[W126 Coupe] FW: repair cost questions

[Markus Meyer]

Tom,

As someone who has experience with a/c woes on these cars, I'd recommend factory parts, at least for the compressor and dryer.  Lets just say it took 4-5 times to get my job done right, in the end it was a combination of dealer parts (which btw you can get at wholesale prices sometimes like a few in California in the parts section of the mbcoupes website) and replacing more than just compressor and dryer.  When I looked at the instructions that came with the MBZ compressor, they said to replace the suction line too.  Aftermarket parts did NOT say that.  In my case, there was blockage in that line which caused all subsequent compressors to keep seizing.  Major headache.  First independent shop gave up after 3 tries.  Dealer wanted to just replace the whole danged system for about $5000.  Found a good independent shop courtesy of Satish in the end who took their time, flushed the system like crazy, replaced all needed parts, and haven't looked back since (knock on wood).  Thank goodness my work was done under an extended warranty to it didn't cost me much out of my pocket, but it easily could have.

I think I've rambled on long enough.  I'm sure there are others with better experiences with aftermarket parts, but not this now "freezing again "driver!

Markus




 --- On Wed 03/16, Tom Oelsner < toelsner at mindspring.com > wrote:
From: Tom Oelsner [mailto: toelsner at mindspring.com]
To: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 06:02:29 -0800
Subject: RE: [W126 Coupe] FW: repair cost questions

Satish,<br>I received the Dealer parts and labor from somebody for replacing the AC<br>Compressor, expansion valve, dryer.  As an independant shop owner (I take it<br>you are from the "we cringe on customers" in your email), what is the price<br>to do all of the above, evacuate and recharge the system on a 560SEC?  I<br>have seen that there are different manufacturers of the compressor.  Who's<br>do you recommend?  Any feelings regarding brand new vs. factory refurb?  I<br>beleive the price difference is significant.  thanks.<br>Tom<br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com<br>[mailto:mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com]On Behalf Of Satish Tummala<br>Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 4:55 AM<br>To: toelsner at mindspring.com; Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists<br>Subject: Re: [W126 Coupe] FW: repair cost questions<br><br><br>We cringe on customers bringing in their own parts (unless they are custom<br>ones).  When we have to tear apart a V8 cylinder head and have customers<br>bring in parts such as timing chain rails and tensioners that are from<br>suppliers we don't deal with, we cannot warranty our work.  How can we be<br>certain that those parts won't fail?  Of course, if people insist on<br>bringing in their own parts, we'll install them with no warranty on the<br>parts OR any damage that may occur if those parts fail.<br><br>It's not just for profitability reasons that service shops would rather<br>install their own parts, it's more for the reason that we know which parts<br>tend to work better than others so we can confidently feel that we can<br>warranty our work and IF there's a problem, WE can go to our supplier for<br>warranty claims at no charge to the customer.<br><br>These are very general statements.  Of course, there are situations when<br>customers have certain parts that really doesn't matter who installs them or<br>are particular one-off parts that are hard to obtain.<br><br>Satish<br><br><br>----- Original Message -----<br>From: <toelsner at mindspring.com><br>To: "Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists" <mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com><br>Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 7:34 PM<br>Subject: RE: [W126 Coupe] FW: repair cost questions<br><br><br>>I know that most places don't accept bringing your own parts as their real<br>>profit is in tha part, not the installation.  I once had success with my<br>>old mechanic.  When he wanted to charge me the going price for fuel pumps<br>>for my wife's 190E, I told him what I could get it for.  He then came back<br>>with Piru for the same price as Bosch off the web...makes one wonder.<br>><br>> Thanks for the price on the sunroof Steve.  I was thinking it was going to<br>> run me about $1k...your price experience was considerably better.<br>> Tom<br>><br>> -----Original Message-----<br>> From: "Shayegan, Richard" <rishayegan at davidson.edu><br>> Sent: Mar 15, 2005 3:15 PM<br>> To: Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists <mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com><br>> Subject: RE: [W126 Coupe] FW: reapir cost questions<br>><br>> Anders where'd you go to? You tried that Mitch Carr place I talked about<br>> yet? They also aren't a fan of outside parts, typically they charge a<br>> little more for labor if you bring your own parts, though when I needed<br>> a fuel distributor and all they could get was $1800 for the distributor<br>> and I could get a rebuilt one for $400 they installed the part I brought<br>> in at the normal labor rate, so I guess it depends on how reasonable it<br>> is to bring your own parts in.<br>> Richard<br>><br>> -----Original Message-----<br>> From: mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com<br>> [mailto:mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com] On Behalf Of Anders<br>> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 5:32 PM<br>> To: Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists<br>> Subject: Re: [W126 Coupe] FW: reapir cost questions<br>><br>> Tom,<br>> I recently had the front shocks replaced by an independent shop. They<br>> would not do it if<br>> I supplied the parts. Instead, they charged me $124 per Bilstein<br>> shock(!), labor was $74<br>> for replacing both, part of more stuff they did. Make sure your shop<br>> accepts that you<br
 >> supply parts....<br>> Hope this is of some help,<br>> Anders<br>><br>><br>><br>><br>> __________________________________<br>> Do you Yahoo!?<br>> Yahoo! Sports - Sign up for Fantasy Baseball.<br>> http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/<br>> The MB Coupes Website!<br>> W126 SEC Mailing List<br>> Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.<br>><br>> The MB Coupes Website!<br>> W126 SEC Mailing List<br>> Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.<br>><br>> The MB Coupes Website!<br>> W126 SEC Mailing List<br>> Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.<br>><br>><br><br>The MB Coupes Website!<br>W126 SEC Mailing List<br>Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.<br><br>The MB Coupes Website!<br>W126 SEC Mailing List<br>Postings remain property of MB Coupes, L.L.C.<br>

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