E63 6.2 do they have any engine problems?

[GT3RS]

I just wondered if anyone was aware of any specific problems associated with 2010 6.2 E63's?
Does a performance pack bring anything other than upside?
Any real life experience greatly appreciated.

Edited by GT3RS on Wednesday 25th September 09:39

[Mosdef]

I ran a CLK63 (same family of M156 engines) without any problems and I've never hear of any in the UK.

There was an attempt at a class action in the USA though. There's evidence of this on the web but I think the case might have been thrown out.

[barryrs]

I believe the E63 can also suffer from head bolt failure as it uses the M156 head bolts.

Edit.

Thats not stopping me look at getting a C63 next though.

Edited by barryrs on Wednesday 25th September 13:03

[seawise]

GT3RS said:

I just wondered if anyone was aware of any specific problems associated with 2010 6.2 E63's?
Does a performance pack bring anything other than upside?
Any real life experience greatly appreciated.

Edited by GT3RS on Wednesday 25th September 09:39

i run an atmo 6.2 '11 yr E63 wagon - brilliant car, best daily driver i've ever run by miles (much better than previous M5's and RS6's i've run). not aware of any reliability issues, mine has not missed a beat. eats rear tyres but thats more down to me that the car i suspect, i can't resist turning off the traction control.

However mine will go back when the PCP runs it's course this coming January - pity really, but i don't do enough driving and too many other cars to justify the buy out price (we have a new RR for family weekend/holiday duties) and the new E63 bi-turbo v8 isn't as fun to drive as the atmo car and the deals are not that brilliant currently (£12k off list best i could achieve despite all efforts).

[GT3RS]

Thanks guys, I did see that a class action may be happening and a horrible video of bad smoking on start up.
The internet is a wonderful scare monger, they do look like amazing value used.
I had a 54 plate E55 years ago and loved it as a daily driver.

[jackwood]

My C63 was the most reliable car I've ever owned. Did close to 70k mikes in 3 years. Amazing car.

Have there been any reported cases in the UK of this bolt issue? I've never seen mention of it on any UK forum. Why are the US having such an issue with it?

Jack

[PhantomAMG]

Been running a tuned C63 M156 at 555bhp and 700Nm now for quite some time and driven hard. No issues to report.

[amg master]

PhantomAMG said:

Been running a tuned C63 M156 at 555bhp and 700Nm now for quite some time and driven hard. No issues to report.

Have you done much mods to a ml63 amg 6.3 na?

[Derek Smith]

Mosdef said:

I ran a CLK63 (same family of M156 engines) without any problems and I've never hear of any in the UK.

There was an attempt at a class action in the USA though. There's evidence of this on the web but I think the case might have been thrown out.

Wasn't the recent class action regarding the M272 350 V6 engine from 2005 to around 2008. Problems with the balance shaft sprocket with repairs running into £0000s as the engine has to come out.

[Mosdef]

Derek Smith said:

Wasn't the recent class action regarding the M272 350 V6 engine from 2005 to around 2008. Problems with the balance shaft sprocket with repairs running into £0000s as the engine has to come out.

That may have been another engine issue - not good for MB!!

Here is a link to the class action re: M156 but I haven't read it.

http://www.jacobregarlaw.com/Blog/2013/February/Up...

[Derek Smith]

Mosdef said:

That may have been another engine issue - not good for MB!!

Here is a link to the class action re: M156 but I haven't read it.

http://www.jacobregarlaw.com/Blog/2013/February/Up...

Thanks for that. There are so many M-B engine problems it is easy to get confused.

This case hasn't been thrown out as far as I read the decision. The decision was that there were faults in the way the plaintiffs presented the case. They've got a month to reapply.

Whilst the one I was referring to was a different engine, the M272 V6, the problem smacks of the same problem. In the case of the V6, the sprocket driving the balance shaft (it's a 90 deg V6) was sourced elsewhere, presumably China. What could go wrong, eh?

The ECU in my 350 SLK showed two faults. The garage I bought the car from suggested it was two faulty cam sensors. Now I'm as gullible as anyone but even my suspicions were raised. It would appear that the sprockets all, and that is every one, wears, some as short as 40k, others taking longer, but 60 -70 being the norm. My 350 had a bit under 70k on the clock.

It seems the 'faulty' sensors were spot on and the 'fix' was to replace them with sensors with a wider acceptance level. In other words, They were aware the sprocket had worn and were just putting off the inevitable, allowing more metallic dross to circulate.

So I sold it and got a 4-pot CLK. Not happy as you can imagine as I lost a bit of money. I felt I couldn't sell the car privately so had to put it in PX.

Merc knew of the problem but evidently refuse to accept liability unless the car was bought through an M-B dealer. Even then you have to enter into negotiations. The oil pump is often affected, presumably because it is the 'wrong' side of the filter. And there's other stuff that has to be replaced as well. My oil consumption was up around 4000 miles per litre and I was told this wasn't a good sign.

I remember the good old days of my 2.8 W124. The only problem I had was high petrol consumption. Low 20s the norm and a bit over 17 on one trip from Gower to Brighton.

