mjsbenz

Hi.

Considering purchase of a 2012 E350 4matic with 85K miles as an extra car. One owner (by a friend) and has been service by local dealer for all scheduled servicing and minor trim replacements and tires. I know the dealer for many years and the service director reviewed the past ROs (including the most recent B service last fall at 80K) and has no reservations about the car. I have read forums and it seems that the W212 is a reliable car but fairly expensive to maintain.

1. What are your views about repairs or servicing that will come up in the next year or two. I expect this car will be used for less than 5K miles a year. Does the factory scheduled maintenance require transmission fluid changes? This is new territory for me as my experience with E classes are with leases only with less than 40K miles in 3 years at turn in.

2. What do you think is a fair price (dealing with a friend). Steel gray with black/gray interior. Very good condition.

Thanks for any information your can share.

300SE1993

My 2011 was pretty much trouble free until I was well past 200K miles. Although the 2012 has a bit of a different engine setup, I haven't really heard anything bad. Yes, transmission service every 80K. I think a fair price is between $11 and $12K. I paid $8K for my 2011 in late 2017, but it had 173K miles on it.

jonUF02

MB service schedules are available in the owner's manual online. It varies by model/engine. I've found MB to be very reliable. Parts are not expensive, but techs that work on them know they can gouge you for labor. If you look at the service schedule, you'll see the 10k "service A" is really just a bunch of check this and that with a basic oil change then the dealer charges you $350 or so. Service B is the same with a brake fluid flush and air filters replaced, and the dealer charges you $600+. If you are the type that can do all the basic items yourself they are actually not costly on maintenance at all. I get 2 jugs of 0w40 Mobil 1 oil at Wal-mart for $50 and a OEM oil filter for around $30, and the interval is 10K, so cost $80 once a year for me. Air filters are no more than any other car and take 5 minutes. I just bought the Motiv brake bleeder to complete my own "service B". I also replaced the spark plugs myself for less than $100, but should have paid the shop $300 because it's a pain on the V8. Only thing outstanding is the transmission service. Dealer quoted about $1000, I live right next to a MB tuner shop Eurocharged, who has quoted half the price and I believe they have the experience to do it right.

In comparison, I just took the wife's Nissan Murano to the dealer for 105k service, paid $600 to replace spark plugs, also did coolant change, brake flush, and trans service for a total bill over $1200. For a clean 2012 with a known good history, I'd peg the price around $15-18K, but I didn't look around at current offerings.

I've seen W212 E350 anywhere in the range of 8K to 20K depending on year and condition. 2014-2016 facelift models maybe more still.

jonUF02

Options also play into the price, as loading it up with every package and a-la-carte item could double the original price. Mine is fairly basic, no pano, no keyless, no auto trunk, no Distronic or driver assist, no dynamic seats or air suspension, etc, etc.

konigstiger

See attachment.

mjsbenz

Agree. When I lease my E Class cars, I usually have many of the options you mentioned and likelihood of problems are low in 3 years. The car I am considering is a Sport model with P1 package. Not much more. No air suspension, no pano roof, etc.

Thanks

TeeEl

This is awesome. Where can I find it for the '13 E550? Is it the same checklist?

konigstiger

See attachment (278 engine).

TeeEl

You're friggin' awesome. Thank you!

mjsbenz

I am retired so I have time to do things I enjoy....like investigating what could go wrong with a 84K 2012 E350 4.

One thing that has surfaced from discussions with SAs at a few dealerships that might be expensive is motor mounts and engine mounts. I am hearing that it can run about $2K and fairly common with cars that hit 100k miles.

Anyone have views (or experience) with motor/engine mount replacements and are there other bigger ticket items that might go wrong.

Thanks

jonUF02

Basically the maintenance is this:

Service A - aka basic oil change = every 10K mi - costs $80 to DIY with OEM filter and Mobil 1 oil.
Service B - oil change with addition of air filter, cabin filter, brake fluid change , alternate with service A, so 20K mi intervals. I believe it's a bit overkill on the brake fluid change every 20K, filters are available at local auto parts stores or online.

70K mi - should have spark plugs changed and transmission service performed (replace fluid and filter in trans). My local MB specialist/performance shop quoted $500 for trans, $350 for spark plugs, that's about half of dealer prices.

Other than that, it's just a bunch of checks on the maintenance schedule.

Replace brakes and tires as necessary, or when the brake rotors are warped on E550 causing vibration, then replace them with Centric premium rotors yourself or any basic indy mechanic (see multiple threads on brakes). I've had to top off coolant a few times, bought a gallon of OEM blue stuff at the dealer for a gouging price of course, have only used a little of it because it full strength, so mix 50/50 with distilled water.

