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Considering my dream car was hoping for some quick advice
I've owned a couple Nissans over the years as a DIY guy when it comes to fluids, filters, and spark plugs/coil packs. Easily crushed 150,000 miles on both vehicles with absolutely no issues or need to take into a shop ever except for tires and brakes. Im considering a 2021 GLE 63 s with 30,000 miles, MB certified, so I believe if I read correctly it holds the 50,000 mile 4 year original warranty and then as soon as that expires I get one more year with no mile cap as per the certified program. As someone who is relatively capable and confident, am I even going to be able to attempt spark plugs on this thing? I like to hold onto cars and have fun with them for 8 or so years before I move onto something different. I like to travel a lot and I'm imagining I could easily take her to 150,000 miles (mostly highway) by the time I'm ready for something different. Is that a mistake in and of itself for an AMG car as in expecting this to be as long term reliable as my Nissans? Is it theoretically possible that if I take good care of it and not abuse it (too much) I could get to 150,000 miles with nothing major needing to be replaced, like my Nissans, or is that a pipe dream for a performance orientated car like this? Are there things that I'm not used to on my Nissans that I'm 100% going to have to deal with as this car ages to that point? Thanks in advance!!
Good Luck but AMG's are not as bulletproof as a Nissan. Especially a more complicated, high heat twin turbo, high horsepower, big torque, 48 Volt GLE63s with air suspension etc etc.. These are estimates but expect rear pads about every 10k, front pads about every 15k, maybe rotors every 20k miles. Driving 150k miles the airmatic shocks may need to be repaired 4 or 5 times.
Also, summer high performance tires get 10k miles if you lucky.
Ive been reading about the woes of Mercedes air suspensions for the last 15 years. Would have thought they would have figured out a way to make them more reliable by now.
Ive been reading about the woes of Mercedes air suspensions for the last 15 years. Would have thought they would have figured out a way to make them more reliable by now.
Air suspension relies on what are basically inflatable rubber balloons. The rubber will dry and crack with age, cant avoid that.
@ObliviousFool you'd have to be doing some extreme driving to wear out brakes as often as mentioned.
A way to verify on that particular car, with 30k miles, would be to look at its service history or Carfax.
That'll give some insight into how much or often those things were needed, and also what kind of action it saw.
@ObliviousFool you'd have to be doing some extreme driving to wear out brakes as often as mentioned.
A way to verify on that particular car, with 30k miles, would be to look at its service history or Carfax.
That'll give some insight into how much or often those things were needed, and also what kind of action it saw.
Carfax and service history may not help if brakes were being worn out due to heavy reliance on the automated driving assistance features. If I remember correctly, the lane keep assist in particular relies on the brakes to keep you in your lane. Lots of highway commuting with all the automation and nannies turned on could eat through the brakes pretty quickly.
Carfax and service history may not help if brakes were being worn out due to heavy reliance on the automated driving assistance features. If I remember correctly, the lane keep assist in particular relies on the brakes to keep you in your lane. Lots of highway commuting with all the automation and nannies turned on could eat through the brakes pretty quickly.
Yes, the Nannies can be an issue, and cross wind stability is another.
BTW there are two levels of Lane Keeping - the active one is pretty aggressive and there's no question about when it engages! You'd have to be a pretty awful driver if the car had to intervene a lot.
OTOH, maybe they didn't even need replacement for the CPO at 30,000 miles.
I'm curious.
Rate at which I will need to service brakes not too much of a concern but that projected rate at which the airmatic will need service over the course of 100,000 miles is definitely making me scratch my head. What are they like roughly $3500 each plus labor?
Last edited by ObliviousFool; Feb 5, 2023 at 07:11 PM.
Ive been reading about the woes of Mercedes air suspensions for the last 15 years. Would have thought they would have figured out a way to make them more reliable by now.
My W166 GLE63s just got air suspension "Malfunction" warning light at 19k miles.
Here's a W212 E63s air suspension malfunction at 22k miles:
@ObliviousFool you'd have to be doing some extreme driving to wear out brakes as often as mentioned.
A way to verify on that particular car, with 30k miles, would be to look at its service history or Carfax.
That'll give some insight into how much or often those things were needed, and also what kind of action it saw.
I got "Check Brake Pad Wear" warning light from rear around 10k miles and just got warning at 19k miles.
I do my own brakes like many others so CarFax can't document that.
Rate at which I will need to service brakes not too much of a concern but that projected rate at which the airmatic will need service over the course of 100,000 miles is definitely making me scratch my head. What are they like roughly $3500 each plus labor?
You could do a search, but it seems most reports are somewhere in the 90,000-mile range.
This is not a car you want to own without a factory or Mercedes CPO warranty. Comparing it to your Nissan is like comparing the cost of upkeep between a fighter jet and a Cessna 172. Airmatic will be the least of your worries. The newer AMG's go through brakes quickly due to the fact that new pads start off with a small 10mm or so friction thickness whereas the non-AMG brakes are closer to 15mm.
Last edited by E55Greasemonkey; Feb 5, 2023 at 09:49 PM.
So I was doing some research and it seems like people generally replace the airmatic components in pairs, front or rear depending. True? I would guess that it varies depending on the model of vehicle and driving/load conditions. Kev was originally saying over the course of 150,000 I should expect to replace them 4-5 times. Does that mean 4-5 replacements of front or rear set or literally all 4 are going to need to be replaced 4-5 times? Unless I'm misreading it looks like just the part is around $3500. Having to replace all 4 lets say 4 times to get to vehicle to 150,000 miles is $56,000 in just parts. I see so many incredible reviews on this car but not a single person mentioning that as a long-term expense which seems insane to me.
