Jorge18

I'm really interested in getting a 12 and up E550, but like most people worried about the maintenance of the car.

So I'd like to start a thread of things that have actually gone bad in the car that you have had to replace.

Thanks!

Settthhh

I'm not aware of any common 2012+ E550 issues...Some people complain about squealing brakes and low mpg. Couple of threads about cylinders misfiring that I've seen, that's about it.

Maallen40

Well I got my 2012 E550 in the beginning of December, did a trip to Quebec City, Queens NY and am sitting here right now in Vegas. This car has been flawless, just gas an go. I f'ing love this car......so do what I did, you like the car...F the drama....find yourself one you like....then bye it. DONE!!

lawguy

How many miles from Quebec City to Vegas? LOL. Been to both places, love each spot for very different reasons.

MBSebas87

Interested too as I will be in the market for a 2014 w212 which I know it's different year but the same car.

drivinOnPillows

had squeaking brakes, replaced metallic with ceramic brakes, problem solved

Johnny Rad

Nothing specific to the M278 powerplant in the year and a half that I've owned mine. Perf is great and the mpg is plenty good enough. The 4Matic crushes snow covered roads. All in all, I'm incredibly happy with my E550 (my first Merc).

Other issues: popping pano roof, dead LED tail light, replaced one flickering xenon / hid headlight bulb and replaced one sun shade where a plastic clip broke. The gas door is finicky, but I think it's just the tether to the cap getting in the way. A parking sensor threw a fit one cold morning, but never again. Serviced (replaced?) the water barrier under the hood that surrounds the motor. Reprogrammed the front pass seat to allow it to be adjusted when the rear seats are folded down.

g4benz

I guess be careful of airmatic? I've heard of very expensive airmatic issues coming up on these cars. Hopefully, won't happen on mine! Mine is out of warranty!

jahquan3

I've heard just about as many issue with the TT engines as I have with the airmatic. I think it was initially a big deal but has been resolved more so as time has gone by.

J.M.G.

My M278 were not that bulletproofed.

1. 2012 E550 4matic
My E550 had right at the beginning a problem with cold start noise. After some research, MB found out: Drive chain tensioner. So the replaced them in 2013 (shortly after that, a recall was available in July 2013).

Later, we had -again- problems with cold start noise. By the end of 2014 I also noticed a slight stutter, when driving with very low rpm during cold start (i.e.: at constant 30mph in "E" mode). After several "guesses" by Mercedes Germany, where they replaced the chain tensioners again, as well as the variable camshaft system, I found out: The Honeywell Turbochargers were the problem. The wastegate was worn out. So after some legal fightings, they replaced the turbo and the M278 is working again as it should.

2. 2014 CLS 550 Shooting Brake
This car also had a problem with cold start / hot start noise. In that case, the replacement of the chain tensioners solved the problem.

DubVBenz

interesting to hear about the honeywells. I wonder why they went with them as opposed to Garrett, with whom they've had a multi-decade relationship.

El Cid

Read 2nd and 3rd sticky's on this site re: Service and Bulletins.

jonUF02

I've had my 2012 E550 a few months now. It has 68K on the clock and no issues at all.

Start-up is a little noisy, that seems to be reported as normal with these engines and the DI system. You hear the injectors and the turbos spooling up. I also noticed that if I don't give it about 1 minute of warm-up time before I back out of the driveway it will have a little stutter going low RPM to the end of the block. I can believe that this has something to do with the turbos, but it's just good practice to give it 1 minute of idle before shifting into gear upon 1st start when cold, maybe more if really cold, but I'm in FL. I have always done this, let my cars idle until the RPM drops a little, let the oil start flowing. It's bad to just cold start any engine and throw it in gear after 2 seconds.

Luckily if you want the 2012+ biturbo E550, then Airmatic is a rare custom-order option, so you probably don't have to worry about that.

Options I wish I had, but I don't so can't report on reliability - Pano Roof, Dynamic Seats, keyless go, electric trunk closer. They are just niceties, but not really any deal breaker to me, I'm very happy with the car, especially the power and the confident feeling of the AWD.

J.M.G.

This is NOT normal! I have two M278 and both do not do this. One did that before they replaced my turbos. And it is not a cosmetic thing! The linkage, that moves the waste-gates, was very lose in my case. Therefore, the waste-gates were not able to fully close. They were fluttering in the gas-flow! The downside -beside noise- was: The car could not hold full boost, which was especially noticeable after a fast downshift or WOT at low RPM. The turbo-lag was a lot bigger than with new turbos. I have racelogic log files that show 11s 62-125mph with those new turbos and 12s with my old turbos, so the whole performance is better now!

It is not! The car uses high idle, to warm up those catalytic converters as fast as possible. If you let the car rest in your driveway, you extend the cold start phase a lot. A phase that is responsible for a lot of engine wear. A phase, where your oil is cold. Therefore water and fuel will be washed into the oil, which downgrades the quality of the oil!

