Mercedes-Benz C-Class Wagons (C240 & C320)

elayne · November 2003

I'm on Day 24 waiting for my new C240 Wagon's SRS system to be corrected. Parts (the Curtain) has to come from Germany. First it was one code, they fixed it, then after 15 miles, the light came on again took it in and they said it was the "Loom" they ordered that part, then they put than in, they drove it for 15 miles on my request, it coded again, then it was the air bag, had to be trucked in from the east coast, they put that in, then it coded again and now I'm waiting for the Curtain to come from Germany. Has anyone had SRS problems with this CAR. I love my car, but I' worried I have a LEMON. HELP!

nedzel · November 2003

Lemon laws vary from state to state. In MA, one provision of the law is that if the car is out of service for X days, then it can be declared a lemon. Check your state's law to see the particulars. Your Attorney General's office can probably point you towards the lemon law procedures.

vygerfish · December 2003

My wife owns a 2002 MB c320 wagon. It has about 22,000 miles. I love to drive this car and mostly drive it like an idiot when my wife & kid are not in the car. I am really impressed with the performance.

The car has been in twice for preventive maintenance and twice for problems. I had the sway bar come loose; a gas cap problem, and a loose latch on the tailgate. This is more initial quality defects than I have experienced on other cars. I think that the car was probably overpriced but this car really targeted our needs and wants. I would buy another one and be more of a stickler on the price. If I have another kid I'll seriously consider the E-class.

The dealer has been really great.

I am posting to find out if anyone out there has tried to put a trailer hitch on this thing. I would like to tow my #1,000 sailboat with the car and travel all over the midwest with the boat with an annual trip to FL. My other car is a 2001 Isuzu trooper but I would rather use this car as the other is a high miler.

Please advise. I have found only one manufacturer ( Dalan ) and no wiring kit. The installation involves removing the rear bumper and drilling holes in the frame.

Thanks,

MTG

paul_p · December 2003

I had the same issue on a 1995 C-Class sedan, wanted to tow light things and investigated installing a trailer hitch. It was not recommended to do so by my MB dealer in NJ, though it was not expressly prohibited - they said there were shops that would do it. However, they told me doing so would void the warranty, and if I had any related repair issues (i.e., transmission, suspension, differential) I would end up paying for them.

I played it safe and chose to buy a mini-pickup instead, which became my daily driver and now is approaching 200,000 miles. It's one of the best decisions I ever made.

- P.

talkbenz · December 2003

New Mercedes owner report - 2004 c240 4matic wagon. With Sunroof and CD player. I've driven it about 800 miles, mostly city. Overall MPG is 18.5 so far. 25 MPG for pure highway driving. I drive with ski/bike rack on the roof (yakima) so that may be causing a bit of drag at higher speeds. Have seen some posts suggesting mileage improves a bit after several thousand miles.

Interior is leather on front seats only. Seems just fine. I could see how a tall person might find his/her head bumping up against roof around the sunroof fixtures - likely no probs if 6 ft or under.

No maintenance issues so far. Well, I Left the gas cap in the slot on the filler door at the first fill - the check engine light came on for a couple of days but then cleared itself.

The car is especially at home at highway speeds. Impressive acceleration starting at 30 mph and up. Fine acceleration at lower speeds, just not as good as at the higher speeds. I'd looked at Audi and VW wagons but ended up with the c-class at least in part because they aren't quite so common on the road. The usable rear luggage area with back seat down is meaningfully bigger than friend's Subaru Legacy. I also liked it the C-class had a bit higher ground clearance - that's an issue trying to reach ski areas when ski conditions are best.

I'll see how things go as the weather kicks in this winter, but very pleased so far with the 4matic option and the whole car.

2004s come standard with heated front seats. No manuals available in the wagons, at least for now, was my understanding.

s852 · February 2004

I don't see a dedicated message board.
How does the C 240 wagon compare to the BMW 325 wagon as far as features, performance and price on 2 WD and AWD models?
I know the C has at least a couple more years this body style, whereas the 2005 BMW will be in its last year before redesign.

timai · February 2004

Does this sound familiar to anyone else or is it just my luck? I'm leasing a 2002 C320 wagon that has been plauged with problems: 2 differentials replaced, main sensor unit replaced, right outside mirror replaced, fuel sensor replaced, air condition temp control replaced, oil sensor replaced, turn signals (R & L) replaced...still having problems with the "excess oil" warning light. It has been in the shop 11 days in the last 2 weeks! The dealer and corporate insist these problems are all "normal" and will not consider it a lemon, in fact, corporate will not return my phone calls or emails. Currently have had this piece of junk for 25 months and have about 28k miles and have had problems since 997 miles. Please relate any similar experiences or good advice!!

vygerfish · February 2004

My wife drives a 2002 C320 Wagon sport edition, now with 23,000 miles on it. I have previously posted once before regarding trailer hitch for this car. Although I still love to drive this car I am becoming more disgusted with the nagging problems. My experience seems to coincide with timai. I have had a sway bar replaced, a gas cap replaced, parts of the interior trim have fallen off, the rear tailgate latch nearly fell off, the front turn signal wiring replaced, a stepper motor in the HVAC replaced, and the car treated to remove a funny smell coming from the HVAC system. These problems are extremely aggravating and I vow every time that I will never buy another MB product and that I will sell this one as soon as the warranty is up.

