LoM is short for Lie-o-Meter, which is my term of endearment for the MPG readout on the dash of my F150. It is off an average of 5%, and it is always optimistic. ALWAYS. In your case it was off 7.8%, and while that is toward the high end of the error range mine gives, it isn't unheard of by any means.

I don't know how Mercedes does it, but the readout on my wife's GLK is quite accurate. For instance, on the last tank it showed 42.1 when I pulled into the station and the hand calc showed 42.134 MPG. It isn't always that close, but some of the error is probably in how full we get the tank. So, it may be that the vehicle is more accurate than the man. I sure wish Ford would do that.

 

Knowing Mercedes (and Germans in general), they probably have an actual transducer in the fuel line. Eliminates guesswork.

 

LOL. As a retired Master Tech for Mercedes Benz, I can tell you. We really just sneak into your garage, and weigh your car every night. Then update the system through blue tooth programming. It's why we all end up so grouchy every day!!!

 

We may need your services in the Tulsa area. The GLK is going in for a B service in a couple of days. Heretofore we have yet to have other than a totally botched service. For instance, at 3000 miles the vehicle said "Fault in Adblue system", and they said it was just low on Adblue, that the factory hadn't filled it. I tried to explain that the system also has a "Low Adblue" warning and that it would have come up if that was the problem, but they wouldn't listen. So they filled it up and sent us on. Two days later we discovered a trail of droplets to the vehicle and looked under - there was a 2" thick coating of sugar-white stuff on the bottom of a perfectly black vehicle. The urea injection system was leaking and they hadn't even looked under it!

This stupid stuff has gone on with every visit so I had a serious conversation with the service manager regarding my planned complaint to MB America. He sent his best tech 30 miles each way to the house to fix what they'd messed up the last time, and has assigned that tech to our vehicle. So, we will see how it goes this time.

 

Gary, I haven't worked for MB in about 6 years now. I don't know what has changed and what hasn't. However, on the Survey, make sure you rip them, if they deserve it. Mercedes also frowned on adding lines, after the RO was made. If there isn't a line on the repair order, then a customer isn't complaining. make sure you list out, preferably numericly, everything you want checked on the vehicle. Don't be afraid to ask them for the B Service Report. After all, it's checking a lot of items, and it contained an area for them to report Tread Depth, Brake pad thickness, light functionality, leaks, etc. After all you are paying them to check this stuff. Might as well have written confirmation that they checked it, and, if you have a problem such as a leak, you can take the paper back and say, hey, I paid to check this and you checked it and it still leaks! Don't be afraid to ask to speak to the technician directly. We had a few techs that didn't do well dealing with the general public. They weren't our best techs. Our best techs were the ones that got in the car and went for a test drive with the client.

Just my two cents... the squeaky wheel gets the grease...

 

Thanks, I'll certainly ask for the report. This is their last gasp before I take my business elsewhere - and let MB USA know why. But, I'm pretty sure they are going to do it well this time. When their lead tech got to the house he'd read all of the reports and readily admitted that they had botched every single service appointment. But, he said we will be on his list, and only friends and relatives of the owner of the dealership get on the list.

 

^^^ ditto ^^^

Glad to hear!!


biz

 

Great post. We have the diesel glk also. It's a great little car.

 

It is a great little car. We have what we consider the ideal mix of vehicles - the GLK for trips for the two of us, and my 2015 F150 for more people and/or towing.

And, by the way, the visit to the MB dealership went quite well. They did the B2 service, including flushing the brake system, as well as inspected the vehicle. And we are happy.

 

So is the brake flush still every two years? I miss my days at the shop. Even now when I get out to my little shop, things take me twice as long as they used to I'm so out of practice on diagnosing and fixing vehicles.

 

Yes, the brake flush is every two years.

I recently read an article discussing the life of vehicles and why some, like MB's, seem to last longer than others, like Chevrolets and Fords. Whomever was being interviewed said that if the Chevrolets and Fords were serviced like the MB's call for, such as the brake flush, they'd last just as long. And I believe that. But we don't, and yet my truck actually cost more than the GLK.

 

It's curious to me how many people (i.e. dealers) don't flush the brake fluid periodically. Two years seems a bit aggressive, but we don't live in a particularly wet environment. I would be OK with 3, or maybe even 4 years. If you're using silicon-based brake fluid, you might even be able to stretch that out a bit.

But I think the major issue is that the fluid will absorb water over time.

 

My local Ford dealer flushes the brake fluid as part of the brake job.
When we drove Bimmers it seemed like they were always flushing or changing something. We joked that it cost $600 just to drive past the dealership

 

The 2015 owner's manual doesn't call for flushing the brake system. In fact, this bit from Page 519 is all they say about flushing fluids:So, it looks like it is up to the dealership and the customer.

 

I've never conducted routine brake fluid flushes, and rarely have had brake problems. Replaced a single brake caliper on my '97 Lincoln over the 35,000 miles I had it, and sold it a year ago. Lack of maintenance didn't do that car in, and last I heard the current owner is still driving it. My wife's '07 Kia that she daily drives probably has the original brake fluid, and nary a brake problem for the time we've had it. The brake fluid I pulled out of my '00 Excursion four years ago was green. I honestly thought it looked like antifreeze. Same situation, and nary a brake problem. New pads and it braked straight as an arrow, up until I sold it in June, 2013.

I'm not saying flushing is a bad idea, but the idea that you need routine flushes every few years seems silly to me.