want to buy my first merc
 

Hello everyone!


My names Panteleimon, people call me Panda, im greek but born and raised in sweden stockholm, im 33 and have allways driven bmws, today i have a volvo s60 sport. Lately iv been mesmerised by the incredible looks of mercs and specially w212 e class with amg styling. I want my next car to be this kind of merc, either facelift or pre facelift w212 from years 2012++ i love both these cars looks. I need your help and wisdom about how good mercs reliability is. My last car before the volvo was a lexus is 300h which i thought was too loud on the road, not a good isolation i mean, i could allways hear my tires and wind. my bmw and volvo have allot better isolation. anyway had to sell it to buy apartment, now that the apartment is bought i want to buy a car now, i want a merc. Im looking into e220cdi mostly because its very usual here in swe and doesnt cost too much. So hows mercs reliability compared to lexus or bmw f10? before the lexus i had a f10 520d with manuall box that need a change of gearbox because of reverse had problems. Cant put in reverse anymore. Gladly appreciate all answers and im sorry for the long boring post;) Help me decide;) are mercs w212 cdis reliable?

Thanks and have a good day.

If reliability is your main concern, then you should’ve already known that German cars in general are usually not as reliable as your Lexus. If you want the Classic premium looks, solid build quality, well damped and comfortable ride and quality materials, then MB is a good choice. Of course it’s probably not going to be as much of a driver’s car as your BMWs are. You should really test drive several over a period of time before you decide to buy one. Quite often drivers who are used to BMWs find the driving experience of regular MBs less than satisfactory. The AMG line is a different story though. Good luck in your search.

thanks, one of my main concerns yes, having owned allot of bimmers i know that they can fail sometimes. Like my gearbox did. Havent owned a merc before and im very interested in getting one, have test driven allot of bimmers and mercs at my job. i have no problems with any of them and i like how they ride. both similar, i dont think either of them are sportier or whatnot. My main concern is should i worry about engine/transmission/turbo problems with a e220 cdi? if properly maintaned ofc. i dont drive like an idiot;) just about 30km to work and 30km back home. ofc im gonna get one that has low mileage and as new as possible. Little things besides engine etc dont bother me and im well aware that all cars can have faults and break down, just dont want these main parts to fall apart. like the bmw n47 engine, do later mbs have such problems`?

thanks

In my opinion the E-class looks better BEFORE the facelift, i.e. before 2013 models. And I have come to a conclusion that the 2010-2011 models are better built than after that especially what comes to brakes.

My car is 2010 E550 with 165000 miles on the clock now and the only real problem was the rear air springs leaking that was fixed under warranty. I have complained to the dealer about rattles and Panorama sunroof popping noise. That was also fixed but the rattles are something that have mot been and I don't think there is a fix for those. New models probably have less rattles. But reliability has been just awesome. I did change the starter because it started to show signs possibly going out / pulling too much amps like others have also explained but that is the only bigger thing I have done on this 10 years old car.

What comes to road noise, there would be a lot of improvement to do on this car. Again, newer models may be better for this but I would not call this car quiet for wind of tire noise. You would have to go drive one to feel yourself.

220 CDI engine I know noting about. If it is a Diesel that I think it is then it probably is the same they use for taxi in Germany meaning it probably is one of the most reliable engines you can get.

Har det bra!

Tack så mycket!

sounds good man, i like both facelift and prefacelift models, though my budget maybe can get both i dont see that many amg line/amg sports with facelift, most amg style i see are prefacelift, they look very nice indeed. also not many petrols in sweden most available are diesels by far. i think ill get an 220cdi, wish i had the money to get the 2017++ modell but maybe in a few years, right now i can afford a 2012-2014. As long as engine+transmission are good than i dont think theres gonna be a problem, lesser stuff that can break is normal for any car. u say cabin is not so quiet while on motorway? would u say its more quiet than an audi or an e39?

I have no experience of Audi other than a 2009 Q7 that I had. Was not any better. What is e39?

One item I forgot some people have had issues is with the 4-Matic transfer case bearing failure. I don't have 4-Matic myself as I live in no-snow area but this issue would seriously make me think if I would buy a Mercedes if I had to have an AWD car.

sorry for long wait and no post. e39 is bmw 5 series from 1996-2003 i think. im looking for w212 prefacelift or facelift whichever i have money for in 2-3 weeks. i think ill skip the 4wd since winter in swe is not so crazy and i can handle it. One last question though, is egr and dpf any common problems with benz? im gonna drive like 30km each time i go to work and back so 30km x2 each day 60km total. u think im gonna get dpf or egr problems? if so should i delete them?

