Hi. My parents' drive a W211 and the young broke me thought "Why spend so much money when a Honda Accord gets you from point A to B?" Fast forward five years and I'm just waiting for the day they decide to get a new car and I get to have the W211 as my daily driver.
I currently drive a VW Golf and while it's a fun car to drive it is not as refined and stable as the W211. I love the W211 for its blend of classic design, smooth engine that feels heavy until you coax a little grunt out of it, and its stable ride.
I've been servicing my Golf pretty religiously--engine oil change every 5k, brake fluid flush every 20k, and no squeak or rattle goes un-investigated. I realized that I haven't paid much attention to the Benz and I don't think my parents have been following the maintenance schedule religiously.
At 80k miles, it's a milestone in the vehicle's life. We haven't had any major problems, and would like to keep it that way.
What kind of maintenance steps should I take at 80k?
Is there anything particular about the E350 W211 that I should be wary about as the miles go up?
What maintenance should I do myself and what should I leave to a professional?
Any other resources I should consult to make the E350 last a good while longer?
All outstanding questions. ...
1. Some will abide by the recommended maintenance services per the manufacturer's recommendations. As in life, things don't always go as planned. ..save some money now for events later
2. If it wasnt repaired the gas tank campaign issues would be handled by Mercedes Benz i believe (don't quote me) 2020 to all E class
3. As per your knowledge on working with VW Golf, seems lke your pretty handy doing the basic maintenance, and that alone will save you $$$$$, also plenty of helpful tips, very smart minded individuals
that know alot lol.
4. Pheora of informative information about the W211, and most importantly everyone is/will assist in any way possible. Best advice is to keep your eyes and ears low to the ground. Do you homework beforehand, and it will save you time and effort later. Best of luck
The one thing you have going for you, is these cars usually all have the same issues at some point. So if something comes up, a quick forum search with lead you to the problem I would say a solid 90% of the time.
Things like heater control valve, ball joints, control arm bushings, etc etc. Its all common stuff that seems to happen around the same mileage.
All outstanding questions. ...
1. Some will abide by the recommended maintenance services per the manufacturer's recommendations. As in life, things don't always go as planned. ..save some money now for events later
2. If it wasnt repaired the gas tank campaign issues would be handled by Mercedes Benz i believe (don't quote me) 2020 to all E class 3. As per your knowledge on working with VW Golf, seems lke your pretty handy doing the basic maintenance, and that alone will save you $$$$$, also plenty of helpful tips, very smart minded individuals
that know alot lol.
4. Pheora of informative information about the W211, and most importantly everyone is/will assist in any way possible. Best advice is to keep your eyes and ears low to the ground. Do you homework beforehand, and it will save you time and effort later. Best of luck
What's the hiccup with the gas tank? What's the campaign?
It's not really a campaign, it's an extended warranty so it's not a recall. If you smell gas in the car, they will replace the gas tank for free. It's a 15 year warranty from the in service date of the car with unlimited miles. Only applies to regular gas cars, not Pzev vehicles which have their own 15 year/150k warranty. Applies to W211 cars so I believe 2003-2009 would be covered so that could be longer than 2020.
It's not really a campaign, it's an extended warranty so it's not a recall. If you smell gas in the car, they will replace the gas tank for free. It's a 15 year warranty from the in service date of the car with unlimited miles. Only applies to regular gas cars, not Pzev vehicles which have their own 15 year/150k warranty. Applies to W211 cars so I believe 2003-2009 would be covered so that could be longer than 2020.
I bought this 2006 E350 wagon 2 years ago with 159,000 miles.
It had 1 owner and a CarFax record that shows full servicing every 3 months, for the entire life of the car, at an authorized MB dealer.
I've had it 2 years and only put 7500 miles on it.
Another interesting piece of history about this car is the color.
Mercedes made a color called "Tobacco Brown" between 1963-1973.
Apparently this owner custom ordered directly from MB in Germany and had them go into their vaults to find some of this color.....so it truly is a "one of a kind!"
In the 7500 miles that I have had it it has been perfect until about 1 month ago when there was a fuel pump failure that was easily fixed for $300.
I found a really great local mechanic who specializes in MB's and is very honest.
While he was at it I also had him replace both front wheel bearings, brake pads, and ball joints.
I also put on new Continental Pure Contact LS tires.
I have also replaced the (synthetic) oil and filters (fleece) twice.
I'm planning to do a transmission fluid and filter change shortly.
Everything feels 100% perfect and , not being experienced, I don't know what other "preventitive" actions I should be taking.
I have owned BMW's and my last car was an Audi AllRoad wagon which were all great.
This is my 1st Mercedes and I am now fully converted....It is (so far) the best car I have ever owned!
At 80k, look into doing a major service. Transmission service (replace fluid and filter), replace rear diff fluid and of course regular oil changes. The suspension will wear out, most of the front suspension will need to be replaced at some point. The torque control arm is frequently replaced. All of it can be replaced if you have a little experience working on cars. Lower ball joint may require a visit to a shop. Not sure about later year W211s, but the earlier ones love to destroy motor mounts. I agree with Wodeshed, service the transmission every 40k.
If you have not been aware of FCPEuro's lifetime warranty on parts, i suggest checking them out. Every W211 needs regular maintenance and suspension parts do not last forever. Why keep paying for replacement parts when you can buy once and have that replaced when it wears out? Check their website for more info. Yes, you can also return used engine oil filters and engine oil. I don't work for them, I'm just a happy customer that has saved tons of money buying from them.
