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Don't wait --- Report it now!
If you own a Mercedes for any length of time (outside of warranty) you want to find a good independent Mercedes mechanic that provides some customer service.
To date, Mercedes has not issued a recall on these balancers, but if you are the original owner and the vehicle is out-of-warranty, Mercedes is covering the repairs.
The culmination of this was two meetings with the heads of the the dealership and state managers from MB. After some intense negotiation a settlement was reached which effectively gave me all my money back on the vehicle if I stayed with an MB product. I have done so but have not purchased an ML class. That would be the last vehicle in the world I would buy.
I have had many new vehicles over the years, none of which have come anywhere near the appalling record the ML has had.
Over the last month I started with replacing the tires (Dunlap) which came with the car when purchased. At $1,500 a set this is no cheap purchase. After the tires went on they started to wear immediately and the car felt out of allignment. MB Dealer blamed the problem on the tires and suggested a set of Michelin's (price tag $1,300). Bought the 2nd set and put the burdon back on Dunlap to take the tires back (which still has not happened). First ride out of the dealer with the Michelin's prooved no better. The car is constantly shaking and tire wear appeared almost immediately.
The dealer then indicated there was a problem with the parking break and that all would be better following that service. Once again, things are no better.
The cars now been sitting at the dealership for going on a month. This paricular ML's track record, including ignition issues, sporadic loss of gas tank indicatorsand other dash problems, many ABS warning problems, and now the tire issue is appalling for a $65k car.
Any suggestions on the tire issue?
My specific issue is about an undiagnosed and seemingly undiagnosable 'sloshing' sound that sounds like a fish tank of water moving around in the car upon accel/decel. The boys at MB tried to shake the car around to find it. That's it.
Any ideas what it might be and if it is dangerous?
Thanks!
I won't be buying another one - but I doubt I could sell this one until I resolve the aforementioned.
I paid almost $3k for the warranty which went in effect in May of this year.
Today, I heard metallic grinding coming from the tranny. It's a '99 ML320 with 60k miles on it and is for all practical purposes now worthless.
I'm embarrassed to have driven such trash.
Folks don't know whether to laugh or cry when they hear the stories I have to tell about the ML.
If it was a horse, I'd shoot it.
Thank you MB for your quality, your ethics and your service. If you were a person instead of a corporation, you'd be either dead or incarcerated.
May your remaining life be short and may your management find pleasurable cell-mates. The cons from Enron, MCI, Tenet, etc are sure to welcome you.
- Door panel fell off on driver's side
- Power steering hose recall
- Transmission fluid leak. (Vehicle would roll back when parked on a hill)
- Battery died with no dashboard notice (this one left me stranded)
- In 10 months time I have added 6 quarts of oil. (This is apparently within the spec according to MB)
- Crankshaft pulley fell off the vehicle one morning when I was returning home from the pediatrician with my daughter. The steering wheel locked up and the car began to stall when I was traveling at 40 miles an hour.
I don't know what to expect next. I leased this vehicle for my family's safety. Now I won't even let my wife drive it.
MB has offered me a 2000 year model for an additional $3000. I was appalled that I have to pay more money because they developed and sold a faulty product.
According to MB if I terminated the lease, I would be liable for a penalty and the remainder of lease payments (15k+).
I am at a loss. Does anyway think I should go for the 2000 model and pay the extra money or should I try to get rid of this vehicle altogether. I am assuming a trade in for an Acura or BMW would be just as bad finacially as the early termination.
One thing I am most concerned with is the power steering hose issue. Does anyone know if this problem returns once the it is fixed under the recall?
I could use some advice from others on this board that have experienced the same frustrations.
If you any suggestions please email me privately at inet_eng@yahoo.com
Thanks,
AA
wondering about the brake pads. My friend with the 2002 ML320 is going on
his THIRD set of brake pads at 15,000 miles. While he does admit to driving
almost all city (Pittsburgh hills) up-and-down driving, is it normal for the
Benz Truck to go thru brake pads every 7500 miles? I owned Benzes for years
but never the truck. Generally my "S" Class cars (S320...1999 then 1993
before that) went thru pads every 12,000 miles or so. Shouldn't the truck
get at least that many miles on front pads?
