Mercedes E class MOT failure <sob>

MadMan-JaMeS said:
When is the MOT ?

I would be careful welding it, and wait till MB replace it if you can.

Never know they might try and wriggle out of it, if you have it welded saying it voids the warranty or some rubbish.
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MOT expires on 11th January. I expect to hear back from Mercedes
Farnborough in the next couple of days, if the result is positive for me but there is a significant delay in the work being done I will clear it with them first if I want to get it welded to get an MOT.
I don't think that warranty comes into the equation, in fact I've been told to avoid mentioning that word but to use the term goodwill instead.
 
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They’ve already inspected it and forwarded a report to MB.
Welding it won’t make a difference to the claim as they scrap the old subframe after it’s been replaced with new and it doesn’t get returned to MB.
 
Ahh fair enough.

Hopefully you hear back pretty soon. When mine was done they found the hole, then got back to me within a week about it being replaced. Though they did still have the car in the mean time as they did the Oil Cooler seals for me too !
 
Does this affect the E coupe C207 or only the saloon W212?

Mine had the video walk around under the car when it was in for an MOT during the summer. The report didn't highlight any issues, car is an early 2017 reg.
 
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Hurrah!
Good news.

I spoke to a customer on Friday who’d had his replaced after I failed it on his MOT, and although Merc replaced the subframe for free, they did charge him nearly £300 for bolts etc, which is something I’ve never heard of before.
 
JonRGV250 said:
Hurrah!
Good news.

I spoke to a customer on Friday who’d had his replaced after I failed it on his MOT, and although Merc replaced the subframe for free, they did charge him nearly £300 for bolts etc, which is something I’ve never heard of before.
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I've heard about them trying all sorts of tricks so I'll be wary of that. I'm now trying to negotiate a courtesy car, pigs might fly!
 
JonRGV250 said:
Hurrah!
Good news.

I spoke to a customer on Friday who’d had his replaced after I failed it on his MOT, and although Merc replaced the subframe for free, they did charge him nearly £300 for bolts etc, which is something I’ve never heard of before.
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Yeh this is frequent for these sorts of things. Any single use bolts/brake pipes(+bleed)/fixings/exhaust mounts etc etc. £300 is taking the **** though. I'd have love to have seen the run down of that quote.
 
It’s “kinda” fair enough as the manufacturer (Merc) will only pay for the subframe and Labour to fit.
I’ve been guilty as a tech in refusing to use some old bolts/fitting etc, so sometimes they really have no choice but to charge.
The customer I mentioned above also asked for quote to replace the rear brake pipes as I advised them on his MOT and wait for it, they quoted £900 and that’s doing them at the same time as the subframe.
Now that’s taking the ****
 
footman said:
Just had a failure on my 12 year old E class 220 CDi.
Repair immediately (major defects)
Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Nearside Rear (forward arm mount on subframe) [5.3.6 (a) (i) ]
Fellow at Kwikfit said that the tester described it as "a little hole"
I've got no idea what any of this means, I've contacted my Merc mechanic who visits at home for advice, just hoping it's not the death of my lovely old motor!
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I had same problem on my merc last MOT last february. Cost me £650 at a local garage
Incidentally in last week when I get out of the car I notice a burning smell (a bit like the burnt clutch smell) although it's automatic
 
rumple9 said:
I had same problem on my merc last MOT last february. Cost me £650 at a local garage
Incidentally in last week when I get out of the car I notice a burning smell (a bit like the burnt clutch smell) although it's automatic
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It's a shame that you had to spend so much when possibly it could have been fixed by Mercedes at no cost to you.
 
JonRGV250 said:
It’s “kinda” fair enough as the manufacturer (Merc) will only pay for the subframe and Labour to fit.
I’ve been guilty as a tech in refusing to use some old bolts/fitting etc, so sometimes they really have no choice but to charge.
The customer I mentioned above also asked for quote to replace the rear brake pipes as I advised them on his MOT and wait for it, they quoted £900 and that’s doing them at the same time as the subframe.
Now that’s taking the ****
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Oh no, completely understand them charging for new bolts. I think a lot of subframe bolts are only supposed to be single use anyway - then there will be others which have rusted and clips which will have snapped etc.

But I'm just interested how they used £300 of bolts and plastic clips...
 
Mercedes Farnborough have declined to provide me with a courtesy car, they said that if the car had been serviced by them the corrosion might have been spotted earlier.
I could argue with the logic of that but decided to accept the decision without comment.
The car now cannot be driven until the parts arrive as the MOT has expired so I asked if my local engineer could weld the subframe and get the car MOT'd but they said that they would refuse to replace the subframe if I did that as the old subframe has to be returned to Germany for inspection, I'm not sure if I believe that but kept quiet as they hold all the cards..
 
Phone call from Mercedes Farnborough this morning, subframe has arrived from Germany so it's going in today awaiting a free slot in the workshop. I am going to have to pay around £240 for nuts and bolts, not overjoyed about that but I'm not making an issue over it, just want my motor back! They'll also MOT it.
 
That sounds like a result, and certainly better than you forking out to get it done elsewhere.
We replaced one the other day for a trader who had sold the car and couldn't wait for Merc to replace it.
The bolts we got from Merc were £220 + vat and that was trade price, but we only had to use a few and returned the rest.
BTW, they don't send them back to Merc, that's complete BS!
 
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