ML63 AMG, the one you shouldn't buy...

[swampy442]

It's been an expensive few days! And no doubt about to become a lot more so

I wasn't looking for one of these, Well I was, but not actively but keeping.a weather eye out to see what's about. This one popped up and it was cheap. Suspiciously cheap. It had a fault but nothing I couldn't overcome. Remember my top tip from the Magane post? Always take your error code reader, it's a great bargaining tool. It had less than 160k kms, or 100k miles, full service history

So got the early train (again) to Melbourne (again) Got met at the station by the seller and went to look at the car. Signs were good, nice guy, nice house in a nice area, car well presented. He clearly loved it in the past but his reason for sale was downsizing, didn't need a big truck any more. Neither did I..... He had spent just shy of 8 grand on it in the last 2 years alone! New shocks, new brakes, various other sundry items.

Yes it's an 07 model but registered in 08, the one with the dodgy head bolts, dodgy cams etc etc. I did my due diligence and came to the conclusion it's not a common fault, only affected a few cars, plus there's plenty of knowledge on home fixes, it's a calculated risk. And the engine was quiet as a mouse, with a full history including coolant changes, nice. It drove well, distinct wheel bearing noises from the rear, but apart from that all good so I bought it, I don't normally reveal what I paid for cars but for this slab of excess I paid 10 grand, or 5 grand UK. Crazy! He was definitely a motivated seller

So welcome the Bavarian Bruiser, the Dusseldorf Destroyer, the Obsidian, erm ocelot

[Countdown]

Congrats OP - that looks amazing value

[C5_Steve]

That looks in very good condition, very excited to see how this pans out.

[GeniusOfLove]

That's so very wrong it's right. Love it.

[Alex_225]

Looks awesome to me!

My other half has an ML350cdi as the family car and it's genuinely a great car. Hugely comfortable, more so than you'd think and a very practical car.

I often ponder the idea of buying a 63 as it's the one AMG that really doesn't get a lot of love but could be a right laugh. Good luck with yours OP.

[swampy442]

Countdown said:

Congrats OP - that looks amazing value

That remains to be seen

[swampy442]

C5_Steve said:

That looks in very good condition, very excited to see how this pans out.

It is actually very good for the age, could do with a machine polish, the mirrors need painting but apart from that its very tidy

[swampy442]

Alex_225 said:

Looks awesome to me!

My other half has an ML350cdi as the family car and it's genuinely a great car. Hugely comfortable, more so than you'd think and a very practical car.

I often ponder the idea of buying a 63 as it's the one AMG that really doesn't get a lot of love but could be a right laugh. Good luck with yours OP.

The seats are fantastic, it's very comfortable, Harmon Kardon audio so the stereo is great, and by right laugh you mean 9mpg if youre messing around, hilarious

[swampy442]

Things you see down here especially with no annual MOTs/inspections, UV damaged headlights. 10 minutes to see if they be brought back, they can.

[swampy442]

And the persistent engine fault, intake air tempo sensor. I drove about 300kms on the day of collection and it only came on in the last 30. Drove 5kms today to get fuel (obviously) and it came on. The sensor itself is cheap so we'll see how that goes

[swampy442]

Ive just realised that in my long and illustrious/chequered car history this is the first SUV Ive ever owned. Well I wanted something that was good off-road

Quick survey of the underside, oil leak. Looks like engine oil. The M156 is known for leaks and the previous owner just had the cam cover gaskets replaced. I'll clean it all up and see what's what, one thing Australian testers hate is oil leaks!

[swampy442]

And on to the primary fault, air intake temp sensor. Once I found out what and where it was, right down the back of the engine.




Code says something along the lines of short to ground which says wiring, and that would be a nightmare. Plug looked good, wiring to the plug looked good, had continuity and a voltage, all good which is confusing.
The original MB sensor had continuity and a resistance value, in the car was a decidedly Amazon looking sensor which again checked out. So its all a bit of a mystery but Ill get there.

[swampy442]

In the words of Ron Burgundy "That escalated fast" With help from there PH brains trust and a Mercedes manual I deduced the signal wire is damaged somewhere along its length, pain in the ass. Problem is to properly inspect it you have to remove the intake manifold as you cant actually see it. Not a fun job, but as it's an in house AMG engine, it's pleasing to see AMG branding on everything!

[swampy442]

The cable length for that intake temp sensor is so short, stripped off the sheath, cut the loom tape, but it disappears into that foam casing, Im not hacking that to pieces, plus Im sure the wire will be pretty well protected from damage in there, so going to have to run a wire in I guess

[swampy442]

Taking the manifold off, there was so much oil in it! So I had to take it apart and clean it, did not expect to find that!

[trevalvole]

The oil in the inlet manifold seems odd to me. What could be causing it? Presumably the crankcase breathers feed into the inlet manifold somewhere?

[swampy442]

The top picture, the black hose, thats the breather directly into the manifold

[trevalvole]

Perhaps the oil isn't being separated from the gases?