[iceman1]

My brakes were a bit week since the time i had brought the car home. For what should have been a priority job, it got left behind due to some reason or the other.Sometime last month, i decided that enough was enough and i just need to get it checked ASAP. A quick check at my usual workshop revealed that the brake pads needed replacing.I was sure that i wasnt sending my car to the Authorised dealers for what should be a simple brake pad replacement.But i didnt want to compromise on the quality either.I wanted the real deal which obviously the dealers wont sell to me.As always, i just couldnt settle for aftermarket parts.

So i made a few phone calls,sent a few watsapp messages and i find out that one of my buddies is returning from Kuwait in 15 days time. i called him immediately , gave him the part numbers and asked him to get it for me. I finally received them yesterday

The package.



Rear Brake pads.




Front Brake pads.

[sureshkishore]

Hi Iceman, Your thread made for a really interesting read, You have been kind enough to post detailed pics of your experience with the 3 pointed star.
Honestly I have always contemplated buying a w124 for years, and looked at several examples also. But from your thread so far I have decided to shelf my plan unless i get a better paying job.

Also quite happy to notice that the Front brake pads are Made in India, but I am sure it would have been cheaper to get them from Kuwait than from the local MB dealer who would anyway fleece you.

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by iceman1

.

How would you describe the performance from the OM611?

Seeing this thread, a petrol E, and a diesel E, (Run 1,00,000 IIRC) both from end of 2005 seem a lot tempting at a sub 10 lakh price.

Add to that- B.U Bhandari in Pune is not your average Mercedes dealer. Is it worth the hassle (of buying a used Merc, considering the potential costs involved?)

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by sureshkishore

Hi Iceman, Your thread made for a really interesting read, You have been kind enough to post detailed pics of your experience with the 3 pointed star.
Honestly I have always contemplated buying a w124 for years, and looked at several examples also. But from your thread so far I have decided to shelf my plan unless i get a better paying job.

Also quite happy to notice that the Front brake pads are Made in India, but I am sure it would have been cheaper to get them from Kuwait than from the local MB dealer who would anyway fleece you.

Thats a very good observation sureshkishore! I didnt notice it until you mentioned it. I didnt realise some of the mercedes parts were being locally manufactured.
The W124 is a wonderful car. You just need to buy the right one and it will last you for ever with very little but timely maintenance.My ownership experience so far has been very pleasant and i dont think i have spent a bomb in maintaining it.
About the cost of the brake pads, i have been given an estimate of Rs 18500 approx for the front and rear brake pads plus labour. I got mine for Rs 10500.

Originally Posted by FINTAIL

How would you describe the performance from the OM611?

Seeing this thread, a petrol E, and a diesel E, (Run 1,00,000 IIRC) both from end of 2005 seem a lot tempting at a sub 10 lakh price.

Add to that- B.U Bhandari in Pune is not your average Mercedes dealer. Is it worth the hassle (of buying a used Merc, considering the potential costs involved?)

The OM611 is an absolute gem. Plenty of power and grunt on tap whenever needed.Having said that, it doesnt go like a rocket either. its likes to be driven with care and is definitely not looking to race with every boy racer on the street. But one place that it really outshines the others is the highway.

If you find a nice E for that sort of price then you should definitely go for it.The costs would surely be high if you intend to keep it exclusively dealer maintained.

[kisharchit]

Hi iceman1, just went through the whole thread in one go! I would say brilliant! My aunt has a C220 CDI W203 pre facelift and as I type this, it is at the workshop getting its fuel pump and gauge changed for 70k!! I have told my aunt to stop sending to authorized workshop and I guess she agrees now.

Hoping to get it to drive for some time soon when its back. I am really tempted to make her an offer to buy it and keep it for daily runs.

What sort of FE do you get in the City?

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by iceman1

.... I get an email estimate from them of Rs 4.5 Lakhs! I was shocked to say the least. ....
They also refused to share any Part numbers (of the parts that need changing ) with me citing policy constraints. They can give you a description of the part but strictly No Part Numbers......

Originally Posted by iceman1

.....one of my friends from Kuwait was travelling to india .... i asked him to get it for me.It cost me Rs 2000 equivalent plus Rs 150 in labour.Problem solved.I was Happy!!

