Airmousam

^^^+1

Looks great, congrats

ffr2014

Congrats!

MBSebas87

Very nice!! Congrats and enjoy in good health!

The G Man

Your E550 is basically a computer farm on wheels, there are many components that can fail even if you do not have airmatic. You say you are fortunately not to be forced to have airmatic, that's is akin to saying you are lucky not to have a super model as a girl friend because they are high maintenance. Honest, if I were that concerned about reliability, I would not be driving a high power German car, I would be in a 4 cylinder Japanese car.

El Cid

While the V6, RWD, E350 is rated average or better on reliability, the V8, E550 is rated below average. AWD drops it even more.
The most problem prone area of ALL cars today is the electronics, infotainment systems, and power accessories. They are extremely difficult to repair at the local dealership and probably near impossible by independents. Usually results in time consuming labor costs to find the problem and then very expensive replacement part(s). Some of which have to be shipped from Germany on a very slow boat.
Extended warranty is very similar to purchasing insurance on your car.
Regardless, enjoy your new car.
Happy Motoring!

IgorE350

Hey im in cleveland and id sell mine, if you would like to see it but its 2011 with 31k miles

Johnny Rad

Say what you will, but I'm also grateful to have skipped the well-documented reliability shortcomings of Merc's Airmatic susp. Interestingly, I don't think there's a single auto manufacturer that has nailed a reliable air susp (including Lexus / Toyota).

As for the E550 being less reliable than the E350, I don't believe there's much difference between these two outside of the powerplant. There are few (if any?) options available on one that aren't available on the other. Furthermore, there were significantly fewer E550s sold so the "denominator" is much smaller. Therefore, aside from the powerplant, I have concluded that my E550 will be as reliable as an E350 (whatever that may be). Then again, who the hell knows!

jonUF02

Funny, but I've had many cars higher in year and miles with lots of luxury electronic options. I find that failure in the electronic components is very rare, much more rare than mechanical failure. I find it amazing that electronic components in cars can last so long in extreme heat and cold. Much longer than household computers and electronics.

The G Man

You as one owner is a very very small sample size. The truth is, electronic failure in German cars are quiet common. The Germans are masters at mechanical engineering but they has a thing or two to learn from the Japanese when it comes to electronic reliability.

The G Man

I think you are confusing reliability with maintenance. Air suspension is no less reliable than say your turbocharger. The rubber components of an air suspension does have to be change after 100,000 miles or so, but that's the price you have to pay for a more comfortable ride and better handling.

Johnny Rad

No, I'm not confusing reliability with maintenance.

Your position and mine on Airmatic are both well-documented on internets, so I'm afraid we gain nothing debating it further here. Let's both let it go at that.

Happy holidays

jonUF02

If G Man is suggesting that the entire Airmatic system is designed to be replaced at 100K mi, that would cost many thousands. I'm sure if you told this to anyone who intends to keep the car beyond 100K mi and you show them the estimated cost, they would say hell no to Airmatic suspension.

The G Man

For those of you who like to run their high performance and high tech German car to the ground, yes, you should expect to spend thousands on maintenance, airmatic or no airmatic. If you think your 2012 E550 will be as reliable as a 4 cylinder Japanese car, you are delusional. Even though you said test drove and considered buying a E550 with airmatic, somehow I find it hard to believe from your post and misinformation about the system. You should really go test drove a E550 with airmatic and see the benefit is before you pass judgment on it.

jahquan3

No he was referring to a few rubber components that indeed should be changed to protect the whole Airmatic system from possibly going. Not a very expensive maintenance action. As he mentioned the same can be said about the turbochargers having known issues. However, proper maintenance of said turbocharger should in a perfect world reduce those issues.

Air bags or rubber bellows is a couple of terms for the parts that go most commonly, neither are very expensive.

KEY08

Tesla uses the Mercedes Benz Airmatic system in their cars as well for obvious benefits to lower the car at speed and provide a superior ride. I had one small issue with my W211 Airmatic E500, which ran up to 100K when I traded it. My 2010 E550 has yet to have an issue with 53K on it.

The G Man

Beside the superior ride and handling of an air suspension, the other benefits of an air suspension is aerodynamics and handling on the highway, as well as higher ground clearance in the snow. If I have to spend a $1000 or so on the airmatic system every 100,000 miles or so, which is like 12 years for me, then it is well worth it. I can also see the other side of it where some owners like to buy 6 year old high mileage German cars to lower the purchase price and avoid high maintenance options to reduce future maintenance cost. Not that I would ever buy a high mileage 6 year old German car, but if I did, I would probably avoid air suspension, turbo charger, direct injection, navigation system and Camtronics.

cetialpha5

I believe OEM is more like $1000 per corner so that'd be $4k every 100k or so, not just 1k. Even aftermarket is $500 so that's about $2k in parts plus labor to install. I think the jury still out a little with regards to direct injection, as for navigation, it's a pretty standard option on pretty much all E class cars these days, it'd be very hard to find one that didn't have it.

jahquan3

A 70-80k car is still a 70-80k car no matter how old it is as far as maintenance cost is concerned. The easier way out is to demand a CPO/warranty since those who do are obviously not willing to chance the cost of items going and being stuck with the cost. Maintenance cost will only increase as a car ages inevitably. So if you want it you buy it and if you can afford it then get an airmatic or turbocharger and let the chips fall where they may. It's quite simple no matter which way you go about it.

jonUF02

I looked at a highly optioned 2004 E55, and what it would cost to maintain. That car cost over $100K new, and the cost of maintenance items is far less than a W212 E63. Other than it too had Airmatic, which has a wealth of reported failure and fix info on this older model.

My CLK430 was probably $60K+ in 2000, but the parts are now very cheap, as it's basically a 2-door E Class which is used as a taxi all over Europe. I can find OEM equivalent parts without the Star on the box for very reasonable prices. Check AutohausAZ.com as an example. They will show you which part is actually used by Mercedes, but now available directly in a supplier branded box for a small fraction of the price.

Due to the same fact, I belive W212 parts will begin to decline in price as the previous generations did. The exception is the AMG models, which have basic maintenance parts, such as brake rotors, which cannot be bought anywhere other than Mercedes. This is exactly why I chose the E550 over E63.

jahquan3

I can agree with this to a certain extent. Even if you have a 2014 MB out of warranty and you are a savvy shopper and maybe can DIY/ or have a good indy you can always save a boat load. I also agree that as a model gets much older let's say 10-15 years old some of the parts will be cheaper or can be found at a junk yard etc.

However to be more apples to apples if you take my 2010 and a 2014 into an MB dealership for the same replacement of same part. The prices will be very close.

jonUF02

Very true, because they are the same basic chassis, W212, still the latest, so parts have not declined yet. I would not take a 2010 to the dealer for a brake job, I'm sure they will stick you for at least $1000 or more, which I could do in my driveway for less than $300 in quality after-market parts, similar to any other vehicle.