Sid688

Hello,
I am thinking of buying a CPO Mercedes E300 2018 Model. It has factory warranty left for 6 more months and then I get the 1 year CPO. Miles are currently 36500..It has upgraded leather, Massage, Air Suspension etc with all these added features the MSRP was 69k. The dealer is offering the vehicle for 39k..Condition is excellent inside. Was a lease vehicle so regularly serviced and all. Is the price good or I should be negotiating on this one. Any feedback is appreciated.

chassis

In the spirit of due diligence, read about piston cracking on the M274 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine in the C300, E300 and GLC300.

JTK44

Also consider the air suspension once the car is out of warranty. That seems to be a problem area.

FWIW, I have a 2019 E450 with 25,000 miles on it. MSRP was $71,000. One year newer, 10,000 miles less and not the 4 cylinder engine. Cars like mine are going from the dealer for between $51,000 and $54,000.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Sid688

is this a common issue..I am surprised I have not read about it earlier..If the problem is so big has mercedes not done anything about it or any class action lawsuits.

chassis

Hard to say how common it is. “Big” is relative. Piston cracking is fatal and requires engine replacement which MB does not cover outside of the warranty period. No class action has been reported yet on this site.

Sid688

I see they are still producing the E350 with a 4 Cyl Engine. So do all the E Series going up to 2021 are having issues or a particular model year. I am guessing buying an extended CPO warranty on these vehicles might be worth it. Even if I add an additional 2 year warranty for say 3k my total would be 42 with about 3.5 years full warranty in total which looks like might be a good deal to me.

The G Man

The cracked piston issue was mainly in the 4 cylinder engines build in 2015 or earlier. This E class has more computers than ever, its always a good idea to have a Warranty.

Sid688

Thank you for clarifying that.

chassis

There have been reports of cracked pistons as late as 2017, possibly 2018 model year on this site. Read the W205 C-Class and X253 GLC class sections of the site. There has been no definitive "clean period" identified for piston cracking.

Related and interesting, EPC shows a long list of piston part number changes for M274 and, even more interesting for M264, the genetically related engine descended from the M274.

The G Man

Even though both the E300 and the C300 use same engines, they are tuned differently, most of the engine issues have been in the C class, only a few isolated reports of the same issue in the E300. As manufacturers try to maximize gas mileage and weight, pistons get thinner and thinner. Some drivers with piston issues might be using lower octane gas or they might be pushing the car too hard before it is warmed up. Mercedes is not the only manufacturer with this issue, other performance brand has similar issues.

W205C43PFL

I would recommend looking at the 2017-2018 E 400 or 2019-2020 E 450 (so pre-facelift) if your budget allows as it has the M276, which is known for its reliability. If you plan to keep the vehicle for a long time, like others said, skip the air suspension.

W205C43PFL

The W213 E 350 has the M264 starting for MY19 in North America that replaced the M274 in the E 300 for example then were subsequently included in the facelift. The W213 E 350 in anywhere other than North America also has a 48V mild-hybrid system included with the M264 that is because those other countries has the E 300 without the 48V mild-hybrid system. While some of the E 250 (with a different four cylinder engine) in those countries does have, so there is a car for every preference.

MB is not done with four cylinders because of tightening regulations so you will only see more four cylinders from MBs until they phase it out till everything is pure electric. The new R232 SL 43 has a four cylinder for example, although that has a M139 hand-built engine instead of the anticipated 6. Although MB does have three-cylinder engines before, they won't be replacing four cylinders with three and three with two and two with one. Instead, they will go straight to electric from four. After all, MB's ICE development has ceased so they can focus on electric.

