Took my wife's 1997 C280 Sport in because it was barely running. Just heard from the dealer that it needs a new "magnetic slide" in the fuel management system (and assorted hoses, gaskets, etc) at a parts cost of $1150 and a total repair cost of $2750. Does anyone know what a "magnetic slide" is? Anywhere to get it at a lesser cost? Does this sound legitimate?

 

OK, looks like no one knows anything more about this "magnetic slide" than I do (sounds like something at Disney World). Can anyone with a parts manual for the 1997 C280 find a parts number for me?

 

OK, I think I finally have the correct name for this part. Another M/B dealer parts dept. identified it as a Slide Actuator or Throttle Body Actuator. I think it is a part of what I generally call the throttle body. Evidently when it fails it can throw off a variety of fault codes - more than a half dozen in my case.

The car went into Limp Home mode and the local mechanic who generally works on the car was not able to isolate the failed part because of the many codes being generated. Only the local M/B dealer Service Rep called it a magnetic slide - probably because he did not really know what the part was.

Anyone with a similar experience and a source of a cheaper than $1150 part for this fix?