I believe 90,000 miles is where people begin to see those problems.
Do a search and don't believe one poster who has no evidence.
There are four folks who take every opportunity to insert preposterous posts. Spend some time on the Forum and you'll easily see who they are. Look for more evidence before you believe such things.
Also check other online sources. No recalls, no consumer complaints. Who to believe?
Edit- Also you might consider that the reason nobody complains about the expense, is because nobody has it.🙂
Haha right on thanks for clarifying. I had already noticed the lack of consumer complaints and recalls on the 2020 and 2021 AMG model years but chalked it up to the car being on the rarer side and had not really looked as closely at reports for the 350 and 450 GLE's. I guess having already known about airmatic issues over the years was a little too ready and quick to believe those insane estimates. Thanks again.
4-5 full replacements sounds like an exaggeration. I've seen people complain about early failures but that tends to be due to a defective unit rather than a normal life expectancy.
However, the other reason you dont see people complain about these expenses is because people rarely keep these cars for that long. Most people lease and move on at the end or buy and trade in before warranty expires.
I believe 90,000 miles is where people begin to see those problems.
Do a search and don't believe one poster who has no evidence.
There are four folks who take every opportunity to insert preposterous posts. Spend some time on the Forum and you'll easily see who they are. Look for more evidence before you believe such things.
Also check other online sources. No recalls, no consumer complaints. Who to believe?
Edit- Also you might consider that the reason nobody complains about the expense, is because nobody has it.🙂
Looks like you missed it before running your mouth. 2 examples of early failures posted above. Where's your evidence or example? Got none! So Shut-Up!
If I got malfunction at 19k miles and that posted E63s at 22k miles then it's possible I would repair my airmatic 8 times after 150k miles.
Originally Posted by E55 KEV
My W166 GLE63s just got air suspension "Malfunction" warning light at 19k miles.
Here's a W212 E63s air suspension malfunction at 22k miles:
Haha right on thanks for clarifying. I had already noticed the lack of consumer complaints and recalls on the 2020 and 2021 AMG model years but chalked it up to the car being on the rarer side and had not really looked as closely at reports for the 350 and 450 GLE's. I guess having already known about airmatic issues over the years was a little too ready and quick to believe those insane estimates. Thanks again.
Since you are researching did you see where Mercedes-Benz is rated very last by Consumer Reports of all car brands for 2022? The reports states the W167 GLE is the worst offender at reliability bringing MB to last place.
4-5 full replacements sounds like an exaggeration.
Did you see this post above. First off, I never said "full replacements". Do the math, if malfunction at 19k and 22k miles how many times might that happen in 150k miles? It's an estimate based on 2 clear examples - no need to exaggerate.
Originally Posted by E55 KEV
My W166 GLE63s just got air suspension "Malfunction" warning light at 19k miles.
Here's a W212 E63s air suspension malfunction at 22k miles:
Did you see this post above. Do the math, if malfunction at 19k and 22k miles how many times might that happen in 150k miles? It's an estimate based on 2 clear examples - no need to exaggerate.
2 clear examples out of approx 50,000 GLEs sold per year in the US alone. 0.004% of getting a GLE with defective airmatic, based on your example.
EDIT: you're also citing an E-Class from the previous generation (2010-2016)....
Last edited by PandaSPUR; Feb 6, 2023 at 08:07 PM.
2 clear examples out of approx 50,000 GLEs sold per year in the US alone. 0.004% of getting a GLE with defective airmatic, based on your example.
EDIT: you're also citing an E-Class from the previous generation (2010-2016)....
So who in hell will have all that damn data on a public forum. I posted 2 recent examples - how many did you post? Your comments don't help whatsoever but just to attack. It don't matter if W212 E-Class it still shows airmatic can fail early. There's more examples but I'm not gonna post them all to satisfy you and others that just want to argue! Boy O Boy!
So who in hell will have all that damn data on a public forum. I posted 2 recent examples - how many did you post? Your comments don't help whatsoever but just to attack. It don't matter if W212 E-Class it still shows airmatic can fail early. There's more examples but I'm not gonna post them all to satisfy you and others that just want to argue! Boy O Boy!
I never said they can't fail early. I said failing at mileage like 20k would be considered a defective airmatic.
It is not the NORMAL life expectancy of airmatic suspension.
Furthermore, I am saying defects can happen but they are RARE, as you have already provided examples to prove.
I never said they can't fail early. I said failing at mileage like 20k would be considered a defective airmatic.
It is not the NORMAL life expectancy of airmatic suspension.
Furthermore, I am saying defects can happen but they are RARE, as you have already provided examples to prove.
Some things fail with age not just miles. My GLE63 is 7 years old. That E63s is 8 years old. So failure at 19k/20k miles on a 8 year old car may not be considered defective - it could malfunction due to age from factors like environment or weather. They all fail. Airmatic not gonna last 150k miles.
The OP even acknowledged airmatic problems in his second post but you tell us those failures are defective:
Originally Posted by ObliviousFool
Ive been reading about the woes of Mercedes air suspensions for the last 15 years. Would have thought they would have figured out a way to make them more reliable by now.
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