SierraMikeHotel's chod: SMH goes above plodding pace SHOCK

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I adore mine, even though it's still sulking on the driveway.

 

What's the real world MPG from yours like?

 

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[mk2_craig]

Pleased to hear that M-B seem to have got it right re parts availability and customer service. Sounds well worth the extra if you can afford it.

[SierraMikeHotel]

What's the real world MPG from yours like?

It's not great, to be honest - the Fuelio app says 35.3 mpg since I've had it. I like to have the "economy since start" up on the screen, and that shows a great difference with driving style - it gets 40 on a decent run or nearer 30 with town/traffic. Bit disappointing, as the new one regularly hits the low 50s.

 

It is now home, very happy to have it back!

[They_all_do_that_sir]

It's not great, to be honest - the Fuelio app says 35.3 mpg since I've had it. I like to have the "economy since start" up on the screen, and that shows a great difference with driving style - it gets 40 on a decent run or nearer 30 with town/traffic. Bit disappointing, as the new one regularly hits the low 50s.

 

It is now home, very happy to have it back!

That's not far off what I was getting in my petrol one TBH.....but then I was mostly doing longer runs

 

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[SierraMikeHotel]

Nothing's ever simple, is it?

 

The rear washer hasn't been working, and as I'm at home in daylight and it's not raining I decided to get it sorted.

 

It had been working fine and I could hear the pump working so I assumed it was just blocked, however a needle went down the jets with no issue. I had a test run and with the engine off I could hear water running, which I hadn't heard when driving it. Uh oh...

 

 

You possibly can't tell as it was raining all night, but that is water pouring off the car.

 

Tried to get the trim panel off the bootlid, but the screws that hold it in place were comprehensively fucked - some came out but most were so rounded off the screwdriver couldn't get a grip, and one or two spun uselessly without coming free. I also noticed some shiny screws through the upper trim panels (either side of the rear window) holding them in place, definitely not Mercedes issue.

 

I was starting to wonder if I'd be able to get the thing off at all, but tried another line of attack. Sitting inside the boot, I was able to pull the trim panel away just enough to squeeze my hand in and re-attach the hose to the nozzle assembly. I'm not sure how tight it is and it might pop off again but it'll have to do for now.

 

Normal service is resumed.

 

 

The bodyshop must have had that trim off when they repaired the dent on the bootlid, it's really annoying that they've put fucked screws back in. I wonder if they knocked the hose off without realising. Probably too petty a thing to complain about but irritating.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Standard bodyshop practice. Most are animals.

[Lacquer Peel]

Can you get these with a decent engine without leather interior in the UK?

[SierraMikeHotel]

Mine has fake leather if that counts?

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Occasionally you'll see a petrol C350 crop up for sale, seriously quick car without going full AMG....

 

Really must fix mine over Christmas

 

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[SierraMikeHotel]

You know what? The bodyshop did a really shit job. Here's the email I've just sent them:

 

I had some work done a couple of weeks ago and I'm afraid I'm really disappointed with the work so the car will need to come back to you for this to be rectified. Because of the time of year I've barely seen the car in daylight so it's taken me a little time to notice the issues.

 

The rear offside door had been opened into something knocking a chunk of paint off, exposing bare steel which had started to rust. I was keen to get this sorted because rust spreads fast once it has started. If you look at the car from the outside the repair looks absolutely fine, however if you open the door and look at the inner face you see that it was not painted on the inside. There is still a small patch of bare steel which is pockmarked with rust. This makes me worry that the rust was not treated prior to painting. Even if it was, the patch that has been left bare will continue to rust until it breaks through again. This needs to be done again, with an assurance that the rust has been treated and the damaged area completely covered in paint so that it won't return.

 

There was also a very small dent in the tailgate: this was quite minor but as the car was with you anyway I decided to get this fixed too. Issues are:

 

The paint is not quite the same colour, so you can see quite clearly where the dent used to be. This needs to be rectified.

 

The chromed lettering that says CDI was not put back straight. When I noticed I prodded the I with my finger and it fell off. It looks like it was put back with a sticky pad, but not cleaned up beforehand - if you glue to something dirty it will never last! These need cleaning up and attaching properly.