Originally Posted by iceman1

....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......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.

Originally Posted by iceman1

....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......Raja finally managed to find the Original Evaporator core and dryer . .....

Thanks for posting this very useful read on your first hand experience and issues faced.
Thankfully, you have friends and relatives in the middle-east to source the needed genuine Mercedes Benz parts and also had the luck to land up with a trustworthy and competent AC technician. It must be damn easy to maintain a Mercedes in the Middle-East.

Wish that the Indian Government make it mandatory for all car manufacturers to provide the complete range of original spare parts over the counter for all cars sold in India.

The service and parts monopoly has to end soon hopefully. Only then will these cars become more common place and relatively more affordable.

[rev_rohit]

Very interesting read, an eye opener in itself!!

I do agree monopoly should end, only deterrent in buying a pre worshipped cars is that car prices fall exponentially but spares cost the same. It makes buying a pre owned car easy but maintaining it a very costly affair, especially when you buy a car that's out of warranty.

I think we should keep one Maruti or a Hyundai as a backup whenever thinking of buying a European car.

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by kisharchit

Hi iceman1, just went through the whole thread in one go! I would say brilliant! My aunt has a C220 CDI W203 pre facelift and as I type this, it is at the workshop getting its fuel pump and gauge changed for 70k!! I have told my aunt to stop sending to authorized workshop and I guess she agrees now.


Hoping to get it to drive for some time soon when its back. I am really tempted to make her an offer to buy it and keep it for daily runs.


What sort of FE do you get in the City?

Keep the car away from the Authorised workshops for your regular jobs and your costs will come down atleast by half. But do that only if you know a trusted experienced mechanic who knows how to work on these cars. Also check for parts availability before you decide to start work. Most parts are easily available over the counter at spare parts shops dealing in imported car spares.You could also check online on Ebay.

Go for it!! especially since its a known car to you and you may already know of all the niggles/issues.Trust me you will have a smile on your face every time you drive it. I still do!

I get about 11-12 in the city depending on the traffic.

[quakerme]

Originally Posted by iceman1

Go for it!! especially since its a known car to you and you may already know of all the niggles/issues.Trust me you will have a smile on your face every time you drive it. I still do!
.

Congratulations ICeman very informative thread, the issues you faced and the happy endings...
Finding the root cause of the AC issue was very interesting, Astonished to see that you had to import the parts of your car from another country when it is made two blocks away from your place..this Dealer monopoly should end.

[iceman1]

Quick update:

The odo now reads 94k approx and the car is running like a charm. No niggles.No issues. That being said, there was this annoying incident a few days ago where my regular car wash guy was on leave and his replacement forcefully tried to close the right hand side mirror leading the internal motor to jam and ultimately break!! I tried to fix it with a known mechanic however some of the internal plastic components have broken and the motor would need to be replaced.very very annoying! I still havent got down to getting that fixed.

On a different note, I am thinking of getting the Automatic transmission Fluid change done sometime soon. But i am having trouble finding the right ATF for the job. None of the fluids on the MB approved list are available at places that i have checked so far. Most places stock the Febi-Blistein brand but its not on the MB approved list and although i am being told its fine and has been used before, i really do want to find the right one. Has anyone used Febi ATF before? Does anyone know a place that i can check to get these hard to find fluids? Has anyone here attempted to do an ATF change outside the dealership and if so , what fluid was used?

Here's the List of MB approved fluids:

Mercedes-Benz Automatik-Getriebeöl MB 236.14

MB 236.14 ATF NAG2VSport A 001 989 68 03

Aral Getriebeöl ATF M14

Fuchs TITAN ATF 4134

Mobil ATF 134 Exxon Mobil Corporation, FAIRFAX, Virginia/USA

MOTUL ATF 236.14 Motul , AUBERVILLIERS CEDEX/FRANCE

OMV ATF M plus LUKOIL Lubricants Austria GmbH, VIENNA/Österreich

Q8 AUTO 25

Shell ATF134

Shell SPIRAX S6 ATF 134M

Tim Eckart ATF 7

Total Fluidmatic 7S

Valvoline SYNPOWER ATF 134 The Valvoline Company, LEXINGTON, KY/USA

[iceman1]

I am having no luck so far in finding the right fluid.I could really use some help on this guys. In the mean time, i have cheked with the dealers and here is the pricing i have been given so far :

MB ATF : Rs 2250 * 10 litres ( approx)
AT Filter: Rs 1750
Pan gasket: Rs 1800
Plus labour and few other bits and bobs needed.

