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-   -   Issues with my 2012 Mercedes C250 CDI (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/140378-issues-my-2012-mercedes-c250-cdi.html)

Greetings fellow BHPians. Would appreciate your help here. We own a 2012 C250cdi. Thats the facelifted version. Now a few niggles have been bothering me for a while. I must mention that the car is mostly driven by my Dad who is a smooth, slow, gentleman kinda driver. So there can not be too much wear and tear on in. It has done about 17500km since birth.

Niggles:

1. Low Coolant Warning - Keeps popping up intermittently. Heave kept a good eye on the tempereature needle. SVC says this is normal if the car is parked on a slope. Sound silly to me. Have physically checked the fluid level and have topped off. Warning persists.

2. TPMS Warning - Even after following SOP of resetting the computer after checking pressure, there seems to be a glitch. Keeps reoccuring.

3. Brake Pad Wear Warning - Now This is serious. Is it possible for a gently driven year old car? Brakes seem to work fine. Havent checked the pads physically.

I would think these are mere software issues. Will get them checked.
Have been through GTOs C class thread. But I was of the opinion that those days were behind Mercedes now.

Apar from these the car works beautifully. Has already done first service a few months ago. No issues. No rectification.

Would really appreciate your comments and experiences here guys. madnish30, GRV, GTO, vinj14, Gentlemen, HELP please:

Hi there,

C250 is a great car to own but these kinda troubles can disturb the ownership experience of any good car, regarding your niggles;

1) Had the similar coolant level low problem in my F30 where in a reset in the programming wasn't beeing able to solve the issue, i searched online through Bimmer forums and found out the solution myself and suggested the same to the service stations. The solution was to replace the coolant sensor & coolant tank (as these were faulty) which i got done under warranty, and now is OK & no error of this sort being thrown up now.

Same may apply to you just double check on the Merc W204 forums.

2) TPMS error was seen persistent in a friends Merc C Class too even after checking pressure & resetting. But ask the SA at your service station to flash/reprogram the software & IMO should solve the problem.

3) 17,500 km is a low mileage for a brake pad replacement but as this is a wear & tear part it might be difficult to argue with the Service station for a replacement under warranty. As you say that the brakes tend to work fine it again might again be a software / programming glitch, DO check the pads physically & then come to a conclusion.

1) I have seen this error pop up in a few new gen mercs when I was at the service center (fortunately, its not happened in mine). The service guys just erase the error from their computer. I don't know the route cause of this. What I suggest is browse through dedicated merc forums for an answer.

2) Its an issue in the new gen mercs as well (was there in mine as well). I asked the service center guys to just disable the system. Now, the low pressure warning doesn't come on even when the tyre is flat!

3) If the car is driven by your dad in a gentleman-ly manner, the brakes usually last for ~30k kms. Have them inspected by a local garage and check the thickness.

Don't worry though, the new gen mercs are much much better in almost all aspects.

Thanks,
Simple_car

Hey guys thanks for your quick replies. Strangely relieved to know that these issues are common and not limited to our car.

Will get the sensors checked and the software flashed. Yet to check the brake pads physically. Cant believe they've worn out. Might be a sensor issue also.

Cheers for now!

While it's not uncommon for heavy-weight Automatic cars to have their brakes pads worn out within 20,000 kms (no engine braking), replacing pads before necessary is a common dealer scam.

Always best to check the brake pads yourself.

Also, this is a major issue with the 15,000 kms service intervals (recently introduced on the Indian Mercs). Part replacements will always be carried out at the closest service point (i.e. 15,000 kms or 30,000 kms) and not where they'd actually wear out. As an example, if a component / filter requires replacement at 20,000 kms, the dealer knows he's not going to see your car before the 30,000 kms mark. Thus, he'll replace it at the 15K visit itself.

Okay so I have physically checked the pads. Have a picture of the one with least visible abrasive. Another picture shows the display message.

During the A service (15000km done at 14200km actual), the brake oil was replaced. Not the pads. Wonder if the discs are okay. Feel a bit wavy if I swipe a finger across it. Have contacted the SC. But I know the local ASC is quite pathetic.

Let me know what you think.
Big Thanks!

Ideally, one needs to see both sides of the pads. This can be achieved after removing them.

If you are apprehensive, head to the garage, remove the pads completely and measure the thickness. Mostly, pads have to be replaced when they are 1-2mm in thickness.
Or best thing to do is just ignore the message and run the car. If before the service, you do hear the typical screeching sound (heard when the pads are about 2 mm thick), send the car to the A.S.S. then.

As an example, my car has run 16k kms of hard driving. The pads will last for atleast another 10k when I last inspected them (they were inspected after removing them completely though).

