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man... Mercedes dealers do seem to just not care about customer service beyond 'give us the car and your bank account', it seems :/
In reply to wae :
Can you not grab a tech and offer him some side work? lol
Sorry to hear this, it just keeps getting worse.
golfduke said:man... Mercedes dealers do seem to just not care about customer service beyond 'give us the car and your bank account', it seems :/
I think it is more that they don't want to get involved in anything that is not "normal". People like all of us are not "normal"
I'm willing to be reasonable about this and I get why they'd be a little hesitant. Right now the MAF sensors are unplugged because it's getting a bad signal from somewhere and bogging out on throttle application. Could be because the MAFs are bad, could be because the MAFs need to have the adaptations done, could be because the EGR valve is stuck, could be because the O2 sensor is missing, could be because the exhaust temp sensor is missing, could be because the DPF pressure sensor is capped off.
If I had the DPF still, I could put it on, hook up all the sensors, and see what happens. But it seems foolish to try to troubleshoot drivability problems when I know there's a bunch wrong that I can't fix right now.
The real sticking point for me is the DPF. Having to buy a DPF so they can immediately take it off and replace it is just crazy-town. I would be willing to compromise with them that if they do the AEM work and it isn't running right that they can do whatever needs to be done to get it there. I am even open to paying the core charge since they don't have one to return. But buying a new DPF is just making my head explode.
The service advisor just called me back and his tune has changed a little on the edges, but I've got some work to do. Essentially he wants the DPF installed along with its associated sensors and piping before they're willing to touch it. They want it to start out "whole". He's understanding as to why I'm not excited about buying a $2,840 part that they're going to replace. My question back to him was how original of a DPF do I need to have? Can I, for example, install an aftermarket DPF? He's going to check on that tomorrow and call me back. He also needs to check to see if they went ahead and did the airbag and brake booster recalls.
Wow, what a bummer! Can you source a used or bad DPF?
In reply to 2002maniac :
I have been turning over any rock that I can find to track one down. A bad DPF would absolutely get me where I need to be, but so far the best I can find is a Chinese copy of a DPF on AliExpress for about $600 after shipping, and it'll take a month.
Now, if he comes back and says that they're not real strict on the DPF-ness of the DPF, then I'm thinking I might be able to find a DPF off of... something in a junk yard and make my own "aftermarket DPF". In our first conversation, he was pretty adamant about needing to have something to send back to Mercedes. In our second conversation, his tone had shifted a bit and their big concern was more that the exhaust system was basically opened up and missing.
I can't imagine that there's no one out there that did a DPF delete on, say, a Sprinter van that did not then go back to the dealer to have the AEM performed, so this has got to be a problem that is relatively solvable.
In reply to wae :
Contact this company and see if they have a dpf, let them know you will take a known bad or broken DPF as well. They part a ton of modern Benz.
916-759-7316
autohubshop@gmail.com
In reply to yupididit :
Thanks for the tip on that! I'll give them a call today!
I don't suppose this is what you need?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/154880889370
$404 with free shipping
There's an 09 E350 at the LKQ. Would that be assuming it is a diesel?
dculberson said:I don't suppose this is what you need?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/154880889370
$404 with free shipping
Nah, that's the actual catalytic converter or I think they call it the SCR maybe? I've got that - it's what the "out" end of the DPF connects to. It's probably worth contacting that seller, though, to see if they have the DPF that used to be its buddy.
eastsideTim said:There's an 09 E350 at the LKQ. Would that be assuming it is a diesel?
I ran the VIN on that yesterday, actually. It's a gas engine. The E series could be an E350 or an E350 BlueTEC, which is confusing. I think they might have done the same thing on the ML. As far as I know, the GL is the only one where the numbers part of the name translates to a specific engine. Kinda dumb, in my opinion, but I'm sure there's a very German reason for it.
Dropped off the loaner and picked up my car this afternoon. They did do the airbag replacement which actually gained me an unexpected bonus: The COMMAND controls on the steering wheel had worn a bit so that a couple of the symbols weren't very clear and there some "extra" light at night. Apparently the new air bag also includes new buttons, so now mine are perfect! I was planning to try to get one of the sticker kits from eBay to fix it but now I don't need to.
Also, the dealer declined the opportunity to give the knife an extra twist: I was expecting them to charge me for an hour or two of diagnostic time but they did not charge me anything at all. They just took the keys to the loaner, gave me my keys and the zero-dollar invoice, and said "Thank you very much and have a nice day!". So I give them credit for that one.
