any experts on mercedes spark plugs ?? !!

pennymakespounds

have a 6 year old c320 petrol mercedes 60,000 miles .

Spark plugs are due for replacement ., (12 in this car)

Mercedes dealer quoting total bill of £430 which incs 2.2 hours labour

Towns' "quality" independantly owned servicing garage quoting just under 2 hours labour + 12 plugs at £10 each "retail"= total £210 charge . They say "using genuine MB spark plugs"

Local small garage ..( but reputation for servicing "older german cars" )..

says 1.5 hours max true labour + uses "bosch spark plugs . same as merc garage does" which he says costs him under £7 each = total required £130


SO !! ... certainly not £430 option .... but the burning question is " are bosch / mb plugs .. the same ?? ... and is the £210 job and the £130 job exactly the same ? is it "apples with apples" and just down to their costings/ margins ??

hope someone can enlighten ...

thanks

balsingh

that has to be the most expensive spark plug change I have ever seen. Firstly, the C320 is a V6 so I don't know why it needs 12 plugs.

When it comes to plugs, some people prefer one brand to another. They tend to be similar and I woudl say that Boach are excellent plugs even if Merc don't use them as standard.

Its the labout charge that surpises me. I changed the plugs myself in a BMW 325i (6 plugs) and it took no more than half hour.

pennymakespounds

balsingh ... definitely 12 plugs for this car and i understand what you say .. but all say that doing the 12 on this car is a tough job .. merc "standard" is 2.2 hours ... the "quality garage" said to me he'd cost based on 1.5 hours and the small guy ... said he'd done one yesterday and it took 70 minutes .

goldspanners

so you have a V12 in this merc?
i thought this was only a V6 at most in the C class.
any way i use bosch plugs a lot,most german engines do use then but not sure what merc specifie,i doubt you would have any problems with them.
if it is a V12 then these prices sound pretty resonable as not every plug will be accesable,even some V6 engines can be a nightmare to get to every plug.

anewman

Ouch, I'm glad a full set of the most expensive multi-electrode plugs for my car comes in at under £10 all in and I can replace them easily myself.

Inactive

Oh the joys of owning a Merc, I thought the idea was when buying a Merc that money was of no consequence anyway..

thescouselander

Ebay could be a good place to get the parts from. The plugs for my BMW 330 would have cost £12 each from a shop but I got the exact same ones (NGK Platinum tip plugs - the same as originally fitted at the factory) for £3 each on Ebay.

epninety

According to http://www.cars-directory.net/history/mercedes/c320/ between 1998 and 2004 , the V6 is a twin spark design, so two spark plugs per cylinder.

I don't know mercs in particular, but in twinspark engines, plugs are usually platinum tipped, and often of two different types(*), so hence the expense. Your local motor factor should be able to get you NGK or some other 'name' brand for something like a tenner each.

Last time I had this situation, the Alfa dealers charged something like £27 each vs. Camberley Auto Factors £8

Tried German & Swedish ? [ http://www.gsfcarparts.com/ ]

(*) - plugs may be of two different types due to size, position in the cylinder, or firing polarity.

RichTeaBiscuit

There's no such thing as genuine Mercedes plugs.. they'll be Bosch or NGK's from the same supplier your local backstreet garage orders from.
Stick with your local mechanic and stay away from robbing scumbag main dealers.

You could get the cost down and fit standard copper plugs at about £2 per plug but you'd have to do it all over again in 10k miles... a bit of a dodge if you're planning on getting shut anytime soon. If you're keeping the car for a few years fit the expensive platinum plugs, they'll be good for another 60k miles.

balsingh

would fitting these plugs be any different to fitting them on any other car? Even with 12 plugs, I cant see it being a massive job.

By the way I have a Merc CLK240 (2.6) which is also a V6. Does this also have 12 plugs? I hope not!!!

LandyAndy

balsingh wrote: »

would fitting these plugs be any different to fitting them on any other car? Even with 12 plugs, I cant see it being a massive job.

By the way I have a Merc CLK240 (2.6) which is also a V6. Does this also have 12 plugs? I hope not!!!

Ever tried changing the plugs on a Jaguar XJS? :eek: :eek: Seriously time consuming.