i have been told by both my local franchisee and by New Jersey that MBUSA is no longer replacing any harnesses, TSB or safety issues aside. They SAY that they WILL provide the harness at their franchised facility (at their discretion, depending on mileage and their attitude), but that requires you to pay their arbitrary labor rate. In my last case, they gave me the harness and charged me OVER $500 for this job that can be completed by a quality tech in less than 2 hours. For you rocket scientists out there, that's between 6 and 8 hours depending on where you live. Hence, my previous thread "wiring harness scam continues". Perhaps you will have better luck than we USA boys. Hope you do, keep us posted.

Willie,

Were you referring to:

- 95-0223 MAR 95 Safety Recall - Wiring Harness Chafing/Shorting
- 95V031000 FEB 95 Recall 95V031000: Wire Harness Protecter Installation

I believe these refer to the wiring harness inside the vehicle, by the footwell.

Thanks, I'll see if they haven't been done yet, although it's a different animal altogether....

Allen, thanks for crossing your fingers!

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

is what I thought Allen in his 'scam' thread were referring to and what you're experiencing. Now, I'm confused.

If this TSB is in reference to the interior, can someone please confirm this?

Or perhaps it's in the archives, as well, I'll check out of curiousity.

Ok will this camp. Was back in the early mid 90's for the passide side footwell. There a metal panel underneath the carpet. That the feet of the panel were metal, which the SRS airbag wires and other wires could be exposed from vibration and other circumstances could come in contact with that panel and cause a fire. Since some did thats why they did this recall. The panels were retrofiteed with insulation and feltstrip taping. So if you ever wanna see if yours was done. Give me Your vin. I can run a check for you and get back to you on it if you like.





Take care Guido.

__________________
500E Sold
2006 Mini Cooper S
Modified,pulley,injectors,suspension
2009 E350 Sport AMG package

Willie,

Below are the full texts of both TSBs:

1. Campaign No.: 95-0223

March, 1995

FILE:
SERVICE: GROUP 00 OF SERVICE INFORMATION BINDER
PARTS: GROUP 68 OF INFORMATION - PARTS & ACCESSORIES BINDER

TO: OUR MERCEDES-BENZ PASSENGER CAR DEALERS

SUBJECT: MODEL 124
MODIFICATION OF FRONT PASSENGER FOOTWELL FOOTREST PANEL; INSPECTION OF HARNESS WIRING BEHIND PANEL



Enclosed is a sample copy of a letter which will be mailed in the near future to all owners of vehicles within the Effective Serial Number Range.

This campaign is initiated because MBAG has determined that the metal footrest panel on the passenger side of the vehicle may cause wire chafing in the harnesses below the footrest.

Therefore, in vehicles within the chassis end number range given in the table below, the metal footrest and wiring harnesses must be inspected, modified and if necessary, the affected harness must be replaced.

See Work Instructions no.338, Grp. 68.

The specific vehicles involved are "Flagged" on the system. To identify whether a vehicle within the range is affected, perform a Vehicle Master Inquiry (VMI). A VMI check should be performed on all involved vehicles brought in for service to assure that all recalls have been performed.



2.Recall 95V031000: Wire Harness Protecter Installation

THE FRONT PASSENGER METAL FOOT REST CAN, OVER TIME, ABRADE THROUGH THE WIRING HARNESS UNDER THE FOOT REST CAUSING THE WIRING HARNESS TO SHORT CIRCUIT.

A SHORT CIRCUIT CAN CAUSE THE WIRES TO OVERHEAT, STALL THE ENGINE, OR INADVERTENTLY DEPLOY AN AIRBAG, ANY OF THESE INCREASES THE POTENTIAL FOR A VEHICLE CRASH.

DEALERS WILL INSTALL ADDITIONAL WIRING HARNESS CABLE FASTENER TIES AND EDGE PROTECTIVE COVERING FOR SHARP EDGES OF THE METAL FOOT REST.

==============

Hope that clears it up.

If anyone has any information which can be quoted to my dealer to sort of nudge them into more productive action, it would be most appreciated...

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

This isn't the harness that's causing you the problem. I'm not a tech, but from my experience I can tell you that the piece that's causing your problem is in the engine compartment. It runs from near the battery area (not on your 500E of course) to just up by the thermostat on the 6 cyl models. The harness is about 2 feet long. These pieces in your footwell are not the source of your problem. That may need to be adressed, but that's not the same problem as with the harness and actuator in the engine room. Hope this helps.

rainmaker:
That clears up a lot but still leaves you at the whim of the dealers.The fact remains that they did changed mine, I guess I was lucky.The bad thing is that Allen may be right, $500 labor for that?What a ripoff!I hope you come out on top, and I wish you good luck.

Regards

ED

Ed,

Labor's VERY cheap here so it's not really a worry.

The invoice doesn't show time spent but to give you a sampling:

Oper. No./Description

82 Replace defective bulbs, 2, interior lamps
40 Adjust toe in of front wheels
46 Remove and replace drag link
33 Remove and install control arm at front axle lower left and right
33 Renew rubber bushings on both front suspension lower control arms

Total labor charges? $90, less 20% so it comes up to around $72. And these are the most expensive guys already...

The problem is if they can't get approval (or refuse to get one) they're charging me almost $1000 for one harness alone!!!

Worst case though is I can get it from the parts shop for a tad less than $400 and throw in $100-150 or so in labor and I should be all set...

Still, I don't want to part with $500 if I don't have to...better spent on a Renntech chip or something, i figure...

Thanks for the boost!

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

OK, not being that up on recall notices, if I look at the Alldata info, can/should I make sure that all of the recall items on my vehicle have been taken care of? Will the dealer (I NEVER go there...) take care of this?

And yes, my next one will be an E500/500E...

Thanks,

__________________
Bill Streep
San Antonio
'57 190SL (toy)
'08 S5500 (mine)
'09 CLK550 (wife's)
'06 SLK350 (daughter's)
'11 GLK350 (daughter's)
'03 CLK310 (spare)

My understanding is a recall is only good for a number of years after it's been issued (not sure thought but that's how it works here).

Also, if you go to the dealer, they can plug in your VIN in their system to find out which recalls have been done on your car and which ones haven't. That's SOP when you bring your car into the dealer...

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

Ricky,

Thanks! Should've known you'd have all this info already.

Obviously, on my 40th day of 500E ownership, I still have plenty to learn!

...you're gonna be sucking this all up like a sponge!

Have fun with the 500E! There's nothing quite like it!

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)