[Derek Smith]

Mosdef said:

That may have been another engine issue - not good for MB!!

Here is a link to the class action re: M156 but I haven't read it.

http://www.jacobregarlaw.com/Blog/2013/February/Up...

Thanks for that. There are so many M-B engine problems it is easy to get confused.

This case hasn't been thrown out as far as I read the decision. The decision was that there were faults in the way the plaintiffs presented the case. They've got a month to reapply.

Whilst the one I was referring to was a different engine, the M272 V6, the problem smacks of the same problem. In the case of the V6, the sprocket driving the balance shaft (it's a 90 deg V6) was sourced elsewhere, presumably China. What could go wrong, eh?

The ECU in my 350 SLK showed two faults. The garage I bought the car from suggested it was two faulty cam sensors. Now I'm as gullible as anyone but even my suspicions were raised. It would appear that the sprockets all, and that is every one, wears, some as short as 40k, others taking longer, but 60 -70 being the norm. My 350 had a bit under 70k on the clock.

It seems the 'faulty' sensors were spot on and the 'fix' was to replace them with sensors with a wider acceptance level. In other words, They were aware the sprocket had worn and were just putting off the inevitable, allowing more metallic dross to circulate.

So I sold it and got a 4-pot CLK. Not happy as you can imagine as I lost a bit of money. I felt I couldn't sell the car privately so had to put it in PX.

Merc knew of the problem but evidently refuse to accept liability unless the car was bought through an M-B dealer. Even then you have to enter into negotiations. The oil pump is often affected, presumably because it is the 'wrong' side of the filter. And there's other stuff that has to be replaced as well. My oil consumption was up around 4000 miles per litre and I was told this wasn't a good sign.

I remember the good old days of my 2.8 W124. The only problem I had was high petrol consumption. Low 20s the norm and a bit over 17 on one trip from Gower to Brighton.

[developer215]

I have a 2010 E63 S212 at 62K now - it's epic.

The class action is dead - see the bottom paragraph of the link.

[goldblum]

I have a slightly tuned '08 E63 and so far it has had no problems whatsoever.

[st4]

Sorry to burst a few bubbles but they are not perfect engines and earlier ones can go bang...

Like this chaps

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t...

[turbobloke]

st4 said:

Sorry to burst a few bubbles but they are not perfect engines and earlier ones can go bang...

Like this chaps

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t...

Thread bump.

Has anyone heard of C63 AMG head bolt problems increasing in the UK as car mileage mounts up?

Like others I'd picked up on problems in the US and Oz online, but relatively few in the UK.

Cars up to and including early 2011 seem to be implicated, with engine no's preceding 060658 being implicated and later numbers unaffected. Previously it was thought that all 2011 cars were OK but examples have emerged suggesting this is not the case.

If anyone with the M156 engine needs a dose of paranoia, try this thread but have a couple of beers nearby as it's a long 'un:

http://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w204/446300-m156...

The above thread has a downloadable pdf of a technical service bulletin that details the issues, and a scan of some invoices plus photos of affected components, which are useful, but they're history now.

The current shape C63, as seen at my local MB dealier this afternoon, leaves me cold compared to the older car and by older I mean the pre-facelift version - to stoke controversy even more I prefer the 4-door version. I know about the interior changes etc but still prefer the older saloon.

This takes us (me) into the realm of potential head bolt failure where a lack of vigilance can be very costly. Then again, other prestige and performance cars also have their weakspots and ownership is never going to be ultra-low cost.

That's OK, but knowing the level of risk is useful so if there are any PHers with insider / owner info 3 years on from the last post in this thread, please do post up. TIA.

[daveenty]

turbobloke said:

Thread bump.

Has anyone heard of C63 AMG head bolt problems increasing in the UK as car mileage mounts up?

Couple of cases over on the MB Club forum, though done mainly as preventative maintenance on modified cars, and swapped out with Weistec ARP studs.

Example here: - http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/amg-lounge/182517-c...

[turbobloke]

daveenty said:

turbobloke said:

Thread bump.

Has anyone heard of C63 AMG head bolt problems increasing in the UK as car mileage mounts up?

Couple of cases over on the MB Club forum, though done mainly as preventative maintenance on modified cars, and swapped out with Weistec ARP studs.

Example here: - http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/amg-lounge/182517-c...

Thanks. My local MB indy has a couple of C63s on their books and they're both stock. So far no head bolt problems. They did mention being aware of another MB indy who was asked to swap the bolts for studs and one of the bolts broke. It seems there's no guarantee of a safe route. May as well accept that things can go wrong and remain vigilant.

Asking around off PH hasn't shown up lots of cases either, one came to light which was the same engine but not in a C63. Not that this makes any difference ultimately...

[superlightr]

had a 2011 E63 for a few year great car. Did have the drive shaft break...... but apart from that all good. lovely car

[daveenty]

superlightr said:

had a 2011 E63 for a few year great car. Did have the drive shaft break...... but apart from that all good. lovely car

This concerns me as I've just increased the power on mine a fair bit. Which drive shaft? Prop, of one of the wheel ones?

I've thought about upgrading mine, though the cost is putting me off as I've spent more than enough on it this year.