spyroz

Well, when is come to maintaining your Mercedes Benz it don't come cheap! Especially when you're out of Manufacture Warranty, things crashing down on you like rain. All sensor goes bad, all sort of electrical and light pop up out of no where. Especially ESP sensor, I mean is Mercedes Benz, it cost lot of money to buy, and is expensive to fix. So, the car should be dependable right? Well, I did some research and dozen of you MB owner have problem with ESP, that's steering angle sensor. I have an 08 W211 E350 and it only has 53K when the ESP light come on, just when the factory warranty is out. " that's great! " Not to mention I have other lights that pop on. I just don't know if I would buy another MB in the future. I mean, for what you paid, and brand name, MB should make a better car.

JeffyPooh

How much to repair the sensor? It can't be $1000+, can it? Are you just 3000 miles out of warranty? Not covered by any other warranty? I'm planning to buy the 2+1 years extended warranty for present car.

Back in the mid-1990s, I had an '86 VW GTI that cost me THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars in a series of major repairs over a period of just a few months. One after the other, just pulling me along.

GT-ER

I've had worse cars that's for sure. My E55 had a few issues when I bought it but it's been running great ever since. Regardless, I didn't buy it because of reliability, I bought it because it's a monster...lol.

jbec.keane

My E320 has been extremely reliable (knock on wood). It has never left me stranded and has not had any unusual issues.

My car is a 2003 and has over 278,000 miles on it.

JK

vettdvr

I bought my MB E500 because I also thought it would be reliable. I have now driven 114,000 miles and you decide for yourself if it has been reliable based on the list with no $$ shown.

Lighter
Wood panel cracked
SBC.........Total failure flat bed car in.
Door Locks
Ignition key
Rear Airsprings
Rear airmatic shocks
Left Front airmatic shock
Air compressor
Idle pulley
Engine / Transmission Mounts
Center arm rest delamination at 40,000 miles
Brakes and rotors @ 30,000 miles ( normally my brakes run 70,000+ based on my driving)
Transmission leak at connector
A/C hose


IF the car had been build with OUT airmatic AND NO SBC brake system it would have spend much less time in the shop. Each shop visit took 3 days and 200 miles of driving. This doesn't include everything on my list just a few I can remember without pulling out records.

SO you decide. The new ones are better so I have been told.

"Fool me once shame on you, " "Fool me twice shame on me"

Sportstick

08 E350 4MATIC....40,000 miles....no problems so far....just maintenance.

sosh

The 05 W211 E320 that I had was exceedingly reliable for the 5 years I had it. Do not recall it being in the shop for other than routine maint. about once a year. It was much more reliable than the W210 I had prior. Now my W212 is almost 2 years old and has not had one issue. My response to the question is YES exceedingly reliable. Its been my observation that the guys that have issues usually but not all of them are DIY guys or have work done at an inexpensive indy. Also some dealers are better than others. I am fortunate to have an excellent dealer.

novae500

06 E500 4matic bought with 27k miles, now 48k miles

-replaced both valve cover gaskets
-replaced relay to airmatic compressor DS
-replaced A/C blower motor

Now smelling gas after full fill up DS. Fuel sending unit, waiting til get worse since have warranty thru 2013.
Spares- CPS sensor, Tranny sensor, and PS Arnott shock,

spyroz

for all ya who don't have any issue with your car, that's great. I guess you're the few lucky to pick up a car that's clean.
However I'm not that lucky I have the same problem like most peoples complain on here, Battery drainage issue. When to the dealer, replace battery, diagnostic test, ESP sensor bad, TPMS sensor bad, and hell break lose.
I guess Mercedes Benz is the Luxury, but if you're looking for Appreciation. Mercedes is NOT the choice.

Looking to sell my car, going green.

bigben320e

Going green with what exactly?

On MB's sure there are some problems, but more often than not, it depends on how well the car is taken care of, and age. Any car can and will have problems not just MB's. Who is working on your car? Are they knowledgeable? Competent?

A lot of factors come into play with any car and issues, just saying.

tc1728

Its really hit and miss, No car will be trouble free. I usually get the longest possible factory warranty and it has not always paid off. I have a 2003 CLK55 that needed a new fuel pump last year and has been perfect otherwise, also have a 2000 E430 that never had problems that just recently flashed the CEL after 12 years and 123XXX miles. On the other hand, my GLK350 only has 5k miles and been the dealership 4 times for a CEL.

gaazmon

Ya. SBC and Airmatic are the big weak points of this car but even so there are many other things that are "known" to fail: CPS sensor, mounts, aux battery (again a prefacelift issue), fuel sending unit (it does become worse over time), oooh and the radiator/tranny fail issue (an 03, 04 problem), etc etc.

