I just bought a 2002 E430 and heard a rattling noise coming from around the front wheels or axle. As it was still under warranty, I took it back to the dealer where I bought it and had it checked -- turned out it was the catalytic converters, which they replaced. When I asked what had caused the failure, I was told that Mercedes had a "bad batch" of cats from that year, and that the new ones were an updated/improved version.

Is that true? or is this dealer giving me the run-around??? I know that there are other potential causes, but if anyone has heard of this problem with E-class cars from that time frame, I'd like to know.

Thanks.

Alot of cats from that period brokeup internally. Newer cats are better but I don't know that they are "that much" better. Damaged cats are becoming a less common problem though, they must be getting better then.

The ML's were notorious for cat problems, the welds on the cats uses to crack VERY easily. The welds are visually thicker now. That's something visual, internaly it hard to say if anything has been changed.

Remember though, a BLOCKED cat is a totally different story, they have different causes.

__________________
Alex.

MB Tech
Sydney, Australia
Volvo 122S
W201 190D 2.5 manual
W202 C240
W203 C32