Bought the E500 04 Wagon Today with all the toys

[tjm33]

All

After 5 months of research and searching, I just picked up the e500. My other cars are an e320 99 wagon and an 87 560sl (my daily driver with 182,000) until today.

My new baby drives like a dream, love the dynamic seats. I have just begun to play with all the toys (distronic etc) that make an engineer smile. But have to focus on immediate issues, as I have a warranty on the car that will run out in 2000 miles or Jan3 2010.

Car pre-purchase inspection at the Mercedes dealer (hey everybody wins) found the following issues:

1.) Both rear strut leaking (hydraulic fluid?) $ 600 per strut. Covered under warranty.
2.) Transmission gasket leaking. Covered under warranty. Transmission Filter not covered will cost $ 25 bucks to replace
3.) Tire sensor failing - $ 1600 to replace, Not covered under warranty. Suggest it is the age of the batteries in the sensors and or the cars battery. 4.) Batteries appear close to failing under heavy load and may be causing secondary issues (see above). Replacing main battery $650, replacing secondary battery $230. Clear DYI Sears, etc., but I am not sure about Mercedes service if they see someone else battery in the car.

My thoughts/questions

Struts replacement seems to be a no brainer. Transmission seems to be a no brainer too. Though I think I have read somes opinion they are better left alone and have no recommended service level. Guess you have no choice if the gasket is about to fail.

I am frankly confused why the tire sensors are not covered under warranty. He even offered that the e model years 04-07 could turn off the tire sensor system for $ 160 dollars. I was tempted to asks if turning off a system was covered by the warranty, but I always got in trouble for smart ass questions like that in the past so given the free shocks I thought I would keep my mouth shut.

Best
Tom

P.S I wonder if someone could validate if the e500 wagons are electronically limited to 130 mph or I could figure out a way to test it ;-)

[lkchris]

Originally Posted by tjm33

P.S I wonder if someone could validate if the e500 wagons are electronically limited to 130 mph or I could figure out a way to test it ;-)

It's easy--the car came with H-rated tires.

Verify that I know what I'm talking about by checking owners manual.

[Kajtek1]

Tire pressure sensor for $1600 ????????
Whole aftermarket system can be bought of 2-300 dollars.
Same with batteries. I am driving with $80 one from Costco in my E. 100 months warranty.

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by tjm33

P.S I wonder if someone could validate if the e500 wagons are electronically limited to 130 mph or I could figure out a way to test it ;-)

I'd think a buck and a third is plenty for any kind of a wagon, even if yours were a rettungwagen, which I assume it's not.

[Kajtek1]

Originally Posted by flyboyike

I'd think a buck and a third is plenty for any kind of a wagon, even if yours were a rettungwagen, which I assume it's not.

And that is coming from a guy who display a jet in his signature?
Even my 174hp diesel is rolling 130 so I don't blame members buying big engines for acceleration only.
Unfortunately to my knowledge 130 mph is the highest governed speed standard MB are sold in US. I went via whole dispute with MBUSA when I bough ML320 which is governed at 115mph. They gave me lot of BS about who ordered those governors and finally when I asked what I should do if I want to export the car to the country where driving is not a crime -they send me to aftermarket tuners.
AMG models have higher settings.

[tjm33]

thanks for the feedback. Yeah I agree 1600 and 650 seem alot for tire pressure sensor batteries.

Trying to understand how to negotiate with the service desk. I think I will start a new thread.

best
Tom

[Noodles]

Okay you have the the Beru TPMS in your car. The dealer price on the part is $218.

Belle Tire in Michigan and Revolution are the two top Beru TPMS distributors in the US. The
sensors are about $87 apiece shipped to your door. Have a good tire shop replace the sensors
because the expected battery life is 5-7 years tops. Then take the car to the dealer and
have them do what is called an actuation in the DAS computer. It logs about 1 hour of
labor. The Beru sensors are the exact ones that MB used in production that year.
Please do not get ripped off. If it is just sensors you should be at less than $400 for the
sensors and 1 hour labor.

[Noodles]

Oo almost forgot. Write down the serial number of each sensor and what corner of the
car it is on. If a newbie mechanic can't figure out how to use the DAS to automatically
poll the sensors for the info then the serial numbers can be manually entered into the
DAS during this step.

[tjm33]

Noodles

Thanks for taking the time to write that. This is exactly why I like this forum. I guess by your reply, the mb warrenty does not cover tpms sensors.


I like to work on the car and I am about to invest in the computer diag software recommended by drivbywire. Can this software and connection reset the command system with the new serial numbers?

best
Tom

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Contact Lussy at: lussy@uiftech.com
http://www.uiftech.com

The last price quote was $550.00 per set plus international Air shipping ($120-$150). (Computer IBM Thinkpad not included).

Ask her about the MB Star compact 3 pricing with shipping to your location.

The set the sell has the stainless cannon plug connectors (just like OEM) the other cheaper units have plastic connectors and a knock off box.

I had good luck with them and they also include a hard-drive with the OS and WIS, Xentry system installed.

[Noodles]

Yes it can. There might even be a tutorial on the hard drive about how to do it.

If you need a Thinkpad look in the Diagnostic Software thread towards the end. I posted
a great supplier that gets them right from IBM off lease.