I am looking for a used E550/CLS550 with the 4.6. I saw a comment somewhere on here where a user said something like "look for one that has at least 100k miles because all of the major issues with these vehicles will have been fixed by this point."

I don't know how accurate that statement is but it makes sense if most of the time we see these major issues typically show up before 100k miles. What do you guys think? Do the major issues like cylinder scoring, oil leaks through the cam sensors into the wiring harness, air suspension, etc show up most of the time by x number of miles? Obviously there is no 100% that these happen before a given mileage or even happen at all, but buying a used car seems to always be about playing the odds.

 

I wouldn't be "TooHappy" buying any MB with 100,000+ miles. Especially a "550" which tends to have owners with a lead gas pedal foot.

 

I prefer under 30K or else one starts running into maintenance costs and all that. Once the car hits 50K+, you are now looking into tires/brakes/transmission and brake fluid flush/coolant/plugs/coils and all that so don't forget to factor in the cost into the purchase price unless the owner has already taken care of all that

 

Those engines generally won't last past 150k miles, some not past 120k. There are some exceptions out there, but generally that engine is not ageing well. They will all need an extensive front side reseal for oil and coolant leaks no later than 70k miles.

 

I get the joking but does this imply that the major issues I was referring to typically don't happen before 100k?

Maintenance would be factored in since that is a given with 100% of all vehicles. I'm just concerned with the major issues I see mentioned in this group.

I've not seen much on these engines generally dying by 150k miles, I will have to look into that. Thanks. Since they all have those leaks by 70k, then that means any vehicle at 100k miles will have those things fixed. So that is good..

 

Any car with over a 100k miles is going to need maintenance, I would as DFW says try my best to determine who owned it previously and where it was maintained, could be possibly an old man or ladies car, but more than likely a second owner, so be careful.

 

A 100K 4.8L twin turbo will require proper maintenance. More importantly to your point if it has extensive records that have documented everything done and passes a thorough PPI w/borescope you may consider a purchase. If there are no reliable records available it is simply a car with 100K miles and will give you trouble. I guarantee it.

 

Unless it is DIESEL.
I usually buy cars with higher mileage as with my skills I can always keep them operating for long years.
When diesel can make 300,000 miles without wearing mechanical part, quite few times I experienced that at about 10 years mark, some plastic and rubber stuff on cars will deteriorate, what could even make "cascade" effect, making me questioning the car keeping.
But with MB you have good base and once you fix those things, the car is good for another decade.
I become friends with buyer of my 1998 E diesel. The car still runs perfect, although CA sun is not gentle on paint while outdoor.
Some with buyer of 2007 model, who was bought by guy in my neighborhood. He had hit & run damage last year, yet still decided to repair it.
Good base will always be good base.

 

I've seen several mentions in this thread for getting records. Other than Carfax, is there a way to see what has been done at the Mercedes dealerships? Can I go to any Mercedes dealer with a VIN and have them look it up or do I have to contact the specific dealership that worked on the car? Even then, do the dealerships easily give out the history or is it a battle?

Sorry for all the basic questions, but I'm new to the MB world after being (and still) in the Lexus world. I do appreciate all the info.

 

US dealers will not give you Master Inquiry for legal reason.
Sometimes, members who bought used MB from dealer can blackmail the salesman for giving the copy, when they will blank the names, but you need a friend who can get it under the table otherwise.

 

Good to know. At least I now have some idea of what is ahead of me for records. Thanks.

 

Even if they don't give you a VMI, ask the SA or the manager to at least write down the dates and the service that has been done so you know what to expect.

 

When I sold my ‘14 E550 4M bi-turbo last fall I handed the buyer my own MB vehicle master inquiry in the form of receipts for everything done to the car. It was always serviced at the purchasing Mercedes dealer. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find a seller as **** as me.

 

Now that is what I'm hoping to find. There aren't many private sellers so I just need to be patient and wait for the right one.

 

Don't buy them at all. Let them depreciate so I can buy them all for cheap. They are horrible....yes horrible.....

My precious...

 

Take what was said with a grain of salt. If you ask the dealer for the VMI before you own it, you probably won't get it. But if you make an appointment with the dealer and you have the car handy, you should be able to get the VMI. You basically blackmail them by making an appointment and asking for the VMI. If they say no, you say other dealers will give it out and if you don't cancel my appointment and I'll go to a different dealer. Then you should get it. It only gives you a list of work done at the dealer network. You should also pull the carfax but that isn't always definitive either, still there are sites out there that will sell you a carfax for $4 so you can't expect too much. As for this whole mileage thing, I don't think it really means much, there's usually such a huge variation between when a problem crops up and when it gets fixed, an arbitrary number like 100k doesn't mean anything. Like the intake manifold on a M272 can go anywhere from 80-140k. So just because you're past 100k, doesn't mean that it won't go or has already been fixed, you'd have to look at the records. And it's always a gamble, you're not minimizing any risk by going by an arbitrary number. Every system like motor mounts, springs/struts, oil leaks, intake manifold, turbos, leaks have their own range mileage range where it might go and some might never happen during your ownership.

