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New car - E 400 CDI

21K views 37 replies 10 participants last post by  Noodles 
#1 · (Edited)
E 400 CDI

Just bought a "new" E 400 CDI after I sold my w245, should be delivered sometime next week :)

I know the 400 CDI engines have a bad rep due to the timing chain problems, but are there any other things to be aware of?
And to be prepared, are there any warning signs of when the chain is failing? Have warranty from the dealership for some time but after that I'd like to catch it before it goes bad.

And for those wanting a picture, look below.

EDIT: Se page 2, post 13 for update. Car is broken down with engine problems...
 

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#2 ·
I wish they had that sold the 400 here in the US. I love them, drove one in England.
Congrats on the car.

Somebody that knows the 400 will be able to give you more insight about the engine. What year is it?

Also can you still see the lights of Copenhagen from the top of that very nice hotel's restaurant at the
top during the night? I used to love that view across the sea.
 
#4 ·
Very cool hotel.
When I was living in the UK my father ran the EU division of a large energy and minerals/mining
company. He was the one that purchased Svedela Arbra and had us going to Malmo often as
the changes were made. It was quite an operation and everybody was so nice back in the
late 70s early 80s. The last time I was in Malmo was in 1983.

Sorry to drag the thread off topic.

As far as your car stay on top of the fluids and see what service records it has. The trans fluid should
have been changed at least once and the brake fluid at least 3-4 times. You have the SBC brake
system which is a great system, however the fluid needs to be kept fresh.
I am not sure if you have the complete airmatic suspension. I think all E400s came with it, but I am
not sure.
If it fails and the dealer warranty is no longer valid please post here and people can show you ways
to save thousands on fixing it.

Also the engine air filter and the cabin air filter should be at least inspected. If they are dirty then replacement is due.
 
#5 ·
No worries on the OT :)

The car will be serviced before delivery, and since it is a service G it should afaik have all fluids changed as well as all filters and the glow plugs...
 
#6 ·
That is a good feeling to know you are getting it delivered all up to its current service needs.
You are going to love this torque laden luxury sedan. What is the rated fuel economy on that
big diesel engine in Sweden as far as KMs per liter? I am just curious compared to the North American
E320 CDI models.
 
#7 ·
As far as I recall, it's rated for just under 12 KM/liter which would be somewhere around 27 MPG on average... Highway driving just under 40 MPG...

But as I recolllect there is some difference on how it's measured in US or EU spec...
 
#12 ·
The power just feels immense... It keeps pulling all the way up...

And for the numbers, its 260HP and 560NM...

Here is some data (in swedish), it says that combined fuel consumption is 9,4L/100km

Mercefreaken - W211 E 400 CDI

But nice car like said, congratulations!
Thx :)

I actually average a lot higher than that, around 7,0 - 7,5L/100KM and have gone as low as 6,1 on average driving a long stretch mainly on highway with some city driving in the beginning and end (probably 80/20 highway/city)...
 
#13 ·
Didn't last very long before the problems started...

Car broke down yesterday and had to be towed. So it's sitting at the MB workshop now waiting for a checkup, but the service people didn't seem very optimistic on what the problem might be...
They've ordered a compression check (don't now the correct word in english, but they pull out all glow plugs and check to see whether the engine block is leaking from somewhere)...

They should now more within a week or so, will keep updating as I know more...
 
#18 ·
It can be chain tensioner, I think that I read somewhere that V8 has some problems, thus can cause some bent valve steams.
 
#19 ·
The 400 CDI has an issue with the chain but the first problem is that the balancer gear skips teeth, the balancer starts to rotate at an incorrect phase, obviously making the engine vibrate strangely.

This issue has been fixed with new parts that prevent the balancer go off-phase. The chain is still long and stretches more than chains on other engines. Eventually this may cause sever damage. Perhaps you were referring to this.
 
#22 ·
Ok, got the "verdict" from MB today...

I'll try to translate it as good as possible :)

The AC compressor had broken and in the process it had torn apart the belt that powers it along with some belt bearings and the wheel running it.
So they want to change those parts of course, and has added that they can't tell in advance whether other parts has been damaged in the proces before they get the engine running...
 