1999 Cadillac STS (sedan). It cost new
about the same cost as a new 1999 ML320.
The STS has 95,000 miles.
Here's the tale:
Replaced the engine at 90,000. Replaced the AC
compressor at 70,000. Fix "a dozen or more" small problems. The car now needs what sounds like a new AC compressor, new shocks front and rear (front shocks are $700 each, plus $200 labor -- the dealer quoted her $3,500 for front and rear shocks), the right rear view mirror spent a few minutes twitching at various points in our ride, remote entry is broken and the lcd display for the climate control is fried. This car still looks great but it easily needs another $5,000 to make it safe and functional in addition to the $15,000 they've already spent.
None of this is meant to excuse M-B for shoddy
work or unsatisfactory customer service. I doubt that any of the M-B models compare well to a Lexus
LS400 on reliability (at 185,000 we're on original
shocks, muffler, etc with our LS) but M-B offers
its own version of quality that, in my opinion
is good.
Anyone ever try buying / installing aftermarket running boards? It would be great if you could share your experience..
Thank You.
Cheers!
--njexpress
I used AAMCO and a used transmission from a junk yard. The cost? $5,510. This was the least expensive way to fix the problem.
As you may know, the transmission of ML320 is supposed to be maintenance free, and there is no dip stick to check the fluid.
I'm the original owner of the ML320, and I was waiting to trade the ML320 with 2004 E-class 4matic which I had to order and wait until Dec. This experience made me to stay away from M-B forever.
Take it to your Mercedes dealer and you may also be able to get the gouged oil pan replaced.
You may also want to know that this part is constantly being updated and is now on revision 13.
This week 6 intermittant incidents, going between 5 - 45 MPH -- hear loud clunk at 5 mph while parking, shuttering several different times at 35 on city streets, and shaking at 45 on freeway, all dry road conditions. ESP triangle and BAS/ESP warning lights appeared sometimes.
Any thoughts before we take it back to MB?
Thanks
Thanks again for your guidance.
This is really not an ML problem since the same problem exists on all Mercedes Benz products using this engine. There is a BIG difference between the old Mercedes Benz philosophy and the new. Under the old MB philosophy, if they had a problematic part, they would go ahead and replace it when it was in for servicing and you would not even know it. Under the new Mercedes Benz philosophy they do not replace it, do not recall it, and for many even refuse to admit a problem exists at all.
The crankshaft pulley on your vehicle ends with a suffix "00-00" and anyone having one of these crankshaft pulleys should have them replaced since they will come apart around 40K miles on a ML and 60K miles on a E. There are three replacement part numbers available that can be used to replace the ones suffixed "00-00." At this time it is hard to know if one is better than the other since time/mileage has not yet proven the new design with less rubber in the donut (although there are three part number all three appear identical).
It will be interesting to see how scored your oil pan is since usually when they go they cut through the oil pan requiring replacement of the pan. For do-it-yourselfers it is extremely difficult to replace the balancer since you almost need a breaker bar to get enough torque to remove the bolt and you have to be able to keep the crankshaft from turning at the same time.
Don't let them tell you that this is an unknown problem since that is what they will probably do. Appeal it to the MB zone service representative if you have to. Mercedes should be recalling these vehicles since, as you stated, the results could be very dangerous. At present, many people who are experiencing this problem are reporting it to the NHTSA on their website in an effort to force Mercedes into a recall. I suggest that you consider this action also.
What a nightmare!! Here I thought I moving up in the class of vehicle I drove, what a mistake. My wife spends more time at the dealer than at home. I am meeting with the service Mgr. I want to get rid of this hunk of junk. Any advice for negotiating my return of this vhicle? Do I have any recourse with getting this car possibly taken back by the dealership. I would not mind gatting a different car, possibly a used E W/ 4matic. Any advice would be appreciated.
Meanwhile, I had previoulsy gone to my local car parts dealer, purhcased a 1/2" drive 17mm hex male socket, put a breaker bar on the end of it and.... no luck. That sucker was on there tight. Subsequently, I took a section of 1" pipe put it over the breaker bar and....voila, the bolt backed off. No wonder the thing was so tight, it was literally covered from end to end in loctite. (put something thru the exisitng pulley to brace it against the engine block to keep the engine from turning over - it is a standard thread, lefty loosey). Maybe not the most professial way to do it but it came off and with no harm done.
