Mercedes Benz and AMG Owners

[MouthBoy]

I am unsure if anyone else has used them, but if you're in the general area then I fully recommend Avantgarde Automotive for servicing.

https://www.avantgarde-automotive.co.uk/servicing-and-repairs/mercedes-servicing-bristol/

They have serviced my car since my Dad used to own it from 5000 miles and it is now on 80k and still feels perfect. I travel 180 mile round trip each service as I know they never screw me over and are very honest with everything they do.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

https://www.distintoclassics.com/ve...g-Gt-S-For-Sale-Distinto-Cars---Classics-U70/

What's the biggest issue buying an imported car? You seem to get a lot for your money.

 

[Greebo]

https://www.distintoclassics.com/ve...g-Gt-S-For-Sale-Distinto-Cars---Classics-U70/

What's the biggest issue buying an imported car? You seem to get a lot for your money.

Varies from car to car as some imports have different bits fitted and even different parts used. no idea on Mercs though.

Only other thing is that are always worth less when coming to selling them and some people wont buy an import and some insurers wont insure imports or add a premium. Warranties can be an issue as well. That was my experience years ago.

Thats a lovely specced car btw.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Varies from car to car as some imports have different bits fitted and even different parts used. no idea on Mercs though.

Only other thing is that are always worth less when coming to selling them and some people wont buy an import and some insurers wont insure imports or add a premium. Warranties can be an issue as well. That was my experience years ago.

Thats a lovely specced car btw.

To be honest it wouldn’t be bought to be sold, certainly not in any imminent time frame. That did cross my mind though.

 

[Steedie]

Had a weird one yesterday with the C63, driving along the A34, I was in manual mode with the paddles, as I mostly am these days. Just going up a bit of a hill after Newbury, and an EML flashed for a few seconds then stayed on, didn't notice anything at first then when I went to accelerate, the car would gently shake. Luckily was coming up to a junction anyway, so pulled over and sat at idle and it felt and sounded wrong so switched it off. Switched it back on again and it was fine, and has been ever since. Driven about 40 miles since.

I know a technician at Mercedes Reading, so went there at 7am this morning and he ran the diagnostic tool for me, no error codes were thrown which was bizarre and nothing showing out of the ordinary.

The only thing I can think of is being in 9th gear at the time, because I was talking to my daughter, I might not have noticed the revs were too low and the car and as I went to go up the hill, for whatever reason didn't drop a gear (like it usually does even in manual mode) and it kind of fell in to some kind of anti-stall or just half crapped out and couldn't get going. I did drop a few gears at the time it was doing it before turning off but it didn't make a difference, so maybe not. But just seems weird that the EML came on but no error codes were thrown.

As I say, drove 40 odd miles yesterday, absolutely fine, and the drive to Reading this morning, another 30 odd miles there and back and no issues at all. I was giving it some on the way there as well just to see if anything would come up, and nothing.

Still got me feeling a bit nervous though

 

[Housey]

Sounds like the car went into a limp mode. Mine did the same thing when I hit the rev limiter (caused by gears not selecting on hard acceleration and my lack of readiness). It feels like the car drops a bank of cylinders and the throttle is 30% active. You put your foot down and it goes really slow, as you mention feels like it judders a bit and emissions lights come on. Turn it off and on and back to normal and nothing stored in the service messages etc.

 

[Steedie]

Sounds like the car went into a limp mode. Mine did the same thing when I hit the rev limiter (caused by gears not selecting on hard acceleration and my lack of readiness). It feels like the car drops a bank of cylinders and the throttle is 30% active. You put your foot down and it goes really slow, as you mention feels like it judders a bit and emissions lights come on. Turn it off and on and back to normal and nothing stored in the service messages etc.

Interesting! Yeah, I'm hoping it's something like that and there's no damage done or something more sinister going on.

 

[panthro]

My car is due a service A at the beginning of Dec. Not sure if I should go specialist or main dealer. It's already had 1 specialist service and it's all recorded electronically these days. I know a couple of good specialists around here but have no experience or either Reading or Ascot, which are my nearest main dealers.

 

[Bear]

My car is due a service A at the beginning of Dec. Not sure if I should go specialist or main dealer. It's already had 1 specialist service and it's all recorded electronically these days. I know a couple of good specialists around here but have no experience or either Reading or Ascot, which are my nearest main dealers.

If the specialist has access to the service database then apart from the free recovery you get from the dealer servicing (obviously reflected in the dealer prices) then there isn’t much to be gained, if the service history already shows it has been serviced by a specialist, although I thought the service record just shows it’s been serviced not by whom

 

[dlockers]

Mercedes Service Plan sign-up experience so far - not great, but vastly improved today. I begun a couple of weeks ago submitting the form, expecting an eager dealer to ring me to get my juicy cash and commitment to 2 years of direct debits. Nothing.

Called this morning and the lady at the dealer was a bit perplexed, however about 3 minutes later the phone buzzed again. Lady from servicing said she can get me booked in, with a courtesy car on the 3rd of December and I can return on the Sunday. She also said she would setup the Service Plan, and that it was easier to cancel then to 'start a new one' so I went for the 3 services over 3 years (I had intended 2 over 2, but in all likelihood I'll be keeping this car for a while if I can).

So the upcoming service which includes air filter and spark plugs is £650 or cash outlay for me: £42. Seems like a no brainer really.