MBNUT1

It is true. They can be done for ~$1500. Had to have my transfer case rebuilt $2500 120k miles

pezzy669

Engine mounts and trans mount - definitely plan for them. The soft and compliant mounts (for the luxury feel when new) are not meant for long haul, my '09 C300 were at the beginning stages of needing replacement at ~75k miles, my '11 E350 4Matic they are at the end stages (vibrating the cabin) of needing replacement at ~85k miles. Quotes for my '11 4Matic have ranged from a high of $2300+tax at the dealer to $1250-$1590+tax at two local independents, my RWD C300 IIRC was like $900+tax at the dealer. 4Matic engine mount replacement is much more involved as it requires dropping the steering rack and disconnecting one or both of the exhaust manifolds, I don't believe the RWD requires the same amount of effort.

ae2834t

konigstiger

2014...

ae2834t

2011E350

$1000 for a transmission service? ^That's a stealer ship to a new level. I know they recommend pan, filter and stand pipe replacement but even with that outrageous. FCP Euro part sells the transmission service kit for around $150. Please tell me that $1000 includes pure sparking filterd transmission fluid from a natural spring and includes a service loaner, burned cell phone, fake passport.mistress and some get away money. The FCP Price includes filter, fluid, gasket, standpipe, and new pan bolts.

mjsbenz

Next question...brakes

I very much appreciate all the feedback.

Finally test drove my friend's 2012 E350 4matic that I am considering buying. I met him at the dealership as he was getting a tire replaced (leaking) and I had a chance to drive he car (in the rain). It drove very smoothly and the condition is excellent. Only thing I noticed was a pulsation when stopping. Isolated to the brake pedal. No indication lights on the dash suggesting anything was wrong. I read through the history of repair orders and the fronts were done at 51K miles. Could not find any evidence on the RO report that the rear brakes were serviced with 85K on the odometer. Is that possible?

I checked with 2 NJ dealers for quotes on brakes (rotors and pads). Rears run between $650-750. Fronts run about $100 more. For giggles, I called Manhattan Mercedes. $1500 for rears; $1750 fronts. I guess they need to cover the high cost of Manhattan real estate although this is a factory store.

Have not really checked with indys but wondering what do you think the non dealer would charge. I also do not want rotors and pads that will not work as well as OEM. Not planning on wrenching myself.

I appreciate in advance your thoughts.

jonUF02

Brakes on Mercedes are not any more complicated than any other run of the mill car. I did mine in the driveway with new pads and rotors all around on E550 for maybe 300-400. Parts are available at normal auto parts stores for my rear.

pezzy669

Based on my experience of price shopping independents vs dealership in Atlanta the independents can be ~40-50% lower pricing than the dealership for repairs, basic A and B service will probably not be that much lower though. My experience with MB service has been awful to say the least and even so my local dealership (Mercedes Benz of Buckhead) is walking distance from my house I am opting to take my car to an independent that is 18 miles away because I have such a horrific taste in my mouth from the dealer service.

kajtek1

But using dealer will get you free carwash and sometimes cappuccino
Dealers quotes for maintenance service are comparable, becouse they will include "free safety inspection" that will show you $$$$ in recommended jobs.
Bare in mind the price structure. You can buy used MB very, very cheap, becouse original owners don't want to deal with price gouging.
That leads to situation that few years old MB with lack of maintenance takes more money to bring it back to standards than the purchase price was.
If you don't DIY, you will be for constant shocks.

2011E350

Amen Brother! and I am not just saying that because its Sunday......DIY or Independent shops as much as you can. Find a good local Independent shops that can do major work. I found a couple around here that are European only and will be visiting to check out probably tomorrow.
The money you save in parts and labor for DIY and independent shops could probably be more than you think.

cetialpha5

FCPEuro sells the Zimmerman rotors for around $170 for the pair and the Akebono pads are about $95. The indy should be anywhere from $50-$100 for labor, maybe a little more. Lots of them don't like it when you bring your own parts, but mine doesn't care if it has a Ford on the hood or MB, he only charged me $50 to change the front brakes as I supplied the rotors and pads. The rears I did myself without swapping the rotors as the rotors had enough meat on them. It wasn't worth saving $50 to do them myself as it was winter at the time and I don't have garage to do it in. And although FCPeuro is a little bit higher than say rockauto, they're lifetime warranty so you never have to pay for another set.

2011E350

That's the trick find an independent shop that will allow you to bring your own parts. Some will some wont. The ones that will usually have you sign a disclaimer that they are not responsible for warranty, repairs and are responsible for INSTALLATION ONLY, if item fails due to workmanship defects that is between you and the vendor/warranty company. I have one around here but try not to abuse them.

cetialpha5

I've been doing that for years and it's never really come up but it's always understood that there's of course no labor warranty on the parts if it's bad which I'm fine with, most of the time they're fine anyway. Once I got a set of bad struts, they were Monroe and they knew they had a bad batch, at the time it was only $80 to swap out some quick struts and Monroe even offered to pay for labor, but I didn't want to bother with the paperwork and I drove on them for over a year til someone mentioned that there was a bad batch on recall and mine happened to be one of them. The struts were lifetime warranty so I think that's the only time I paid twice for labor. But I think even if the shop bought them, the standard warranty is only a year anyway, same as MB.