Time for a new family car.

[MikeT]

The RF caliper on the B Class is dragging. I noticed it today but I think it's been dragging for several months, only not as much as it is now. The wheel was REALLY hot, so I cooled it down, took the pads out, checked the sliders and caliper holder and all was well. I screwed the piston back in (it was very resistant) and reassembled with fresh never-seize on the brake pad ears...after a short test drive, it was apparent that the calliper was binding again.It's the same calliper that the wear sensor is attached to, and it probably explains why I had the premature pad wear in July last year.So I am going to take it to TPM Nanaimo for a new set of front calipers...I am not into bleeding brakes in the cold weather!

[MikeT]

The dealer tech confirmed my diagnosis and so both front calipers will be changed. I am having them mount the new rear discs and pads at the same time. I had been planning to do that myself but I figured I would let them do it because it is only costing an additional $180. The car has 162,000 km on it.

[MikeT]

Got it back yesterday, new front calipers and rear discs and pads, it brakes like a new car now. I didn't realize how bad the brakes had been until after this work. They stopped the car well enough but were not smooth (and were dragging of course). Calipers were $280 a side.

[smartzuuk]

Ouch, $280 a side, plus labour?

[MikeT]

Yeah the whole bill was $1170 because I asked them to install rear discs and pads too. Could have done that myself, but I figured, what the hey?

[smartzuuk]

Well, at least you know you can get 160,000 kms more or whatever

[MikeT]

That is the plan! After 300K km, the car will owe me nothing.

[smartzuuk]

So MikeT, how is the B200 as of September 2015? And how many kms now?

As I have been toying with various 'next vehicle' potentials..... a manual transmission 2007 B200 has shown up with about 145,000 kms on it. It's probably a negotiable price a little bit. I would want it inspected so I know what's going to cost money right away before committing, if I get that far.

But still curious about yours.....

[MikeT]

202,000 km. No check engine light ever, no gearbox or drivetrain issues. Weak points have been brakes and occasionally leaky sunroof. Plus points are great room, reasonable comfort and good fuel economy.

Post-2008 cars have better rust protection on the doors, unless they (like mine) have been voluntarily replaced by M-B Canada.

Don't get one with a CVT automatic, even as a gift.

[smartzuuk]

Fasteddy says the same thing - avoid CVT

I would only get a manual variant of the B200 or B200T

Time will tell.......

I'm in no rush, and it's fun to look

Mini Cooper S in manual is not size wise what I need, but might be fun for awhile....

[MikeT]

Just north of Williams Lake on November 10th, we passed 265,000 km.  I expect to be at 266,000 when we get home on Wednesday evening.  That's 100,000 km less than my Peugeot 405 went before we scrapped it after the head gasket blew.  And over almost exactly 11 years (a few days over), averaging over 24,000 km a year.  She's a workhorse.  I expect our next car to be a hybrid Peugeot or maybe an electric Peugeot or other.  Meaning, I expect to be driving this car for another 5 years and to 400,000 km.

 

Got her some new steelies and winter tires (from my sister, whose B was destroyed in a collision) so it's black wheels right now, no hubcaps.  I kind of like the rustic look.  The hubcaps just end up chewing the paint off the rims anyway.

 

It's funny going back to the beginning of this thread, with some advising me to wait until the new (illegal) VW diesels come out.  Glad I didn't wait for that!  Plus the 2.0 TDIs like to blow up real good.  Ha!

[Chopper]

I'm not sure about headroom issues the the rear of a Pious.  I'm 195cm and never had an issue when sat in the back of Mrs Chopper's Pious back when she had one.

[MikeT]

The left driveshaft snapped in half today with little warning.  It was ticking on the weekend.  Bubblegum metallurgy!   

 

Assuming it's just the shaft, we will change it, suck up the cost, and keep driving.  But it's very disappointing all the same.

 

[MikeT]

'twas the right driveshaft that snapped. 

 

Anyway the car, being a 5 speed manual, has a different type of driveshaft than the CVT automatic (BTW a gearbox that systematically lunches itself catastrophically) and so it's ordered....from Germany.  10 day process and therefore V.O.R. for two weeks. 

 

The guy asked me if the $1300 price for the part was dissuasive.  Nope, though it's a "tad" more than one would hope to pay for an under-engineered shaft.  Add a few hundred for labour and tax and we may be on the road again a week before Christmas....

[MikeT]

 

Shear plane is not from torsion but rather it looks like metal fatigue due to shear, bending or vibration.  The outer CV joint, a bit over a year old, was saved and so we go onward above 267,000 km....

