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Congrats. I like the interior, you got a nicely loaded one, finding one with the driver assistance package is rare.
Not sure about your seal, is that the one for the drive axle? The command knob failing is common, there's a few youtube videos on how to take it apart and either replace the knob or buy the metal part to replace the plastic shaft that tends to break.
Good choice of car - I love my 2011 E550 too...
When you get the upgrade bug..
I got the D1s Osram Cool Blue Boost bulbs - work great!...they are white not blue - the 7000K is marketing - i think for HIDs these are prob on of the best bulbs out there(some will argue this im sure)
Your choice - but if your car was like mine - E and S mode - are no different - I'd recommend a ECU tune - that really helped the car - its not like the V8 TT tunes but it helps a lot.
Use your curb rims for snow rims and upgrade - I went with Stance Flow forged rims for look\lighter weight and strength...- SF03's...I think they were like 8-9lbs per corner difference...
Did you get an extended Service contract? if you plan to keep it for a long time could be peace of mind...I think most will say you they pay for themselves...I just renewed mine for another 5yr -60K (And i have 120K on my car)
Congrats. I like the interior, you got a nicely loaded one, finding one with the driver assistance package is rare.
Not sure about your seal, is that the one for the drive axle? The command knob failing is common, there's a few youtube videos on how to take it apart and either replace the knob or buy the metal part to replace the plastic shaft that tends to break.
Not 100%, but it seemed like it was coming from the input of the front differential. Where the driveshaft from the transfer case enters the front diff. The seller put the car on a lift for me to inspect.
Very nice. All of that stuff is repairable. Blind spot sensor wiring is probably corroded.
When I Iooked at the car, also pulled codes with my launch and one of them was: CAN communication malfunction with A86/2b4 (left outer radar sensor, front bumper). However searching component A86/2b4 pointed to radar sensor in rear. The launch isn't 100%, no where near Xentry.
Today I had the car up and inspected the left rear radar sensor. At first glance the snap lever securing the unit in the mount wasn't clipped, like someone had it out or maybe it bulged. As soon as I started prying the sensor out, I was showered in white powder... yeah, the sensor is toast and the pins on the vehicle harness are gone.
So it'll need a replacement sensor and repair of connector or harness replacement. I see the harness is available, but are the individual connectors/pins or a pigtail available? Its fairly common for MB and BMW to offer most connectors/pins for repair. My EPC searching isn't yielding anything.
As far as the sensor, new is ~$500 and likely needs coding. If I find a used unit, with same parameters is may work without coding... but it might suffer the same eventual Northeast corrosion death. Not sure if the superseded sensors are any better sealed? I also want to look at the connector again, because at first glance it didn't seem to be a weather-tight connector... that's some bean-counter stuff right there. Granted the connecter is towards the back, so it doesn't get direct spray from wheels/road, but come on.
Good choice of car - I love my 2011 E550 too...
When you get the upgrade bug..
I got the D1s Osram Cool Blue Boost bulbs - work great!...they are white not blue - the 7000K is marketing - i think for HIDs these are prob on of the best bulbs out there(some will argue this im sure)
Your choice - but if your car was like mine - E and S mode - are no different - I'd recommend a ECU tune - that really helped the car - its not like the V8 TT tunes but it helps a lot.
Use your curb rims for snow rims and upgrade - I went with Stance Flow forged rims for look\lighter weight and strength...- SF03's...I think they were like 8-9lbs per corner difference...
Did you get an extended Service contract? if you plan to keep it for a long time could be peace of mind...I think most will say you they pay for themselves...I just renewed mine for another 5yr -60K (And i have 120K on my car)
Cheers
JP
I'll keep the bulbs in mind, but for now the headlight works great... just need to clean the "V" etch on the inside. On our E350 the inner headlights are high-beam and parking light. On the E550 the inners have projectors with a waffle appearance when lit. What do the inner headlights do? I thought bi-xenon in the outer lens handled Hi/Lo-beam, in addition the lens has the turn signal and cornering light.
Making additional (very limited) is costly on a this engine... something to consider once the car is up to snuff mechanically. I would appreciate a slight deeper and louder exhaust, but yet again I don't think there are any cost reasonable options. I could lop of the mufflers and weld on a set of Magnaflows like on did on my first car, 1990 300E.
