Back in a diesel!

Howdy folks, long time no see! I had last been on this forum as a lessee of a '14 Golf TDI that I kept for about 2 years before returning during the buyback program. I opted to end my lease early and took the payout, including the Bosch payment received recently.

Since most of my 20+ years' driving career has been spent in oil burners, I needed to get back into a diesel. We were down to one car (the wife's Passat gasser) which is pushing 134k miles. After about 6 months of looking, we found a beautiful black '14 Merc GLK 250 Bluetec CPO with 48k on the clock and pulled the trigger.

We now have just over 52k miles on it and recently took it back to the dealer for a CEL related to fuel pressure. Turns out there was more gas in the tank than diesel which caused significant damage to the HPFP (metal shavings found in filter and fuel tank itself). I have never put gas in a diesel or the other way around, so it clearly must have been contamination in the underground fuel tank on one of my fuel stops.

It's been in the shop nearly 3 weeks now, the first week was spent in diagnosing the CEL and finally pulling a fuel sample. Luckily, insurance covered it as MB does not warranty "mis-fueling."

It is getting a new fuel tank, new lines, new HPFP, new fuel rails and accessories, new fuel filter, and finally new injectors. All for $13,5k that GEICO has written the check for already. Meanwhile I've been driving a E300 4Matic loaner that loves $55 fill-ups weekly.

While this initial setback has somewhat left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially early on in the ownership experience, I remain confident that it will be a good one overall and can't wait to get Moose (yes, the wife nicknamed it) back any day now. We have a roadtrip planned in September, from Chicago all the way out to the west coast and back, stopping in as many national parks as possible along the way.

I have searched on both mbworld and benzworld forums online; neither come close to the civility, maturity level, resourcefulness and the technical know-how as on TDIclub, therefore I'm glad to be back and hope this subsection continues to expand!

Any and all comments/questions are welcome

My perfect vehicle would be a black GLK diesel with a 6 speed manual transmission. I'm not likely to see that on this side of the Atlantic, but you're almost there.

It's nearly perfect as far as equipment goes, and it does really look sharp in black with the AMG package.

As far as the transmission, I think the 8 speed is excellent. All of my previous cars except for the Golf and this GLK have been manuals, and I've enjoyed every mile in them but I gotta say I don't really miss rowing my own gears in Chitcago traffic.

Plus it's possible the extra gears and lower rpms help with the fuel economy. On the highway the little guy returns over 40mpgs.

I remember a Meiers in the Bloomingdale area years ago had diesel contaminated with gasoline and a bunch of cars were effected and needed big $$$ toward repairs.

I've been reading up on fuel contamination issues here in town, some horror stories for sure. Worst part is it's always going to be on the owner, and there's only so much your insurance will cover.

GLK 250 Bluetec is a great small SUV. The handling is superb. And the same biturbo 4cyl and automatic that's in the E250 sedan, at about the same weight.

Agreed, a great power plant. Although the handling is probably better in your E250, even if nearly the same weight. The GLK is taller, boxier, has a shorter wheelbase and you can feel it in the corners. But I do enjoy the commanding view from the cockpit seat.

andreigbs said:

Agreed, a great power plant. Although the handling is probably better in your E250, even if nearly the same weight. The GLK is taller, boxier, has a shorter wheelbase and you can feel it in the corners. But I do enjoy the commanding view from the cockpit seat.

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Handling is great for an SUV I mean.

Coming up on 3 weeks since MB took it in for repairs... Have yet to hear back about when it's expected to be ready.

In fairness, they were also going to fix a small chip in the windshield, the driver's side door seals that were creaking like an old boat, and a soft tranny-related thump that would occur after about 2-3 seconds after coming to a complete stop.

You can drive my 2005 E320 CDI and I'll drive your E300 if those fill ups are bothering you

PeteZ06 said:

You can drive my 2005 E320 CDI and I'll drive your E300 if those fill ups are bothering you

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I don't think I'd mind terribly actually. My Dad loves his 2008 E320 CDI. It is a smooth, quiet, comfortable, rocket ship of a car. He swears by it.

If his E320 is a 2008 then its a Bluetec.. not CDI. But yeah.. the E320 is probably the smoothest and quietest car I've ever owned.... just starting to look dated.

PeteZ06 said:

If his E320 is a 2008 then its a Bluetec.. not CDI. But yeah.. the E320 is probably the smoothest and quietest car I've ever owned.... just starting to look dated.

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I think you're right, it is a Bluetec. You say "dated" as if it's a bad thing. I think the 80s generation of Mercs still look great. There was a bit of a design snafu in the 90s (personal taste obviously) but since the mid-2000s they've really come a long way.

andreigbs said:

I think you're right, it is a Bluetec. You say "dated" as if it's a bad thing. I think the 80s generation of Mercs still look great. There was a bit of a design snafu in the 90s (personal taste obviously) but since the mid-2000's they've really come a long way.

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Totally agree with you.. always loved the 80's and early 90's era Benz's ... then like you said they took a turn in the wrong direction for a few years... but when the mid 2000's E55 AMG came out the Benz registered on my radar again.

I really have no reason to get rid of the E320 right now other than entitlement reasons.. lol.. I deserve a newer diesel . Its about to turn over 200K miles and I've never owned a car with so many miles so thats something I've been looking forward to. The only thing that needs attention is the drivers side front ball bearing is just showing the ever so slightest amount of play... nothing noticeable other than when the car is in the air you feel a few mm's of wiggle. I ordered both sides and plan on doing that before winter. Its also nice owning an older car and not worrying about door dings.

Quick update!

Since the fuel system repairs were made back in July-August 2017 (7 wks in total), we have put roughly 14K more miles on Moose:

* 7K mile roadtrip out West and back, not a hiccup
* 7K miles of daily driving, mostly city (Chitcongo)

Repairs made recently:

* Wiring harness behind rear bumper and 2 new radar sensors for Blind Spot Assist (waranty)
* Transmission software update to alleviate soft thump in driveline after hard stops (warranty)
* 2 H7 front cornering lights (for the ILS system, 30 minutes of my time)
* Oil change (trusted Indy)
* Driveline fluids changed (front diff, tranny, transfer case, rear diff; trusted Indy)

Issues outstanding:

* Front driver's side shock absorber rattles for a few minutes when starting out in the cold, goes away once warm.
* Front driver's side brake disk likely warped; vibration under braking (brakes replaced by MB 7 months ago before buying)
* Will need new tires soon

I also topped off AdBlue tank after nearly 13K miles and gave it a good wash to clean off all the winter grime.