E350 4matic wagon pre-purchase advice!! Is this the right place?
Looks clean, drives smooth, except a very very slight vibration around 60mph, nothing after 70.
I've owned many BMWs, and while the 60 mph shimmy was very annoying, it was very difficult to completely eliminate it without completely revamping front end.
That said - not sure if here's where I can even find resources for the wagon - things like what I need to look out for for a 07 at 95k miles, and what I can expect to be doing in the next 30k miles to keep it reliably on the road for the family.
Thanks in advance guys!~




I combined PPI punch list at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/gene...nspection.html
But that is a long one.






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WDBUH87X77X216472
Thanks in advance! Is the Balance Shaft problem something detrimental or something can be relatively easily corrected?
Current owner bought it in Oct 2015, and he gave me a laundry list of what the MB dealer did to the car before putting on the used car lot. It was 91k miles in Oct 2015, and now just over 95k.
There were a list of things done, but other than buttons and door sills and cracked corner lights, the only things caught my eye were leaky coolant which they replaced lower hose, and a centrifuge cover leak which they replaced.
Under current owner, he did thermostat and one ignition coil, nothing else.
I'm going over your long list of PPI right now. I guess I can still back out if it's problematic and too much to up-keep being a 4-Matic....
I combined PPI punch list at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/gene...nspection.html
But that is a long one.
I combined PPI punch list at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/gene...nspection.html
But that is a long one.
- Green coolant - why is this red flag? just not using MB coolant? BMW oem is blue, but lots of coolants are green. Trying to understand the logic.
- Blowby test - What's the expectation here? I did open up the cap, and there are oil spraying out - similar to my BMWs, the cam spits oil out if the oil cap is opened. Not sure the logic here.
- MIL and Instrument Cluster check. What does this entail since they are marked with ***s. What do I look for?
There are a few I won't have a way to check without getting more involved., like checking drive shaft and trans oil / clutch oil, etc. it drove OK, except the shimmy - which I still wonder if many people here have the same issue or if all drives smooth (like I said, BMWs have this issue on older cars if suspension is not 100% tight).




Blowby test is substitute for compression test, what on modern engine becomes very difficult.
Some engine spray oil when you open the cap, but you can still put a napking on the hole. If napkin stays, it is good. When you need a piece of cardboard to stay, it is questionable.
Ford truck owners for comparison are happy when reversed cap stays on the hole.
CEL will tell you PO neglected the car. Just in last month we had 2 members coming with issue of CEL not lighting what made them fail the inspection.
PO managed to disable the CEL to cover up the issues.
So plugging scanner is pretty important.
The list I made originated as CPO inspection and include checking stuff that is consider cosmetic. Buying several years old car, you have to allow some imperfections.
Than sometimes you get lucky. My latest purchase with over 160k miles, beside front spoiler scratched on curbs has only 3 rock chips and 1 minimal scratch at the lock.
No dings. Hard to believe as in CA manage to have a car with no ding means parking it at far corners at shopping malls, but happens.

WDBUH87X77X216472
Thanks in advance! Is the Balance Shaft problem something detrimental or something can be relatively easily corrected?
Alignment will be first, balance right after.
I already know I need one extra key from the dealer, and I am pretty sure the IR receiver is already intermittent, and will need addressed - not sure if I'm brave enough to cut things open, or hopefully dealer or someone can sell the receiver part... I read it can get expensive.
I'll give it a all filter and fluid change very soon - as soon as I can find instructions here to do them... never had a 4matic before, so I'm sure diff will require more maintenance. Any pointers on the standard maintenances, pls shoot them my way.
I know he has not done the plugs, at 95k... so that'll be the first to go.
I'm sure there will be more stuff in the near future, but as long as there are resources to upkeep it, looking forward to the next few years with this wagon!
Anything else I need to do at 95k on a 2007 E350 Wagon, please feel free to suggest.
Thanks,




GL