[MikeT]

What?!!

 

I will never buy another German car. 

 

Least of all an Audi.  A friend had an A3 TDI and the engine grenaded at 95,000 km.....then came the cheating scandal....the car was bought back by the cheaters (VW/Audi) and he got something better to replace that POS.

 

My sister has owned an Audi Q5 2L turbo for a while and it just had a major failure of a safety component in the steering - "known issue" with a service bulletin that expired at the end of 2018, no recall, but it stiffens the steering up to the point that the driver can lose control.  Cost is about $1500++.  She left the car at the dealer today because although it's out of warranty (by two weeks!) they have not offered to cover the full cost of this thing that should be a Transport Canada safety recall.  Her Q5 had three major recalls in the year and a bit since she has owned it and the gas door mechanism also failed before the end of 2018 when it was under warranty - that would be a $1000 bill today.

 

My B 200 has 174,000 miles on it and I will have to change the other driveshaft sooner than later.  I expect to get at least 250,000 miles on it and then scrap it when it's done.  I may buy one new car in my lifetime but it will not be German!  Leasing - no chance!

Edited March 23, 2019 by MikeT

[MikeT]

Now my response (above) seems to be to nothing, never mind!

[MikeT]

Front calipers were replaced again 13 months ago, and today I changed the LR caliper, which was binding and also was the original caliper.  10 minute job.

[MikeT]

This afternoon...

[Leadwing]

At 300,000, it's just nicely broken in

 

[MikeT]

The engine feels like it will easily do 500,000 km.  Burns no measurable oil over 10,000 km intervals.

[MikeT]

The engine mounts have been crap for about two years now - I bought three in 2019, thinking I'd install them myself, but it's a bear of a job.....

 

Then this summer on our road trip the strut ball joint on the passenger side started clunking quite and lot and the front wheels are toeing out as a result.  Confirmed it's super loose when putting winter tires on a month ago.   

 

So I've booked it into the Nanaimo dealer on Thursday for:

• new battery (still has its 14 year old one!)
• new key batteries
• change manual transaxle oil
• change engine mounts
• change lower ball joints on both struts
• change anti-roll bar drop links (they have ball joints - getting rattly)
• change RR caliper and both rear discs and pads
• secure catalyst (original muffler hanger rusted off)

The idea is to make it good for the next 200K km.  Definitely going for the 500K km grille badge.  Electrically the car's been extremely reliable, not like my smarts, both of which were a bit ropey in that department.

[MikeT]

 

Got the car back this evening, after a week extra in the shop due to the unexpected parts being needed.

General condition is very good although it was noted that one of the front struts is going to need replacement in the foreseeable future so that means two, really. Its damping is actually just fine right now and so I'll wait until it's really necessary before queuing that one up. I'll probably do the rear shocks at the same time, whenever that ends up being, assuming the rest of the car is still looking long-lived.

With the replaced ball joint and drop links for the anti-roll bar installed the car feels very tight again and much, much smoother on rough roads.

The biggest improvement in some ways is that with the new engine and transmission mounts, the clutch take up is SO smooth now, just like a new car. Before, the engine was rocking and rolling all over the place and there were extra vibrations in the cabin when the broken mounts had the weight resting on the metal safety cage that surrounds them.

Not an inexpensive series of repairs but better than the alternative of chucking 50 grand I don't have at a new car I don't like or want.

 

Now: onto 320,000 km and beyond!

[MikeT]

Additional work after the November service included a new electric trunk latch to replace a hopelessly corroded one, which was easily changed, and rear wiper motor, which had seized due to salty water ingress into the motor gearbox. After that we had one major road trip to Whistler and then onto Penticton and back. 327,500 km and counting. An exhaust clamp fell off in Squamish on the way to Penticton and on a busy Friday afternoon, Mercedes-Benz North Vancouver fitted us in to put a new one on. The service guys said it's in really great shape for a fifteen year old car with lots of km. 

 

The car is in good shape, particularly with the engine: it still pulls strongly to 6000 RPM, and in the 19,550 km oil change interval, maybe 150mL of oil is consumed (none has ever dripped) - never even close to needing to top up.

 

Weal points are a bit of a growly CV joint on the passenger side (the other shaft was replaced some years back) and the front rotors will need to be replaced soon.

 

I'm quite confident that this car will last us another 10+ years and to 500K km.

[MikeT]

Nice number of km. Car still consumes no appreciable oil in 18,000+ km change interval. Original clutch, no engine work.