botaggs1

Hello all,

I have stumbled upon a potential really good deal on a 2016 E350 4matic with less than 40K miles. I currently have a W205 C300 and have seen that they are pretty mechanically sound. I did some research here in this forum to try and gauge how reliable the facelifted W212's are, however it seems as most of the dialogue pertains to the preface lifted models. If any of you could shed some light on if there are typical problem areas on the post-facelift models (2014-2016), I would greatly appreciate any insight. For whatever reason, I am feeling a little paranoid about longer-term reliability with this model.

Fliplegend

Im assuming its still under warranty? I just purchased a 2016 E350 4MATIC wagon a few months ago. A week after we took a 1200 mile road trip and she did great. Th M276 is a pretty reliable engine. I've read on here that the motor mounts can prematurely fail and transmission can have issues if not serviced between 50-60K.

I just got the car back from the dealer for some warranty work:
1. Trim (Burl wood) replaced
2. Steering bolt recall
3. Rear hatch window replaced due to defective defroster
4. COMMAND upgrade to latest firmware which will allow activation of CarPlay/Android Auto.

botaggs1

Thanks for the response, that's helpful to know. I am excited about the potential of using Apple Carplay/Android Auto. Unfortunately, the car is a salvage title (I am aware of what caused the salvage title and the quality of repairs made) so I believe that voids any potential warranty. Do you know what is involved in activating CarPlay? Is it just that OBD plug-in that everyone talks about?

Fliplegend

It's a 2 step process, the first step is to get your COMMAND upgraded to the latest version, then get the OBD plug that "activates" it. I'm not sure if step 1 can be done outside of the dealer.

cetialpha5

As with most Mercedes models, the last year in the generation is usually the best. The 2016 model has Apple Car Play/Android auto. Otherwise not too much difference in the years. The aux battery tends to fail early due to the eco start/stop. Other than that, fairly reliable. Early 2010-2013 tended to have more problems but still less than the previous generation. What's the price? It's slim pickings right now on used cars and the prices tend to be a little bit higher.

botaggs1

I gotcha, that makes sense. Price is $11K wholesale with a salvage title and 33K miles. The windshield was replaced and has cosmetic damage in the form of scratches on the hood and roof.

bzcat

Not much issue with facelift 212 or 4Matic in general. 2016 is the final year and so all the bugs and issues have been sorted.

Before I purchased my S212, I had read that 4Matic has a tendency to have fast tire wear. I've owned lots of AWD Audi over the years and so I'm used to tire wear on both axle and 15 months into my ownership of S212 I haven't noticed any serious tire wear issues.

cetialpha5

Oh yeah, salvage title, that's why it's so cheap. Just be careful, no warranty applies from MB on it. Salvage gets rid of any extended warranty that might apply but there's none right now. They still have to fix recalls but there are some federal emissions warranties that depending on the state may be good for 8/80k and that wouldn't apply also. I normally don't like salvage vehicles because they don't discount them enough, but 11k is a pretty low price so it might be worth the gamble.

Everyone always says 4matic has more issues which while true, I've had two of them and no issues so far. The flip side of 4matic is that you get staggered wheels on RWD so the rear tires wear out faster which also costs money. It costs money either way, either for lower gas mileage on 4matic and maybe slightly higher repair costs due to the 4matic or staggered wheels needing tires more often.

KEY08

Kind of silly to be asking about reliability of a car that has a salvage title. It could be a time bomb. So, maybe start by giving us background on what caused it to be salvaged. Then, maybe one could asses it’s potential.
For instance, if if was in a flood it will give you problems for the entire time you own it.

botaggs1

Understand. The original question was regarding the reliability of facelifted W212s as a whole, not this specific car I'm looking at. The salvage title is due to purely cosmetic damages and I am close with those who performed the repairs. I understand that there could be gremlins related to this specific car, again I was more or less referring to facelifted W212s generically. For instance, the majority of W205s from 2015 have a notorious wrist pin issue, and suffer from rattles and wind noise.

mbMJDude

Luckily I have had no 'real' issues with my 2016 E350 4matic. Just started getting the Replace Battery notice, which is an annoyance....but not that big in the whole scheme of things.
For Android Auto, check out:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...16-w212-3.html
Look at message #109 in the thread.
I got the Command update because I could duplicate a bluetooth issue on multiple Android phones, so that wasn't too difficult to get.