Good shop for our diesel MBs in DC/VA area?

[satyr]

Hey all,
My 96 E300, the wife's 09 E320 bluetec and our ML500 need work that I am unable to do here at the rental house (with HOA). Can anyone recommend a reliable, honest shop in the DC/VA area? We are willing to travel to get the work done, but having a hard time finding a shop that will work on diesels, older MBs, etc. Please post any recommendations, Thanks in advance, John.

[brownrice78]

Don pools-falls church
Drive european-falls church
Silver star-maryland
There's a good shop in springfield, can't remember the name

[satyr]

Thanks I'll look these places up online and give em a call. We also heard of a couple of good shops in Richmond: World Foreign Car Service and Simply Import. We're in Fredericksburg, but it seems that nobody can recommend a good indy in the area...

The w211 came with a warranty so we will have to see which shop would be willing to do the work and submit the "claims" to the warranty company for us... (The warranty states it covers replacement of gaskets, so it should cover the oil cooler gaskets)

[torsionbar]

The MB of Tysons dealership is a very high volume place and they have diesel experts on staff. They outsource some of their machine work (e.g. broken glow plugs) to Allied Machine in Falls Church, but for standard maintenance and repairs they're solid. They even have a vintage MB expert on staff who was working on a 300SL gull wing last time I was over there! They are not inexpensive however.

[pjc]

Foreign Car Service (Hans Kestermann and sons), 501 Bashford Lane, Alexandria 22314. At the northern edge of Old Town Alexandria, just east of N. Washington St/GW Parkway. 703-549-4100, M-F 0730-1730.

When they say 'foreign,' they mean German, and mostly Mercedes. And to them, a '96 is not 'older.'

Good luck.

[chronometers]

Auto Dynamics in Gaithersburg, MD. Ask for Don Andrews.

[satyr]

Thank you for the recommendations! The ML's waterpump went out on 95 South and as soon as the temp started climbing the wife called and I told her to pull over. Later it was towed to a shop about 15 miles away in Richmond where the waterpump was replaced. After testing, it was given the thumbs up and we used it for a couple of weeks but around 300 miles later I smelled coolant at the tailpipe and saw steam from the tailpipe after a drive to Richmond so it is at another shop. The shop said the headgasket is toast and is looking to replace the motor with a reliable used one rather than try to rebuild the original with 170K. I'll check into these shops for the other cars and keep ya'll posted and update about our experience at the one in RVA.

[satyr]

So, it's been a few YEARS but wanted to post a follow up. The ML500 engine was replaced with a low mile unit from a wrecked sedan thru "Fleetwood" and came with a warranty. The work was done by Simply Import in Richmond. I don't remember who did the work but one guy absolutely didn't want the job and said to just junk the car. The other guy said he'd do it during off hours if I had the time to wait for it. In the end, the work was done and we did a few "while we're in there" items for no extra cost because I had the parts. Starter, plugs, etc. So $4k ish later and 8 years later she's still on the road!

I have also had work done by R&S Diesel Mechanics in Manasas, VA. The DPF finally got gunked up on the 2009 E320 Bluetech my wife drove for home healthcare at 288K. So I called around and after a whole lot of rude comments about how these shops don't want to touch diesels I spent a few weeks calling shops that work on sprinter diesels with the om642. SO- that's where she went and in a yard full of superduty trucks and fleet vehicles, there was the e320 lol at R&S diesel. They pulled the DPF, sent it to be flushed and they re-installed. They did filters, oil change and some other stuff too. Nice guys, good work and reasonable cost.

We still use World Foreign in Richmond for routine stuff but the E320s haven't gotten as much use over the past year since I'm working from home and the wife isn't making home visits anymore.

I was in a bind and needed a quick oil change and alignment before a 1000 mile trip. Took the e320 to AAA in Fredericksburg,VA and they got everything done in about an hour or two. They seemed a bit out of their element working on it, but since the work was pretty standard stuff it was fine.

Hope this helps someone....