Hello all,
I am new to this forum, but I’ve been a loyal Mercedes owner for many years.
Some of the Mercedes I’ve had were: TE, G, E, and 2 CLKs.
I’m loosing respect for the brand because of the following:
1. I tried to check my transmission fluid in my CLK430 and was told by the dealer that I couldn’t do this, and the xmission has LIFETIME fluid and never needs to be changed. I’ve had several Porsches, and built many engines, and know better. So I went to another dealer, and spoke with
one of the techs, and was told that LIFETIME means lifetime of the
transmission which is about 100 to 130 Thousand miles at which time
you’ll replace it at a cost of 6000. dollars. However if you change your
fluid and filter every 50 to 60 Thousand miles you won’t have a problem.
The CLK430 xmission doesn’t come with a dipstick, and I’m told that soon
they’re going to eliminate engine oil dipstick too. They do have a dealer
tool xmission dipstick which I bought and now check my fluid regularly.
Does Mercedes have a side business in transmissions?

2. Also in the CLK (W208) the outside temperature, and clock are failing
they’re seven segment displays and everything else in the cluster is
working fine. I thought that I would replace the two displays (looks like a
loose connection, maybe a wire or a broken land pattern) both dealers
said that you can’t buy the displays you must buy the complete instrument
cluster at 1200. dollars. I have Five (5) friends with CLKs with this same
exact problem. Where does Mercedes get these clusters from, and it
appears that there is NO QUALITY CONTROL.
Does Mercedes have a side business in Clusters?

3. The COMAND system is great I like the integration, however once the
navigation took me somewhere that I didn’t want to go. I would like to
find some technical documentation for this system. Since I can’t have
TV in the US I’d like to use the TV button for a back-up camera. I also
heard that there are different software loads for COMAND. How do I
tell which one I have, and what features the new load has? What is
COMAND 2.0 and COMAND 2.5

4. What is version coding? Does this mean that if I make a change to the car
the dealer has to identify it to the system for it to work?

5. I’m also told that there are FOUR (4) fiber-optic LANs in this car. Does this
car have to be this complicated? Is there any Technical documentation
on these LANs?

6. If I could meet some techies in the Northern New Jersey/New York area
that would be great.

Thank you for listening, I like the brand but … I’m loosing respect quickly.
I know that this sounds like a cry for help, maybe it is, as I said, I really
like the brand but …
Tim

 

I feel your pain i would love to have a newer benz but the electronic issues make me not want to own one.

As far as the trans dipstick goes. I personally saw a dipstick bought for one at the local dealership so call around to other dealerships and you should be able to find one that can get u a dipstick you can also get the filters from what i have heard. But most people that buy a Mercedes in the US dont understand these things and will just except what they are told.

Thats y i like my W126. Luxury and i can buy any part i need and now full of complicated electronics.

When i think luxury i think quality no gizmos i like gizmos but not while i am driving. I think you know what i am saying.