Mercedes E55 AMG Is a Maintenance Nightmare Following ‘Professional’ Repairs
This older Mercedes E55 AMG was leaking oil everywhere and vibrating, teaching us a valuable lesson in the process.
Maintenance is obviously a very important part of owning any vehicle – some more than others. Thus, buying a used vehicle, particularly at auction, can be a risky endeavor, simply because we don’t know how well the previous owner(s) followed the proper maintenance schedule, nor if things were done properly. That much is on clear display with this older Mercedes E55 AMG, which is causing its owner quite a few headaches.
In this video from the YouTube channel M539 Restorations, our host is simply chasing oil leaks, and having a heck of a time dealing with all of them, after a “professional” shop had previously done some work to it. The Mercedes E55 AMG had not been driven in a while due to a bent wheel, which caused severe vibrations, along with wheel bearing and brake issues.
Thus, he starts this process by discovering that the previous owner had used the wrong grease on the front wheel bearings, which caused premature wear and damage to the brake discs. The solution for this is replacing the wheel bearings with OEM parts and the correct grease, along with the brake discs – in this case, with a set of Akibono ceramic pads. Next, it’s on to the oil leak, which was initially traced back to the oil dipstick grommet and oil pan seal, as the oil pan was resealed improperly by the aforementioned shop – heck, the bolts weren’t even tightened correctly.
This caused even more leaks to occur, so the oil pan was removed and resealed yet again – this time, to spec, with RTV. Our host also discovered that the rear main seal had been replaced multiple times due to leaks, largely because it wasn’t done right, too – it has to be put in dry on a clean, smooth surface, and requires a bedding-in period. Contamination or damage from things like sealant remover chemicals can lead to failure, too.
Other than fixing these headaches, our host finds and corrects a few more on this Mercedes E55 AMG during his thorough sorting – he finds a failed pulley bearing, diagnoses a battery issue that results in the need for a new one, and uses a specialized adhesive to secure the bearings temporarily. It’s only after all this that he’s able to take the car for a drive and praise its power, albeit, clunky automatic gearbox.
Now, our host is putting this Mercedes E55 AMG up for sale, looking for a new daily driver to replace it. Regardless, the takeaways here are obvious – it’s critical to use OEM parts and adhere to manufacturer specifications when performing maintenance work like this on an older German ride, whether that be in one’s own garage or someone else’s.
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