M272 Balance Shaft - to be wary or not?
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2002 C240 2005 C230 1984 380SL 1976 450SEL
M272 Balance Shaft - to be wary or not?
Good evening,
I am looking to (possibly) purchase a 2006 E350 wagon with the 272 engine. I have not seen the car in person yet (it's a few hours away so that will happen over the weekend) but the photos of the car look like it has been pretty well maintained for the age and mileage. It has a little over 212K on it. The mileage doesn't bother me too much, as I have an 02 C class with 319K and it's still going. This wagon would not be a daily driver; it would only be driven perhaps once a week, totaling about 3000 miles a year. Because it's not going to be a daily driver and used as my "Lowes shopping" car, I didn't want to spend too much on it, and the one I found is a really good deal. However, in doing my research, I discovered the issue with the balance shaft problem on these cars, and confirmed the engine number of the car I am interested in falls within that range. With that said, due to the fact the car has the mileage on it that it has, should I be too worried about it at this point? From what I have read, the problems with the balance shaft occurred in most cases before the cars had 100K on them. I have not yet pulled a Carfax, and I'm not even sure how much that might tell me, but aside from somehow tracking down the previous owners and/or stalking previous service locations to see if they can give me info on any repairs done, I'm not sure if I would be able to confirm if the car in question may have had the balance shaft repaired at some point. Again, I'm assuming if the car has reached the mileage it has, if there had been a problem, it would have been several years and miles ago, and it may not be a concern for me at this point. I wanted to get feedback from other owners with this engine to find out what their experiences may have been. Thanks!
I am looking to (possibly) purchase a 2006 E350 wagon with the 272 engine. I have not seen the car in person yet (it's a few hours away so that will happen over the weekend) but the photos of the car look like it has been pretty well maintained for the age and mileage. It has a little over 212K on it. The mileage doesn't bother me too much, as I have an 02 C class with 319K and it's still going. This wagon would not be a daily driver; it would only be driven perhaps once a week, totaling about 3000 miles a year. Because it's not going to be a daily driver and used as my "Lowes shopping" car, I didn't want to spend too much on it, and the one I found is a really good deal. However, in doing my research, I discovered the issue with the balance shaft problem on these cars, and confirmed the engine number of the car I am interested in falls within that range. With that said, due to the fact the car has the mileage on it that it has, should I be too worried about it at this point? From what I have read, the problems with the balance shaft occurred in most cases before the cars had 100K on them. I have not yet pulled a Carfax, and I'm not even sure how much that might tell me, but aside from somehow tracking down the previous owners and/or stalking previous service locations to see if they can give me info on any repairs done, I'm not sure if I would be able to confirm if the car in question may have had the balance shaft repaired at some point. Again, I'm assuming if the car has reached the mileage it has, if there had been a problem, it would have been several years and miles ago, and it may not be a concern for me at this point. I wanted to get feedback from other owners with this engine to find out what their experiences may have been. Thanks!
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Joined: Feb 2014
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From: MA
2008 E350 4Matic, 2011 E350 4matic
Why not just skip it? In addition to the balance shaft, it also has SBC brakes and although that has a 25 year warranty, the fuel tank warranty is only 15 years so that would be expired on a 2006. Balance shaft affected all 2006 models, you're not in the clear til about 1/3 though the 2007 models. The 2007 models didn't have SBC brakes although the fuel tank affects all years, 2003-2009. Interior was also update in 2007, the 2006 has the old interior. You also have the intake manifold issue with the M272, but that's not as bad a repair, maybe around 1k or less if you can DIY. Might already have been done at some point. Safest would be to look at a 2008-2009 model.