 

The Mercedes emblem stands proud of the body and will snag and get broken the first time it sees a car wash. There are flaws on it and I would guess they broke or lost the original and replaced it with a cheap aftermarket one? This wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but I can't leave it sticking out. This needs attaching properly.

 

Did they take the carpeted trim panel from the inside of the tailgate off? I guess you would have to, in order to get to the back of the dent. The hose for the rear wash/wipe had been detached from the washer nozzle: it worked before the car came to you and while it could have fallen off at any time it seems logical that someone knocked it off while working in that area. It would be easy to do this and not realise, and I would have just fixed it and not complained if this was the only problem. However I was unable to get that trim panel off because the screws that hold it in place were all rounded off. If they did have it off and ruined the screw heads, they really should have been replaced with new ones. I have managed to fix the washer by pulling it away and squeezing my hand through the gap but it's really not ideal. If they did have that trim panel off then I would like the screws replaced so that I can take it off in future if I need to - of course if they didn't, then this is not your issue to resolve.

Basically, they haven't fixed either of the things that I asked them to fix and they have broken some things.

 

[Jim Bell]

Sounds like what I would expect from most proffessionals. An excellent advert for not painting cars. It's rarely worth the time, hassle and ball ache. Save money and lengthen your life my learning to love imperfections and dents.

[SierraMikeHotel]

That's been my approach until now, but that's genuinely the nicest car I've ever had and I thought, just once, I could have something nice

 

You are probably right though.

 

Followers of the News 24 thread will know that I did this on Christmas Eve: it's like the car wants to be a shed in my ownership.

 

[Jim Bell]

That's just added character.

 

+50 Charisma.

[Rocket88]

I've got an '05 plate 220CDI estate...........125k miles, had no issues with it at all............full cow, everything but a sun roof................no rust either.......I like it.....will therefore probably be selling it soon!

[Jim Bell]

I've got an '05 plate 220CDI estate...........125k miles, had no issues with it at all............full cow, everything but a sun roof................no rust either.......I like it.....will therefore probably be selling it soon!

 

This sounds like something in line with my interests.

[SierraMikeHotel]

Mercedes news.

 

Today I replaced the load cover with a second-hand one from eBay. Mine, along with the other two I viewed, had a broken tab so you couldn't pull the load cover across and lock it into place. We're going on holiday in this car soon so I wanted to get it sorted, as it's bound to spend at least some time in car parks with luggage on it.

 

The one I've bought has an intact luggage cover but the dog guard is a bit tatty so I'm going to try to pull the existing one apart and see if I can make one good one out of two. I suspect it will be more difficult than I expect, but surely worth a shot.

 

I also drove the car today, for the first time since the Christmas break. I still really, really like it and it was good to have a close comparison with an LHM Citroën, having driven a Xantia yesterday. I like comfy cars and it's very, very nearly as good.

 

MPG is still not as good as I'd hope, and I've noticed that it seems to take a long time to come up to temperature. Worth changing the thermostat? Or do these have a modern "damped" temperature gauge that I should just ignore?

[SierraMikeHotel]

Followers of the Lazy Spotters thread will know that the Merc, my wife and I spent the weekend away in Normandy.  I absolutely love a cross-channel trip by car: it's been the start to the biggest adventures in my life.

 

This was just a little weekend away in Honfleur, not a massive trip by any means but I never feel that I've really bonded with a car until I've driven it to the mainland.  I've done it in most of my old sheds, often several times, and it's always an experience one way or the other.

 

This was a good one.  The car behaved beautifully: it's 130km/h autoroute all the way from Dieppe to Honfleur which felt like the car's natural habitat, just smoothly rolling the miles away, but it's also small enough and nimble enough to feel at home on the little coastal D routes that we explored during the weekend.