 

[Bear]

Mercedes Service Plan sign-up experience so far - not great, but vastly improved today. I begun a couple of weeks ago submitting the form, expecting an eager dealer to ring me to get my juicy cash and commitment to 2 years of direct debits. Nothing.

Called this morning and the lady at the dealer was a bit perplexed, however about 3 minutes later the phone buzzed again. Lady from servicing said she can get me booked in, with a courtesy car on the 3rd of December and I can return on the Sunday. She also said she would setup the Service Plan, and that it was easier to cancel then to 'start a new one' so I went for the 3 services over 3 years (I had intended 2 over 2, but in all likelihood I'll be keeping this car for a while if I can).

So the upcoming service which includes air filter and spark plugs is £650 or cash outlay for me: £42. Seems like a no brainer really.

You could have signed up for the service plan on the Mercedes site and paid for it there if I recall?

edit: I recalled incorrectly and you were right

 

[dlockers]

You could have signed up for the service plan on the Mercedes site and paid for it there if I recall?

It's a façade. It just sends an email to the dealer with your phone number, lol. Maybe true if you just want to pay upfront but the direct debit cost was the same.

 

[tom_nieto]

Has anyone got any experience with the W212 E class? Both the saloon and the coupe seem suspiciously good value at the moment and seem like a good place to spend mile munching.

Any particular issues with the 220/250 diesel?

Have these all got air suspension?

Any other tips?

Thanks!

 

[dlockers]

Very disappointed to discover my E43 does not have heated washer jets, at 70mph on the M1 at 0630 and -3.5 celcius today

 

[Gaygle]

Very disappointed to discover my E43 does not have heated washer jets, at 70mph on the M1 at 0630 and -3.5 celcius today

Have you got the options list for your car? If it has code 875 it has a heated washer system whereby in classic Mercedes overcomplication the washer bottle has a heat exchanger attached to it which connects to the coolant system.

The other thing you're going to have to look at is the concentration of your washer fluid. -3.5 celcius shouldn't be anywhere near cold enough to freeze washer fluid which has been mixed in the right concentration.

 

[dlockers]

Have you got the options list for your car? If it has code 875 it has a heated washer system whereby in classic Mercedes overcomplication the washer bottle has a heat exchanger attached to it which connects to the coolant system.

The other thing you're going to have to look at is the concentration of your washer fluid. -3.5 celcius shouldn't be anywhere near cold enough to freeze washer fluid which has been mixed in the right concentration.

Had a look through on MBDecoder, looks like it wasn't fitted (searched the code and roughly matching words). I use readymix. It was the nozzles themselves freezing, rather than the tank itself. It was OK, then a dribble, then nothing - as I progressively got further and further north.

It is going in for service on Friday so I'll ask them to take a look.

 

[Gaygle]

Had a look through on MBDecoder, looks like it wasn't fitted (searched the code and roughly matching words). I use readymix. It was the nozzles themselves freezing, rather than the tank itself. It was OK, then a dribble, then nothing - as I progressively got further and further north.

It is going in for service on Friday so I'll ask them to take a look.

A Merc E43 will have heated nozzles as standard as these have been standard on much lower down cars for the last 15-20 years. If they're not working it might be a fuse? The heated washer bottle is probably an option for cars in much colder climates. I mix my washer fluid to the -12c spec on the bottle and it's never frozen. I find the best stuff is the OEM manufacturer stuff, which is expensive to buy concentrated, but it goes so far as it can be diluted down so works out almost the same as cheap crap supermarket stuff. The BMW stuff is particularly good, it's about £17 delivered for 5 litres and comes as -63c neat. As a result can be diluted right down to easily create 30 litres of fluid, and as the added bonus that it doesn't cause your washer jets to block up like supermarket stuff.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273155024251?epid=14043026419&hash=item3f994ee57b:g:KxAAAOSwubFajUDS

 

[dlockers]

A Merc E43 will have heated nozzles as standard as these have been standard on much lower down cars for the last 15-20 years. If they're not working it might be a fuse? The heated washer bottle is probably an option for cars in much colder climates. I mix my washer fluid to the -12c spec on the bottle and it's never frozen. I find the best stuff is the OEM manufacturer stuff, which is expensive to buy concentrated, but it goes so far as it can be diluted down so works out almost the same as cheap crap supermarket stuff. The BMW stuff is particularly good, it's about £17 delivered for 5 litres and comes as -63c neat. As a result can be diluted right down to easily create 30 litres of fluid, and as the added bonus that it doesn't cause your washer jets to block up like supermarket stuff.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273155024251?epid=14043026419&hash=item3f994ee57b:g:KxAAAOSwubFajUDS

I had hoped as such (having retrofitted the Mondeo kit to a 2002 Fiesta ). I'll give the posh stuff a go, I had stuck to the simple B&Q stuff placed by the door.

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

Just signed up for the pay monthly service thing.

Apparently my next service is due now, including a Brake Fluid Change, Fuel Filter and Air Filter System. Total £717

Wonder if they'll include those on the service if i pay monthly. Waiting for a call back from Oxford Dealership.

 

[dlockers]

Just signed up for the pay monthly service thing.

Apparently my next service is due now, including a Brake Fluid Change, Fuel Filter and Air Filter System. Total £717

Wonder if they'll include those on the service if i pay monthly. Waiting for a call back from Oxford Dealership.

Did you read literally any of the documentation?

I ask in a facetious way because I had the exact same question and just answered it myself by reading the T&Cs.

(Short cut for you as I like doing home work for other people: yes they are, as long as they are on the electronic service schedule).