2012 E350 A-207 convertible. Bought Jan 2018 with 38 K miles. Now has 55K on it. Was told the slight noise on start up was typical of the GDI engine. Past history of the car to day one showed service by only authorized Mercedes dealers all on the East Coast . All services were done on time or even ahead of time. Over time the noise got louder so I took it RBM on Atlanta. RBM had done the A service on the car in 2018 and noted no issues found.
3 weeks ago the battery died and I took it back to RBM. Bad alternator/battery: $2000, I also had them look at the noise issue again. This time they tell me it is bad timing tensioners and that the car has a rod knock. It has never burned oil. BTW RBM is saying about $13k dollars on that. RBM claimed this was a well known issue with the engine in the car,. I have an extended warranty ( not from Mercedes ) that might help some but they are not being helpful. RBM claims Mercedes won't cover anything on this as we were not the first owner. Internet search does show the same issue happening to other people. Ditto for this site. PS Mercedes has a TSB stating the issue is caused by failed tensioners and to install new tensioners and oil check valves to fix the issue. Anyone wants the TSB can contact me
Car has been at RBM for 3 weeks now. Work on the engine hasn't even started due to RBM and the warranty company at odds.
My feeling is that I start a claim with Mercedes and try to get them to cover as much as i can.
Warning to other 2012 -2015 E350 owners with the 3.5L V6. If it rattles on startup, get it to Mercedes and tell them to diagnose it. Give them the TSB and tell them it should be replaced under warranty
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Update from Jul 29, 2019: Update: car is fixed. total bill was > $14 K. no more rattles and clunking. Alternator and battery were also replaced along with the engine and transmission mounts. My part of the bill came to $4K.
I will be opening a case with Mercedes as this engine type is in several other Mercedes models from 2011 onwards.
2012 E350 A-207 convertible. Bought Jan 2018 with 38 K miles. Now has 55K on it. Was told the slight noise on start up was typical of the GDI engine. Past history of the car to day one showed service by only authorized Mercedes dealers all on the East Coast . All services were done on time or even ahead of time. Over time the noise got louder so I took it RBM on Atlanta. RBM had done the A service on the car in 2018 and noted no issues found.
3 weeks ago the battery died and I took it back to RBM. Bad alternator/battery: $2000, I also had them look at the noise issue again. This time they tell me it is bad timing tensioners and that the car has a rod knock. It has never burned oil. BTW RBM is saying about $13k dollars on that. RBM claimed this was a well known issue with the engine in the car,. I have an extended warranty ( not from Mercedes ) that might help some but they are not being helpful. RBM claims Mercedes won't cover anything on this as we were not the first owner. Internet search does show the same issue happening to other people. Ditto for this site. PS Mercedes has a TSB stating the issue is caused by failed tensioners and to install new tensioners and oil check valves to fix the issue. Anyone wants the TSB can contact me
Car has been at RBM for 3 weeks now. Work on the engine hasn't even started due to RBM and the warranty company at odds.
My feeling is that I start a claim with Mercedes and try to get them to cover as much as i can.
Warning to other 2012 -2015 E350 owners with the 3.5L V6. If it rattles on startup, get it to Mercedes and tell them to diagnose it. Give them the TSB and tell them it should be replaced under warranty
.
Update from Jul 29, 2019: Update: car is fixed. total bill was > $14 K. no more rattles and clunking. Alternator and battery were also replaced along with the engine and transmission mounts. My part of the bill came to $4K.
I will be opening a case with Mercedes as this engine type is in several other Mercedes models from 2011 onwards.
- Milburn E., Brookhaven, US