 

We've had a lot going on in our lives lately so we mostly spent the time eating in restaurants and chilling out, but we did a couple of explores.  Without wanting to sound too much like Junkman, France is mostly closed to tourists in January (although, to be honest, it makes sense - why not shut for a month in winter then open longer hours in summer when you actually have some customers?) so we couldn't get to any of the D-Day museums but we looked at the German battery at Merville from the outside, complete with a C47 that paratroopers leapt from to capture it.  It's an amazing story: they lost most of their kit but still silenced the guns to allow the D-Day landings.

 

 

I was impressed and slightly frightened by the Pont de Normandie bridge, I think my wife may have taken a video of us driving over which I'll post at some point.  I'm really scared of heights so I was mostly just gripping the steering wheel.  This wasn't the scary end - there's another bit that goes straight up then back down with a 6% gradient.

 

 

I'm still amazed by how dirty cars, especially estates or hatchbacks with a vertical rear end, can get just by driving about in the rain.  100 miles since the last wash, and safely aboard Seven Sisters on the way home.

 

 

It was a bit of a shock being back on British tarmac: without wishing to provoke the subject that must not be named, it is blindingly obvious when you return from civilisation that no maintenance has been done in this country since 2008.  When I first went to Italy I was warned that the roads would be bad: I bet Italians warn their friends about British roads now.

[Pete-M]

Looks similar to mine, just about 200 bhp short, and a few inches higher.

 

I like them. Yours has the nicer dash. The one in mine is the early version which looks ancient nowadays.

 

I need to replace the load cover on mine, it sags on the rhs.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Looking at what you've posted lately on here, I understand why you went for the Merc and got rid of the Saab.

 

Fair enough.

[mat_the_cat]

I absolutely love a cross-channel trip by car: it's been the start to the biggest adventures in my life.

 

Likewise

 

Did you get any joy with the bodyshop?

[SierraMikeHotel]

Yeah, I like comfy cars

 

I like the earlier dash, it's more unique, but I really wanted a later car for the galvanising.

 

I joined the owners' club this week, mostly because it offers a hefty discount from the main dealer in Brighton. The second hand load cover I got works but it is tatty so I'm thinking about getting a price for an actual new one.

 

It goes back to the bodyshop this week for the problems to be rectified.

[mercrocker]

I took my W123 over that Normandie bridge thing.   Shat myself the whole way, as I invariably do on the Dartford one - it's even worse in a T25 with added crosswind steering fun.....

[SierraMikeHotel]

I took my W123 over that Normandie bridge thing. Shat myself the whole way, as I invariably do on the Dartford one - it's even worse in a T25 with added crosswind steering fun.....

Yup, me too. Mrs H really helped by saying, "ooh, it's really high isn't it?" just as we got to the peak.

[SierraMikeHotel]

Just dropped the Merc off back at the bodyshop. All very apologetic and agreed that the work isn't to a great standard.

 

All will be sorted... Until the next tiny problem. They've run out of courtesy cars. So I am shivering on the station platform.

 

Still: they're going to deliver it back to me when it's done so at least I haven't got to come back again.

[Pete-M]

Little tip for you with auto Mercedes, do the gearbox adaptation reset every now and then, it's dead easy, takes a couple of minutes and it'll really being the car to life until you spend a few hours stuck in stop/ start traffic.

 

Turn ignition on. Hold accelerator pedal at full throttle (you'll feel the kickdown switch engage) keep foot down for 10 seconds. Turn key to off, but leave key in. Take foot off pedal. Wait two minutes, start engine. Job done.

 

This will also reset the throttle adaptation.

[SierraMikeHotel]

Further to the fear-of-heights post above, this is the view over that bridge - doesn't look very scary in the picture but believe me it is steep!  I couldn't believe that pedestrians can cross it too, there's no way in hell I'd ever do that.  It goes over the Seine, about as broad as the Thames at Dartford at that point.  I'm not a big fan of the Dartford crossing but at least it doesn't fly upwards like this does.

 

 

Thanks Pete-M for that top tip, I will give it a go.

 

Just lately, everywhere I look I see signs of bodging.

 

The new dishwasher tripped the RCB's (for the second time) and the Beko repairman blamed it on the installation: it wasn't draining properly and water was getting to where it shouldn't.

