Just wanted to share some highlights that took place last weekend. It funny in a way.

We planned to go on a road trip for a 3 day weekend. NYC to Vermont and the Cape Cod. All this time we thought we would take my wifes Lexus RX. Its a more rational car, more economical, more reliable and more spacious for kids.
I've had the S550 for almost a year and really wanted to take it at least once take it on a multi day road trip. so at the last second I decided that my car we will take. Filled up the tank to a tune of $130 and off we went. I took a few tools with me. A hammer, 3 ton Jack, various sockets, FLOWER socket for the wheel lug nuts and the breaker bar for that socket, in case the tire blows up and I have to change it.

All was well, was getting 26 mpg, weather was perfect 75. Stopped in the middle of nowhere to use the restroom, gas station. Put some more gas and the car does not start. I start checking fuses, try to find the starter to bang on, nothing. I look for shops and by God there is one on the other side of the road. I neutral roll into his parking lot and we start seeing what the problem is. The short of it was, his son, is a MB master tech and he will come in an hour to look at it. 5 Hours later they fitted a new starter, $500 all in all. WE try to salvage the trip, kids wanted to be in a pool at this point. I was glad we didnt have to tow the car at which point the weekend would be ruined. Tow fees in 600-700 range plus Uber 200.
With renewed enthusiasm we hit the road and 3 hours later arrived at out hotel. Equinox Golf Resort & Spa by the way. Historical, beautiful. overpriced with horrible restaurant, but I wanted to check it out and kids wanted a pool.

Next morning it was gloomy and soon after the rain started. We had breakfast and went to Mount Equinox Skyline Drive. I was hoping for clear skies and great views but it was not to be. Dense fog with low visibility. At least the road on the mountain was brand new.
Once we were done with that, not wanting to go home, we decided to got to Cape cod, Martha's Vineyard. Long 4 hour drive trough back roads, my favorite type of driving. S550 was perfect and drove well, I had pelnty of fun on twisty roads, reminding how different todays S class is compared to w126 and w140 I owned.. Had amazing BBQ in Miller Falls MA and continued the drive. Last 1.5 hours of the drive the rain picked up again and was heavy. I was going 70 in the middle lane when I hit a pot hole and the front tire gave out. I was lucky to stop right under a bridge. At this point I was glad I got the right socket for the lug nuts and the breaker bar, so I got to it, hoping to heavens that every lug nut comes off. I put in a spare and resumed the drive. It was Saturday eve and a long weekend so everything was closed, I couldnt get a new tire. With a 250 mile drive back home I was worried driving back home on a spare wheel, with kids. Alone I would not give a damn.
I got lucky again. Nest day I found a tire shop who had the exact Michelin Pilot s3 tires in like new condition. 2 for $300. I begged him to re open on Sunday and help me out, which he did. So we went to Marthas, had a good day, hit the tire shop on way back home and continued our final 4 hour drive back home. Not only was the rim not bent, but the tire he sold me was like new and perfectly balanced. And I have one more in a trunk.

Overall, rather than be sour about it, kids were great and supportive, we looked at it as an adventure. 800 miles,. 25.5 MPG, $1000 in needless repairs. Fun all around.

Now the sad part. I cant trust this car. I cant take it far 300+ miles. Any of the air struts can go, air compressor, alternator and whole bunch of other parts. I always had used cars. Always took long trips. Never had a car let me down so much.
Now I get it, its old, thigs happen and if I am alone or with wife its ok, but with kids, I wont risk it.

Still love the car, love the looks, but not sure what car to get after this.

The end.

 

Could be worse. Nearing the end of my first road trip in my new to me (but used bought with less than 10K miles) 2003 Porsche 996 Turbo the front of the car ended up looking like this:




Hit a mule deer outside of Ely NV.

Still doesn't make your experience any less unpleasant. Probably stating the obvious but with road trips you gotta take the bad with the good. They can be good trip after trip until that one trip when it all goes bad, really bad, in a NY second.

 

Eh, things happen Sounds like you had fun despite all! How many miles and what year is your S550?

 

sudden starter failure is NORMAL on the S550 - mate just had this on his CL with the same engine - u see it pop up here quite often... he had a woman tech come round under the merc service warranty thing - and she had the starter off in 15 mins !!!! which sounds incredible

 

Ouch . That looks painful.

 

Car is a 08 s550 4 matic, sport. 107k at this point.
Starter installed was from Autozone, it was the only one available. Now I have to wonder how long that starter will last.

 

I took my 07 on a 3000 mile road trip to FL and back with the kids after only owning it for ~4 months. I did go through it pretty extensively but I brought a much lighter load of tools than I did with my E55 the year prior. Zero issues (posted in the reliability thread).