Went back to my MB dealer, swallowed my pride, purchased the new part for $78, (Hey guess what, he had one in stock, I pictured this huge parts bin full of them, waiting for unsuspecting customers to come in and buy them so MB can make more money off this travesty) reinstalled it, put my car back together, more loctite, radiator, front brace, hoses, etc. and it works perfectly.
The scoring on the oil pan was not severe (not severe enough to be leaking oil anyway). All told about 3 hours of my time including dealer visits, and I saved about $800. Who knows how long it will hold up, and who cares because I am immediately selling this disaster.
When I look at the design of the broken part I wonder what engineering genius came up with this idea. A pulley that drives all the engine components that is connected to the crank rotor by a flimsy rubber ring. The ring was so heat damaged and cracked it practically came apart in my hands.
A very bad customer service experience indeed. Buyer beware. Anyone want a slightly used ML320?
Does anyone have any updated info on a possible fix on these two problems....
1) On almost a daily basis there will be an incident of accelerator hesitation. From a standing start you step on the gas and nothing happens...no hesitation, no chugging, no revving...nothing for perhaps two seconds. And then the vehicle takes off like normal. We use consistent gas source and it does not (after logging for a couple of months) to make any difference on temp, humidity or engine temp.
2) Much less frequently, maybe once a month or every six weeks the tranny will either suddenly shift down (like 5th- 1st) or it will not shift out of first at all.
My wife really loves this vehicle when it is working right...but it is scary to drive.
Jeff
McAllen, Texas
My wife and kids were stranded in our ML because of the crank pully problem like others. I was very suprised the MB did has not recalled this vehicle.
The Tow truck driver showed up and yelled "Crank pully!" He told me he picks up ML320s all the time with this problem. Also, he mentioned that the power steering hose breaks. Finally, he says Micheal Irvin runs out of gas all the time in his CLK.
How would MB feel knowing they got a ML320 stuck on a busy highway with the hood up and a whole family standing around? Hundreds of cars pass by and see a family stuck in the dirt!
After 40K miles here are our problems so far:
- window switches quit working.
- oil high light
- BASF/ESP light
- crank pully and damaged oil pan (stranded!)
Still unsure if I should sell this truck or risk going off warrenty next month.
Guess you got really unlucky with your ML. I say, sell it.
Although I am no fan of Diamler Chrysler, I do like my 1999 ML320 and will probably keep it for a couple of years more.
I recently bought Michelin 4x4 XPC all terrain tires for my 1999 ML320 255/65/16. Paid 150 + shipping for each tire from tire rack. Got a free JVC DVD player from Michelin. Tire rack was about 20 bucks more for the same tire.
Tony
It is always better to buy the extended warranty from the Car maker if you can.
The service at the dealership has been good, but I've had numerous problems with the ML and have had it in for service half a dozen times for "in-warranty" repairs.
i had my m class back to the shop 22 times, not long enough for lemon law, hey one time the entire handle assemby came off in my hands, the people i was with laughed i was mortified. another loved my slk 230 and wanted a flashy mercedes roadster,--hey they had nothing but problems lousy dealer pain in butt car. electrical nightmares, that your only way out is to trade it in. both my partners bought a ml 55---ooooh wow, performance mercedes, cool, ooooooh, but nightmare, both took huge hits in tradein for toyota sequoia, and caddy escalade.none of us have MB anymore. JUST NOT WORTH IT now mb is "seriously looking into quality" geeee its about time. those that afford to buy MB can also afford not to. buyer beware.
ML320 and they are about as perfect as a tire
gets: 65,000 warranty, superbly quiet, superb
road feel and tracking under all conditions. These are $150 at Sam's Club, and you'll need to
order them in.
Warranty: we almost, but did not, buy a warranty from Warranty Gold, whos underwriter went under
per the prior posting. I did quite a bit of internet-based research and this company and its underwriter looked good.... decent ratings on both and no problems with BBB, or anything else that I could find. I guess one hint was that they were hungry negotiators, knocking the price
down a few hundred (to about $2,000 for 100K/4 years), bumping up the coverage to "platinum"
(ie, exclusion-type coverage), and going to free
zero deductable. This was about 60% less than the
coverage offered by the dealer's $3,200 product.