Audi's QUATTRO GmbH (the producer of the Audi R8 and RS models) has the following instruction for their testdrivers. Cold start:
1. Do not let the car idle, if possible.
2. Drive with light engine load.
3. With cold engine, limit rpm to 3,000. Raise the RPM limit depending on oil temperature:

30°C Oil = max. 3,000 rpm
40°C = max 4,000 rpm
50°C = max 5,000 rpm
60°C = max 6,000 rpm
70°C = max 7,000 rpm
80°C = drive can use any rpm and apply full load on the engine

jonUF02

I'm sure it's holding boost, it still runs 12.81 quarter mile with 67K mi on the clock, so I'm gonna say it's working fine. As long as I let it warm up a minute before backing out and driving off, like I have always done, then there is nothing to notice.

Airmousam

11's impressive! My brother in law has a 2013 s550. They spent a few days at our lake house this summer and I drove the car A LOT and there was zero stutter on his and pretty quiet aside from some turbo whine

Airmousam

This scares me a bit, had either of these cars been tuned, the engine portion of the warranty would have certainly been voided by MB...

Glad you got it sorted out

jonUF02

You must have got some extra special magic with those new turbos to run 11's on a stock E550. This guy claims to have the fastest E550 TT out there, with a custom dyno tune, and some other goodies, his time was 12.2.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ml#post6624063

Also, I'm very happy that a car with 67K on it can still put down the same 1/4 mile time as original 2012 C/D testing of 12.8s stock.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...an-test-review

iGeorge

I've only had two issues in the 18 months I've had my 2012 E550. First was some etching of the headlamp lens which is cosmetic, but was replaced under warranty. The other is the front brake rotors. I've replaced them once for being warped, and now they are going back to see why they are warped again. Other than those two issues, the car runs like a clock.

GoBlando

I had an O2 sensor go, so they replaced all other them (around 30k miles).
Also, I had excessive rust in the brakes rotors, that caused them to need to be replaced, but that was my fault for not washing the car enough during the winter. I have noticed that some electronics don't seem to like the first cold morning, but other than that golden.

J.M.G.

You are comparing apples and oranges here! I claimed the standard Autobahn-run from 62mph to 125mph! You are talking about 1/4 mile runs, which are totally irrelevant over here (where my car runs 12.7 @ 113 mph opposed to stock 12.9 @ 110 mph).

badbenzz

I got mine in October of 2015 and the day after I got it the radiator fan was stuck on high and would not kick down. Some people thought it was normal but it was way to loud as if a jet was landing. The dealer corrected the issue by downloading a new firmware update to resolve this known issue.

sleeperZ96BT

I bought a CPO 2013 E550 with 40k. Been great so far but it's needed a few things:


-rear sunshade out of alignment and had to be replaced
-horrid creak from pano roof over bumps
-all 4 corners of brakes replaced
-walnut trim showing signs of failing - there have the parts on order. Looks like scuffing on the clear


I'm chasing now:
-sticky brake pedal - sometimes there is a slight lag when I left off the brake, an d no it is not the hold function. They were hoping with the bad brakes it would go away with the new ones. It did not.
-rattle at cold startup - I fear the issue JMG had. Rattles and I hear the turbo's whistle a little bit. Never had a turbo car with audible turbos at idle before. We shall see.
-once the dealer prep wore off of the rear leather seats I have seen some 'hazing' that I am going to send in pictures of. It's weird.
-driveline vibration at around 1500 rpms. It's quick and consistent no matter the gear. I just want them to look at it. Could totally be common but I'm new to the MB sedanE550 thing.


All this said, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the car! These headaches are worth it (so far).


Brian

jonUF02

I've only owned my 2012 E550 from 67K to now 71K over about 8 months. I have noticed the above 2 items as well. I think the brake lag is just a normal product of the fully electronic brakes, I've gotten used to it. The HOLD feature is nice though, so no biggie.


As far as the cold start noise, I just let it idle in the driveway about 1 minute before putting it in gear, as I do with all my vehicles to let it warm up and get the juices flowing before driving off. The noise subsides within this minute.


Brakes are sort of a known issue, and also a standard wear item. I haven't had any issues with the front warping (no vibration), they looked new when I bought the car. There is a slight jerky pulse which prevents totally smooth braking. I think this may be the rear needing to be replaced, they look older, but still plenty of meat on the pads.


Other than that the car is flawless within my ownership.

sleeperZ96BT

So the sticky brake pedal is normal? My wife's GLK 350 (I know I know, different car) doesn't do it at all, and I have never experienced this before unless the caliper had something up with it. I find it suspect as it is not 100% consistent. Also feels like under light braking as it gets closer to stopping (like at a few MPH) it may just grab - feeling like I got rear ended lightly. I have a hard time believing this is normal, but, I've never owned an E class.