 

Thats wonderful and I bet thats the norm. My freak break downs could have happened at any time, I just found it unfortunate that it happened on one road trip when it was not needed.

Anyhow. It is what it is. All is well.

 

Thanks for the story. Hindsight being 20/20, I would spend the first year sorting the vehicle thoroughly. This means getting all scheduled maintenance up to date and preemptively replacing things that seemingly are OK but are near end of life. Electrical and rubber components come to mind.

Another way to describe the approach is “throw parts at it.” And money, time and effort.

A 14 year old S-Class in my view needs constant preemptive attention. I give my W166 nearly constant preemptive attention and it has served well so far.

 

I have the car for almost a year. I replaced engine mounts, trans mount all MB parts. I changed spark plugs and air filters myself.

I suppose the Alternator is next on the list, voltage is fine now. To make the car fully safe Id have to change, every air strut $5000, compressor ( which was changed according to MB records), water pump, radiator, and the list goes on. Air struts could have been changed before, but its not in MB database for my car. I mean, I can start throwing money on parts that may or may not fail for a long time. If I see a strut leaking overnight, that a clear indication of it failing, but to start changing struts just to make sure they dont fail is a bit silly. Car is a weekend car, not a daily driver.

 

I noticed you said you got 25.5 mpg. Is that backed up by hand calculation or just the computer? I've noticed my trip computer is around 1 mpg optimistic most of the time. If it is a real 25, how come my 07 doesn't get 25? Were you cruising at a slower speed like 65? My best tank on my road trip and all-time was 23.3 (trip computer reported 23.5 that time). I was probably going a lot faster than 65 though so maybe I answered my own question, unless you are getting 25 at 75-80 somehow....seems impossible with 4Matic.

 

I just drove from NYC to Essex Junction Vermont and back in one day. My S550 ran flawlessly. I was getting 27.3 MPG. I used a tank and half of gas. I always take a jumper box/air compressor combo with me. On this trip, I took a full-size spare with me. I was traveling lite and had just swapped my winter tires and wheels to my summer set, so I took one of the winter tires with me. Better safe than sorry.

In the past 8 months, my S class left me or my chock stranded twice.I blame COVID because I was unable to service the car the way I normally would. In August I lost an idler pulley and the belt tensioner. That left us stuck on the side of the Garden State Parkway in the middle of the night. Oddly enough 3 months later my chicks GL550 had the same exact failure but was close to home.

The second time was a stater issue. I had a feeling the starter was going. It seemed to crank a bit slow and took longer to start. there was a delay between pressing the button and the starter turning. When my Chicks GL550 was in for the air strut replacement in January she drove to work in my car. She works in Manhattan and got stuck one level underground. Total ****ing nightmare. it took 2 two trucks and $700 and we got it out and had the starter replaced.as well as the EIS which apparently the tow truck driver blew when he tried to jump the car and connected the jumper cables the wrong way. It was a total fiasco. Now it starts like a champ! I am going to preemptively replace the starter in the GL55o when it goes in for service next month. I can't have her getting stuck like that again. This past Tuesday she drove her GL to the Hamptons and commented how nice the car rides now with the new tires, struts and airbags

I am really not worried about taking these cars on trips.

 

Autozone gives lifetime replacement warranties on Starters and alternators. I wouldn't buy those parts anywhere else.

 

Sorry to hear about your dramas about your car . I see your point but you need a reliable car which should give you no 2nd thought. As for the design wise only W222 could beat the W221 but W221 still looks more aggressive and masculine thanks in part to pontoon fenders in the rear as well . However, I think a major overhaul or onceover some kind of preventative maintenance should nip those unwanted things in the bud

 

I wonder if they tweaked something in the later cars for fuel economy. Is that 27 from a 4Matic car? Seems impossible to me.

 

I bought my 2013 with 4Matic (58k miles at the time) in Virginia and drove it all the way back to Seattle right before lockdowns. Only problem was oil light came on after about 2,000 miles right around Ogden, UT and two quarts of oil fixed that. Had I read this story beforehand, I may have had it shipped. lol Since then, I've done three roadtrips from Seattle to Tahoe and back, and one roadtrip all the way down to Las Vegas via I-5 to I-80 to US95 and then returning back via US93 through Ely/Idaho Falls (just to try a different route - luckily didn't hit any deer). The Airmatic (have replaced one strut) is really the only thing that I worry about in the back of my mind. Not enough to cause me to avoid roadtrips with family, but if a failure ever severely impacts a trip/quality of life, I have considered just swapping out Airmatic with standard struts, but I would really miss the Airmatic comfort. Also, I have consistently achieved 25.3-25.5 miles per gallon on roadtrips, 12-14pmg or so around Seattle.

