..... I would love to hear about all your 123 and 201 failures..... Take a chair, my boy.
My '78 300D, bought new for about 19.5K was a pretty car. Milan Brown metallic with tan tex. Later, Euro lights with bright H-4s and relays, Polished bundts and a good sound system. During the 50K mile warranty, every single component under the hood except the engine and FI pump failed and was replaced. Including the radiator, AC condensor and compressor clutch, power steering pump, water pump and to cap it all off, thirteen injectors because of abnormal noise. Inside, the heater pushbutton panel and I've forgotten what else. After the warranty, the AC compressor, the infamous heater water servo valve and aux water pump and the right side wiper linkage. Sold for me by a consignment outfit for 13.5K in January '85. In the 120K miles I owned it, I bought five sets of tires for it, all Phoenix Stahlflex. I could have gotten by with some rock hard cheapies but....... Typical around town fuel economy was about 21 and best-ever highway was 28.5. Ah, the 201s. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The '85 190E (Smoke Silver/Palomino) cost somewhere in the middle 20s. Front seat memory for $1400. I don't recall when the trouble began but it couldn't have been very long. In no particular order, loose bolts in the diff assembly. The cure was better stickum and make 'em tighter. Something happened in the transmission which took a day or so in the shop. Several FI problems which were eventually ironed out. I think that the head was off later on and can't recall why. The front suspension developed some anomaly and parts were changed. There was something about the power steering or steering box but it's too long ago to be specific. And the air conditioning. Inside, the pushbutton panel was replaced. I think, again when the temp indications on the adjustment wheel peeled off. Another known problem was a switchover valve up behind the glovebox that started clicking madly when interior temperature reached a certain point with the AC on. Replaced. And then there was the secret recall to fix the AC once and for all. Since MB AC was never the equal any any GM car up to that point, owners down south (hot and humid) were complaining loudly about the AC's poor performance. Well, it was poor. The fix was never mentioned until a customer had complained so many times that the dealer was sick of it all. There was a $2200+ parts kit that brought AC temps down to Cadillac-in-Louisiana levels where they should have been. A new compressor and all new lines. New electronic controls and sealing panels alongside the radiator and on the sides of the bellypan to prevent hot radiator air from re-entering the AC condensor from underneath. This was not a recall, TSB or Service bulletin but some sort of case-by-case modification. Two days in the shop. During that time when 201's were selling well, the shop foreman said to me one day "These son-of-a-bitches are failing faster than we can fix them." In my circle of friends there were five 190Es and all but one were as bad as mine. Because all this was costing MB big warranty money, a lot of the problems were history by mid-1986. Not all, but some. Traded at 49K miles and the next owner called me a few months later asking if I had gotten rid of the car under the Lemon Law since the AC had failed. Again. Next was the '89 190E 2.6. Desert Taupe/Palomino. The '89 was restyled with side cladding, revised bumper covers and new seats front and rear, reshaped and thinner to improve knee room. This car was far more reliable but still had the occasional warranty visit and when at about 40K miles oil usage increased to the point where a calibrated oil consumption test was done. 840 miles per quart. The official answer was that MB considered 600 miles per quart to be the point where something could be done. I said to the MBUSA rep, "You and I both know that these engines don't use oil" and his reply was "Oh, I know that and we will pay for all the parts required plus 1/2 the labor since at that point the car was showing 70K miles. The problem was that a series of M-103s, mostly 3-liters, had been built with the wrong size pistons and at about 40K oil consumption would increase rapidly. At that time the dealer was repairing about two 3.0 124s per week but my 2.6 was the first they had seen. New pistons and rod bearings plus they threw in a head rebuild and a new radiator when the tech smacked it with a big wrench. My extended warranty picked up most of the rest including some ignition parts and I paid around $200 at the end. I traded it and about 15k miles later the trans failed to transmit and was replaced on the new owner's nickel. He bailed out and went back to BMW. I do believe that since these models cost Mercedes so much warranty money when they were covered that it only makes sense that the same parts these days are far more robust and proven. Things began to change rapidly when the LS 400 showed up. Finally some real competition, like them or not, and the W202 was far better, at least in M104 form. RLE > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://okiebenz.com/pipermail/mercedes_okiebenz.com/attachments/20090822/4d72fa00/attachment.html> _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
