E350 Balance shaft - sell or repair?
 

I recently purchased E350 2006, 121k miles with balance shaft issue, I have no ideas when I buy it, just thought it need to replace some sensor. One owner car, dealer maintenance, all recall on sbc and fuel tank were done, transmission shift great as well, car also in great shape. I got it for 3k5 and thought I got a deal untill found out it has balance shaft problem on it. I wonder if I should keep the car and repair or sell it and find another one, maybe e320? (i got an offer 2k from carmax). Thanks in advance for any recommendation

It's going to cost you way more than $1500 to get it fixed unless you know how to pull and engine and replace the parts yourself. The parts are only a few hundred, it's just the labor that's intensive. I would get a 2008+ model, even though you don't hear much about the E320 on this forum, search the old threads, they had way more problems than the later models. You could also look at some 2007 models, but make sure the engine number is after the balance shaft problem as some early 2007 still had that problem.

So 2008-2009 cost around 8-9k with the same miles I have on mine, that make me wondering if sell this 2006 for loss and buy 2008-2009 is a good solution?

Well there's a reason that the 2006 are so cheap. Most people know about the balance shaft problems. You could also get a 2007, would be slightly cheaper, you just have to run it through a vin decoder to get the engine number to make sure it's outside of the affected range.

https://www.datamb.com/

Dump it and get an E320. The M112/722.6 is far more reliable and easier to maintain than the M272/722.9. Even if you find one with a good balance shaft you still have craptacular M272 intake manifold and $1000+ 722.9 conductor plate time bomb. 04-05 E320 wagon is your best bet.

I have a 2007, my engine serial number is out of the affected range and I love this car. Bought it recently with just under 102K miles, after owning a 2003 E320 for 3 years and a quick adventure with a 2007 S550.

The E class is much more practical for me than the S Class.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...0e19946945.jpg

I am looking around for low miles e320, anything to look for? I need something reliable to commute (about 60 miles/day) maybe consider cdi as an option? thank you for your input

how you like the 2008 compare to 2003? thank you

Read the old threads. The E320 wasn't exactly a bed of roses. Avoid the 2003 as that was the first year and had many problems, the major one being the leaking radiator that trashes your transmission. In general more mechanical problems like transmission, differential, transfer case. Plus things like SBC use to be a concern, but the warranty is now 25 years on the SBC brakes, might still be an issue though, when they had the 10 year warranty before, there were still some other components that they didn't cover, they just covered the pump. And while it's covered under warranty, it's fun when it fails, basically just 10% of normal braking power out of the blue, I'm just surprised there hasn't been more accidents. The 2007+ got rid of that. There's also a 15 year warranty on the fuel tank, so that's going to run out sooner on a 2004 (current year) or 2005. The gaskets in the side mirrors also go, but that was redesigned in the face lift. Plus bluetooth was different back then. Some new things like the active corner illumination only came in later years, that might have been 2006+. Plus you are more likely to find a car with some options in the later years than the early ones. For me, it's personal preference, I prefer the face lifted interior, the steering wheel I find looks a lot better than the pre-face lifted model.

the facelifted steering wheel does look better. But a 3 spoke steering wheel from the R171 is better than anything MB put in the 211 from the factory.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...3750ac6917.jpg
:zoom:

It is a 2007 and I like it a lot better than the '03. This one has the Sport Package, so it rides a lot nicer, hugs the road a lot better.

I also like the looks of the facelift better than the the original version.

As they say, .......... Beauty shall always lie in the eyes of the beholder ...........

Thank you all, despite the fact that I love how comfort w211 are. I decide to part with it and purchase a lexus LS430 instead. maybe I will look back to mercedes in the future

A Lexus???????? OMG!

You made a good decision. Enjoy the Lexus.

My wife's car is a 2006, and I am waiting on the CEL to come on. It would be my second balance shaft if and when that happens. I already replaced it on my 2007.

I must admit that while I like the cars, I don't think I will get another when the time comes (I am getting close to 200K miles on the 2007-only about 70K on the 2006). I never even knew what a balance shaft or a conductor plate was before we bought them. I do now.

I am sure every brand has its issues. And maybe better the devil you know than the one you don't know, but I am still leaning to making a change.

If you did not know anything about the Balance Shaft, you obviously did not do any research prior to purchasing.

I would agree, every brand has its issues, ......... A colleague of mine adds a quart of oil to his Audi A4 every second fill up.

If you are leaning towards a change, you better do your homework this time. The Internet is a very resourceful tool.

Thank you.

The cars were bought new or early on, before the issues manifested themselves.

SORRY! That sucks. :(

There are some advantages of buying them used. Or don't buy the first year of a new model which was basically what the 2006 was as the 3.5 liter engine replaced the previous 3.2 liter engine. The W212 and W213 seem a bit better, none of the same problems.

They might be better in regards to the issues noted, but quality in parts and how the cars are put together is bar far not as good as it was on the W211. At least in IMHO.

I also do not care for the interior layout on the newer, compared to the older cars, but that most likely is just a personal preference. :)