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Sedans Mercedes-Benz E-Class Mercedes-Benz E-Class Maintenance and Repair
1094 messages, Last post on Oct 21, 2009 at 5:02 PM
You are in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: ccmbduong1 (Dec 23, 2006 4:14 am)
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Replying to: hawkeyes2 (Nov 20, 2006 4:04 pm) I haven't logged in for a few weeks and I've missed a lot of good stuff that I can relate to. First, there are some generic things to worry about on a used MB. Both of mine needed front end rubber bushings on tie rod ends and sway bars in the 70-80 K miles range. Since both of my cars had Starmark, that repair was free. It can run as high as $1100 for replacement of ALL bushings in the front end. Symptom is a thunk in the front end as you go over small pavement cracks, etc. Others have mentioned brakes and rotors. I think I've found a solution to the fast wear and the excessive dust on the wheels. A year ago I bought PB brand pads and rotors for the front end and they work as well as the MB brake parts and with almost NO dust. I've only had to wash my wheels every 3-4 months instead of every 2-3 weeks..! And the parts cost about half what the MB parts cost. I bought them from Smitty's Parts Service on the web. I just put the same stuff on the rear and expect the same results. I don't know yet if they will last much longer than the OEM parts, but for the lack of dust and for the lower cost, I am happy so far.. I had all the brake parts installed by a local mechanic for a lot less than the MB dealer's labor charge too..! And since you're looking at a 99, you shouldn't have to worry too much about head gaskets. My 96 needed a head gasket at 115K miles which was 30K miles earlier than normal for the straight six. (It is a design defect on that engine!) As far as I know, the V6 is very reliable; I've heard nothing bad about it so far.. My '01 does have a few more gremlins of the electrical type than the 96 did, but it does have more stuff to go wrong. Nothing serious so far but every once in a while when I open the drivers door, the alarm goes off even though the door was NOT locked!! And gee, even if it were locked how would I be able to open it? This has happened 6 or 7 times in the last year and the dealer replaced a door switch, but it has done it 2 more times since then. Good luck on your hunt for a clean one..! Fred |
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Replying to: tnguyen17 (Dec 01, 2006 8:18 am) This might be a big part of your problem.. |
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Replying to: jodar96 (Dec 05, 2006 6:51 pm) I had searched the internet for cheaper converters and asked my mechanic about them. His advice is to stay away from them because the 3rd party ones don't have the full load of precious metals needed to last for a reasonable time. He did a cheap one for a customer last year and in 3 months it had gone bad and then the customer had to pay for the OEM part anyway. I had forgotten that the left side converter was replaced by the dealer under warranty at around 65K miles. My 96 had never needed a converter when I finally sold it at 140K miles. Converters are just one more item that MB has chosen to cheapen up...!
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Replying to: microrepair (Dec 27, 2006 5:05 pm) The service manager said that just because one was bad that does not mean the other one will go bad....Oh well, both of yours went bad. I am glad they replaced mine under warranty. I need to start saving my money for the time when the other one goes bad!! I doubt MB cheapened the part. The part supplier could have had raw material/processing issues. Joe
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Replying to: jodar96 (Dec 28, 2006 9:15 am) You mention aftermarket bulbs; I just discovered yesterday that NAPA dealers carry a lot of the weird bulbs for MB's. You can save enough for 2 cups of coffee on each bulb..
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Replying to: ray_h1 (Dec 23, 2006 10:18 am)
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Replying to: microrepair (Jan 05, 2007 2:43 pm)
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Replying to: ccmbduong1 (Jan 06, 2007 1:45 pm) Having a trusted mechanic check it out for you is likely your best bet. My own guess is that you've got a relatively minor gasket leak somewhere. Nuisance stuff - maybe even somewhat involved* to get to and fix, but nothing catastrophic. *Hey, it's a Benz - if there's a more complicated way to do something simple, Daimler-Benz will eventually discover and implement it... 
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I have now sold my 2002 E320. So relieved. It has been nothing but trouble that car. I kept taking it back to the dealer for repairs and replacement of parts. Luckily I hadn't needed to pay a cent as repairs were covered under warranty. But the inconvenience of taking it there so often, on average once or more every 2 months, the receptionist learnt my first name for seeing me too often. I will never ever buy a Mercedes  .
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