The car was definitely overengineered but fell short on quality. Our 02 CL500 has been much more reliable (to my surprise) than my 04 E320 (go figure )

And it might just be me, but damn this car never seems to feel right with the throttle/acceleration. I always feel like she has a mind of her own. Sometimes she chokes, sometimes she has delays, sometimes there's literally almost no power but sometimes she flys, sometimes she downshifts too many gears. I don't get it and no one has been able to figure it out who i've taken too. Between 2 dealers and an indy shop they just say "that's the way it is"

ferrariyellow44

My 2006 CLS500 has 102,000 miles. Literally one major problem, my alternator went bad and I replaced it myself, despite having to remove the water pump. I drive the car quite hard, Ive gone through 2 sets of rotors and pads, about 5 sets of tires and nothing else! Just regular oil changes.

Overally, a very reliable car and I am extremely happy with it!

My ML was a different story...

Craftysince86

i have this same issue... what causes this and how is it fixed?

edit:
nvm... google owns me... i didnt realize this was such a prevalent issue...

is this for all w211 or just the e55's? i have about 90k on my 03 e320 and the gas smell has just started maybe a couple months ago


but i must agree, if your not buying into the higher platform euro cars AMG, M series for example i feel like the cars have a lot of issues... hit n miss for sure, but wiring is def a european weak point at least from the bmw and mercedes i have dealt with

i cant speak beyond those names in the industry though

vettdvr

You are absoutly right it does depend on who works on the car AND the design of the components. Which is why I used the MB dealer for all of my replacement parts. Check previous post.

But I forgot to add the AC blower motor failed also and yes the dealer changed that also.

Human + design + maintenance = Reliability.. leave something out and you don't have what you paid for.

bigben320e

Correct! You see, I don't get the illusion about a "brand" as with any thing issues will occur, it doesn't matter if it was a Ferrari, they have issues (cars catching on fire) all on their own. Dealers are not always the best to work on cars either, plenty of horror stories about dealer work just on this forum.

Your equation is quite on the money as you so eloquently put it.

The way to get the best out of any car is to do the upkeep recommended, find good guys to service it (some indy's are much better than dealers), and don't abuse it. Hell, even then you can still get some crappy issues, but hope for the best in knowing you took care of the car to remove yourself from the equation.

My 98 E320 has over 230K on it, and going with just a few replacements, aux fun, right rear window motor, left cat, and the heat/ac module. The rest, just normal stuff.

My R500 airmatic pump blew out at 20K. Nothing else.

The CLS, just a fresh air module. Nothing else.

tc1728

Get a Hyundai, I heard they were fast and they have a great warranty...

vettdvr

All the Genisis were sold out.

Wonder why?

bigben320e

LOL!

O rly? They are selling that well, seriously?

gaazmon

Depends so much on the model and/or model yr (generalizing that is). 06 was a good year with those cars relatively speaking. With your example of the 98 E320, the 96 and 97 I6 versions were pretty bad from what i've heard. A friend had a 97 320 and said it was a nightmare and dumped it for a 98 and now he loves it, worlds apart he says.

Ya i knew a girl who leased a red CLK350 and even posted on facebook a pic of her instrument cluster reading "Service B expired by 282 days" i'm sure someone is having a lot of fun with that car I knew another girl that wanted to lease a 997 911S and I was like u know the maintenance is a lot on those even just the regular stuff and she's like ya I'll do like one oil change right before I give it back to them in 3 years

The right indy shop is the way to go, they'll become your best friend

The new genesis coupe 3.8 track version is a bad a** car. In red they look nice. I'd only get the 3.8 track though (brembos, xenon, nav, sport suspension, spoiler, etc).

03E4ME

You've read my mind!! When the car decides to go - hold on, otherwise.... its a mystery!

Mad Dawg 350

I've owned my 08 since Jan '11. It had just over 24k in mileage. It now has nearly 39k and will be going in for routine service tomorrow. Before buying the car, I asked for the vehicle's maintenance history which only showed routine service that was performed, no other issues. Other than something involving the sunroof breaking, my car has been perfect in every way.

Like others have stated, every car manufacturer, whether its a Toyota or a GM, they all have their share of problems with their vehicles, MB is no different. Yes we expect our vehicles to be bullet-proof reliable for what we've paid for them, but remember, they are machines and no machine is perfectly reliable, including the human machine.

Barry45RPM

I take it you've never owned an 03-06 E Class? During those model years, more of the E Class cars built were bad cars quality wise and very problematic. They were that way until the roof fell in on MB for its horrific quality, at which point improving quality became the most important job for MB in Germany, which they did successfully accomplish. The '07s onward were remarkably solid cars... and very dependable.

The early years of the 211's run WERE different. They were poorly planned, poorly executed and shipped anyway. They caused dealerships untold misery and cost MB big bucks.

Benz2002

Spyroz,
I have been driving BMW's since the 70's. I decided to try a Benz (E320 4matic).What a dissapointment. I feel the same way you do. For this kind of money I expected peace of mind. The only reason I kept this car is I love the 4matic in the snow.

gaazmon

and u forgot to add: ...and they continue to cause their owners untold misery and big bucks

but very true very true barry