Is it worth buying an ML?
First, the consumer ratings I recently read showed that the ML wasn't great but not bad on
reliability ratings. Here at Edmunds, the Lexus RX has 2,336 general posts and 24 problem posts versus the ML which has 7,292 general posts and
203 problem posts. Hence, on the surface the RX
has a problem post rate of 1% and the ML has a problem post rate of 3%. I don't believe this means the ML has 3 times the problems of the RX, but it seems to make a case that, a) ML owners are several times more likely to make a post than an RX owner (I believe that there are more RX's sold than ML's and yet we see many more ML general posts), b) we now own a Lexus LS and the ML, and even though both dealerships are owned by the same family, the Lexus "treatment" is noticably better than the MB "treatment", so I think the poorer dealership experience contributes to the bad karma of the ML, and c)many ML posts under "problems" are followed by several responses (like this one!) In the end,
I'd venture a guess that the ML sees about
a third more problems than the RX, and that the
MB headset at corporate and the dealer add another third to the perception of problems.
Last, the ML is just plain different from the RX: truck frame, off-road, handling, tax benefit if used for business, utility, and safety. For me the ML is a better choice, but I could easily see why someone would choose the RX... I'd like to see a third of my problems go away and have a better dealer experience, but I don't want to give up my ML to do it.
98 ml320 70k miles
when hard accelerating upshifting hesitates from 2-3rd
and it hangs at 3800rpm and struggles to go above 55-58mph
moderate acceleration, not apreciable delays or weird upshifts but worries me if i have to hard pass someone, regular driving nothing noticable
if i manually shift and hard accelerate similar problem
help but not with manual shifting and moderate hard acceleration, Hmmmmm
sidenote--i'll never buy another MB product again--period i would have done better with a ford or chevy, jd powers and consumer reports agrees. MB says they are really working at this--BIG DEAL they are losing their base, i suggest audi, toyota, honda etc, not MB
will drive this "very average" vehicle for another 3-4 months then a minivan i was hoping to drive this till next fall may not be able to, if this thing needs a new trans ill donate it to goodwill, i'm not putting another dime--if its simple adjustment ok but if big $$$forget it
Ref---#204 this 98 had more problems than other years, my friends ml55 were the first 2 years they were out, they wont buy another MB product either, so out of 3 vehicles the re-purchase rate is 0, thats' 100% won't buy again Hey what i said was my and my associates opinion just beware
It's the right size for us--good all around vehicle that tows, handles well, has incredible braking (275s on all four corners and big rotors), very powerful because of the 325 ft. lbs. of torque at less than 3k rpm, built like a vault safety, a good tour car and daily driver, room for animals and lots of cargo, plenty of room in the back seat for passenger comfort (the A/C and ventilation system on our '03 has a huge volume and offers backseat passengers a lot of air), and of course, a very worthy off-road vehicle--it's good to know it (the ML430) is built well enough to take on and win Paris to Dakar, year after year. We don't take our ML into the outback but appreciate the four wheel drive once a year in the snow and appreciate its sure-footedness in rainy conditions.
You'll be interested to read the Ward's yearly review when they made their 10 best engine picks of the year for 2002: for what you get, you'll read that they think the ML500 offers a very good value. the link is: http://waw.wardsauto.com/ar/auto_wards_ten_best/
You might want the Xenon light option; I think you will like it a lot better than the halogens.
for whatever reason my transmission "hesitation" with hard acceleration has diminished somewhat, i hope it was some fleeting gremlin never to reappear. but expensive to maintain, i wont buy another MB product. MB needs to get dvd base navigation and get rid of all the "command module" buttons tooo confusing
is this something i could do myself, and reletively easy???
if so i found a place selling it online for $211
what do you think
Our dealer has said MB folks from both Houston and San Fran have been to fix...but here we sit.
Have contacted (in writing) MBUSA both the second and third time...all we have gotten back is a form letter.
Does anyone have any other ideas on how to deal with MBUSA? We did sent a Texas Lemon Law notice back when it went in November...and another last week.
Getting Some Lemon-Aid From Your Lemon Maker