I'm looking at 2021 and 2022 E450 Wagons. 2021 is the first year of the motor and refreshes may be less stable year on. On the other hand, '22's are right in the middle of pandemic builds.
Any reason to lean on way or the other? Thanks.

 

Um, perhaps if the 2022 doesn't have the missing chip shortage options, it might not be a bad idea, if you are still worried, the 2021 might still not be a bad idea because the M256 engine in the facelift E class first appeared in the form of C257 CLS 450 so it had some additional years for testing purposes. As well as CLS 53 but that also had a supercharger same as E 53. Of which E 53 appeared before facelift W213 replacing the E 43's V6.

 

If I recalled correctly, the C257 CLS 450 first appeared in 2018 as model year 2019. So there is that.

 

Turns out the first time ever appearing on a production Mercedes model was on the European exclusive W222 S 450, for model year 2017. The powertrain and whole package in the 2021 E 450 should perhaps be reliable as a result of the additional years of being available in the market for testing and feedback purposes. It also appeared on the W222 S 500.

 

Thank you for your response. I didn't know it had that much time in market.

 

You're welcome.
More than happy to help : )

 

I have a 2021 W213 all terrain, I have had 4 breakdowns due to a 12 volt battery problem. My dealer tells me it is a software but the car has to be towed.

 

Hmmm do recommend the update then.

 

I think i would buy a 2023 if I was going to buy a w213. I have not been able to find out if all MB cars that have a mild hybrid have a problem with the 12 V battery or just the W-2 13. Also, I have not been able to determine if the 2022 and 2023 models have the same problem. From what I’ve read the W214 does not handle as well as the 213. The acceleration is not the same and on top of everything else there are no buttons or many fewer buttons to control the car. I’m not as fond of controlling things from the center screen, but that’s just my personal preference.
I like my car and if I can figure out how to reload the software myself, I’m going to keep it for a few more years. I’ve owned a Mercedes since 1979 but I’m thinking about switching because of the service issues. I can’t suggest what you can do, but I can only share my experiences.

 

I see, the 48V mild hybrid used to be caused by a combination of bad battery grounds and software, the latter years had 48V battery issues and 12V battery issues due to over discharged when sitting on the lots.

 

I have heard so many explanations I do not know what to believe, The last time my car died, I had driven 90 minutes to a lunch and then after lunch drove back. I parked the car outside my house and the next morning the car gave me the 12v error. My service advisor tole me it was a software issue.

 

That stinks : (

 

My 2021 All-Terrain now with 24,000 miles has been trouble free.

 

I have a 2021 E350 4MATIC. That was the first year for MBUX instead of COMAND. The MBUX hardware (Capacitive buttons and pads) in my 2021 is substandard in many ways. Need 2-3 presses, swipe up and it goes over, swipe and get no response, swipe and get 2 responses, Using the buttons often just doesn't work unless your finger is in a perfect place on the button/pad. I've driven newer Mercedes loaners and they don't have this problem. Maybe they fixed the MBUX hardware in 2022. Test the buttons on the steering wheel and the console touch pad a lot and compare the 2021 and 2022.

If I knew then what I know now, I'd get an e class with a 6 cylinder engine and COMAND (2020 or older). Some of the 27x 4 cylinder engines have had problems - it's too early to tell if the 2021 4 cylinder engines will.

 

Where have you read that? There have been several owners post on this site who switched from the the W213 to the W214 who say the exact opposite. There may be outliers, but all I have heard is that the W214 handles and rides much better then the previous generations. There may be areas that some don't like better like lack of buttons, but as far as handling goes, it's more refined.

 

My 2022 e450 is the worst car I have ever owned and has had more issues than any car anyi of my friends or family has owned. None of the issues are related to the m256 motor. The car has 50k miles and hasspent 140 days in service for issues ranging from leaking front axle seal, multiple parking system failures, disappearing heads up display, rattles everywhere, failed rear shocks and a bad rear air bellow and many other failures.

Today the air suspension failed and I got a warning not to drive above 50mph. The pump seems to run continuously but the car isn’t able to raise or lower.

rather than worry about 2021 or 2022, just buy a BMW. They’re ranked much higher for reliability. My 6 bmws combined had way less issues than the E450. Of the 5 Mercedes dealers I have been to for service, 3 were awful, one was okay and one was excellent.