 

Sorry to hear the troubles you had with your car but thankfully it wasn’t much worse. I am planning on driving my 2007 Mercedes S550 with 175,000 miles on it from NJ to Fl this summer. Over the last few years or so of owning the car I have basically rebuilt the mechanically. All suspension parts replaced, transmission replaced, both batteries replaced, fuel pump, fuel filter, starter, brake module, amp(stolen by transporter) rotors,pads, wheels, tires, water pump, radiator, engine fan, blower motor, thermostat , spark plugs, coils. I am probably missing other stuff as well cosmetic stuff to the car. There is always a risk driving older car long distance but I feel that this car absolutely is the most comfortable car I’ve driven so far so I am willing to risk it. Plus the airfare to go to Florida is now over 2k for 4 people which is insane.

 

Sorry to hear of the car issues but at least everyone was safe and it turned out to still be a good time by all

 

Did a road trip in my 2011 S550 4matic with 125,000 miles from Toledo to Orlando and return . My Daughter and I drove strait through at 70 - 90 mph when we could and got 23.5 mpg for the whole trip with no problems. Check engine light came on after getting gas in Kentucky on the way back but went off after we got back and I put some good gas in it. Car was great for the trip - comfortable and quiet like no other car!!

 

You had quite the adventure! It’s frustrating when a car you love has reliability issues, especially on long trips with family. While the S550 is a great car, I can understand your hesitation to take it on future road trips with kids given the potential for more problems down the line. Maybe it's time to look for something a bit more reliable for those longer journeys—perhaps a newer luxury SUV or a more dependable sedan that still offers comfort and a smooth ride. I’m sure you’ll find something that suits your needs better for future trips!

 

WE have a newer wifes LExus RX350. WE took that to Nova scotia, North Carloina. As much as Id like to take my car, LExus always wins.

You never see any S class of any year outside the big cities. Good reason for it too.

 

My 222 car has never left me stranded.

Can't say the same for the 221.

 

Sooner or later any car past 80 k miles will need an alternator, starter, air suspension update, maybe a water pump, maybe a fuel pump. A battery for sure.
Those are all wear items like tires and brakes.
I keep my cars in tip too shape and fix things immediately if I think they are hurting. Trust me when I tell you that starter gave me no warning.

Except non of this applies to Lexus/ Toyota.

I once had a Lincoln that blew out a brake line 4 hours from home, no one around could fix it, social part Valve block.
I drove the car with hardly any brakes for 4 hours. Fixed the car and sold it few month later for $4000. Loved the car but that turned me off so much I hated it since then,
w221 starter failure turned me off a lot too, I ni longer take it on log trips. Too many things can break and not many people who know how to fix them or have parts.

With many new parts all around, I trust it a bit more now. But I still don’t trust it on trips more than 2-3 hours each way. I would have loved to take it on our last trip from NYC to Nova Scotia, but had to do the right thing and take the Lexus suv, I can assure you I wished I had my s550 all of the 2200 miles we covered.

One of the obvious issues with todays cars is the low profile tires. If you read my original post you will see that the next day I had a blow out from hitting a pot hole on a highway. Good luck getting 255-40-19 Michelin or any other brand in a middle of Massachusetts on a Saturday eve when everything is closing and Sunday ther is nothing open as well. Or some similar scenario tire related.
Looking at newer w222 and 223 cars with optional bigger wheels, it blows my mind how people drive around with such skinny tires, They must be 30 or 35 profile tires.
Lunacy. And it goes against the whole idea of a luxury car.

In the end, w221 sport was my bucket list car and will probably be my last MB since I can’t afford a new one and I refuse to ever own another money pit like this again especially with twin turbo direct injection headaches I specifically wanted a m273 car without the 2010 exterior update. I’ve had me a w140, w126 but something tells me I’ll regret selling this one the most. So who knows, I might just keep it as a hobby car. I still love it madly, looks and m273 power and sounds.


Things that could still take a dump.
Ac compressor
Air compressor
water pump
alternator
fuel pump
brace actuator
trans
front diff.

So far I am at about $9000 in repairs in 4 years. Car is worth maybe $9000. And this was a 2 owner car with tons of history of repairs from Mb dealer .

 

I feel your pain. Our W221s are very expensive to maintain. I still love mine but I am a little concerned about another 1100 mile trip to FL also this coming Winter. My Indy always goes over the car pretty well before I depart, and I have not yet been stranded. But a 20 year old car with 105K miles is bound to need a few things periodically. I plan to keep mine and I will continue to spend the money to keep it in good shape. Thank heavens I can afford it.

 

Any 100 k mike car should be able to do another 59k miles with ease. As along as it’s not German.