I'm guessing Tan Man and EHM are the same poster.

Relax.

My post was not ever intended to help you. It was a comment to others using your situation as an example. I believe there are situations where it is smart to pay a shop to handle the whole repair, part + labor.

I am not alone in this opinion. Finally, I can't recall any MB shops I have used that would allow me to provide the parts. A large part of their gross margin depends on parts markup. Why would they do that?

Steve

Sorry, Tan Man and EHM are not the same. Should have been obvious.

No caps at the beginning of sentences makes reading very difficult.

Perhaps something to think about.

Steve

Thanks to all for the responses; this is my first post on here and I do appreciate the help.

Steve: I do not disagree (now) about getting the part from the mechanic; I wouldn't be in this position had I done that. I was just so sticker-shocked that a daggone wiring harness was almost $1100 that I was determined to save a little; it backfired.

Tan Man: You mention the 24 and 26 wire harnesses; the mechanic said he took the old harness off, wire by wire, replaced it with the wires of the new harness, and came up 2 wires short. It would seem very likely that I got the 24 wire harness and needed the 26? I will try to sort through that with the supplier. Also, you asked why it was being replaced. It was crumbling in places and I was getting occasional bad misfires that we could not attribute to anything else.

I think all of us with cars in the year range for the wiring harness issue, live in fear. $1,100 , Yikes! My '92 300E so far is Ok. Knock on wood.

I just got a '97 S320. Based on this list, I think I am just beyond the point that MB changed to proper wiring, but I am not totally certain. The new indy that I have visited, but not yet used, told me a story of a customer with the identical car having the harness problem and frying several computers. Big bucks, but customer had the car repaired.

I hope you get it resolved correctly. Pretty astounding that MB refuses to acknowledge this obvious defect. Also makes you wonder how it can take
from what '92 to '97 to move away from the dis-integrating type of wire.

I can also attest to the variability of Dealer Parts Counter knowledge. I don't buy there often, but sometimes am faced with the blank stare thing. The doesn't know and doesn't know how to find the correct answer.

Steve

You know these wiring harnesses are simply wire looms with connectors.

Is your guy saying that it is missing two connectors? Seems like he should have taken the old one out and then compared the new one to the old one, counting connectors, before spending the time to put the new one in.

This would be a good I idea for the next new harness.

Steve

I agree.
Anyone who does these harnesses on a reg basis knows that there was a mid-year change on the ECT sensors and the looms are different . They would also know that ASR looms are different.
That is why the part# from the original is always checked before hand.

Steve,
I like all your observations. You are a very asstute individual, and someone I would enjoy having as a client. You look at things from all perspectives. As you stated I never let a client bring in parts for 3 reasons. First as you say repair facility labor rates are based on expected parts profit or the rates would be higher. Secondly is the situation here. Who pays for second time. Thirdly if the owner supplies the wrong part, you're hoist is tied up for three days til he can get the right part after work one evening. If I get the wrong part, I can have another delivered in a matter of hours.

I like your observation about matching parts. A good professional mechanic matches parts before starting work and never throws old parts away until the job is completed. You never know if you will need a clip or something off the old part or need to look at wear marks or something.

__________________
Auto Zentral Ltd.

Thanks AutoZen.

I sometimes get some flak for the sort of contrarian nature of my comments.
People often react from a very narrow point of view. This thread is a good example.

The guy who came back with comments to previous posters is only thinking about the specific problem. I tend to view threads as topics for discussion.
One of the reasons, in my case, is that I am not a professional mechanic. I can only offer up my view of how to approach the problem in general. I really value and enjoy the responses from people in the business who actually see these problems in real life.

I do problem solving for a living. Consulting with clients in my industry about how to run improve operational efficiency. Of course, when the inter-action is live two way communication it's easier to help them through problem identification and suggest solutions. These forums are largely one way with long delays. They are also, by definition, have members from a wide variety of backgrounds, educational levels, and occupations. That makes for some contention, frustration, and hopefully some reflection.

