[EmBeeGLA]

Hi All,

Your advice is appreciated again please. And thank you in advance.

GLA250 4matic is a '16 with 37,700 miles.

CPA+ warning has been lit consistently for weeks but car drives fine. I read how this malfunction may stall the car on highways so I'm concerned.

Service B is also due so I'll have my indi garage perform it and check the CPA+.

I read that it's advantageous to change rear differential oil proactively, should I ask my mechanic to perform such? What about front differential & transmission fluids? Change all or can I wait til next year when Service A is due? The CPA+ repair may cost hence I'm trying to watch my spending here.

Thanks again.

 

[Wayne]

The transmission oil change on the front (DCT) is on a 30K schedule for the 45. I would do the same for the 250 although it may be longer per MB. Some have done this themselves but, while I believe in DIY, this is the one service I hand over to the dealer or a good indie.

IMHO the rear diff oil should be changed every 10K miles. This is cheap and easy to do (I do a simple drain and fill although I've read about this being potentially much more involved).

 

[2019 gla owner]

Wayne, any suggestions on mileage/ time schedule of diff oil change for a GLA 250 non 4 matic? Thank you in advance.

 

[Wayne]

If not 4 Matic then there is no rear diff. You dodged a maintenance requirement!!!

You will still want to do the transmission service. If suggest 30K (based on my 45).

 

[Whiterabbitt]

I’m curious about your cpa resolution. I’m guessing distronic doesn’t work too?

i’ve gotten the cpa warning a fewtimes after a gentle frontal bump but only intermittent and more likely to happen in the cold. I’ve cleaned the sensor and bumper window, verified the mount isn’t broken and conclude for me it’s electrical and needs replacement. The radar is NOT cheap. But no issues all summer and fall, so ah well. A mercedes electrical ghost.

anyways, I’ll be curious if the dealer does anything for you besides dismount the bumper, point and say “yup its a radar sensor there” and tell you it’s $2000 to replace.

 

[EmBeeGLA]

I've a lit star, hence no distronic. I'll update here as to the outcome of the CPA+ issue. So you just live with the warning for now?

 

[Whiterabbitt]

You could say that, it hasn't shown up in over 6 months, so yeah, in a way I am living with it.... I tabled it until winter. Urgency to deal with it is low.

I thought the radar and CPA were connected. I never researched CPA minus Distronic, I just assumed you had to have both to get either function. Turns out it is not true:

That explains the "pack of cigarettes" parts I often found looking for my distronic radar. I didn't pay attention too much, but I do believe your CPA sensor is about 25% the cost of my radar. Not 25% off, but 25%. Makes your repair much more palatable...

 

[EmBeeGLA]

Thanks for the video, this way, I can always forward to my indie garage.

Btw, back in June '20, Service B at Burlington MA Benz dealership cost me $700. Today, they quoted me $900 and this excludes any aforementioned CPA+ issues. Inflation sucks...

 

[Whiterabbitt]

To be clear, im not saying you need to replace that pack of cigarettes, still need to troubleshoot…

 

[RamaGLA]

You could say that, it hasn't shown up in over 6 months, so yeah, in a way I am living with it.... I tabled it until winter. Urgency to deal with it is low.

I thought the radar and CPA were connected. I never researched CPA minus Distronic, I just assumed you had to have both to get either function. Turns out it is not true:

That explains the "pack of cigarettes" parts I often found looking for my distronic radar. I didn't pay attention too much, but I do believe your CPA sensor is about 25% the cost of my radar. Not 25% off, but 25%. Makes your repair much more palatable...

Yes, CPA and DISTRONIC are independent of each other and use different sensors on first generation models, confirmed by my service centre. the picture below shows the location of CPA sensors, location is roughly the same in the GLA. On second gen vehicles and all new models, the CPA sensor is the same as the DISTRONIC sensor, hence why DISTRONIC can easily be retrofitted with a switch set and coding on the new models and is so difficult and expensive for first gens; no new steering column, wiring harness or radar sensors need to be added. this probably lowers manufacturing and subsequent vehicle costs too, and makes repair work easier.

On a cla250:

Hi All,

Your advice is appreciated again please. And thank you in advance.

GLA250 4matic is a '16 with 37,700 miles.

CPA+ warning has been lit consistently for weeks but car drives fine. I read how this malfunction may stall the car on highways so I'm concerned.

this thread on cal forum may be helpful: CLA250 2014 Collision Prevention Assist (Warning)
try finding out if your issue is a software malfunction, I can't see much else for an explanation since the car functions as normal despite the warning. I didn't check the thread in depth, but you could be having the same problem as outlined above. even some dirt in the connector might be causing the issue.

 

[EmBeeGLA]

So I scheduled Service B with my indie garage for $350.

They also quoted me the followings (per my request) for another session, what do you guys think?

Spark plugs $390
Front & Rear Differential $429
Transmission fluid service $734

Thanks.

 

[2019 gla owner]

If not 4 Matic then there is no rear diff. You dodged a maintenance requirement!!!

You will still want to do the transmission service. If suggest 30K (based on my 45).

Is there differential oil in the front axle for a non 4 matic 250? Thank you.

 

[Wayne]

I thought this was combined with the transmission oil. But don't take that as 100%. Our GLA hasn't demanded that I get too smart about it!!! Just basic maintenance with oil changes at 5K miles and rear diff oil at 10K. We're coming up on high 30K miles so plugs and a second air filter soon.

 

[2019 gla owner]

I thought this was combined with the transmission oil. But don't take that as 100%. Our GLA hasn't demanded that I get too smart about it!!! Just basic maintenance with oil changes at 5K miles and rear diff oil at 10K. We're coming up on high 30K miles so plugs and a second air filter soon.

Thank you Wayne. I'm trying to be proactive with maintenance to head off any major repairs. I'm also at high 30 k miles. These vehicles certainly have their quirks.

 

[Wayne]

I think most new cars have quirks. The chip shortage pointed out the problems of updating technology given all the testing requirements. The chip makers don't want to retool to make 20 year old technology and the auto makers don't want to go through the hassles of changing critical control components. So we are driving cars with 20 year old chip technology that are trying to produce or at least mimic current customer expectations.

Add to that reduced driving due to the pandemic and a lot of people are just now learning about battery tenders.

And for the 45, these cars are running 27 pounds of boost and putting out 200 HP per liter. Something has to give!!!

Add in the EPA and CAFE and the engineers find themselves making a lot of compromises even before the accountants get involved.

I sometimes marvel that cars are as reliable as they are!!!

And never forget the reality of Forum Flu. We have the ability to see a large percentage of all failures at our fingertips. It is hard to accurately assess how good these new vehicles really are.