[drmohitg]

Congrats on your new ride. So what was the final price you paid for this? To be honest I am not too comfortable with the idea of buying a premium European sedan that is close to 7 years old and with 70k+ kms. There are bound to be recurring niggles and these can be really heavy on the pocket. Also more than that somehow it takes away from the joy of owning the car. It appears scary to see a Mercedes opened up like that in the last few pictures. Anyways wishing you all the best.

Edit: What did you do about the key finally? Doesn't insurance take care of some of that cost?

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by androdev

Thanks for sharing your experience. Hope things get fixed and you get to enjoy the car soon. Please post some pictures of repair if possible.

One tip for longer life of evaporator coil is to run the AC in heater mode (or just plain blower mode without AC) at the end of the journey so moisture collected around evaporator dries up. Some Mercedes models have a button called "REST" on the AC panel which can be used to circulate the residual heat of the engine block after the ignition is switched off. So at the end of the journey, put the AC in heater mode, turn off the engine, switch on REST button and lock the car. The car will use the residual engine heat to dry up the evaporator, etc. and turn itself off. It is supposed to cut off by itself if the battery is weak. In any case, battery is cheaper to replace compared to evaporator coil. This also helps prevent bacteria/fungus growth around a moist evaporator coil.

Edit: I just looked up the net and your car has "REST" button. Also older models have a secret diagnostic trick of pressing "recirculate + REST" buttons together, etc.

Thanks.That is very informative Androdev.I shall certainly try that.

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Congrats on your new ride. So what was the final price you paid for this? To be honest I am not too comfortable with the idea of buying a premium European sedan that is close to 7 years old and with 70k+ kms. There are bound to be recurring niggles and these can be really heavy on the pocket. Also more than that somehow it takes away from the joy of owning the car. It appears scary to see a Mercedes opened up like that in the last few pictures. Anyways wishing you all the best.

Edit: What did you do about the key finally? Doesn't insurance take care of some of that cost?

Thanks drmohitg. I paid 9 for it. I havent ordered the key yet.Should be doing that soon. My insurance unfortunately does not cover the cost of the key. One other irritating fact about MB dealerships that i have been speaking to is that they do not program your key if you have a blank key.Blank keys are easily available on the net for a lot less.In most countries,its possible to program your key if you have a blank one.The programming is pretty cheap too.But MB Dealerships in Mumbai-Pune simply refuse to do it saying its against their policy.I fail to see how MB can have different policies for different countries for something as essential as a key.Anyone else here faced similar issues? Any solutions?

[iceman1]

My Experience at Weather Master Continued......


It was 1.15pm .My car interior was completely ripped apart and i just could not bare the sight of it.It was nerve racking thinking weather they will be able to put everything back together just like it was before.But i tried hard not to think about it.We now had to find the evaporator core, expansion valve and dryer that needed to be changed.Right from the onset, i was certain that i would use only genuine components.However it was proving to be really difficult to find the Original Evapotor core by Behr. Most parts suppliers only stock the cheap chinese/malaysian ones( No Brand name) or Thailand made by brand name Formula and insisted that it was the best solution. I was given prices ranging between 3.5k -8.5k. The chinese and some korean ones were the cheapest ones coming under 4k. Formula brand was quoted very randomly between 4.5k-8.5k . I found that very strange since the same brand was retailing for at a huge price differrence. The 8.5k Supplier claimed his was ‘’Original’ Formula where as the rest were fake!! I was really confused.I had done all this research before work started on the car. Now since my car had been opened up, i was even more desperate to find the right part. Since i had insisted only on original components,Raja did all he could to find me the parts.After a good 2 hours on the phone,Raja finally managed to find the Original Evaporator core and dryer . I was really happy.And the best part was that it would be delivered in an hour to the workshop.The parts arrived by 4pm and after my approval, work recommenced by 4.20pm.And by 7.45pm the dashboard was reassmebled with everything fit back into place.....The result? We would only know the next day.....

[Y@SH]

Originally Posted by iceman1

I fail to see how MB can have different policies for different countries for something as essential as a key.Anyone else here faced similar issues? Any solutions?

For the Key part I think try contacting these two, I haven't tried their services before but there is no harm in inquiring. FlipKeys is selling the shell for 2k but ask them whether they can program it too. You could also contact Ashar Key Hub.

http://asharkeyhub.in/

http://flipkeys.in/product/mercedes-...art-key-shell/

Hope it helps!

[iceman1]

Some more Work in progress photos....

The Black box that houses the Evaporator core is finally out!


The Black box being opened.


And Finally we reach the Faulty Evaporator.



The Expansion Valve.


The New Evaporator Core.

[sriramr9]

Originally Posted by iceman1

And Finally we reach the Faulty Evaporator.

How long did it take to reach the sweet spot actually ? Have installed the new core and putting things back in place, is there a 100% guarantee on the fit and finish, Can the refit when done manually be as perfect when compared to factory fitment standards in order to give a squeak and rattle free driving experience from dashboard perspective ?

