E Class corroded subframe

Expensive though for a few minor things.

It does when you go to a main dealer

a fool and his money is easy parted :P

Go price something as simple as 2 shocks or 2 wishbones for an E Class at a main dealer and let me know how you get on.

I don’t really care what you consider to be minor. But I can give you another example if you like. My mother was quoted over €1,500 to replace two wishbones in the main dealer. I went to the motor factors for her and bought a pair of them for €160 and had them fitted for another €100 or so. Is that minor enough for you? Or do you want to give me some real world examples that you’ve experienced?

When you respond with name calling you’re losing….

Its usually leaks around the fuel filter housing. Very common problem on the 2.1 engine.

Have a read of the thread, its been discussed multiple times

and there you have it. You bought aftermarket/spurious parts. Nothign wrong with that in itself, but thinking buying OEM in the dealer and 3rd Party in a Factors is going to be comparable is just………. daft.

Does anyone know if this corroded sub frame issue was ever resolved in later W212 models? Or do they all suffer the same problem?

I believe the warranty was extended in the UK for this, but was similar applied here, or do they not bother, as we are a smaller country?

I agree certainly that €900 is a lot for anything. Btdt, have the invoice(s)…..and for higher too…

If you look at the costs per hour of the local Indy vs the Main Dealer, there is a difference, certainly. Think €65/hr versus €125/hr.

So, in a 2-hour job, that's a difference of €120. Taking your €900, all other things being equal, that could reduce the bill to €720. Still a big bill.

So, the balance is parts. And that's the veritable 'how much is a head gasket for a blue van' scenario.

Last year I need a new sensor for my M-B, and was quoted €600 odd by main dealer (supply-only). Only they couldn't get one, as they were on b/order. I had an NCT looming, so went for a 3rd Party one at €200.

That's when the trouble started. The firmware in the new part played havoc with various systems in the car (no, I don't get it either, but clearly it was interfering with the BUS). I got 'System Assist' and various safety system errors. I coudln't switch on main beams (dips only). Cruise control wouldn't work. After several visits to the Indy (chargeable), I relented and went on the waiting list for the OE part from the dealer.

The OE part plug & played, all errors cleared, and it's been perfect since.

So, eventually, I'm down the €200 for the spurious part, 2 x rounds of labour to fit/fix, and I still ended up buying the top-dollar OE part. Whatever way you look at it, it would have been cheaper to skip the 3rd Party steps.

Sometimes it will work in your favour, and sometimes it won't. But you can't always make an assumption that the Dealer option - whilst still a big number - isn't actually ultimately more expensive. You have to look at each job on it's merits and you have to be comparing Apples with Apples.

My 0.02.

Thanks. Had it on a 2010 212 and got it replaced. Family member just buying a 2015 212 and thinks it won’t be an issue, as it was just a bad batch on the earlier ones. He’s not even bothering to get it checked.

That sounds like they've coded something to the part to force you to use MB parts. Though tbh a quick Google suggests theres all sorts of version incompatibilities with genuine MB parts as well. Perhaps there was the same version issue..

you would be more like 6 months without a car now due to what im told is "parts availability". Its great that MB are standing over this, however its scandalous that this safety concern wasnt a forced recall, as it was in the UK. So in the case of my car, which was a UK import, had it stayed in the UK, it would have been reacalled before the seriuos corrosion that failed the NCT.