Then I drive the car and fall in love with the way it moves all over again. On the positive side the dealer does a really nice job with the repair and provides a loaner when my car is in for service ( frequent ). I am very particular about maintenance and cleanliness of my cars and have previously done all the work myself on all my cars. I have never been able to tell that the car was repaired when returned to me. The car is consistently spotless and returned to me in better condition than when it left the factory. This means no squeaks or rattles or trim panels or anything left such that you can tell it was taken apart. I even let the dealer detail this car and was really impressed.

In the end I'm not sure what I'll do when the warranty is up. I vow in the meantime to be as big a pain in the [non-permissible content removed] as possible by immediately calling the dealer if anything goes wrong. I figure that I'm costing them a lot of money evertime I bring the car in and therefore maybe will get their attention to their build quality and design issues. I think that this is a great and safe car to drive that has been designed to be overcomplicated. As with anything complicated it is likely to break at some point.

Good luck with your problems.

MTG

gogomikey01 · December 2004

Bought a 2003 C240 4matic wagon in July, certified with 24,500 miles on it. I drive roughy 900 miles per week, this car now has almost 36,000 miles. Have not had one problem or complaint to date. Its quick, quiet, and very solid in every aspect. It drives like a sports car. Service calls are painless, dealer is great. Getting between 26-27 mpg on the highway, which is mostly what I drive at 75+mph. Just bought a second one this month, certified with 19,000 miles for my wife as she liked the first one so much.

c320s · December 2004

Same here. Got a 2004 C320 4matic wagon. Sweet little car. I chauffeur the kids back & forth from college. Gas mileage is great. As good as 29mpg in an empty car w/2 people. The wagon got a little scratched-up. Needed to replace the fender and moldings. Now, it looks great, again. They did an excellent job on the desert silver paint as they tell me it's a difficult paint to match. For the next car, I'd like to get the SLK350. :-)

thedoob · February 2005

Got my 240C wagon with 4matic 12 months ago. First couple of months the car hesitated so badly when starting from a stop, or low speed, that I thought it had stalled. The dealer gave me all sorts of BS about the car learning how I drive, etc....several service visits later I finally went directly to the service mgr, and he said...oh yeah, it's a common problem...so they 're-charged' the computer, and it has been perfect ever since. I think the heat/ac controls are primitive..much better in the 320...also resent the fact that the seats are partly manual and non-heated( so I've been forced to get sheepskins). My best mileage has been 24 on the highway. I find the driving experience good, with plenty of extra power at speed, but a bit sluggish when leaving the toll booth. All in all, I like the car, but regret not having gotten a 320.

myporie · April 2005

Hi
I am looking to buy maybe a 2001 MB C240. Can anyone give me some insight on this car. Thanks

charlesp · May 2005

Morning all, to introduce ourselves.

Have had our 2004 since late Jun 25, 2004, Mfd in Feb 2004 w/documented US dealer receipt inspection w/12 miles on Odo, the same month. Essentially trouble free use for the past 11 months except for having an automatic transmission programming problem after owning it for two weeks. Part had to come from Germany, so my wife drove around in a dealer provided Enterprise leased MBZ for about a week.
Just had our first A service about 700 miles before the computer said it was needed (done at 12,292 miles), Cost $0.00, after reset, the computer says we have 10K to go before the first B service. Since our car was covered by the computer driven maintenance service schedule, there was no free 1000 mile inspection.
Dealer has been very good on a couple of warranty issues: replaced the pull out rear cargo cover because a plastic part broke off, the replacement shade doesn't retract with as much force so I think MBZ changed something in their newer shades; replaced one of those little black plastic edges at the top of the black trim on the door pilar, our detailer caught it in his cleaning materials and broke off about half the piece; and of course fixed the transmission problem.

Mileage: My wife uses this for real estate, so she gets a lot of in town use. Averaging 20mpg in and around town and 26 on road trips to Tucson from Las Vegas to visit grandkids.