[DeepakMenon]

Originally Posted by sriramr9

How long did it take to reach the sweet spot actually ? Have installed the new core and putting things back in place, is there a 100% guarantee on the fit and finish, Can the refit when done manually be as perfect when compared to factory fitment standards in order to give a squeak and rattle free driving experience from dashboard perspective ?

These dashboards are well made; fitment is also fairly straight forwards as long as you do not miss clips or foam pieces when installing back. These dashes will just not squeak

I had done my W124 sometime back; you just need to pay attention and be patient; simple but be patient

[iceman1]

My Experience at Weather Master Continued...

Work started the following day at around 11am. The dashboard side of the job had been completed the previous night.Now we had to replace the dryer.But before we could get to that, we had to make sure that there were no Error/Warning lights on the dashboard as that would have to be dealt with first. All the functions/ switches would have have to be checked too to make sure everything works like it should.And i am so happy to report that everything was in order.Next was the dryer replacement.The dryer is situated in front of the radiator towards the bottom end.Replacing this involved taking off the front bumper as there is no way to access it otherwise.It was a pretty straight forward job and the car was complete by 2pm. I had briefly stepped out before the car was complete and by the time I got back, to my surprise ,the car was ready and they had switched on the AC for the last 15-20 mins for testing.The AC was working brilliantly.Just like it should.But i was more anxious to see how it felt when we drive the car.So with my heart pounding ,we went for a test drive of about 20kms with all my energy focused on finding a rattle,squeak or any noise that was not there before.There were none.Mission Accomplished!!

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by sriramr9

How long did it take to reach the sweet spot actually ? Have installed the new core and putting things back in place, is there a 100% guarantee on the fit and finish, Can the refit when done manually be as perfect when compared to factory fitment standards in order to give a squeak and rattle free driving experience from dashboard perspective ?

It took us about 3 hours to get to the Evaporator.Well the fit and finish is perfect in my car.End of the day it all comes down to the skill of the technician working on your car.

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by Y@SH

For the Key part I think try contacting these two, I haven't tried their services before but there is no harm in inquiring. FlipKeys is selling the shell for 2k but ask them whether they can program it too. You could also contact Ashar Key Hub.

http://asharkeyhub.in/

http://flipkeys.in/product/mercedes-...art-key-shell/

Hope it helps!

Thanks Y@SH. Spoke to Asharkeyhub.They do not do Mercedes Keys.Will check with flipkeys.in.

[iceman1]

SO how much did it cost me?

• Evaporator core ( Behr) : Rs 26,500.
• Dryer ( Behr) : Rs 4500
• Delivery charges : Rs 1000
• Labour charges : Rs 15000
• Shaman AC inspection : Rs 18500

TOTAL : Rs 65,500



As you can see, the total cost came to just about 10% of the cost that Shaman wanted to charge me. As much as i am happy about the huge savings by doing the Work at Weather Master, i am equally cheesed off by Shaman’s attitude to rip people off.I was willing to spend about 1.25 with them for the same work just for the sake of peace of mind.But it seems like they are only interested in Bigger bills. I am sure they get a lot of clients who just do not care what kind of bills their cars run up at the Dealership. Most cars that i saw were brought in by their drivers. The owners probably just do not care or have the time.This Shaman episode has been an eye opener for me. I feel awful having spent Rs 18500 with them for doing next to nothing apart from giving me a ridiculous estimate. But i am going to take it as a lesson never to visit them again. On hind sight, i am happy they did this at the onset.If they had given me an estimate of 1-1.25 and i would have allowed them to start work on the car, there was no guarantee that they would not find some additional “faults” in my car or parts that "needed" replacing and at that point you just cant say NO as you are at their mercy. Needless to say, i am not visiting them again.


I have been extremely satisfied with the work done at Weather Master not just because of the cost factor but also for their patience , honesty and skill.I think it deserves a special mention in our Team-Bhp Directory.Highly Recommended!!

[androdev]

Originally Posted by iceman1

But i was more anxious to see how it felt when we drive the car.So with my heart pounding ,we went for a test drive of about 20kms with all my energy focused on finding a rattle,squeak or any noise that was not there before.There were none.Mission Accomplished!!

The best part of the experience :-) This is the real testament to their quality of work. Enjoy the car!

[iceman1]

Got a call from Mercedes Benz today.Apparently they went through this thread and wanted to speak to me about it.They said that they will look into the matter.Am not really expecting anything out of it. Nor do i want to make this into a Shaman bashing up thread.But it does feel a bit reassuring that MB does care about what their customers have to say.

[wilful]

Been going through your thread. Firstly - congrats on acquiring a 3 pointed star. I also salute you on your courage in taking the plunge to go in for a pre-owned one knowing that any niggles would cost you a bomb to sort out. But I guess the joy of driving it is compensation enough.
But seriously, I wish these high end Germans would come out with some cost effective solution (package?) for customers like you. Maybe some kind of franchise workshops or something that offer more cost effective solutions compared to their service centres for cars under warranty? That way, folks would have much more confidence in buying their used cars and the resale would be better too.