback would be appreciated!
Thanks!
There are simply no generalizations that work right now with the W203 Cs - some cars, like ours, have been no problem, and others have been disasters. I will say this: I went out of my way to avoid the options I knew were causing problems - memory seats, CD changers, the Nav system [MB calls theirs COMAND].
A lot of people like to dis the C240 as not being powerful enough - I think this is utter nonsense, but then I grew up with diesels and econo cars, so 0-60 in the 8 second range seems more than quick enough to me. We absolutely love this car on long trips - smooth, quiet, 26-29 mpg, great ride, and extremely competent brakes. And yes, our car is probably worth no more than about $19-20k wholesale right now, in pristine condition, which translates to $21-$24k at retail, depending. All of the cars through the '04 model year include the prepaid maintenance; if you can find a car with the factory extended warranty [ours goes to 7 years or 100k miles], that is a big bonus.
As for miles, look for the lowest mileage car you can find - always. Pay a little more if necessary.
Things to watch out for - make sure the maintenance records are complete and timely; avoid the doo-dad electronic add-ons, especially the memory seats/ steering column option. Carefully inspect the condition of the wheels and tires - people neglect these wheels for mysterious reasons, and they are extremely expensive to replace. [All the usual German brake dust tempts people to let the wheels get and stay cruddy - a very bad decision.]
I don't know what else to say, except make sure any car gets a thorough inspection from somebody familiar with the various W203 models and their problem history - someone who knows what to look for and can satisfy you that you're not taking on a problem child.
I would be remiss by not mentioning that an equivalent year BMW 3er is also a car you should look at, allowing for the fact that they will generally be more expensive. That car is smaller in the cabin and much tighter in the trunk, and doesn't ride as well, and is a bit noisier; generally, though, with a couple of famous exceptions [the cooling fan fiasco comes to mind], they've been slightly more reliable than the C - not nearly as much as BMW dealers would like you to believe [ I belong to both owner clubs, so I get all the dirt from both sides] - they too have their share of electrical problems and other famous or infamous annoyances. In general, these cars will never be Toyota reliable, but they ride and handle in a way that no Toyota [except the LS, in my opinion] can quite match.
Thanks!
firing up? Or do you mean that when starting it cold, it runs rough?
About 3 months ago I became the owner of a 98 C230 w/ 82k. Should I be worried about potential problems with my venicle. Right now the car drives like a dream... no weird noises or anything but seeing that it has sooo many miles I was beginning to get worried. Should I be worried and if so, about what?
Thanks!
iSmile2
I'm having the same problem with my wagon.
what info. did you find out about this problem?
please respond.
Val :confuse:
Any ideas. I have a rattle outside, under the car, it sounds likie its near the middle or toward the front of the car. It is only heard when going over a bump. Smooth roads not rattle. It's easiest heard at slower speeds.
If the car is still under the original manufactures warranty consider the :lemon: law.
Please feel free to email me with further questions.
Any advice
The actual SENSING system has always been there, and the bag will not deploy if there is no one in the seat [so it says for our car, anyway] - but the light doesn't stay lit, which is just as well as far as I'm concerned...I'd find it annoying, I think.
It is interesting to learn of the cause of foul odor coming from the air vents, due to water collected and not drained from the evaporator, and the problem being not correctable.
Please bear with my ignorant, what is rest button? Do they make this button available to other models, such as the E and S classes.
Thanks for the information. I'll contact the dealer after this holiday.
Regards
Good luck.
So before the tires wear fully to 2/32, I am planning on purchasing new tires and getting the front wheels aligned. Current tires are ContiSportContacts, 205/55 R16 91H with a treadwear rating of 280.
What's the best alternative where I can get the maximum amount of wear from a low profile tire - or are those two things a contradiction in terms? My wife is the main driver of this car now, and neither of us are concerned with the "sportiness" of the ride - as we never drive the car fast or erratically. Our main concerns are safety, smooth ride (no vibrations), and longevity of the tires - in that order.
Any advice you can give in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
As for tires, the 205/55-16s are the same size on the "cooking" [non-sport] C240 we drive, so they are hardly radical. For some reason, in the original post, I thought we were talking about a W203 C, which uses 17" wheels and 40/45 profile tires; yours is a W202 C, and the 16" wheels use the same size as the touring models of the W203.
While expensive, my first recommedation for this car is always Michelin - the MXV4 is OEM on this car for a good reason. Our car's Conti CH95s have been quite satisfactory, and are far cheaper, and they promise to go at least 50k miles, but their ride and noise characteristics will not quite match the Michelins. Goodyear makes a new tire [Assurance?] that is supposed to set new standards for quiet and ride quality, but I have never been enthused about their products in the past - you might check the Tire Rack's website for their reactions.
If you go to Tire Rack online, enter the size, and tell them how you drive the car, they make recommendations based on your inputs. They also have ratings from customers on how the tires behave in the real world on other cars. Or call their toll-free number and talk to one of the reps.
The OEM "non-sport" wheels/tires for your car are 195/65-15s - you can configure a new package of wheels and tires on Tire Rack's site that could get you new wheels and tires for not much more than the tires alone....just another alternative...
Our horn mysteriously stopped working last month; I dutifully checked the fuse, reseated it, but nothing happened. Then about 4 days later, it worked again and has worked fine since. There are so many connections and routing points with the electronics, that it is impossible to diagnose anything just looking at something in your garage, besides fuses. After that, you have to get yourself to someplace that has the testing tools to see where the interruption is. Anyway, try the fuses first, and check the diagram to see if the functions that are failing are covered by a common circuit.
As an aside, I'll mention that the fuse diagram is a Generic-English [not American English] translation from the German, so there are some anomalies. The horn, for example, was actually labeled something like "clarion" or words to that effect...
Thank you very much for your info. Sorry for not mentioning that my tires are indeed smaller than those mentioned in the original post.
Since buying the C230 new I have not had the wheels aligned, and will indeed bring it to the dealer for that service. I'll also ensure they use the proper kit you mention.
Your Conti CH95s sound very interesting to me. I will check into those further, and very much appreciate your comments - your knowledge is incredibly helpful to me!
I would drive the C230 more often, but my daily driver Toyota pickup (now with 213k miles) continues to show no significant signs of age, except I'll eventually need to replace the windshield due to the pitting.
- PaulP
The weight sensing seat is just the opposite, it will illuminate all the time when no one is sitting in the front passenger seat.
Keep in mind, airbag "off" light on the seat recognition sensor is to let you know that the airbag is turned off when you have seat recognition style baby seat in the front. It basically confirms to you that the airbag has been defeated.
The weight sensing system does just what it says and can tell the difference between a child and different size adults. It does this for airbag deployment thresholds, something the seat recognition sensor could not do.
I hope this helps!
I put the lug bolts back on and gave up, rather than risk damaging the car by trying to force the wheel off by prying, hitting, etc. My next step is to take it to the dealer when I get the tires replaced this fall. But if I had to (i.e., if I had a flat tire and MB roadside assistance could not get to me), what could I do to get the wheel to come off safely, without damaging me or the car?