I have called for all the needed parts (except the ATF) from Dubai and should be with me by the end of the month. Here's the price :

MB ATF : Rs 750 per litre!!!
MB AT Filter: Rs 750
MB Gasket : Rs 800
Miscellaeous: Rs 1000 ( approx)

Transporting the ATF from Dubai is proving to be very difficult but i am still trying. But i also need to find a local alternative. I simply cant come to terms with the fact that MB india would charge its customers 3 times more for a litre of fluid. I understand somewhat that taxes are higher in india and all but come one!! 3 times the cost is simply way beyond my understanding.

If anyone here needs help with getting some original parts for their Mercs, you can drop me a line and i will try and get them for you .

[iceman1]

I recently did a trip to goa by road AND this time I decided to take the C class. The journey to goa was very relaxing and we did it at an easy pace . We reached our hotel in North Goa in about 10.5 hours. On our way back, after driving for about 2-3 hours i could see that the car was emitting some black smoke but didn’t think much of it. After a further 2 hour driving, the black smoke increasingly became worse and at one point the car refused to downshift after slowing down a bit. We stopped for a quick lunch break shortly after wards and when we started again, the downshifting problem had disappeared. The black smoke was better too. I was relieved thinking everything was ok and it must have been a temporary glitch of some sort.After driving for another 2-3 hours both the problems resurfaced although i didn’t understand at this point that there might be a co-relation between both the problems. I was tensed...really tensed!! I was beginning to feel that my gear box has developed a problem and i was doing some mental maths how much this is going to cost me to fix. Certainly not a small amount! May be it was a bad decision taking this car to Goa and over straining it ( as per the Wifey!). At that moment, i really didn’t care about the black smoke. I was trying to be as relaxed as possible but the wifey had figured that something is not right about the car and i did look tensed. Although the car was driving fine , it had lost its pick up by half and the black smoke continued. We continued our journey and reached home fine with God’s grace.

To Be Continued.....

[iceman1]

The following 3-4 days were spent doing some intense research about possible problems with the gear box of W203. The more i read, the more worried i was. As per most blogs, the first thing to do is to change the ATF Fluid and filter which was there on my mind anyway. Others said it could be the EGR pipe, Turbo pipe, electronic fault etc etc. So i thought its best to get my car scanned first to see if there are any fault codes.

I got my car scanned at my usual place - Hyper Power. The scan revealed a faulty Turbo sensor. According to Mahesh ( from Hyper power) a faulty sensor usually indicates a leaking turbo/ intercooler pipe. On further examination, we found the torn Turbo hose pipe which was leaking. It had developed an almost 3 inch long tear and was nicely hidden away from the casual looking eye. Because of the leaking hose, the turbo was not functioning like it should, the car was loosing power and also resulting in improper gear shifts and the car not down shifting.

The Turbo Hose was replaced at the cost of Rs 7000 plus labour and the car is back in form again.phew!The gear shifts are as smooth as ever and the black smoke has disappeared!! I am well over the moon for the accurate diagnosis by Mahesh. The nightmare has finally ended!

[androdev]

iceman1, you continue to dodge the land mines :-) that Goa experience must have been painful because after all the willingness to spend money and effort on these cars, you just hate them if they die on you in the most inappropriate time. Glad everything worked out!

[iceman1]

Originally Posted by androdev

iceman1, you continue to dodge the land mines :-) that Goa experience must have been painful because after all the willingness to spend money and effort on these cars, you just hate them if they die on you in the most inappropriate time. Glad everything worked out!

This could have been the biggest landmine for sure. But i am glad it got us home safe without much trouble. The turbo pipe issue was a quick one to fix and i am really happy the car has proven its overall reliability so far.

on a different note, I have finally decided to let go of the car. The arrival of twin babies in the family plus their luggage ,car seats , strollers etc warrants the need of a bigger 7 seater with decent boot space.Been trying to dodge the sale of the car for a while now but i guess it cant be avoided any longer.Sad!! i had all the plans to keep it forever.