monizmi

Good day,

Newbie here in this forum and in the market to buy either a E350 or E550 between 2010 and 2012 AWD.

Most of the driving is highway miles and typically I will drive for 7-10 years into the ground at about 19k miles per year.

Wondering based on experiences or history if there is a model year for either of these cars to avoid due to repair headaches.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Looking to purchase in next 30-60 days.

Michael

schorert1

For a DD with that many miles, I'd buy a 2012 E350. The E550 is a thirsty *****, on the highway you're not going to notice the power anyway...the E350 is comfortable and very quiet at 80+mph.
Definitely get the drivers assist packages, distronic, lane and park assist.

BeachBunny

If you're doing the highway thing, take a look at the 2012's, which gained direct injection (at least for the E350, don't know on the E550), which will give a nice MPG boost.

I also second schoert1's comments -- get a car with Distronic / Driver's Assistance Package. Literally, Distronic is the #1 reason I'm buying an E-Class over everything else I've driven, and I've been driving Infinitis for 20 years now.

FWIW, my shopping list w/notes:
1) Mercedes E3501a) Mercedes E250 Diesel2) Infiniti Q70 (Q70L)3) VW Passat Premium SEL TDI4) Hyundai Genesis

schorert1

I would say for a 75mi daily drive, interior comfort, convenience, noise and mileage would be the premiums.
in these I find the E350 just about perfect. The road and engine noise on the E350 are very low. The interior is extremely comfortable and thoughtfully laid out, I really like the dash and command layouts, and the ambient lighting.
The mileage of my wife's E350 is surprising, with it getting 28mpg on the highway...my ML550 struggles to get to 17. I like the power of the 550 but if you're doing most of your miles on the highway, you're just flipping on the cruise and letting it roll. If I did a lot of stop and go I think the turbo would get annoying.

GoBlando

My 2012 E550 gets 27mpg on the highway at 75mph. Would highly recommend it if you can find one.

monizmi

Thank you all for your help and input.

Pulled the trigger this morning on 2012 CPO E550 4M

43k miles, P02, Distronic, et al

CPO warrantied through June 2017

Black on Black, take delivery a week from this Friday

Johnny Rad

Hell, yeah! America is the land of the V8. I don't even know what a six or blutec means.

Congrats on your sinister black on black Merc. Hope you love yours as much as I do mine.

I'm absolutely loving my "new to me" 550. It's silly fast and gets better mpg than my last car. Plus, I'm eagerly awaiting some snow to test the 4Matic.

For your info, my '12 E550 returned right at 26mpg (hand-calculated because my trip computer is ~2mpg optimistic) on a ~800mi road trip without me actively trying to maximize my mpg. However, the avg drops very, very quickly with even a little spirited driving

With respect to the comment about a well-laid out int, I have to respectfully disagree. In my experience, Lexus cornered the market here. I find my Merc's number pad antiquated and on the wrong side of the center stack for quick access. The entire Command system is fiddly (I can only imagine what earlier generations must've been like).

Gobble, gobble!

GoBlando

I find the number pad to be very useful only when in phone menu hell calling a corporate place. Also, for voicemail. I don't dial numbers on it though. Does it need to be there, no, but for the symmetrical look of buttons on both sides I like it.