Input for 2008 E550 please
 

Hello MBworld, I'm inquiring about the 2008 E550 reliability, common problems as well as what little problems to look for when purchasing one (the sunroof motor runs but does not open): for example.
I'm looking at an E550 (2008) with 92,000 miles for $10,100, what kind of scheduled maintenance should have been done on this car? They claim all scheduled maintenance has been done by Mercedes Benz certified shops or dealerships but I need to know what to look for in their maintenance documents provided. Any input would be appreciated!

Also does MB have a vin# lookup for a complete build sheet with all options etc that came on this particular car? And again thanks for the input!

You can go to the Mercedes website and download the OEM owner's manual for the car you're interested in. In that manual you'll find the maintenance schedule. Also, if you actually take the time to read the manual, you'll be miles ahead of most owners on knowing how the car works and what it can do. When I bought my '05 from a used car dealer, I was showing him things instead of the other way 'round.
If a helpful member doesn't chime in, there are websites out there to decode the VIN and tell you what options are on that car, or you can get a pic of the build sticker (a roughly 3" x 4" white sticker with a bunch of 3 or 4 digit codes) and you'll be able to find exactly what's built into the car.
Post up the VIN and see what happens!

I appreciate the help! I found some decoder websites etc.. And it pulled up every option on the car (pretty sweet). Have you had any problems with the suspension or anything like that?

There's a couple of websites where you can get the full list of equipment.

http://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/Mercedes-Benz

http://www.neoriginal.ru/cat/mb

You can also get the full one from Epc-net, but that cost $75 now for a one year subscription. There's other threads where you can post a request and someone will post the options that the VIN has.

The biggest knock on the E550 is the airmatic, typically about $1k per corner to replace the air shocks at the dealer, but you can get aftermarket Arnotts for around $500 a corner. That would be one thing to check to see if they were replaced when buying it. Otherwise E550 has a lot more options than a regular E350. Most of them had the P2 package which was the bi-xenon headlamps with keyless go. If it has keyless go, (the pushbutton start on the shifter), then you have the bixenons. Bixenons also had a sticker under the hood warning about high voltage. There are a few base models out there that didn't have many options.

Yes, it does have the keyless go and bixenon headlights.
All in all the car drove amazing looks stunning and it's virtually flawless, he was asking 12,000 for the car I've got him down to 10,600 and he is paying to have the sunroof fixed (the motor worked but the roof itself wouldn't move). Man, 1k a corner is steep so I'm definitely going to check into that. Do you happen to know if there is anyway to check if they are going bad or anything like that? I live in Oklahoma and our roads aren't the greatest (been through two sets of shocks and struts for my speed3) that kinda worries me. Thanks for the info, and how do you like your 350?

The E350 is fine, got most options on it, it was hard to find, parktronic, P2, pano roof, trunk closer, folding rear seats and real leather. Real leather is standard on the E550, but MB-Tex was pretty common on the E350, basically vinyl that looks like leather. Sunroof failure is also common, supposed to be lubricated every 2 years or so, the gears end up jumping and you have to take it apart to fix. E550 would have been nice but the traffic around here is so bad that it doesn't matter what engine you have, you don't really get a chance to use it.

The worse thing about airmatic is that they can go anytime. Typically people come out and find one end of the car sitting low, that means there was a leak or failure so it's rather sudden, not gradual like shocks or struts. Seems to happen in the 100-120k range so you're in that range. E550 also had cooled seats which weren't available as an option on the E350. Punch your VIN into this decoder and see what it has:

http://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/Mercedes-Benz

Other than that, the forums are a great help, have run into a few minor issues like motor mounts but haven't really spent lots of money on repairs, I change my own oil so when I get oil and a filter on sale, it's in the $20-$30 range instead of the $300 service A at the dealer. Lots of people are afraid of the repair costs, but 2008 and 2009 were good years so you should be ok, the earlier E500 had lots more problems. I think with the motor mounts, thermostat and idler pulleys, I've spent less than 1k over the last 2 years on repairs/maintenance.

Ok, so I used the decoder msrp was $59,700.. It's has the designo wood package, sport package with amaretta /leather/ Nappa /semi-aniline-red. Pana roof, bixenon headlights, keyless touch start etc...
So you say a merc MB-Tex is like vinyl? That's kinda shady in a merc!
I've heard mixed reviews about the 4matic but most absolutely love it, I live in Oklahoma so we get hardly any snow and when we do its ice so it doesn't matter about four wheel drive or not it's just dangerous.

Does it have the ventilated seats and the parktronic? Some rare options would be the side blinds and distronics, but you hardly ever see those.

MB-Tex is pretty standard in their lower end line. All dealers just claim it's leather when it's not. On the W211 E class, you can tell by the ruffles in the door, mb-tex is smooth. Only an issues on the E350, real leather is standard on the E550.

Designo is rare too, don't see that too often, I think that usually means it was custom order, mine is also a designo graphite which is probably why it has more options than most.

Take it to an MB dealer and have them do a PPI on it. Make sure the bixenons work, they auto level and the lights do this little dance when they come on, they point at the ground, go left and right and then flip up. When you turn the steering wheel the lights can go left or right by about 12 degrees. For keyless go, check every door, the lock and unlock buttons on the door handle can go bad, around $200-$300 a handle to replace, probably $500 each at the dealer. Pano roof is known to squeak on bumps, mine does it a little but it's not too bad, if he's getting the roof fixed, they might have to take the headliner down to fix it and they mind as well tighten all the bolts and use locktite while they're at it, that's usually the cause of the noise. Yeah, 4matic is mixed, got to have it in the Northeast.

Yes it does have the ventilated seats and the distronics (what is that) and it has parktronic systems in it.
So after my trade in I would get this car for about 6k which I think is a hell of a deal considering you can't find a decent American car for that price.

I plan on taking it to MB of OKC tomorrow, my friends mom has worked there for years so I think she could help me out a bit with everything.

It's very rare if it has distronics. It basically has a radar on the front grill for adaptive cruise control, automatically maintains a distance between the car in front of you. You see it as a black box. Very common on the S550, not so much on the E. Sounds like it's a very nicely loaded car.

Is that the adjuster by the shifter? The car is a one owner that had a 35 mile commute from Blanchard, OK to downtown OKC so it's all highway miles with very little stop and go traffic..
Your in Massachusetts?

I'm not really sure how distronics works. There's a few items by the shifter, there's the airmatic controls, sports/comfort setting and parktronic off. Not sure what else is on there with distronics. A rare option, the only way I can really tell if a car has it is by the black box on the grill.

theres so much tronic lol

Yes lots of tronics lol...
 

Yes there is a lot of tronics in the MB world! I'm thankful because everyone on here has been so helpful in making my decision to purchase the 2008 E550..

Car purchased
 

C-5, thanks for the input and help! I purchased the E550 Thursday after wheeling and dealing with my trade in and final price. Also had the dealer throw in the repair of the sunroof and tint the Windows @ around 30% which looks super classy. Will have some pictures up tomorrow evening after I ock it up! Again thanks for your help and knowledge....

duh I'm hooked on tronics :lol

OP any updates? pics?

2008 E550
 

I'm also looking at the same MB in Texas. This will be my 1st MB too. It has 70k miles and he is asking $14,900. According to KBB and NADA that is a good price. It is from a private seller. I'm going to offer much less...Can always come up :) Any input?