They claim that whatever DPF I put on there has to be an OEM Mercedes DPF because they have to return it for a core. I think that goes against the whole "if I have modified my exhaust" question and answer that MBUSA publishes, but whatever. While I was waiting to hear from them this morning, I started searching far and wide and I think I have a line on a used OEM DPF that may not cost me a fortune.
yupididit said:In reply to wae :
Contact this company and see if they have a dpf, let them know you will take a known bad or broken DPF as well. They part a ton of modern Benz.
916-759-7316
autohubshop@gmail.com
Just for anyone else out there in Internet land... I reached out to them this evening since I haven't heard back from the other lead I had developed. They said they don't have any. Bizzarely, though, they also claim that they aren't legally able to sell them. Is that a California thing? I know that for some stupid reason they're not supposed to be able to sell used catalytic converters, but DPFs, too? That seems... even dumber.
In reply to wae :
Well E36 M3
In reply to yupididit :
I do still very much appreciate the lead! The more options I have, the higher the chance that one of them pans out!
I heard back from the guy who I was emailing earlier and he said that he was on a weekend trip but that we would be able to work something out and he'll get back to me tomorrow or Monday. If he can get me the DPF at least, I can probably find the hard lines from eBay or something and an O2 sensor isn't hateful from Rock Auto.
Put some more limpy miles on it today, a total of just over 400 since the motor went back together. And of course on the way back home it shredded the serpentine belt. Holy hell this thing is just impossible to wrestle without the power steering pump!
Dang, my serp belt & all pulleys were just replaced during the engine refresh, but the scrap pile has since been purged. Nothing wrong with any of it, but it just made sense to bolt on new parts.
We're s.t.i.l.l.l waiting to hear from local dealership that AEM parts are available.
When I first got flack from the dealer, I called the settlement hotline and the guy there basically said there was nothing he could do. I did a little reading today and it turns out that "Operable" is a term defined in the settlement and there's a whole section on how the Class Counsel is supposed to negotiate on behalf of the Class Member when there's a disagreement about what constitutes "Operable".
So I called them back, armed with the section numbers and the settlement people have "escalated my case" to, in theory, get me in touch with the Class Counsel people that may be able to try to help me out here.
I'm going to keep looking for a DPF, but if these folks can help, it'll be so nice.
They also said they're unable to tell me if a previous owner has submitted a claim. Not that it matters, but it would be interesting to know.
Going back in time to the VW/Audi/Porsche dieselgate case, the dealers (and by extension, VW) were pretty liberal with the operable word. People stripped their own cars, selling off the radio, AC system, leather interior, alloy wheels & performance tires, Xenon headlights, taillights, etc, and still got the full buyback payment, as long as the 'vehicle' motored into the dealer lot under it's own power.
If they say the emission system needs to be operable, that's a difficult position to defend, considering that the vehicle needs a new emission system installed because the current system is not operable enough to pass an emission test.
IIRC If a previous owner submits a claim, that reduces your payout by $800? Not the end of the world.
From the settlement agreement:
2.53. “Operable” means that a vehicle can be driven under its own engine power. A
Subject Vehicle that has been altered with the use of any after-market emissions-related
components, parts, and/or software or the removal of any original emissions-related components,
parts, and/or software, if such alteration(s) are likely to substantially affect the operation of the
vehicle with the Approved Emission Modification or substantially impede installation of the
AEM, shall not be considered Operable unless and until the owner or lessee of such vehicle has
reversed the alteration(s) such that the AEM may be installed and not substantially affected.
Vehicles that are not Operable may be unable to receive the AEM. The CRC will be the final
decision maker on whether a vehicle is Operable, but the initial determination of whether a
vehicle is Operable will be made by the Authorized Service Provider that has been asked to
install the AEM in the Subject Vehicle. A determination under this Section regarding whether a
vehicle is Operable does not constitute any determination by EPA or CARB as to whether the
emissions system of the vehicle has been modified.
Still waiting to hear back... I'm getting a little bit irritated about this since the deadline is approaching rapidly. And, yeah, I think it's $900 that gets peeled off and split among any previous owners. That doesn't really mean anything one way or the other, I was really just curious more than anything else.
You meet the requirements. If everything that is missing will be replaced, and you don't have a tune or defeat devices in place aside from that which will be replaced, you meet their definition of operable.
The nutshell is the vehicle must be what they consider to be OE spec when they are done.
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