Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 - Sump vibration

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Fri 25 Apr 2014 20:24
Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 - Sump vibration - bazomis

Took my Nov-10 E250 diesel estate to M-B dealer for B3 / 60,000 miles service today. Received a telephone call within half an hour to tell me the technician had put it on the ramp and heard a noise from the bottom of the engine. Said the plastic sump was vibrating and they needed to dismantle to investigate. Said they had never come across this before and didn't know what it could be. I took a look while it was on the ramp and it is vibrating.. Want about 4 hours labour + cost of parts to diagnose and rectify on top of £450 for service. I said I wanted to take the car away and get a second opinion first. Has anyone had a similar experience or any idea of what this problem (if there is one) might be. The car runs and accelerates perfectly and I've never noticed any noise before. Needless to say the manufacturer's warranty ran out 4 months ago and chances of Mercedes or the dealership picking up the tab are slim to none. The car has full M-B service history.

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Fri 25 Apr 2014 23:23
Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 - Sump vibration - cws

Have you actually asked for any 'goodwill' contribution, seeing as the car does have full MB history? Worth a go - sometimes they'll play ball.

I have read that some dealers keep more than the normal levels of stock in, for these plastic, sorry 'Zytel' sumps........but I don't know how true/common this is and it's not one of the known issues with this engine (OM651) I'd post the question on one of the uk mercedes forums - mercedesclub.org or mbclub.co.uk - some good MB independent specialists post on both these forums and often have more knowledge than the main dealers.

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Fri 25 Apr 2014 23:41
Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 - Sump vibration - bazomis
Yes I have and got a 'we'll have to see' response. Thanks for the suggestion of posting on one of the me forums. I'll do that now. I thought it was just strange they said they had never seen anything like it before. There was a suggestion something might have dropped into the sump? Or an issue with some balancing device that's in the sump?? All very vague and open-ended, not least in the time they thought it would take to solve.
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Sat 26 Apr 2014 01:15
Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 - Sump vibration - Cyd

Are you sure this is a problem? Maybe this vibration is "normal", but not well known - as a result the uninitiated might think it's a problem (or the unscrupilous might present it as a problem to gain work changing the sump pan).

Disco II sump pans were made of a composite material in order to damp out vibrations and reduce noise that would be a problem if a plain steel sump were fitted. I mention this only to illustrate that manufacturers are aware of this as an issue. I feel sure MBs development teams will have made a careful decision regarding the type of sump pan required. Hence, it may well vibrate but it may not be a problem.

More research required before shelling out £00s. And I would not be inclined to take the dealers word at face value.

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