berman2921

Great description of how e90/92 steered. I still miss mine very much - I just couldn't pass the deal I was offered on E350

hyperion667

Sounds good. The number went up from 350 to 400, which is why is feels much stronger

tresean1

whatever happened to the days when the model designator (BMW and Mercedes) correlated to the engine displacement. :-)

need2speed

doesn't work so well with forced induction

tresean1

Yea, looks like we need some new names from Germany---can you imagine a 520i or an E200? lol

hyperion667

Kind of like the Kia 9000

SteveE400

I think MB wanted a replacement for the E550 that would help their CAFE ratings and maybe bring down costs (and maintain profit levels). The E400 does that well.


In terms of performance, it depends upon where you're driving. If you're in town or just on short freeway runs, the E400 is only marginally slower than the E550. Car and Driver tested the 2015 E400 at 5.0 sec from 0-60 MPH, and doing the quarter-mile in 13.6 sec at about 101 MPH. They said that the E550 did 0-60 in 4.5 sec and the quarter mile in 13.1 sec. If you're in the stoplight grand prix, either driver's reflexes can make up the half second. Sure, if you're pulling from 75 MPH up to the limiter, the larger displacement will win. The E400 is a VERY capable sleeper!


I'm giving away my age, but I twisted wrenches on a 427 cu in Corvette back in 1967-70 (it belonged to a friend). The car had 3 2-barrel carbs, solid lifters, 4-speed, and a 4.11:1 positraction rear end. This beast did the quarter mile in 13.1 seconds at 111 MPH. The E400 isn't behind that Corvette by much.


My brother-in-law has an E63. When I took him out in the E400, he said "Heck - I could have bought one of these and saved myself a lot of money." He won't know how right he is until he starts to need to pay for service on the AMG.


It is FUN being invisible. . .and FAST.

Kyle1986

SteveE400

Kyle1986

Nicolas Farinas

.

SteveE400

Sorry, Kyle, I really can't offer much (any?) advice on the best mods. I've kept Gonzo (my E400) completely stock. This car is far too complicated for me to feel comfortable doing any mods that could stand in the way of warranty coverage!

And, I've been having a genuine ball driving it just plain box-stock. Just ask the police in the next suburb over. . .

2012 merc amg

Kyle1986

Kyle1986

tgurule218

Hello all,

I am in the market for an used 2015 E400 sedan. I am wondering what owners think about the reliability of this vehicle. It is beautiful, no doubt. However, everyone I speak to about MB says "they are nice but expensive to fix and maintain." My question is how expensive and how often will I need to fix it? I currently own a Toyota Camry with over 260,000 miles and a Honda Accord with over 150,000 miles. I have done basic maintenance and have had very little to fix on these two, with total repair costs for the Honda being at around $1200 recently, and a little more for the Toyota. I love the reliability of the Japanese cars, but I am bored with the driving experience and look. However, I know that if I have to spend $6,000 for repairs, I will hate the car no matter how beautiful or fun it is. Any advice on these cars? Is there anyone out there with high mileage MB cars? I am also looking at Lexus. Thank you for your help.

LandSeaAir

Why would you buy a ‘16 E400 over a ‘14 E550?

sears1234

I have owned four Mercedes now, 12 e350, 15 ml, 16 e400, 18 glc 350e, I also owned five Lexus before mb, what I can tell is there is no difference of reliability when they are both in warranty.
I didn't own any of them out of warranty, so I cannot predict the reliability.

But Mercedes build and material quantity is far superior to Lexus, Lexus has signature interior rattling, not to mention the riding quantity.

Personally, I think because Mercedes car has much more sensors, and more monitor system, it easier to show warning and error, Lexus has no much things, the same issue may be reported on Mercedes, but not on Lexus,

It's totally depends on your first experience, if you don't have any issue with Mercedes, you will never look back on Japanese car again.

Good luck.

berman2921

I've been driving German cars for the last 16 years. At the same time my wife had Lexuses. While not a single thing went wrong on her cars I had a lot of warranty repairs on both my BMWs and MB E350 I'm leasing now. In the last year I had to replace under the warranty the following parts on E350: emergency brake cable, steering wheel plastic insert, usb block, power outlet, brake pads and rotors at 28,000 miles, twice auxiliary battery. My previous car was BMW 328 which required air conditioner repair, passenger seat extensive fix, engine gasket replacement. All was done under the warranty. Both cars were the last years for the respective models. I still like my E350 but I might go for Lexus GS350 when my lease is up in September

MBNUT1

My feeling is unless you really have to own one I wouldn't buy one if I were you because I think that you might end up being shocked at what they cost to maintain. For example I had to have my transfer case rebuilt for the 4 matic and the rebuild cost $2500 plus a fluid flush of another $500. I was lucky that my indy could rebuild it because the dealer would have wanted $8500 to replace the whole unit. I still need to replace the engine mounts which will be another $1000 unless I get in there and do it myself which will be a royal pain.

Putting that aside the wood will fade, unless you buy one with leather interior the drivers seat will split. Replacing spark plugs for that car will be expensive from what I have read.

thefisch

I wouldn't say that there is a significant difference in reliability - the problem is that if something does go wrong it is significantly more expensive in a MB than Honda or Toyota. And you pay more for regular maintenance, gas and probably insurance too. Just drive the car and see if it is worth that to you.

LandSeaAir

Shame that this thread turned into a relibility debate about Lexus vs Benz.

Lexus/toyo/honda are so far removed from my consideration that any (most likely negligible) difference between repair costs is meaningless to me.

The E400 seems like a cool car though and they have held their values pretty well. For a daily driver perhaps it’d be better than the heavier E550.

SteveE400

IIRC, the Car and Driver instrumented test article in August of 2015 said that the E400 was only about 0.5 sec slower than the E550 in both the 0-60 sprint and the 1/4 mile run. I have found very few cars that can embarrass my E400 on the street.

FireRx Captain

Get you some Zymol Titanium wax on that paint and it will stay beautiful for a long long time. I use it on my polar white 2011 ML 350 and the TENORITE GRAY 2016 E3350. Finishes on both still look brand new.
https://www.autobarn.net/yml155.html

nc211

Personally I’d have a problem spending that much money for a new E class with a turbo 4.

That being said though, VW had pretty much perfected the 2.0t engine at this point, and I enjoy that engine quite a lot. The tuning aspect of the current generation GTI is insane. I took my 15 to finally get it tuned with a new ECU mapping program a few weeks ago. It’s 4 years old now with nearly 50k miles. Had the “APR” stage 1 program installed for about $650, and what was great is now indescribably perfect for car that you can buy CPO for less than $20k fully loaded now. APR is to VW what AMG used to be to MB before MB bought them out and brought them in-house. My GTI went from about 210hp / 260tq to an insane near 320hp / 390tq with just a computer program change that brings in more turbo and adjusts air/fuel. It’s so over powered now that you can’t floor it until 4th gear without breaking traction. My E350 hasn’t moved from the garage in about a month since.

Thst being said though, I’m ready to switch for a while and enjoy that silky smooth V6 feeling and cruise like a boss instead of sprint like a sand flea on Crystal meth...
if I didn’t have the VW as well, I’d love the E400 or may have seeked out a 550. But honestly, I’m more than happy with the 350 engine in general for power and living with it in an everyday environment. I think it’s quite good with delivering a smooth torque curve that is easy to live with in this sedan. I’m impressed how quick the car is as well and totally satisfied. Germans understand torque better than nearly all others.