E vs. S is noticeable to me, full-throttle maybe not... but the throttle is much more responsive and the shifts are appropriately higher in RPM in S mode. E mode at times can feel sluggish, needs more accelerator input and shifts early.
No service contract, car purchased from used car dealer (not MB). Service contract is me and my father fixing our own cars.
Good used condition, is going to need a few things.
motor/trans mounts
blind spot inop
radar sensor and harness pins heavily corroded
wheels pretty curbed
rusty lugs
front diff input seal leaking
command knob rotation doesn’t register
possibly some PDR
good interior cleaning
rear end drops over night
Our E350 wagon also had "airmatic" issues where one side would drop overnight. That turned out to be a chaffed air line in the back. I replaced the line and it was good for a few months. Now one side will randomly be high or low, along with the airmatic malfunction (up or down) indication in the cluster.
I suspect the valve body and/or compressor valving to be sticking and/or not actuating properly. If it was a leaking airbag, I suspect it would drop after sitting with some consistency. Whereas the codes indicate filling and releasing times too long, along with the visual (too high or too low of side) and raising or lowering airmatic malfunction. I did look at the wheel level sensors, since I initially suspected that one might be bad, telling the airmatic to raise or lower the wheel too much (before the filling/venting too long code). However the appear to be working fine per the scanner.
Anyway, these valve bodies and valving in the compressor (pressurizes the valve body or tank and vents) can they be rebuilt? I suspect corrosion can either damage the solenoids that actuate the individual valves or build-up/expand affect functionality. In addition seals and o-rings which might be compromised over time, leading to leaks.
Haven't had much time for the car... trying to setup detached garage before winter really sets in. I started cleaning the interior a bit, pulled the rear seats out to deep clean the leather and treat them. While I had the command knob out (fixing broken shaft), I decided to polish the center console trim.
On our E350 wagon with burl, I used Klasse AIO on a soft foam pad and air DA... while it cleaned up the trim and left behind some protection... it didn't really remove any swirls/scratches (not expected anyway). It looked clean and shiny, but at the right lighting and angle swirls and scratches are visible. The black ash trim on E550 shows more imperfections... While the clear coating seems relatively soft (finger nails will leave marks), I also had a difficult time removing many of swirls and scratches.
Ultimately, I settled on:
2x passes trizact 3000grit foam pad (damp)
4x passes trizact 5000grit foam disc (damp)
3x passes Meguiars Ultimate compound
2x applications of Turtle Wax Seal 'n Shine
I remembered I had 3M trizact foam discs from restoring plastic headlights (which work great). I'd say, 80% improvement... some of the deeper scratches are still there and I didn't want to get too aggressive. Would have needed a heavier cut compound and/or a MF pad or 1000 grit trizact disc to start.
Beautiful ride! There’s something really special about the 5.5 v8 and I say that as another owner of a 2011 e550. Very jealous you have the driver assistance and distronic packages. They’re very rare and I wish I had them
Wow, that came out great, I always wanted to change out the orangey wood in my sport to dark wood, after seeing yours I'm going to look into that. I don't mind the satin finish on some of the dark woods, just like shiny better!
I also had several dents addressed via PDR, hard to capture... the worst was a buckle across the rear passenger door. Whatever impacted the door caused a depression and crown along the diagonal reinforcement strut behind the skin of the door. There was also a very sharp dent in the rear quarter and a smaller dent in the dogleg (double sheetmetal in that area) and a few random smaller dents scattered about.
dings can get real expensive if you are picky and they go beyond what the 'paintless dent repair' people can deal with.
A few PDR guys told me a lot people think PDR is "cheaper" than traditional bodywork... at that's not the case. This was my first time using this guy, based on a few recommendations, and he did a great job. He spent nearly 12 hrs working on the car in my garage and was going to charge $600, but since he was not happy with the outcome of one of the dents he asked for $500. To me, it was totally worth it... no way I could have doing body/paint work for that.
Granted, I had stripped out a lot because of work I was doing and for his access: wheel liner, rear bumper, rear door panel (inner & outer), window sealing strips, trunk lining and rear SAM. In addition, PDR didn't address any paint chips in those areas.
11-08-2020, 12:37 AM
I don't mind the satin finish on some of the dark woods, just like shiny better!
Respect!