Steve

Ehm, I too was initially sent the wrong part number (124 440 56 32) by Phil when I replaced my engine wiring harness. The correct number for my car is (124 440 29 33), which is more expensive. My VIN ends in C230097. Phil made the comment that mine was a late 95 production model. Double check by looking for the original part number on a tag located roughly 1-2 feet from the bulkhead connector.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 169K

steve,autozen, agree with you both completely.when a customer comes in the door part in hand and asks to have it fitted to all intents and purposes he has made his own diagnosis which if it doesn't work guess who gets the blame?i usually ask those people how they fared when they carried their own steak into a restaurant and requested cooking service.

__________________
David S Poole
European Performance
Dallas, TX
4696880422

"Fortune favors the prepared mind"
1987 Mercedes Benz 420SEL
1988 Mercedes Benz 300TE (With new evaporator)
2000 Mercedes Benz C280
http://www.w108.org/gallery/albums/A...1159.thumb.jpg

I differ with your opinions. It's true you don't see someone bringing thier own steak to a restaurant...but its common to bring your own bottle of wine. Some restaurants charge a corking fee for using the corkscrew tool. they are happy to have you for all the other profit you generate when you buy coffee and desert after the steak.

As for softconsult, you made your position clear in your post early on in this thread which stated:

"My post was not ever intended to help you".

I'm sure that's the attitude ehm was looking for on this forum in his first post.

Is that called....professional problem solving?

Yes, you can bring your own bottle of wine, but as you pointed out, you pay a fee and pay for the rest of the service. If you don't like the wine, you just have to drink it. The restaurant will not let you tie up the table while someone in your party goes for more. That would be like tying up the hoist waiting for the correct parts. You also mentioned buying coffe and dessert. Does that mean that when someone supplies their own parts I should offset that by finding more work the car needs while its there? Actually that won't work, because the guy will want to set up another appointment so he can get the parts.

__________________
Auto Zentral Ltd.

Funny you should mention that owner diagnosis thing. Years ago I had a guy come and make an appointment to replace his water pump. He didn't want me to check the cooling system. When the car came in, there was a definite leak in the water pump area. As I started work on the car, I couldn't help wondering why he wanted his water pump changed Oh well, it was his call so I did what he asked and changed the pump. I didn't even charge him any extra for tightening the hose clamp that was leaking near the pump.

__________________
Auto Zentral Ltd.

Well Tan Man, you somehow fail to understand that my original post, the one you find so offensive. I was simply to make the point that for certain repairs it's better to let a pro buy the parts and do the repair.

My additional point was to point out that shops depend on parts markup for a significant part of their Gross Margin. You want to argue with the restaurant analogy by bringing up BYOB and corkage. Why argue this point? Shops set their own rules. The advice, I know you hate advice, would logically be to ask your shop what their policy is , before you run out and buy parts.

You think it's my posts are not helpful because they don't provide a specific answer, or even a guess. You think these suggestions should not be made.

Apparently, you are in the minority on this one. Several people, a majority by count, are in agreement with me. Actually, the original poster said he is now in agreement.

So you have your opinion and I have mine. I will continue to offer my thoughts, and so will you. No problemo.

Steve

Actually I forgot to address Tan Man's sarcastic line, "This is professional problem solving!"

Actually, yes it is. It's just that your perception of the problem and my perception of the problem are different. Problems are usually things that continue to occur. You are immediately going to react, and think that the original post was a specific problem to be solved. It was, but it more than that.

Open your mind just a little. Realize that some other person in the future may search the forum for "Wiring Harness" and find this thread. Don't you see that some advice that goes beyond the specific problem might be helpful?

Solving the problem is not just correcting the specific occurence. It is figuring out how to prevent it, and similar ones in the future.

So here we have the specific occurence, wrong part. It has already happened. Question is how do we prevent it from happening again.
I offered up one way. Others, including you, offered up some other suggestions.

By the way, it's not unusual for people to not understand problem solving.
Most managers I deal with are absolutely terrible at it.

Steve