I’m coming up on four years of ownership and this car has been pretty consistent about asking 1-2000$ every summer .
This April was extra spicy. $5000 or so.
Rear struts MB
Trans oil change, filter, pan
Rear End fluid .
Front Lower control arm MB
Front forward control arm MB
All 4 Michelin Pilot sport 4
Front new rotors MB, pads, dust shields.
Alignment -MB dealer.

Before dumping more money into this car, I debated about moving onto w222 but I just couldn’t justify the expense. Bore score and new issues is last thing I wanted to think of.
I thought about getting into a Lexus Ls460 again, 2015-16, but it just didn’t excite me.

Looks like we’ll still be together for a few more years.

 

Good list. Repairs and maintenance are often separated. Maintenance is a non-factor in deciding to keep or sell a car. All cars requires oil, tires and brakes.

Repairs on the other hand are a different story. Control arm and strut replacement in an S-Class have different $ and time dimensions compared with a Lexus LS, Camry or RAV4.

My Cayenne is entering adolescence and some repairs are showing up. Maintenance on the other hand I think nothing about.

 

I agree. Most of the repairs where proactive making the car feel newer.
Brakes and tires are normal items.
trans and rear end is also normal.

I like this car still and doing some refreshing just feels good. Rear new struts were very noticeable. Old ones felt very rough after 123k miles and yes, they do wear out.

In the end, I could have gotten pennies for this car and then gotten into a newer w222, which I’m sure would need all of these repairs I already did and then some.

Keeping up with the Jonses was never my thing and my cars are mostly weekend/ pleasure cars.

 

For all that being done, $5k doesn't seem too bad.

 

I agree this is mostly just good maintenance. I think the W221 is a great platform. I also want a W222, but the prices are outrageous. I think if we wait out the tariff war, there will be some pile up in inventory of used cars. I am keeping my S600.

 

My 221 demanded all four front lower arms, front brake rotors & engine mounts annually. Every 20,000 miles. A/C compressor, alternator, radiator within a year.

The 222 got the pair of lateral arms in front suspension + F & R brake pads (first time!) at 90,000 miles. A water pump, all idlers and a belt tensioner at 120,000 or so. Upper control arms for noisy bushings at 130,000.
Clearly the 222 got real effort put into solving wear issues of the 221. 144,000 and the 222 is still blowing ice cold, alternator is great and no leaky radiator.
No bore scoring in the bent 12. Save your pennies for an S-65. Worth it.

OP good on you keeping her up. They all need regular attention.

 

W222s seem more reliable , as for the cylinder scoring as far as I'm concerned it's for the model year 2014 with the M278 engines . I'm not sure if all those were affected though . Funny thing is that M278s remain my favorite
W222s feel more luxurious when I sit in but I love W221s' masculine styling

 

Yep, I’m right there with you guys at 95k miles. Almost at the 2 year mark of ownership.
Took ownership in Sep 2023,

Replaced all of the fluids including the ABC Pentosin and filter.

Replaced all spark plugs, 2 coil packs (aka cassettes) and voltage/transformer (aka fused Boom Box) from https://www.v12icpack.com

New radiator, alternator, AGM battery.

New front lower control arms (not needed, chasing vibration at 65mph).

New motor/transmission mounts, drive line (fixed the vibration at 65), tires, front disks and pads, and the best balanced tires in the free world.

This car is now all sorted out for “today” and performs like brand new.

A fantastic motor car indeed.

JR

 

Johnny, if you don't mind me asking, how much was all that? You can DM me if you prefer to keep that private.

 

Good news is, I had the alignment redone at the dealer after installing new tires . All is perfect.

but the bad news is, I need an upper control arm on one side since it’s creaking. Also yesterday noticed a clunking noise from front right. The struts are 2 years old and their ball joints are already torn. It’s fine on small bumps but heavy bumps I hear a rattle. Sounds like a strut?
Why can’t the strut ball joints up front be changed? I can’t be changing them every 2 years. That’s 2300 with labor.
The party never ends. I’m half tempted to go get a new Honda accord and just enjoy driving with tiny monthly payments.

 

If you need new struts whatever you do don't buy Arnotts!! I made that mistake 2 years ago and have regretted it ever since. One strut was DOA, the valve body and compressor lasted a year. Of course Arnott replaced under warranty but I was still out all of the extra labor cost and inconvenience plus the ride quality is not the same.

 

thanks. I would never buy arnott. Learned my lesson on my Lincoln years ago.

Bikstein or oem rebuilt only.

 

+1
I bought all four Arnott struts for my 2013 S550. Installed front ones and the front left had a bad leak out the box. FCP replaced the one quickly, no problem there and it was fine.

A young lady caused an accident and my car was totaled before I got to install the rear struts. Nearly 6 months went by for me to find replacement car, the 2012 S550, and I decided to change the rear struts that I never got to install in the 2013 model car. I installed the right one and went to test drive. Makes awful clunking noise at every little imperfection the tire hits. Removed and inspected I did not miss any kind of rubber cushion or something and reinstalled, no difference.

Called FCP Euro and they would not warrant the strut as it had been so long since I purchased it. They claim lifetime warranty, but the guy tells me I could only get the core charge back for it. There goes the FCP lifetime warranty.