#35 ·
And the saga continues...

Got a call from MB the other day, they found a leak in the AC radiator and needed to change that... The leak was right above a small crack on the underside of the front bumper (a crack that was present at the time of purchase, but since I had planned to change the front bumper it wasn't anything I thought of checking further) where the radiator had been damaged... Dealer claims I did that myself, so now I have to file a lawsuit to get him to pay...

Well, told MB to change the radiator which they did and the car was ready for pickup later that day... Drove off and got probably a mile down the road when the car said "Coolant check level"... Got out of the car, and saw it running from the underside of the car...
Back to the workshop, talking with rather large letters as how I perceived the craftmanship of their mechanics I got underway in brand new W246 paid by them...

Should hear from them in the beginning of next week, so I'll update when more info comes...

How about we set up a race. Seems like taking some $$ from you is the only way to make you believe :D

Jag e också från Malmö.
How can a race prove which car is cheaper than the other :p

But since you seem to have a E320 facelift there wouldn't be much point in that.... As I said, those cars aren't comparable... Race against a E420 would be more comparable...
 
#25 ·
Ye, sounds a lott better then broken engin.
That is still the joker here, as the belt runs of the engine as I understood it... Can't quite see how it should damage the engine, but the MB workshop says they can't know for sure before they have the engine running again...
 
#26 ·
E400 CDI

Love the idea of a V8 powered diesel, just wish they brought it here to the US. Sorry to hear about the troubles. My E320 Bluetec has had a lot of stupid problems too, none of which should have occurred with only 76000 miles on it. But, I do have to say that I added a powerbox to the common rail of mine, cranked it up to max, and probably have around 270-ish HP with around 500 ft. lbs of torque (around 25-30% increase from what they say). Makes quite a difference. And being a lighter engine than the V8, its' probably faster than the 400 CDI.
 
#27 ·
Love the idea of a V8 powered diesel, just wish they brought it here to the US. Sorry to hear about the troubles. My E320 Bluetec has had a lot of stupid problems too, none of which should have occurred with only 76000 miles on it. But, I do have to say that I added a powerbox to the common rail of mine, cranked it up to max, and probably have around 270-ish HP with around 500 ft. lbs of torque (around 25-30% increase from what they say). Makes quite a difference. And being a lighter engine than the V8, its' probably faster than the 400 CDI.
Probably is :)

Contemplating getting mine re-programmed for extra power, but not sure how good idea it is when the engine has 160k miles on it...
 
#28 ·
I don't see any point of this engine over V6 CDI. The V8 won't be any faster (due to added weight), it will probably get less fuel mileage and you got two turbos (if i remember correctly) which is just more trouble. Torque is great, yes, but I don't see lack of torque being the problem in any of CDI cars really.

160k is nothing. You should definitely get it remapped.
 
#29 ·
Well, the 400 is 0,8 secs faster to 60 MPH than the 320 CDI, has higher top speed than the 320 CDI and is faster all the way to 152 MPH which is the top speed of the 320...

Fuel mileage will be a bit worse, although I'm doing a great deal over factory specs on mine (but would probably do that on the 320 as well)... And yes, more parts equals more being able to break but that is a risk one has to decide whether you're willing to take...
 
#31 ·
Well, you are comparing the facelifted E320 to the non-facelifted E400... Either you need to compare the non-facelifted E320 to the E400 or compare the facelifted E320 to the 420...

Otherwise it's like saying a that a 20 year old merc is worse than a brand new one...
 
#36 ·
Have had the car for little over a week now, and its running fine... The coolant leak was caused by a crack in one of the rubber tubes in the engine compartment, which seems to have happened a long time ago and had been repaired by putting some heat-shrink tubing over the leakage in the original tube...

It's going to my usual garage instead of MB on Friday for a little checkup, including measuring crank timing to determine the state of the chain...
 
#38 ·
It was one of my high school friends that lived in Belgium and drove over to the UK for a 30th class reunion that we had in Thorpe on the campus of TASIS England in 2011.
TASIS is a college prep school that has boarding and day students aimed at Americans living in the UK or EU.
My father was consulting for the UK's National Coal Board at the time for almost 5 years from 1977-1982.
 
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