I am sure my E500 would still be going strong at over 300,000 miles but I have switched to Tesla Model S. I wanted MB to make an Electric E-Class but they refused to even work on it so I am now very happy with the very fast, good handling Tesla and will likely (unfortunately) not return until MB actually makes a pure-electric (and compares well with the Tesla at the time)
I have fully gone away from ICE engines. (Except for our truck that pulls the trailer, and that should soon be replaced too)
2008 E350 4matic, prem 1 and 2 packages, 225,000 miles. Bought in 2012 at 20k miles. It's been great. Have done routine brakes and pads, one new windshield due to road sanding abrasion, replaced front engine dampener which required special tool, had expensive tranny work done 3 years ago, replaced both rear coil springs which had broken (I would not try to do that myself again--best done on a lift), just replaced plugs due to misfire message, just replaced exhaust pipe clamp, have an exhaust noise that suggests a leak I can't find, so will take it to a shop. Keyless go works except 3 door touch buttons don't work. Tried new handles which did not fix it, but I just use the FOB clicker which works great. It is set up with towing hitch/lights and we pull an aluminum utility trailer occasionally for garden and yard stuff which always gets lots of interesting looks. The car still feels almost new. Expect it will go 300,000k. It just because my wife's daily driver because I bought myself a 2015 E250 4matic diesel with 70k miles that I'm loving.
My 2003 E500 experienced "stop, total brake failure" warning 4 weeks ago, Stealership replaced SBC reservoir under warranty. No charge, just gave us a heart attack. Yesterday, just 4 weeks after catastrophic brake failure, my front end drops suddenly while driving home from work. "Stop, Car To Low". Car rubbing top of tires as we limped home. Today, Stealership quotes me $2300 to repair ONE front left strut. Oh, this is a one owner Mercedes with only 54k miles in warm Florida. The $500 cars I drove in high school were more dependable.
Just because it has 54k miles doesn't negate the fact that it's an 03. The parts are still 17-18 years old at this point.
My 2003 E500 experienced "stop, total brake failure" warning 4 weeks ago, Stealership replaced SBC reservoir under warranty. No charge, just gave us a heart attack. Yesterday, just 4 weeks after catastrophic brake failure, my front end drops suddenly while driving home from work. "Stop, Car To Low". Car rubbing top of tires as we limped home. Today, Stealership quotes me $2300 to repair ONE front left strut. Oh, this is a one owner Mercedes with only 54k miles in warm Florida. The $500 cars I drove in high school were more dependable.
It's basically a rubber air bladder. How long did you expect it to last? It's not really mileage, it's age. It's 19 years old at this point, old enough to join the army, but no quite old enough to buy a beer.
Most people just use Arnott to replace them. Around $500 for each corner. If you want to get rid of the air suspension, Arnott also makes a conversion kit to get rid of the air suspension. A tad over $1300 on Amazon. Just search for Arnott in the old threads, some consider it an easy DIY but can probably be done much cheaper at an indy garage.
I spent close to 1k to do my regular front suspension, that was oem springs, Bilstein struts and other OEM parts that go along with the struts. It is after all a Mercedes, you're not going to get $50 quick struts like you can on a Camry.
My 2003 E500 experienced "stop, total brake failure" warning 4 weeks ago, Stealership replaced SBC reservoir under warranty. No charge, just gave us a heart attack. Yesterday, just 4 weeks after catastrophic brake failure, my front end drops suddenly while driving home from work. "Stop, Car To Low". Car rubbing top of tires as we limped home. Today, Stealership quotes me $2300 to repair ONE front left strut. Oh, this is a one owner Mercedes with only 54k miles in warm Florida. The $500 cars I drove in high school were more dependable.
Drives 18 year old E500 with air struts, complains about dealer price for air struts. Hilarious!
Replacing the front airmatic on W211 is a very easy job. If you know how to turn a screwdriver, you can swap out a front airmatic strut. There are so many videos on youtube explaining how to do it. Save yourself $$$$.
My diesel ’05 CDI may be a bad comparison but 99% of the car is identical. I have 230,000 miles.
At 150,000 miles, you may need to replace front control arm components. Mine were very worn. Lower control arms, upper control arms, ball joints, etc. I replaced the alternator brushes at 150,000 miles as this seemed likely but the originals looked to be good for 290,000 miles.
I also replaced the left differential seal at 150,000 miles. You don’t want the diff to run dry. Very expensive.
Sure, dry rot is a thing. Duh. Just sold my 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser with 300k miles to a collector - owned since new, worst repair was a pinhole leak in the AC. Wanna discuss reliability for these pos Mercedes?
A friend, my old lady, and I have all rolled Land Cruisers, but never rolled a Merc!
I am sure my E500 would still be going strong at over 300,000 miles but I have switched to Tesla Model S. I wanted MB to make an Electric E-Class but they refused to even work on it so I am now very happy with the very fast, good handling Tesla and will likely (unfortunately) not return until MB actually makes a pure-electric (and compares well with the Tesla at the time)
I have fully gone away from ICE engines. (Except for our truck that pulls the trailer, and that should soon be replaced too)
People have different use for their vehicles, for me a Tesla doesn’t have enough range. Can’t spend hours a day charging it.
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