Now to my question. Gave the dealer a list of things to fix while the car was in for the A service, couldn't verify a couple (rattle in left shoulder belt fitting right at my left ear while driving at speed on highway -- that goes a way a while when you beat on the plastic covering) and squeek behind radio (that I don't hear but my wife does.) One other thing we mentioned was that the sunroof rain sensor didn't work. How did we know, because one time when we had an infrequent rain and my wife had parked the car with the sunroof open, the car was rained on and of course got quite wet inside.

Their response, we don't have a rain sensor so there was nothing they could fix.

Went back and pulled out my window sticker and confirmed that sure enough we'd paid for a "value added package #324 Sunroof package w/ autodimming Dr & Rrvw Mirror, Rain Sensor, Glass Sunroof".

Before I go screaming back to the dealer, maybe I just don't know how the sunroof rain sensor works. I can't find instructions anywhere in all my documents and manuals and the MBZ site is also silent.

Can anyone tell me the conditions under which the rain sensor is supposed to work and how?

Chuck Parker, Las Vegas, NV

beaur · May 2005

Chuck,

While I am not 100% sure i believe what you paid for was a rain sensor for the windshield wipers. This sensor is most likely located in the rear view mirror assembly. The sensor activates the wipers when it detects rain and varys their speed based on the amount of rain.

Far as i know there isn't a rain sensor in the sunroof.

billp8 · May 2005

...I have it on my 2000 C sedan (it was part of package C1, which at the time included headlight wipers and washers and rain sensor). The "rain sensor" does indeed regulate the windshield wipers. I have found it to be a great feature, particularly on long trips where the precip changes from none to light to heavy. At least you didn't have cloth seats!

charlesp · May 2005

Have come to conclusion you are all correct. Re-read again the stuff in the owners manual and the windows sticker, for the 2004 the rain sensor controls the wipers. I understand for the 2005MY a software change was made which allowed the rain sensor in the windshield to ALSO close the sunroof if it started raining --- BUT ONLY IF THE CAR IS RUNNING.

Since Nissan has figured out a way to keep the rain sensor live while the car is parked, locked and not running, and close the sunroof if it starts to rain; I thought maybe Mercedes' rain sensor had competitive capabilities.

Thanks for all the insight.

Chuck

seaudio123 · June 2005

OK, I have a C220 CDI T Model. 1999 with 100,000 miles (160TKM) I'm no longer going to Mercedes service and want to be able to reset the service indicator. No steering wheel controls. I tried using the dashboard button the the left. Selected the wrench after it had returned to mileage, held down the bottom button until it was gone. On re start or re select it still reads -1000 KM and comes on automatically when the car is started. (?)

seaudio123 · June 2005

C220 CDI T 1999.
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.

xbmw · October 2005

I love our 2002 C320 wagon! It has 40,000 miles, and I enjoyed every minute my wife gave me a chance to drive it. However, I started--like about a month ago--feeling a pulsation each time I would apply the brakes, and it got to the point where I just had to take it to the shop. My dealer (BRUMOS Motorcars) stated that this is relatively "normal" in this type of vehicle, and that (of course...) this is not a warranty item ("normal" wear and tear...). This joke is gonna cost me $500.00 plus, for it entails replacing the rotors (front), plus all the pads and sensors. Has anyone else experienced this before? I just sold a 3-series BMW (E-46) about a month ago with 80,000 miles, and nothing like this ever happened to my loyal 323I. I'll appreciate any comments, ...or at least some sympathy.

cneff · October 2005

Hi xbmw,

It can be common depending on your braking habits, hard vs soft braking. Be pleased you reached 40K before they needed to be taken care of. What has happened is your rotors became warped, most likely the front. This is due mostly to heat build up under hard braking. Most cars just get them re-surfaced for $100 and you are on your way, however, on "performance" cars they recommend replacing them as a resurface job thins them a bit more making them more susceptible to warping again. The dealer is not doing wrong, just what they are told. However, I do recommend taking it for a 2nd opinion and see what they say, if it is not very bad a resurface could work especially if you plan on replacing the car soon. If you plan to keep the car then get the rotors replaced - of course if the shimmy is bad get it replaced right away

Some Brands of cars warp easily some don't, I've had a couple C classes (2004 C320 4matic Wagon is current) and they all had warp issues, my ML never warped.

