Tiburonsteve

I would appreciate some advice (which I often get on this forum). I have a 2017 E300 with 49,000 miles. It has all the available bells and whistles, has been well maintained, and runs very well. I'm debating whether to keep it or trade it for a 2024 E, EQE, or possibly a different brand. My E drives very well and gets 25 mpg city and 36 highway, with pretty good pep and acceleration. Normally, I would keep it but I'm concerned about the piston failure problem and can't find information on how common this is...what % of this model has the problem.
I'm estimating that my 2017 E is worth $18,000-22,000 so a new E would cost around $50,000 more and an EQE more than that. My debate is whether to keep the E, possibly indefinitely, and risk the piston problem or to spend $50,000 or more on a new car. I've found members of this board to be good with objective advice and thank you in advance.

ua549

First, I would not recommend an EQE or any hybrid electric MB vehicle. They have many maintenance issues waiting in the wings such as excessive tire wear due to added (battery) weight, battery replacement after warranty expires plus all of the I4 engine risks.. What remains is a choice between the E models. The piston failure problem has much more visibility than the fractional percentage of actual failures. The '17 E300 is going to have some expensive maintenance needed in the near future - plugs, fluids, tires?, etc. If that is a concern, go for a '24 E450 with an I6 engine.

teksurv

I'll offer my opinion as someone who went from a 2018 E400 to an EQE. The new E is a compelling car, but then there's the added cost, same with EQE. Couple of things on the EQE, the battery warranty is 10 years/155k miles. However as noted above, tire wear is horrid. I'm at 6k miles and looking at new tires in the next 1k miles or so. I lease, so for me, EQ works very well. If you want to keep the car for ~5 years or so, I'd go for the 214. The EQ models are too new to purchase for my comfort level. <-- I do love charging in my garage and not going to a gas station though!

The G Man

The M274 engine piston issue was mostly in 2017 and earlier C300 and a few isolated cases in the 2017 and 2018 E300, now we are worry about 4 cylinders in the 2014 E class and EQS too? Mercedes must have made over a million os these M274 engines, more than 1% will equate to over 10,000 case of piston failure due to factory defect. The real world number is probably a few hundred cases.

cetialpha5

I don't think everyone posts when they have a problem. Plus some of those problems happen when it's under warranty so it's all covered. There are some MB techs posting that they do those repairs all the time at the shop. Kinda hard to translate into hard numbers but there are almost 400 dealer in the US. A dozen a week, a dozen a month? Over several years that still adds up to a lot. And those are only the ones done at the dealership, some people go elsewhere outside of warranty for cheaper prices.

juanmor40

I am not sure car manufacturers work with a 1% defect failure rate. Supposedly MB practices SixSigma methodology, and the expectation is 3.2 defects per million parts. That is, 5 failures are 2 too many.

when working at these manufacturing scales no error is permitted. For example, Boeing had 2 too many already, and we know what happened.

Say 100 engines failed, then they are way too many engines if the failure is not due to expected wear.

MBNUT1

I thought that the piston issue was not clearly corrected until the introduction of the 2019 engine. Is that wrong? As far as the 2024 inline 6 that is not exactly a risk free alternative with the 48V system. it the OP wants to burn down their risk the best bet might be a M276 powered W213.

joshg1001

Piston issue aside, my advice would be to get rid of the 17 E class before the value plummets further. I currently am holding on to a 17 model, fully loaded, with 89K miles. Carmax values it at $13,000 which is basically salvage. Seems a shame to get rid of it, but the maintenance costs and the constant suspicion of additional failure makes me think we should rid ourselves of the car and move on.

chassis

Run as fast and far as possible from any MB four banger: M274/264/254. None of them are good engines.

ua549

Over the years I've owned several MB 4 cyl powered cars. Not one of them every had an engine repair let alone a failure. IMO all MB engines are reliable.

juanmor40

Very happy you have had a great experience with your MB vehicles, but let us say we go to the following thread and try to convince those forum members that they are in a parallel reality

https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...ml#post8653703

MB is supposed to be a SixSigma practitioner, which is 3 defects per million parts --> Nearly perfect.

The G Man

That is the most exaggerated statement I have heard so far, just proof how rumors spread online without validation. If dealers is replacing 12 engines a week, there would be a recall and wide spread panic. Instead, for now, there are only a hand full of people spreading inflated numbers.

The G Man

I had a brand new Audi that had a cracked block after Few thousand miles that was reaplced under warranty. Does that make all Audi V6 engines are unreliable and all Audi V6 engines will develop premature crack block and engine failure.

juanmor40

I only comment on the specific failures, the expected failures, and where those failures are reported. I am not forcing any conclusions on anyone, which you seem to imply, and also try to enforce on some of us.

The failures are real, not virtual. Some people are paying for them. If those failures impact the view of the product overall it is NOT my problem. Everyone has the freedom to make their OWN decisions. Do not blame the data.

As I have said before, I will continue buying MB vehicles that fit my needs and requirements.

The G Man

No need to get upset my friend, its only a debate. Sorry if you feel like I am forcing you to a conclusion but my Audi issue was real world data, not virtual and it is isolated just like the 2019 and up Mercedes 4 cylinder engine piston issues. So now piston failures are an expected failure on all Mercedes 4 cylinder engine? That would mean the majority of Mercedes 4 cylinder engine will eventually have this failure.

juanmor40

Nothing to worry about, I do not get upset that easy, I respect everyone's point of view. Take care and keep enjoying your MB,

The G Man

Thank you for your understanding. To be perfectly honestly, if reliability was my top priority, I would buy a Japanese car. Euro cars are always less reliable in general, especially turbo engines.

wildta

@teksurv They have a promo right now until March 22, buy 3 get 4th for $1. Check all the dealers nearby for best price.
https://www.mbusatirecenter.com/

ua549

I've had the opposite experience you have had with some Japanese cars. It is very wrong to say that "Euro cars are always less reliable in general, especially turbo engines." All 5 Toyota vehicles that I owned (60's and 70's) Crown, Mark II, Corona, Celica and Corolla had serious defects that I sold sooner than expected due to maintenance issues. OTOH I had excellent experience with Mazda cars that replaced the Toyota vehicles. I've owned many Euro vehicles and my overall experience with them is excellent except those produced by General Motors - Opel Rekord and Vauxhall Victor.

Overall Mercedes is the most reliable brand of vehicles that I've owned since my first new 300SL in 1959. I'd speculate that the most reliable MB that I owned for ~11 years was a '77 300D on which I put several hundred thousand miles with only routine maintenance - oil, filters, tires, brakes and 2 batteries.. The odometer went to a million miles! Most cars today only go to a hundred thousand miles.

Povitica3

Well.... let me raise my hand and say I am still happily driving a 2013 R172 SLK350 with 122,xxx trouble-free miles which brings a smile to my face every-time ... as the below pic shows. It is still a beauty after 12+ years since it first rolled off the factory circa June 2012. Not a scratch anywhere on the body... engine purrs like its brand new... and it gets all the love from me. Does it even look like a car with over 100K miles??? No sir... That car and I are a match made forever...

The G Man

In general, euro cars are less reliable than Japanese, except Porsche. In general, turbo engines is more problematic than NA engine due to added complexity and operating parameters. We are lucky in which our experience has been different, most of my Euro cars have pretty reliable, except for one new German car which was bought back by the factory. Mercedes in general rated above average in the first 3 years.

ua549

Interesting, I've had detrimental happenstance with every Porsche I've owned - 911, 912, 930. That being said, I only buy German branded cars that are actually produced in Europe.