Benzzie

Hello,

I'm a new member and I currently own a 2014 C250 turbo sedan.
I'm considering buying a new 2017 C300 or E300 sedans and I learned that these new cars are equipped, as standard equipment, with the "Dynamic Select" driver-selectable five programs that can altar and adjust the engine, transmission, steering and suspension performance to suit the various road conditions or the mood of the driver.
My question concerns its reliability. I'm sure it gives great performance and impression when the car is new as the salesman raves about it during my test drive, but I'm thinking, as the mileage and years accumulate, will it have any issues or problems? With a system as complex as this with computers and electronics, something may fail and need repair. If repairs are needed, will it be expensive to fix? Does the suspension use generic or Merecedes-Benz proprietary parts? I know the "Airmatic" suspension does use MB proprietary parts. Do any of you owners of 2015-2017 C300, or 2017 E300 have any problems with it? I'm just curious.
Many thanks.

swatty

Let me get my crystal ball. no issues yet

MJ50

moved to W205 forum...

Mike5215

Mercedes in general are stupid-expensive to fix. Never own a modern era Benz out of warranty. MB builds them to be perfectly reliable for three years, the length of the average lease. After that all bets are off. An AirMatic strut alone is around $1200. My CPO S550 had a $6,000 repair bill on its last visit. That was a strut, a cam position magnet, an A service and a flickering instrument cluster. My CPO S500 had $21,000 in warranty repairs over three years. All four struts, a compressor, main seal, engine mounts, tranny mount, rear differential, on and on.

A C may be slightly less brutal on parts prices but don't bet on it. It has zero to do with Agility Control. MB parts are almost entirely proprietary, labor costs are high due to the level of technical expertise and diagnostic hardware involved.

Always make sure the car is under warranty at least for the loan period, and dump the thing before the warranty expires. An MB out of warranty can eat you alive.

ManiacGT

WOw a thread of doom...

ive had premium cars for a long time and yes at times cars are expensive to fix but I've not paid out a lot to own mine out of warranty.

For things to to worry about though, software changes to dynamics are not one of them OP.

worry about engines gearboxes and suspension as you would with any car

Shadwell

And fails......


They are not particularly reliable vehicles relative to the market leaders in this regard, (and to some degree lean on their past reputation for the over engineering of the mechanicals which gave them the 300k miles life span image).


They are generally purchased for leading tech and features (ironically the source of many of the quality issues.. that's the price of being at the front of the curve).. , design language (if you happen to like that generation etc.) and perception of prestige. All of which is fine....


But they are certainly not especially well put together at a manufacturing level and with so many parallel models and iterations being released to an ever more impatient market, the development cycles are under increasing pressure... which doesn't help...


Doesn't stop us buying and owning them though.....

Mike5215

Well said. They long ago traded heft for tech. I had a 190 E that must have weighed twice the 205. I don't think it had a CD player.

Benzzie

Thank you guys, for your replies. I appreciate it. I may have second thoughts on the new C or E. For reliability, I may look into a Lexus! I'll pass on the prestige!

Mike5215

Go visit a Lexus board on a 3 year old model. It's the same horror show over there. There is no holy grail of reliability on luxury cars. Drive whatever appeals to you but dump it before the warranty ends. Or get a Honda, Toyota or Subaru. Much less complex and they run forever. Even when something breaks it's a cheap fix. Plenty of aftermarket repair parts.

Mr. J

Honda and Toyota ain't what they used to be and Subaru's rep for reliability is not deserved. Google "Subaru head gasket" or "Subaru oil consumption" if you don't believe me.

AmrDXB

I wouldn't drive an expensive/luxury car with high tech features out of warranty. My warranty covers 5 years or 150,000 Kms through which I shouldn't worry about these things. After that I don't think I would be keeping my Mercedes, OR any other car.

StanNH

Airmatic is standard on a 2017 C class? I thought they still came standard with the steel suspension.

Mike5215

^They do. AirMatic is a fairly rare option. Most inventory cars don't have it. Mine was a build in order to get it.

AirMatic parts are proprietary to MB. The system consists of struts with an air spring in place of a conventional coil spring, an air compressor, an air reservoir, valve blocks that control the distribution of air, a ride height sensor at each front wheel and one over the rear diff for the rear axle, and a controller.

Typical failure involves a leak in the tube that feeds air to the top of a strut. The leak prevents the system from being able to maintain a pressurized state, which causes the controller to run the compressor continuously to compensate. If you're lucky, the compressor will hit a thermal cut off and save itself (causing the car to drop). Sometimes the compressor just burns itself up. (Also causing the car to drop). Occasionally the actuators in a valve block will stick and the block has to be replaced.

An air strut runs around $1200, haven't priced a compressor in awhile but I think they're in the $400 neighborhood. Arnot sells a reman'd strut with a lifetime warranty, but all of my AirMatic failures (on the S Class, none so far on the C) were under factory CPO warranty and replaced OEM.

Mike5215

I hear you. All I can say is that if my kid's Civic needs a water pump I can walk into a Pep Boys and get a new aftermarket unit for a hundred bucks and install it ourselves. On a Benz, it's probably a $600 proposition. But yeah, as even the Asian cars as they become more complex have more gremlins to deal with.