Good luck!!

nedzel · November 2005

I have to agree. It's not all that unusual to have to replace brake rotors after 40,000 miles.

gyahiaoui · December 2005

Hello

Rain sensors problems are very complicated to fix anyway. Indeed, the system has dozens of parameters + the way it is sticked on the windscreen may vary with temperature, ...
I know this problem cause i work in the wiping systems test field (see http://www.nexyad.com): i provide a testing machine that allows to test, tune, and check (in case of customer's negative feedback)a complete wiping system (rubbers, motors, windscreen, rain sensor, "intelligent" software, ...). Before the existence of this tool, the only way to test a rain sensor/wiping system was ... to wait for the rain and see :-)
That is why we should be a little more patient about these systems : they should increase their efficiency soon.

fitness · December 2005

The lease on my 2001 C240 expires next March and I need to replace it with a C class 4matic wagon (possibly Certified Pre-owned). Does anyone have accleration figures for 2004 C240 & C320 4matic?I need 0-60,0-30 and 50-70 (highway passing). I assume a 2005 240 would be the same as a 2004.
Thank you.

bb5 · December 2005

I have a 2004 c240 4 matic wagon. I've seen official numbers on European dealer sites showing 9.3 seconds for 0-100km per hour - I think that translates to around 9 seconds for 0-60 mph. The car though is very, very strong in the 50-70 mph acceleration task. Sorry, I don't have actual figures, just reporting on the driving experience. Also just a fantastic car at highway, and high highway speeds.

I hear mpg is essentially the same if you have the larger engine, so if $ not an issue, and you can find one in 4 matic, the low end acceleration will probably be better if that's an issue for you.

Not sure what will happen to the number of these on the market given I understand Mercedes has decided not to sell the 2006 version in the U.S. (though it's available in the rest of the world).

mav7 · July 2006

MTG, anybody,

Would you guys mind posting the items needed for the Schedule B and schedule A maintenance and at what intervals. I recently purchased 2003 C320 wagon, but it did not come with maintenance booklet. I tried searching the web without any luck. Need some help. Thanks, Mav7

xbmw · August 2006

Hi Mav7,
A late reply, but you'll find your the answer to your question at > (under "SERVICES"). BRUMOS is the official Benz dealer here in NE Florida.
Good luck!
x-BMW

xbmw · August 2006

Their website is "brumosmercedesbenz.com
x-BMW

bmw318iman · February 2009

I believe this rattle can be explained by a similar experience I had on my BMW 318i.
The front brake calipers run on pins to allow them to grip the rotor and then release, To make this a smooth operation they run in rubber sleeves held in position inside the caliper. When these rubbers wear enough it allows the pins to ground on the metal caliper. It seems the slower you pass over a bump, the louder the rattling becomes. The answer is to replace those rubbers as greasing does not cure the problem. The rubbers are available as far as the BMW is concerned, but the MERC, I'm not sure. To confirm this jack up the front of the car, remove the wheel, and bang the caliper with the meaty "heal" of your hand (fist clenched), if it rattles, that's your problem.

catyc · February 2012

Regarding Brumos... Buyer BEWARE!! I went to Brumos 2 years ago to replace a $2200 sensor and 4 months ago, the same sensor went out and yep - you guessed it... They want to charge me again for the part, service and labor! There is a shop called Jerry's Mercedes Benz and BMW in St. Augustine and one thing I can say for this guy is, he seems to be honest and fairly priced. I was driving to Orlando and it sounded like my engine blew and the car shut down - there was a good bit of work and parts I had to buy and the guy only charged me $800!! If I would have gone to Brumos, chances are it would have been 2 - 3 times that and would have had to pay for it to be done again within a couple of years... If I have problems with my car, the owner of Jerry's (his name isn't Jerry) will troubleshoot with me over the phone before suggesting that I bring the car in - that's a good guy and someone who has my business especially after being RIPPED by Brumos! If we, the consumer pay for someone to do a job and that job wasn't done properly or if they use inferior parts, the consumer shouldnt be stuck paying for it twice. Bad business! This is just what happened to me and I'm sure some people have had a great experience. One Brumos service advisor told me that they would do the labor for free since it was a part they replaced. I took time away from my job for my appointment and the guy wouldn't see or talk to me... I've called him and left voicemails and no return call??? When I showed up for my appointment a lady service advisor took my appointment and told me that Brumos was not willing to honor what I was told by the other advisor... Sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes went back and forth for 2 hours and left with nothing... Still no return call or apology from Brumos. But the lady advisor told me if I ever have any problems with my car that she would be very happy to help! (Chuckle)... Oh, and another funny thing that happened to me while having some service done at Brumos - a customer (he must have been very wealthy) asked his Brumos service advisor to call me and ask if it would be alright for him to have my phone number???? Are you freaking kidding me???

Kirstie_H · February 2012

The best way to review a dealership is here:
http://www.edmunds.com/dealer-reviews/

This forum has people from all over the world participating in it. If you post a dealership review, it will be seen by those looking for a dealership in their local area.

Mercedes-Benz C-Class Wagons (C240 & C320)

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