[Vwdiesel] My E300 Mercedes

[William J Toensing]

I have now had my Mercedes E300 diesel for about 10 months attempting to de-bug it with the help of an excellent nearby Mercedes mechanic so I will share some of the things I have found out & perhaps some of you may have some suggestions. The airbag light won't go out nor will the horn button work. seems some idiot who previously worked on the car used red locktite on the screw that holds the steering wheel to the steering shaft. Does anyone know of some kind of chemical or other way of removing that screw. My mechanic tried to remove the screw & tried an easy out & breaker bar but couldn't budge it & he is afraid to use a torch to heat it up for fear of causing a fire. My ODB2 code reader won't receive any codes when the check engine light comes on but fortunately my mechanic has a used Mercedes $20,000 code reader which he is able to shut the check engine light off & it will stay off for about a week, then returns & shows code P1475. He has finally narrowed the problem down to Mercedes part #6061400431 & called a "Resonance intake line switchover valve". He can source one from a Mercedes dealer for around $360 but suggested I check around the Internet to see if I could find one significantly cheaper but so far haven't been able to find one at any price. ANY SUGGESTIONS? The E300 drives & handles nicely & I would like to keep the car although it is an electronic nightmare, & I was warned of this by this group when I got my E300. I am surprised how closely the handling of my 2001 Ford Focus feels like my Mercedes since it cost one third of my Mercedes when new. However, for you who may not know, the Focus was designed in Germany & was chosen as Europe's 1999 car of the year, one year before we got Ford's decontented one in the USA. 

I have been getting so much email along with other disruptions that I have been unable to keep up on the  discussions going on with this group.

Bill Toensing  Nevada City, CA