Hi,

I'm new to the forum and also new to owning my first Mercedes. I have a 2006 E55 which is all the way stock and about 60k on it. Everything seems fine from take off, lots of power and usually kicks down hard when I step on it.. However, there are 3 things that have concerned me, one of which has been asnwered at the dealership.

#1 When it's cold, the idle seems a little rough and I can hear a belt noise, once it warms up the noise is gone and the idle seems to be ok. The dealer told me it was common, we will see.

#2 I hear some type of noise when I go over speed bumps or in the middle of a turn at slow speeds, sounds almost like the air bags or possible (and what I fear) the motor mounts. I was told that b/c of the air bags it can make some noises but again, im new to the mercedes game.

#3 So like I said, it's ***** out with this car everywhere I go, grabbing rubber on every corner and laying the smack down on anything on the road, EXCEPT, when the car feels restricted for no reason. The first time I noticed it was when I was on the freeway and I had it floored and when I backed off to about 120mph or so and tried to gun it again it wouldnt down shift and climbed the RPMS real slow and stayed about 120mph.. So I got off the freeway and let it idle for minute wondering if I broke something.. Got back on and floored it again, this time I must been up to 140 with no issues and it kept pulling hard.. However, since I have had it (less than a month) it does this sporadically, it will be fine the first time I slam the gas then if I back off and try to go past 120mph it feels restricted and gets loud but doesnt seem to go any faster. But if the car chills for a bit or if its the first time im laying the hammer down, no problems and it gets nasty like it should. I tried that sneaky reset and who knows with that, all my temp, check engine stuff is cool, no codes, fluids good etc etc... So hopefully someone can help me because it did this to me while I was racing a SRT8 or whatever those things are and I cant be lookin bad out here..

 

Hey man welcome to the forum, great thing for you is you own a car that is generally the most populated forum on this board. Definitely give it a visit and use the search button often!

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg-81/

Either way I'll try to help with some of your concerns the best I can...

#1 Yes a little belt noise when cold is definitely common and usually always goes away when fully warm. Things commonly replaced will be the SC idler pulley and the tensioner pulley. There are DIY's to replace the bearings of the pulleys and will save you a boat load of time and money

#2 You should fear replacing the airmatic suspension way way more than just motor mounts... The components of that system are incredibly expensive and a weak point of these cars unfortunately... Hopefully nothings wrong, I wouldn't think anything of it unless you have a ridiculously rough idle (motor mounts) or if your car is sitting lower than normal (leak in airmatic strut)

#3 You have a failing or already failed intercooler pump. Without a doubt the most common problem with 55k cars. Search it you'll find a ton of info.

Do you have a warranty? It will most likely cover any of the

Like I said the W211 AMG forum is an information gold mine.

Hope any of that helps!

 

Dude, that was a BIG help, yes I did hear about the rough idle most likely being the motor mounts in which case I do feel a little bit of a rough idle but I havent got a chance to check to see if im leaking any fluid at the mounts, but I will! b/c i swear i hear a bag-ish noise but then again im over paranoid on that b/c I know the car is pretty much totalled if I have to replace the bags LOL!

Ok so damn... is that really why the car does that? Which would make sense b/c its usually after its been running hard or hot.. It would makes sense that the motor would put it in some type of "protect mode" in that case. So Is the pump expensive to replace and how can I be 100% sure this is the problem???

thanks again, you are very helpful. I was a little scared I made a bad purchase with noises and the weird power loss problem.. and no, I dont have a warranty but thats what im saving up for before buying anything else, I already had planne don getting that first I just was happy to get the car.

 

Well if you want to know for sure it's your IC pump just get on the highway and do a couple of 60-120 pulls (I'm not telling you to speed and if it's between you and I that's feet per second ) back to back to back I bet by the 3rd pull it quits and it feels like an E320 lol. Basically if your IAT's (Intake Air Temps) reach a certain heat (I think it's 120 degrees) the ECU will shut off the Kompressor so it doesn't damage the engine. So you basically just run on 8 cylinders until the IAT's go down and then the kompressor will engage again.

I just pulled my invoice for it and the updated Bosch pump, couplers, thermostat and all was around $475 in parts. Labor was $700. So it's a pretty pricey fix.

And just for reference I have just the updated OEM pump with a pulley, headers and tune and they kompressor hasn't once shut of yet. So it's a pretty decent updated design.

Also do you have all the records for your car? It's worth going through and seeing the last time the spark plugs were replaced as that can cause a misfire and rough idle issue right there. This is another very costly fix but only needs to be done every 50k miles or 5 years.

Check over the maintenance prior to your ownership and the schedule that such items need to be maintained at, stay up or ahead of it and you'll be fine.

Don't feel like you made a bad choice buying this car, it's a ****load of fun. And it's one of the, if not the fastest sedan that just so happens to be true luxury. You just have to realize that it was at one point a $90k car new and it needs to be treated and maintained as such. And with that comes the territory of expensive parts and labor to fix expensive dumbazz problems. Best part is there are so many 55k owners on this board that are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable with these cars and motors that you can usually find everything you're looking for support on. So definitely look into a warranty and enjoy the beast in good heath.

Hope that helps