We are not sure if the M264 is susceptible to the potential fatal flaws of the M274 yet but so far there are none so that is good but despite that, Mercedes still came out with a M254 on the new C-Class W206 with the 48V mild-hybrid system, they didn't have to when the M264 is perfectly compatible with the 48V mild-hybrid system so that begs the question, why? After all, the M264 is used in both the C-Class facelift and 2019 beyond W213 E-Class so no it isn't because they want to distinguish classes.

teksurv

The issue you may be thinking of is the wrist pin issue plaguing 2015 era 205 C-class cars. That does appear to have been resolved in later years. The piston cracking issue does not appear to be large enough to warrant a recall, but there have been enough reports of the issue on this site alone for all vehicles using this engine to worry me.

The G Man

The wrist pin that tie the piston to the rod was another issue Mercedes had in early model C class. Some M274 and M270 are known for cracked pistons, particularly the early model C class. There was some isolated cases of piston issues in the E class but its very few and part in between, I found 2 cases of E300 cracked piston in MBWorld.

E55Greasemonkey

That's a lot of money for what is essentially a long wheelbase C-class with a different interior. The E-class isn't what it used to be. I'd also say to avoid buying one with air suspension as that's just going to be an unnecessary problem down the road. Also stay away from 4matic unless you live in a climate that requires it.

Sid688

If it is already added in the car(1900$ upgrade) can I just not use it and still be ok. It is a button which enables it so if I leave it off then I should be ok?

The G Man

Air suspension has rubber airbags instead of a springs, you cannot shut off the air suspension, its alway operating and pump up to the proper level when the car is on. All things rubber has a finite life, the rubber air bags will eventually leak and you will have a saggy suspension and the air compressor will keep running until it burns out. From experience, my old Mercedes CLS550 had air suspension, it was great when everything was working but as soon as the warranty expires, the system started leaking. When I try to trade it in, I got less money than I would because dealers were turned off by the air suspension option and they claim buyers are not buying older cars with air suspension knowing the cost and frequency of replacement.

chassis

M274 known issues:

- wrist pin
- cracking pistons
- oil in harness (same as M276, M278 and M157)

Maybe also a timing chain/tensioner issue, but I don't recall the details. The M274, like many MB engines, has a chequered history.

mobster600

39k is pretty good considering the spec of this vehicle. The prior owner drove the car regularly which is a plus. Id say buy it. This is an excellent car. The engine has plenty of power. Regarding a catastrophic engine failure such as a piston cracking. I'd say the odds of that happening are pretty low. Do you really want to avoid owning an amazing automobile for the fear of a piston or wrist pin issue? Thats your call. You gotta enjoy your life and hopefully something like that doesnt happend. The air suspension can have issues as that is a system which has many components.

Does anyone know of any service costs regarding air suspension? Has anyone replaced any parts with their air suspension? I know on the older MB's it was actually fluid that moved around. I have no idea on the modern MB's if its just an air compressor or fluid?

W205C43PFL

Alex from "legitstreetcars" did a video of the ABC on his CL 65 AMG if you are curious about the cost and how it is all done. He is also a former MB technician.

W205C43PFL

On the flip side, video on getting rid of the ABC:

The G Man

On the plus side, if you like a comfortable ride, the air suspension could be more comfortable than the coil suspension. I am a small sample but after my experience with air suspension, I would never buy another CPO with air suspension again. Looking thru all these posts, seems like the 2019 or later E300 has less issues with the engine. The 2019 also has a nicer steering wheel.

Lanzz

Both my E class have the air suspension - yes, there is a high risk of expensive repairs down the road, but the ride and handling is worth that risk to me.

JTK44

From your post you own the cars new: That means you have 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first, of riskless/carefree driving: In anything happens to the air suspension for 4 years of driving, it will be fixed free of charge.

Here the warranty expires in 6 months: I think this is entirely different from your situation. In six months Sid688 is on his own!

The G Man

Its $39k because of the air suspension, I agree about the engine and the car. This car is a big step forward from the last gen, the 6 would have been nice but the 4 exceeded my expectations regarding performance and fuel efficiency. There are some isolated issues with early production engines but the 2019 + seem to be fine.
Air suspension, i was quoted, if I remembered right, around $1500 per corner in 2015, should be more than that today. That is not including diagnosis to find the leak or which airbag is leaking.