 

I've owned BMW and Mercedes over the years. There isn't much difference between them as far as reliability. Both brands have sample deficiencies (lemons). My last BMW suffered mostly from oil seal & gasket issues. Virtually anything that could leak did. Currently my '18 W213 is one of the most reliable cars I've ever owned. The only repair was to replace the driver's door hinges when the car was new. Other than that its been scheduled maintenance, 1 battery and 1 set of tires. Not bad for 8 years.

 

When my 2017 530i had a recall shortly after delivery requiring me to go to the dealer for about 5 minutes for them to inspect something, BMW sent me a water bottle, a hat and an apology letter. I did not complain or ask BMW for anything. They did this proactively.

When my 2022 e450 was in for service for 4 weeks and the dealer let the car sit on the lot for the first week before diagnosing it then made 2 failed attempts to repair it each time telling me it was fixed when it wasn’t, I called Mercedes US and they told me they couldn’t do anything. I know that dealers operate independently but at this point the car had already spent over 40 days in service after multiple fixes, so I was hoping Mercedes US would take ownership of the situation and get a regional manager to review the case or help me get another appointment at another dealer quickly to resolve the issues.

I’ve had multiple other issues dealing with Mercedes USA. Ultimately what it comes down to is they don’t care. The w213 has only been out of production 1.5 years and parts are not available. On my last service visit, they told me they needed to order a new part that was back ordered and they have no ETA on when they would get the part (could be a day a week a month a year. They don’t know). It’s been over a month now.

the issues with Mercedes go beyond what you are claiming. When my rear shocks were replaced by the dealer, they called me to apologize for the delay because the brand new replacement shocks they put on the car from Mercedes were defective and they had to wait for Mercedes to ship another set of shocks. When my fuel door kept popping open, the guy at Mercedes laughed and told me all the latches for the fuel door are failing on the newer cars.

Mercedes has some serious quality control issues with they suppliers

 

I've gotten perks from both BMW and Mercedes. IMO perks are initiated by the dealership. My last perk from Mercedes was a fine leather passport and credit card wallet embossed with a MB logo given for no reason that I could discern.

Parts availability is a worldwide issue. Last year I had to wait 10 days for replacement glass for a GMC truck. If i had experiences similar to yours, I would have started the Florida Lemon Law procedures. That gets a dealer's attention. To get responsive service, one must be assertive.

 

I think most Euro luxury cars have their share of lemons, it is how they deal with the customer with the lemons that sets them apart. Mercedes and BMW are among the best in customer service, Audi and Jaguar lack behind in CS a bit in my opinion. Of course this will be different from dealer to dealer.
As far as the 21 vs the 22, both are nice cars, performance is better than previous model years. Some early mild hybrid have electrical issues, look at maintenance history for that.

 

delete

 

Agreed.

I understand there can always be a bad car in the bunch. But Mercedes has been awful to deal with. I've had extremely poor experiences with most of the dealers I have been to except for 1 which was exceptional. Mercedes US has not been empathetic to my concerns nor have they been helpful. I have called them in a calm, relaxed friendly tone, and they have been dismissive of my concerns. During the two buyback requests, they provided me with contact information for the person handling the claim. Despite leaving multiple voicemails and emails, they never replied. Mercedes does not make the slightest effort to work with me here, and they haven't even been pleasant to deal with. BMW on the other hand has always been responsive when I had issues and they have been very helpful

 

Dealing with Mercedes must vary depending on the management people in a given region. My experience is that MB is easy to deal with. They've been proactive in providing product support even before it is requested. In the past both BMW and MB dealers have contacted me regarding issues that I posted about on forums like this one.

 

For me, I'd rather get the 2023MY instead of MY21 or MY22. Why? The last year of a MY is often much better built, more of the kinks have been resolved and the car is about to get a make over into a new "design", hence more standard equipment onboard. In Dec 2022 when looking for an E, I chose to buy the CPO 2020MY E450 at a time I could have purchased a 21 or 22. No can do. Personally, I am not sold on the refreshed W213 (21-23) styling and if push comes to shove, I'll much rather be driving the new W214... splurge! and why not. But if $$$ is an issue, like I said, look into a MY23 and see if you can stretch into that model year.

Good luck.

 

In any region that MB really needs to compete, they're wonderful

Southern California MB dealerships (except the san diego dealer) have been wonderful to me and my family