Hi everyone

New to this site, picked up a few nuggets of info. already. Good stuff.

My 1995 E220 makes a `scraping' noise whenever accelerator is depressed/released, I've been told by a local mechanic that this is the Inlet Cam Advance Mechanism, and they are a common problem on these models. After 72k? Replacement will be around £300 (approx. $500) and hurts especially after a £300 bill for tracing and rectifying a non-functioning rear wiper (wire was broken in two places). I've had the car eight months, and the argument for its purchase was the `legendary Merc reliability'. All this on the tail of a £500 72k full service/health check. Ouch.

Does this happen often or have I just been unlucky? (this, incidentally, is what I will have written on my gravestone!)

cheers everyone.