I have a 2012 E550 with the M278 engine with 107K miles and am needing a few repairs. I have a small oil and coolant leak. The coolant leak is coming from the water heater and the oil leak is from the cam covers. I am new to the area, but have found a European repair place I sort of trust, but wanted to get everyone's opinion. They want to replace magnet seal, the 4 turbo coolant lines, water pump, engine oil separator cover, oil filter and cooler gaskets and various other seals and gaskets - all with OE parts. They also found oil in the camshaft position sensors and are replacing all 4.

I now live in a condo with no garage and can no longer do much of my own maintenance. They want $3600 for these repairs. Opinions?

 

I did all of those on my 550 and on the 63 (pretty much the same engine). They are doable...to me, in a garage. In both instances it was more than one day work (like, 2hrs a day over 2 days). Some of it is just frustration at things. The drivers side turbo coolant lines are next to impossible and I chose to just replace the hoses and leave the metal tube part that is connected directly to the turbo (I was not alone in this replacement of just the plastic bits). Be ready to replace EVERY plastic cooling fitting. If you look at them funny they break at the milage you are at.

 

If I still had my garage this is something I would attempt. I tried to get the mechanic to install the billet alum coolant lines, but he was not interested. He is using OE lines. The lines are currently not leaking and the car has 107K miles, so I guess I can consider myself lucky.

 

I would find a new mechanic. I am not sure about the billet Aluminum - I do know that I am far happier with silicone lines over OE. I took brand new OE and cut out the black pastic.

 

Here are the billet alum lines.
https://www.sheer.design/store/p/bil...r1yjLAhx3TV0hg

 

i saw those a few weeks back. Granted, I do not need them now - but, when I saw them I mentioned the concern for the potential for the metals to react to each other - and be hard enough to do damage if some ape handed mechanic was to not play surgeon when installing them. I guess really I am not sure what problem they solve....

 

These repairs sound reasonable besides the engine front leak is from upper timing cover RTV, not the solenoid O-rings.
You can get a "free seal job" if you consider doing the VVT gear + tensioner at the same time meaning wait for rattling to show up then deal with this.

Your old plastic coolant lines are most urgent!!

100kMi maintenance... :

• Sparkplugs + boots
• Tranny ATF
• Rear Diff
• CPS + pigtails
• 3x Mounts (Eng/Tran)
• Upstream Lambdas
• (air filters engine+cabin)
• ...

> BLOW-BY LEAKS DELIVER...
Engine oil leaks are caused by crankcase blow-by, not old seals alone.

As soon as you replace new seals, then other old ones start venting... that's until mayo-mixing begins: oil cooler + timing cover + radiator.

The PCV system maintenance is a good insurance at 100kMi: cover + discharge line to vent out blow-by.

You may want to reduce high blow-by with clean sealed pistons. Change your favorite oil before it burns up too thin.

Bottom line is don't bargain the cost basis negociate the work coverage you need.

 

Since you can't get anything close to that car for 3600 dollars, seems to make sense to repair it, Especially if you just drive it locally where you have Indy's you trust and have time to make repairs and maintenance updates mostly on your own schedule

 

I have a few concerns about the car. I have put about $10K into the car over the past 18 months. Some of that was my fault from running after market 19" wheels. I have since went back to OE 18" wheels and have had no further wheel/suspension issues. I am also looking at a couple of known issues that will come up over the next 12 months. My front seats are looking pretty sad. I have been repairing these for 5 years, but there is a limit of what I can do. Original covers from Mercedes are no longer available. I can have 2 new aftermarket (but matching) seat covers installed for $2000. I will also need to replace the rear brakes in the next year. And those are things I know about.

 

Rear brakes and seat covers are easy DIY jobs. Save yourself $$$ for when you might have something requiring an expert’s touch.

 

As I said, i now live in a condo with no garage. There are virtually no DIY jobs any longer. Plus, I live alone and it's my only car.

 

I understand, I was facing similar issues with my '13, spent around 5k at least the last three years for service and maintenance, was anticipating the same amount over the next two years, Mine was still gorgeous, interior had no flaws and looked new, exterior had some minor scratches you couldn't see from five feet away, all maintenance items were current and no codes, car looked and ran like new, but it was time to stop the bleeding, I still have my '12 with 31k miles so it will become the main driver from now on.