Table 1 shows two common power train related problems of the 2001 Mercedes Benz E430.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Transmission Fluid Leaking problems | |
| Vehicle Shudder problems |
My 2001 Mercedes Benz E430 slips out of gear for no reason while driving. This occurs intermittently and with no warning . It occurs almost every day and in order to re-engage the drive gear I have to stop the car, put gears in park or neutral and then back into drive, sometime during this operation several times . I contacted a mercedes specialist and he showed me the problem. Apparently the synthetic transmission fluid leaks into the electronics of the transmission and is actually drawn up the wiring and into the electronic control module located on the top of the passenger side of the engine compartment. I have been personally shown the fluid and was very surprised that this was possible, but apparently the fluid contains metallic elements which are affected by the electrical charge in the wiring and actually pull the fluid up into the control unit. . The fix is installing a special plate inside the transmission to stop the hydraulic fluid from seeping into the electronics, this also entails replacing fluids and cleaning the electronic wiring and components. Repair cost quoted is about $900. Apparently mercedes is aware of the problem and I was told that this problem occurs in many mercedes autos including e class and clk class with this type of transmission. As of this writing I have not made any repairs.
The catalytic converter began very lightly rattling at low speeds only intermittently at only around 50000 miles. It now has approx. 60000 miles on it and has a loud noticeable rattle which is also causing vibration in the car and has made the hard shifting from first gear in the transmission worse and of course it is now "out of warranty" when it needs to be replaced and I will have to pay thousands of dollars to replace a part that should last a lot longer especially for a vehicle that is pristine and garage kept. Hopefully the oem remanufactured dealer part wont die in another 50,000 miles. As a note, mercedes should not say the transmission fluid is lifetime because it definitely is not and owners who obey the lifetime fluid recommendation will have transmission issues sooner or later. I can only assume my transmission shifting problems on this model is due to the fluid and will be having it replaced. Also, the digital instrument cluster has malfunctioning temperature and time gauges and has burned out leds in the speedometer area, which requires a ~$1,500 complete instrument cluster replacement as advised. This occurred at about 40,000 miles. Many owners have this issue and a recall was issued for other models but not this model even though it is common.