Not really needed, see the how to blackmail above. Or tell them to just blot out the previous owner's name. The SA is also paid in commission, if you go to the different dealer, no commission for them and they don't have to ask anyone to print it out, they just punch in the vin and it spits it out. I guess it might not work if there's only one dealer in the area, for me there's a half dozen at least.

 

Great post! Thank you for the VMI info and tips along with answering the questions in my original post.

 

Now that is what I like to hear!

 

I basically went to the dealer to get a PPI after I had bought the car so I went into the dealership to make an appointment in person. After I did that, I asked for the VMI. At that point when they push back, you have more leverage as they've already made the appointment and they're not going to want to cancel it and they've basically wasted their time by making the appointment for you in the first place. Both times I had no issues getting it. Nothing really magical or interesting in them that I didn't already know but it was nice to have. I can see it not working if you try it over the phone.

And yes, everyone thinks MB are a nightmare to own which is why they're pretty cheap to buy used although not as cheap as before the car shortage. Owned my W212 for almost 7 years now and nothing too crazy has gone wrong with it. More reliable than the W211 although it has more cosmetic issues and I've had my W211 for close to 9 years and nothing to crazy with that one either. Most expensive/annoying thing has been bent/cracked rims/flat tires. That's probably due to all the lousy roads around here. One reason I won't get an E550/E63, while real nice, can't drive anything fast around here, too much traffic/bad roads. Plus they're more expensive to repair, brakes and airmatic are a lot more.

 

I got mine 2010 E550 with 109,000 and have put on 10,000 miles in a year and a half. Honestly check the carfax if going with a dealer and put up the money to run a full scan before buying maybe at MB dealership just for piece of mine. Will cost 100-300 but worth it. IF you can do some of the minor work yourself, def worth the machine. I've changed the oil once, spark plugs and front right air suspension and compressor but like I said if you can do the work its not hard at all. I love my V8

 

Bought my E550 for $12,800 in 2020 with 108k miles

it hasn't been cheap but you could have so much worse cars, I'm at 148k and this is the list of things I had to do. I own my own shop, all these repairs would murder the average person.

• sway bar links, Lemforder
• washer reservoir, sensors, pumps
• 3 brake sets, Brembo everything, eventually using Brembo ceramic now
• front and rear airmatic strut/air spring, the front struts were leaking oil, air springs were preventative
• radiator, denso, preventatively with the water pump, OEM one was 100% FINE at 140k!
• water pump, dayco, OEM failed and blew out coolant at 140k
• thermostat, mahle, oem died at 120k
• alternator/starter, Bosch, i had slow starts almost right away at 110k
• transmission and engine mounts, MB genuine, impulse decision, didn't fix anything my mounts were fine
• 2 transmission services, first was pentosin which went bad in 20k, then switched ot Amsoil Signature FE ATF
• 3 air filter, cabin filter, 4 oil changes, all Mann filters and Amsoil 5w40 each time
• sway bar replacement, started squeaking real bad, MB genuine
• the lower control arms were fine on removal but i had already bought them so whatever, went with Sidem from EEuroparts
• INA front belt drive kit, Contitech belt, nothing wrong with the pulleys or tensioner at 110k, this was just so it could be a little quieter which it did solve
• NGK ruthenium plugs, NGK coil boots, stock plugs looked fine at 120k weirdly, didn't improve anything
  

I think retail on all these repairs would put you easily in the $7500 club for 40k miles of driving. I work on the 4.7L biturbos I haven't seen a whole lot that would alarm me. Most of these repairs were me overdiagnosing/bored and having access to cheap parts delivered to me same-day with too much spare time.

 

Thanks for the details on what you have gone through. I agree that this list could be worse, especially in the luxury car bracket. That is a lot of stuff and can add up quickly at a dealer but most are reasonable for a DIY person. Plus, many of those things are maintenance and wear and tear items that would need to be done on any vehicle, especially approaching 150k miles.

3 sets of brakes in 40k miles? Is that normal? Seems excessive but I'm no pro.

 

Oem metallic compounds have a TON of metal in the pads. They can last 40k but theyll be noisy for a while. The rotors take a beating but thats the tradeoff for brakes that can stop from 180mph.

Ceramic fixes this, you trade cold torque pedal modularity and initial bite for it

 

Thanks for all those details you have done .
It may look like a long tally of things but honestly, we had to replace some of those components way before than you did in our GM top end branded car . Well, I mean V8 reliability wise is on par with the V8 GM engines or not better

 

I have a 2011 E550 bought used at ~110k Miles a year ago.

So far i have had:
Thermostat replaced
Fixed an oil leak under the engine. Something to do with the oil cooler and gasket.
Brake Pads replaced all 4
Cabin and air filter replaced

Still to do:
Rear airmatic (Both sides) One side lowers within 5 days in the cold