Did the OP end up buying an E class?
With regards to reliability, I personally haven’t had much of any major issues with my 2014 facelift 4matic E350 model. A sticky parking brake was replaced under warranty once, so was the auxiliary battery (stop- start). My original main battery lasted 5years.
I liked the solid but cushy ride of E class versus the too sporty ride of BMW or the lighter feeling Audi. The interior materials felt more robust in MB (but that can be a very personal choice too).
I don’t have any experience with diesels though, but those who have it swear by the E class diesel. Let us know what happened.

Oh man I loved both the W212's I had! Those hockey stick DRL's were the best! That restyle between W211 and W212 was SO good! A s Arrie mentioned :) Be prepared to fork out some money for repairs on a car of that age but hell, if you have the means and like the style go for it :y

Hi guys!

i did buy an w212 250 4matic diesel ^^ prefacelift 2013. blueish silver metallic, sedan with amg styling 18 wheels. Fantastic car and surely my fav car atm. I dont think i have owned a better car atm, got it late august and runs fine atm^^ 78900km on display. got diesel because to be honest theres not so much gas benz here in sweden almost all are diesels, i got 30km to travel straight to work, and 30km straight home so i hope i should be fine with dpf^^

gonna try to post pictures later;)

Congratulations on new drive. You should love it, but consider buying ScanGauge for monitoring DPF regenerations.
It is Greek cabbie from what I remember holds MB record with 4 + million km on the car?
Hard to beat MB diesels.

thanks very much^^ i love it already, even if it should break down i have some help through my insurance that can cover up to faults up to 5000 euro or 50,000kr each time something breaks. but i dont get the feeling that these cars are problematic, all taxis in stockholm are mostly benzes. ye that greek dude had an amazing benz, totaly amazing miles he put on that car. what does that scan thingy do? is it the best tool to monitor dpf life?

https://www.scangauge.com/products/scangauge-ii/ Is the only so far gauge that you can have permanently plug in the car and who will advise you when next DPF regeneration approach.
It will also tell you level of DEF (if equipped) and several other useful parameters.
Scroll the site to X-Gauges for OM651 engine.
Not cheap gauge, but small fraction what neglecting DPF can cost....

having trouble understanding which one i need to buy from that site, i found this icarsoft thingy from ebay which may be also good?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/iCarsoft-MB....c100047.m2108

does this also work? u dont think im gonna get dpf issues while doing 30km to work and 30km back home each day? i know poeple doing fewer km each day and dont have problem.

iCarsoft is a scanner not design to have permanently installed. You might try to use, but check if it will give you soot % and regeneration status. I have this scanner and it was giving me bogus numbers.
30km every day is good distance to have DPF healthy, but chances are that once in a while you will shut the engine off with pending regeneration. System is design to handle such aborted regeneration once in a while, but when I come to such situation, I just take another loop around the block to let regeneration finish before engine shut off.
As older American says, 1 cent of prevention is worth 1 dollar of repairs. (I am Polish -American FYI)

thanks for help man, im gonna check them both, i could on my way home take a little detour which is gonna give me total than 40km run that should suffice ? so i need something that gives me live data? soot levels % i cant find exaktly which part is for my car in that x gauge thingy.

Congratulations on your new ride. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the car and keep liking it more and more over the years (as we do). Personally I feel this car rides best on the highway versus city or bad roads. All other cars I’ve had or still own are noisier than an E class on highway. Please post pictures whenever you can.

https://i.ibb.co/pZxR3Db/20190824-144742.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/cyx2ZCz/20190825-203117.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/n08bQgm/20190923-113448.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/1QG5Vdm/20190923-113500.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Qn0Fx48/157188145.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/2FMJnLx/157188164.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/JpXHkSr/157188182.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/4Nh3Wq1/157188201-1.jpg



Thanks allot! ye beautiful car me thinks. Shall try to keep it some years and then get the facelift or w213 if economy goes well, just too bad w213 has fake exhaust tips on diesels? that just sucks,, but my 212 truly goes like hell, very low roadnoise and goes very nicely, no problems yet to report. best car i ever owned so far no competition. dunno what poeple mean with f10 being sporty and so on, i think all these cars are more comfy than sporty its just relaxing to drive to work and back. and even if i get problems i have insurance untill 120.000km or until car is 10 years old which ever comes first.

Count me in that group

Congratulations, that's a fantastic looking car.

thank you thank you very much! im happy