I recently purchased a new Mercedes E320 CDi partly on Honest John's advice. I am very pleased with the car but noticed a funny ticking noise when the engine has warmed up. This was looked at by my dealer and I have been onto Mercedes technical assistance about this and they have said it is a noise coming from the crankshaft that resonates through cylinder No.1 and nothing can be done about it.
My fathers car is almost identical and his engine doesn't make this noise. Mercedes say that this is a common problem with this engine and about 30% of them make this noise.
Has anybody heard of this before or are Mercedes fobbing me off.
Do you think I should return the car or just put up with it.
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I would assume that M-B are not lying and trust them
If its new I guess you've got a three-year warranty. So even if it is something nasty and the engine bursts, you won't have to pay for any repairs.
Just turn your stereo up to drown it out?!
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Didn't you post this here before? If not, there's a thread on this somewhere I'm sure.
If 'they all do that' ask them to look at your father's car and make it like yours - and see their response then.
Go to a different dealer. It's under warranty and if you don't get good service from one, go to another. The dealer should want to work on it, regardless of where you bought it - IIRC yours was an import and his a UK car?
Where are you based? I know that my parents' local dealer is excellent, as a lot of their friends have experience with them on Audis, VWs and Mercedes.
Never assume that a garage isn't lying. Don't assume that they are but, unless it is someone you know personally and trust, be sceptical about what they say, while working on the principle that maintenance is a *good* thing. I have heard lots of bad things about Mercedes' customer service, including one case where they refused to honour a warranty because the supplying dealer had gone out of business, spouting some nonsense about privity of contract.
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I have posted this before but I've reposted as I have just got a reply from M.B.
My dealer is very good but cannot trace a fault that M.B. are saying is not a fault if you get my drift.
I am based in Hertford so if you know anywhere local let me know.
Regards
Marcos
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I think I may have said before: but, why not go to another dealership and have a drive in their demonstrator 320CDI and compare that with your car and take it from there.
My MB 320CDI is slightly/definitely noisier wnen cold or ticking over or moving slowly.
Best wishes Don drbe
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I have now tried several other E320 CDi's and the only one that makes a similar noise is a Police one that I listened to at the H.Q. garage.
I spoke to the police mechanic and he said it's made the noise from new had has not seemed to make any difference to the car as it has now covered over 150k trouble free.
I think I might now just wait 6 months or so and see if the noise gets any worse and take it from there.
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Marcos, I rather suspect we have spoken regarding this privately.
If not there is someone in Scotland, who took his defective 320CDI to Milton Keynes & obtained nil satisfaction (Same problem as yours) & is still hopping mad.
If it were my car,I would take it to a reputable large dealer(who has sold a good number of this model) & get a written report on it. If no satisfaction, get an A.A./RAC report on the noise(Independant inspection).
Advise Milton Keynes(Director Passenger Cars(Was W.Greaves) personally.
Simultaneously copy to Director(Production) at Singelfingen in Germany.They are better informed than just UK.
It is my understanding that the engine has been modified/superceded.
I suspect that it is a production error that has now been rectified,
regards
Simon T.
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Moving off the point a bit. I would want to know what effect this noise would have when you come to change this particular car. Possibly no effect if buying another Merc but it would put me off even if it is perfectly normal.
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Marcos
You're in Hertford? Send your e-mail address to me at PO Box 315, Harpenden AL5 2ZD and I'll give you a couple of tid-bits about local dealers and a possible source of good advice.
Roger Jones
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If the Lancaster Group still have a Mercedes dealership in Hertford they might be worth a call, unless of course you are using them already and getting nowhere!
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Unfortunately the garage is now owned by Woking motors and they appear to be a load of Idiots, so much so that most of the staff are leaving.
I know the staff very well and they have been very helpful but without the authorisation from M.B. they cannot do a lot.
Several people have mentioned the injectors and fuel pump may be the cause because they work under such great pressure so any minor fault/design fault will be amplified.
Should I take the car to an independant garage and see what they say?
Marcos
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Marcos
Check out this site:
forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1881&hi...i
You have company with this defect!
Best of Luck
NormanB
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Hi there,
I too have this symptom and have had the car since Nov last year.
Initially my dealer who took a sympathetic approach, changed out the engine at 6K miles but the new unit soon aquired the exact same ticking noise. I am in fact the person who went down to Milton Keynes to complain direct but all that amounted to was a notification that the superiors in Germany had been informed and that it was not detrimental to wear or performance.
I am completely sceptical that anyone is in fact going to come up with a repair for this as the engine type has been around since '99 and has also now been superceded.
My gripes about the whole thing are that had I been informed of the potential for this to happen as I was contemplating a purchase I would not have bothered and the response from MB is less than encouraging. They (MB) must have been aware of this from an early stage as a technical bulletin is available, the noise being a detonation thingymajig from No.1 cylinder.
It is simply amazing that a company who take great delight at their technical ability have fallen at this particular hurdle with much apparent shoulder shrugging.
I now take much delight at pointing out this defect to every E320cdi owner I come across in the hope that a flood will eventually occur and spur some action.
The person I met in Milton Keynes was a Jasmin Watson from the director's office so please feel free to annoy them as much as possible.
Mike Allan
(Offshore Nigeria)
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