Thanks,
Simple_car

This highlights problems with extended service intervals. A garage which sees a car once a year which has pads half worn or so is likely to replace them if the car is covering much over 20,000km/year. It is up to the owner to instruct the garage that they take responsibility for replacing them before they wear out, relying on the warning light or visual inspection of all the pads.


There appears to be plenty of wear left, just keep your eye it and don't get caught out. I try not to leave very-worn pads in for too long since it exposes more of the caliper pistons to the atmosphere and dirty road-spray which eventually causes corrosion. I clamp the brake hose and undo the bleed nipple when pushing pistons back into their bores; this makes the job easier and expels the most contaminated fluid rather than pushing it back up into the brake lines and towards ABS components.

We too own a 2012 C250 CDI. Done about 15k kms, 80% of which is on highways. Sometimes, on braking, a mild screeching noise is heard. This problem started after 11k kms or so. However, no brake pad wear warning from the on board computer. Should any action be taken?

Other than this, my baby hasn't given us any other problem (touchwood) even though she's gone through a LOT of abuse. Hope she doesn't in the future.

And BuBooMan, looks like your pads have quite some life left. But just in case I recommend you visit the service station once.

Cheers!

A big shout out to all Team BHP members who took the time and effort to post their comments and opinions. Thank you for the help guys. Much appreciated.
Problem is solved and pads+sensors replaced. Cost 0. Error messages gone.

I have had similar problems with my c250 cdi april 2012 model. I started noticing a noise during breaking coming down the ghat road from ooty. Initially i thought it was due to stones/pebbles and dirt. When i came back i got the pads cleaned.
The noise doesn't appear anymore , but once in a while when i slow down for the traffic lights, it crops up. My car went for its second service last week and the service engineer advised me to change the pads at the earliest. A set of 4 pads along with the sensor and labour was estimated to be close to 28 grand. my 2nd service came to 30 grand. The warning lights haven't cropped up as yet. I got the pads checked by my old time mechanic and he did mention that they were worn out and advised me to replace them before i head on the highway again. Ive clocked only 14k kms. I spoke to a couple of friends and they said this is a normal feature for auto trans cars and brake pads usually need to be changed at 18k km.

Do I send the car to the merc service and get fleeced or get the pads changed by my local guy for half the price??

Hi KVI (sorry using short form of your name here), did you get your break pad changed ?
I have 200 CGI 2012 C class. Had similar issue of noise coming while breaking , visited service center a couple of times, initial response was Break-pad replacement, which I flatly refused. After a few frustated meetings, they finally nailed the problem and it was something to do we handbrake. They replaced some part and done some adjustment and now no more noise.

My experience says that initial response of service people is very standard and they try to sell some extra service. Currently my car has major problem of Cabin Odour. The response from service center : please get in cabin ac filter changed and AC duct cleaned : estimated cost 18 to 20 K. I am trying a number of alternatives before I opt for this solution. Has anyone had faced similar issue ?

About the brake-pad sensor warning: Have the brake pads and discs inspected, wear can happen even for low mileage cars depending on the the driving conditions. There are eight brake pads but only two of them have sensors. So don't wait till the sensor gives you a warning as a pad without sensor can wear first. Replacing the discs costs more and I had a bad experience driving with worn-out pads during a long holiday drive. The long service interval is the culprit, you can't pick just the most optimal time to change the pads.


See if this post of mine is relevant/helpful:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post3549093

Try the following , before you turn off your car after a drive switch the air circulation mode to outside air, turn off the ac and increase your temperature to 25-30 degrees and let the fan blow to max speed. Do this each time before you turn of your car for 10-15 mins.

If it's a mildew problem this should fix it and avoid the expensive parts replacement.

Guys i need some help with this weird issue with our 2009 C220 CDI that happened last week:

On Friday 22nd April when my younger sister was going to college the driver side window for no reason exploded while driving on the highway. Due to the sudden loud explosion the car almost got out of control but luckily was controlled before any tragedy could happen. Generally she drives herself but luckily on friday our old & trusted driver was driving who was able to handle the situation. Had my sister been driving anything could have happened.

The workshop has confirmed to us that the car's onboard computers show that there was no warning given by the car before this incident happened.

There was not a single vehicle around the car when it happened and the car was on a flyover at that time so there is no possibility of anything hitting the window.

Mercedes has responded to our complaint and sent their engineer to check the car but he couldnt find anything. We are confused as to what should be done next and are scared of this happening again or any other such freak incident. Imagine what could happen if you are driving on the highway and all of a sudden there is an explosion right next to your face and your window shatters on its own.