 

When we stripped the wallpaper we found that some of the walls in the house were never plastered, just papered over plasterboard.  A previous occupant was a builder and he made some alterations, we've found some oddities and cut corners with those as well.

 

BT Openreach had to come out twice to make my internet work properly, as the first one only did half a job.

 

Car wise, the Merc finally went back into the bodyshop on the 31st, and I got it back this morning.  I was supposed to get a courtesy car but they didn't have one available: not a big problem because they're only two minutes from the station, but I wouldn't be able to get back in time to pick it up before they close during the week.  Not a problem: they would deliver it to me.

 

Unfortunately the job dragged on, blamed on them waiting to get new badges from Mercedes.  It was finally ready on Thursday, and when I reminded them that they'd offered to drop it off the lad panicked and said "Errrr ooohhh yeah my boss did say that didn't he."  Call me soft (my wife already has) but I took pity on him and offered to pick it up Saturday.  A few hours later I got another phone call from the admin lady: "They did tell you that we're only open 10-12 on Saturdays didn't they?"  No, they hadn't.  Imagine how pissed off I'd be if I'd decided to go later and missed them.

 

 

Anyway: the boot is now all the same colour (apparently the paint was fine but they just hadn't polished it enough), the door has a decent paint covering, and the CDI badges are properly attached.  I'm not convinced that the Mercedes emblem sits right - It's not a very clear picture, but can you see that it still sits a few mm proud?  Better than the centimetre or so that it was before though.  I just can't be bothered arguing any more.

 

 

Rather irritatingly, I hit a kerb on my way home.  It was quite low speed, going through a set of traffic lights when the car in the right-hand lane started drifting towards me and I misjudged my evasive action slightly.  The lanes are really narrow at that point so I don't really blame him.  I've taken a little chunk out of the sidewall. Not the end of the world as I was intending to replace the fronts at some point this year anyway (the tread is legal, but they're mismatched  - one Michelin and one Zeetex, if you want an entry for the Tyre Names thread - and both have some damage to the sidewalls) but annoying.

 

The car came with a full service book but no other history. As I get to know it a bit better I think It's had some caring owners and some clueless bodgers.  There were some small things broken and a couple of small rips in the seats, as well as some scratches on the trim, so I think someone's been quite heavy-handed with it.

 

Here's my absolute favourite one though, which I didn't notice until I replaced the load cover the other week.  Someone has actually sawn the boot floor in half.

 

 

I have literally no clue why you would do this.

 

My only guess is that there's an electronic component and some wiring under there - maybe a home mechanic wanted to repair or replace it and got frustrated figuring out how to lift the floor.  This has added itself to the to-do list, it's ridiculous and I will replace it at some point.

 

Probably after I replace the thermostat though: I've decided the reason for the poor fuel consumption (now averaging 36.1mpg since I got it) is that it doesn't get up to temperature.  I think it's supposed to sit at 80 - that's the mid point on the gauge - but it only does that in traffic, then drops back to 60 when you're moving.

 

I still bloody love the car, even with all the faults it's throwing at me.  I think it's a fundamentally good car, I just need to get through the list of niggles and hopefully avoid any more incompetence.

[SierraMikeHotel]

A lengthy and boring video in which I sit on my drive talking to myself and the sat-nav fails to work.

 

There's been a bit of a discussion of modern head units including carputer type thingies and Android Auto, and I promised to do a video showing how it works.  This is my first stab at this sort of thing so apologies for the amateurishness, but I guess that's what we all love and expect on the beige!

 

I had to sit my camera on the arm rest and give it some zoom hence the weird-looking aspect - it is properly rectangular in real life, I promise.  I said I'd put the model name in the text - I'm pretty sure it's a Kenwood DMX7017DABS, something like that anyway.  Also I know it's a head unit and not a headset...

 

 

I've had it a few months now and it's been completely reliable so it's a shame the sat-nav decided not to play ball - you've seen what you get through, that is whichever nav app you choose on a decent size screen where you can see it.  I am, genuinely, sure that it's because it was only weakly linked to the wi-fi in the house as it works perfectly on 4G.

