Got an SLK R171? Rear Subframe - Get It Checked!

[GWC]

This is what mine looked like, it is a 2006/56 with 116,000 miles. Whole left hand side seriously corroded, cracked and holed. Bad news! Many of you will probably be aware of the issue with this part - if you aren't get your car lifted and checked!

The better news is that I took it to the local MB Dealer and they submitted a report to Germany and it was replaced free of charge, I had been quoted £1,800 by a specialist.

Please have a check, it wasn't flagged on any previous MOT which pissed me off and the garage we use didn't have an answer to that. It as a major safety issue and the manufacturer are aware.







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[Dog Star]

Mrs DSs sisters had the same; it’s a low mileage, FMBSH very cosseted, garaged car. MB covered it.

Mrs DS has a 113k 2004 R171. Subframe is a bit scabby but it slathered in Waxoyl and in any internal bits I can find.

If I saw holes like that to be honest I’d just get them welded.

[GWC]

They rot from the inside, why weld when MB will replace?

[Dog Star]

GWC said:

They rot from the inside, why weld when MB will replace?

Our car hasn’t seen an MB dealer in about 40000 miles; indeed the last 14k and 3 years it hasn’t seen a garage at all; I’ve done everything. It’s incredibly easy to work on.

I doubt MB are going to want to know about it.

[anonymous-user]

GWC said:

This is what mine looked like, it is a 2006/56 with 116,000 miles. Whole left hand side seriously corroded, cracked and holed. Bad news! Many of you will probably be aware of the issue with this part - if you aren't get your car lifted and checked!

The better news is that I took it to the local MB Dealer and they submitted a report to Germany and it was replaced free of charge, I had been quoted £1,800 by a specialist.

Please have a check, it wasn't flagged on any previous MOT which pissed me off and the garage we use didn't have an answer to that. It as a major safety issue and the manufacturer are aware.







[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/7Z17RvFs[/url][url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/t7JfcLir[/url]

That seems incredibly generous of MB replacing a part like that ( or any part) for free on a 15 year old car. I had some major front suspension parts that had corroded like that on my Subaru at 8 years replaced as a recall ,which I thought pretty good at the time.

[GWC]

They cover it under the Mobilo Life 30 year corrosion warranty, many owners are probably unaware of that. This is a known weak point and to be fair the rest of the car is solid.

They didn't ask for any evidence of service history either.

[Skd884]

Which dealer ?

Thanks

[GWC]

Stevenage. Any Mercedes dealer should be able to get it authorised, they asked for pictures of the subframe, all the exterior and the VIN from the driver's door shut and that was it.

[majordad]

I’m aware of an MB Dealer passing a claim onto MB for the replacement and it was done FOC

[frontfloater]

Is the free subframe or other corrosion work available if the car has moved on from its first owner? Do MB apply any other conditions, for example a maximum mileage or age, or full MB service history required?

[GWC]

I'm not the first owner of this car, there were no conditions applied. I took it to the dealer, they submitted a report to MB, took about four days to get an answer, work authorised FOC, they broke a couple of seized bits doing it which I paid them for (£72), that was it.

Whilst it was in I got them to MOT and oil/filter which they did for about £170.

[W201_190e]

When I worked for Mercedes a couple of years ago they were replacing subframes in the C, E and SLK class free of charge of this era regardless of service history.

[SLK1231]

Hi everyone its good to see that im not the only one with this problem.

I had went through the process with Mercedes and unfortunately the subframes are now in backorder

This is my sole car so therefore i could not do without my car any longer as Mercedes said it could 3-6 months before they could replace it .

After alot of searching and research i found a company selling Brand new subframes. I bought it and had it delivered within two days. After inspection my garage were delighted with the quality fitted it and had me back on the road within a week.

The item also comes with a standard 5 year warranty which has give me great piece of mind.

If anyone else is in this scenario i have attached the company in which i bought it off.

If you need any further information on how i went about this please let me know.

( after further research i found that the company sell them on ebay and cheaper on their on website obviously due to ebay fees. I have attached the two links below.)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175259115228?hash=item2...

https://www.eurosubframes.com/collections/subframe...

[Dog Star]

Dog Star said:

Mrs DSs sisters had the same; it’s a low mileage, FMBSH very cosseted, garaged car. MB covered it.

Mrs DS has a 113k 2004 R171. Subframe is a bit scabby but it slathered in Waxoyl and in any internal bits I can find.

If I saw holes like that to be honest I’d just get them welded.

Since this thread got a bump - a month or so ago we actually bought Mrs DSs sister's SLK 350 from her and sold the SLK 200. The "new" one is 2005, 50k miles, 1 owner, unmarked, FMBSH and had a full MB extended warranty from new until a year or two ago when it could no longer be extended.

The underside of the car is totally mint, looks like new, and I have no idea why the subframe would have been replaced if it was anything like the rest of it, unless it was the rubbers splitting?

[GWC]

They rust from the inside out, water gets inside from holes at the top, pools inside and eventually rots away.

[Polisher2.8i]

Mine is a 2005 slk280 R171. I have literally and the last few days just noticed the holes after the car was up on a ramp for something else full stop would it be covered under the MB warranty

[GWC]

Speak to your local Mercedes dealer, they are well aware of the issue. Mine was replaced free of charge.

[Touring442]

I had a 2006 car done about 4 months ago, 120k and not been near a Benz dealer for years. There was a wait for a subframe but once delivered they did it in two days.

This is a major MB problem across the range starting with the R171 and going onto the W204, W212 etc.

[BlimeyCharlie]

Hi, I know someone with an SLK who has experienced MOT problems with this - not an advisory last year and car not driven much so appears to 'rot' quickly.

It appears from this thread MB will sort it out. If anyone has any more experience of this then my friend will appreciate any help.

Thanks in advance.

[catalincraciun]

Thank you so much to whoever started this thread!

I took my car to the dealership two days ago and they've confirmed it will be replaced for free. For whoever waited on back order, what's the time that you waited for the part?

Thank you!