 

There are a couple of things I forgot to mention: Waze allows you to add "planned drives" so you can set up your route on your phone from the comfort of your armchair, then it's ready when you want to drive off.  Saves those awful moments when you're trying to type a postcode in but the person you've been visiting wants to wave you goodbye.  I'd also intended to demonstrate the dimming feature - the display has a night-time setting which changes over when you turn the headlamps on.

 

It does, of course, have the Google speech system built in and I considered talking about that but decided to leave it - it's not terribly reliable, if I'm honest, so the usefulness is limited.  I only really use it to say "take me home."  On the other hand, I look forward to it becoming better over time.

 

The car's going into the garage on Wednesday to have the cooling issue sorted out.  The wisdom of the W203 owners Facebook group has it that the thermostat is a weak point - and a couple of other people have posted in there asking the same question since I asked about mine - but the garage will obviously check rather than replacing components blindly.  They've suggested it could be a temperature sensor - moderns eh!  I was thinking of leaving it for a little while, since I have spent so much money on this car now, but the fuel consumption is an issue.  I figure the longer I leave it, the more it's costing me in diesel.

 

It will need front tyres at some point too, I finally got to see the damage I caused when I hit that kerb.

 

 

It looks past its best anyway, to be honest.

[mrbenn]

Stereo looks good. I'd like something similar in my daily but have so far managed with a bluetooth FM transmitter thing cos I'm a luddite.

 

Shame about the tyre. I vividly remember doing something similar to a brand new tyre some years ago...

[New POD]

A lengthy and boring video in which I sit on my drive talking to myself and the sat-nav fails to work.

 

There's been a bit of a discussion of modern head units including carputer type thingies and Android Auto, and I promised to do a video showing how it works. This is my first stab at this sort of thing so apologies for the amateurishness, but I guess that's what we all love and expect on the beige!

 

I had to sit my camera on the arm rest and give it some zoom hence the weird-looking aspect - it is properly rectangular in real life, I promise. I said I'd put the model name in the text - I'm pretty sure it's a Kenwood DMX7017DABS, something like that anyway. Also I know it's a head unit and not a headset...

 

https://youtu.be/WRuM0jdpo6Y

 

I've had it a few months now and it's been completely reliable so it's a shame the sat-nav decided not to play ball - you've seen what you get through, that is whichever nav app you choose on a decent size screen where you can see it. I am, genuinely, sure that it's because it was only weakly linked to the wi-fi in the house as it works perfectly on 4G.

 

There are a couple of things I forgot to mention: Waze allows you to add "planned drives" so you can set up your route on your phone from the comfort of your armchair, then it's ready when you want to drive off. Saves those awful moments when you're trying to type a postcode in but the person you've been visiting wants to wave you goodbye. I'd also intended to demonstrate the dimming feature - the display has a night-time setting which changes over when you turn the headlamps on.

 

It does, of course, have the Google speech system built in and I considered talking about that but decided to leave it - it's not terribly reliable, if I'm honest, so the usefulness is limited. I only really use it to say "take me home." On the other hand, I look forward to it becoming better over time.

 

The car's going into the garage on Wednesday to have the cooling issue sorted out. The wisdom of the W203 owners Facebook group has it that the thermostat is a weak point - and a couple of other people have posted in there asking the same question since I asked about mine - but the garage will obviously check rather than replacing components blindly. They've suggested it could be a temperature sensor - moderns eh! I was thinking of leaving it for a little while, since I have spent so much money on this car now, but the fuel consumption is an issue. I figure the longer I leave it, the more it's costing me in diesel.

 

It will need front tyres at some point too, I finally got to see the damage I caused when I hit that kerb.

 

2019-02-17 14.16.42.jpg

 

It looks past its best anyway, to be honest.

I stopped watching the video.When you said how much the install cost.

We have nothing in common.

[mrbenn]

I didn't think it was bad for what is essentially integrated sat nav and hands free phone kit tbh, never mind the added music functionality and DAB radio.

 

Fitting was a good chunk (going by Amazon prices for the HU) but a job like that with all the trim removal necessary to do it "properly" could well leave you wanting to take your own life.