Be careful folks, their business cannot live with this warranty if everybody keeps their car. It is based on assumption people will not keep their cars long enough for the warranty to kick in other than for some exceptions. I called Arnott and they said I need to deal with FCP about it. No more Arnott and no more FCP for major parts. They both suck! I always thought the FCP Euro lifetime warranty promise on almost all parts they sell is too good to be true. I learned the hard way and that is all I need to know to stay away from them both.

Anyway, I went to buy Bilstein struts from RockAuto and they went in with no issues at all.

For a side note, if anybody wants the unused rear struts I will give them away for free. The right one was installed for about 3 miles test drive; the left one was never installed. I opened the box to see if the right one was missing some sort of cushion from top of the strut which it was not. Of course, I will not pay for shipment...

I'm about to set them by the road for garbage pick-up but if anybody wants them I'm ready to let them go.

 

I had the exact same problem. On my 98 Lincoln Mark VIII. Car came with new Arnots. After chasing and changing control arms it was determined that the clunking was coming from the struts.
New arnots were out in and the clunking moved to the left side.

I ended up finding a used set of fire air struts and they ride so much better, but had an air leak and would leak down over night.

sold the car soon after.

 

The ball joints on the strut can be replaced with ABC. I'm guessing there are similar products on Airmatic.

 

I see a few aftermarket ball joints for the struts online. Not sure how good the results are. If anyone has done it let me know.

id hate to go through all that trouble only to have new noises from that repair.

 

Airmatic struts do not have ball joints. In front there is ball joint but it is part of the load bearing control arm. In rear strut has a hole at bottom just like a regular shock absorber has.

The too mounts with three screws on both.

 

I thought I’d update you fine gentleman on some of the new issues I’m a dealing with now.

Previous round of repairs have only granted me 3 weeks or trouble free motoring.
Today I went in to figure out why the front right was clunking over bumps. Turns out the 2 year old strut has had enough. I don’t know what brand it is but I think the shop that installed it said it’s continental which I don’t believe. While in there, we found upper and forward control arm to be a bit tired and since the strut will be coming out why not change it.
Ordered MB control arms and Bilstein front strut for this repair. About $2000 all in all.
So I am about $7000 in upkeep and repairs this year/ season/ last month. And summer is yet to arrive.
I a feel a bit detested thinking about all this, but I’m in a fight to keep things in tip top shape. I could have don’t non of those things and the car would clunk along just fine.

I am coming up on 4 years and 23k miles of ownership and if my math is correct, I’m in a $13000 range worth of repairs in the past 4 years.

Ford the record, this will be my last air suspension car. I always had air suspension cars and there is just zero benefit to them but a whole lot of added expense. My last Lexus Ls460 had regular springs and rode much better than this w221 in every regard.

They are zero cars on the used market with 4 doors, v8 NA and no air suspension. Last one was a Lexus 2016 LS460 which I wanted to get but kept putting it off. Still might go that route after this car. In retrospect, I should have shelled out 30k and enjoyed a reliable smooth classy cruiser. Would have costed the same and that Lexus would still be worth 20 k now.
No one ever accused me of making good financial decisions when it comes to toys I say.

 

These cars have very unique suspension. All control arms have rubber bushings. As time goes by the rubber gets old and just needs to be replaced.

if you would do the “right” thing you would replace every control arm rubber bushing either by replacing the arms or replacing the bushings. Some bushings can be replaced like I know in the rear I replaced one on each side.

Also the Airmatic struts go bad in about 10 years so they need to be replaced for the reason rubber gets old and creates leaks.

If all of the above is done these cars will be as new for the suspension part of it but the common problem is that nobody is willing to do the “right” thing changing all these parts. People tend to run it until it fails before fixing it.

 

As you can see, I take repairs seriously and buy quality parts.
When I got the car all was great. I did a lot of research before getting this one. Even had a Mb records pulled with 6-8 pages of repairs and maintenance at the dealer by its first owner.
now I expected the air struts to go at some point so that’s fine.
Changing every control arm on the car just to be safe is just nuts. I changed them as they came.

Without going into every little detail, I’m just saying this car is the most needy car I ever owned.
Every car I owned before cost maybe a fraction, $2-3000 for 3 years of ownership. Lexus - Lincoln.

My moral dilemma is , should I keep the car at this point or let it go. I feel bad selling it for pennies and someone getting a fully sorted car with so many new parts. Or. Just keep it as a project of love, which it is. The latter I suppose.
knowing it would go for $7-8000. Some kid will get it and destroy it in months. Years later I’ll check the vin for it and see it in a junk yard.

 

If you have the space and enjoy the car, keep it. If it makes you feel any better, I've spent way way more than that on mine in four years. For me, it's a hobby, not a car. Hobbies are expensive, sometimes. I've mostly enjoyed learning how to work on it, and taken pleasure in becoming moderately competent. I am occasionally deflated by how insanely expensive and needy MB vehicles can be. It is the only car I've ever owned that needed so much....like 5x more than all my other vehicles over 40 years put together. My daughter and son in law have two Fords--they are perfect, and have been for years. They just work with no drama, have great user interface, and one is a 2018 plug in with that added complexity. I changed the cabin air filter in the Escape a couple days back--you just gently pull off a lever, push in two tabs on the glove box, and literally the entire thing falls out and you can easily install the $10 air filter. Why does MB (still) put them in a place I have to stand on my head, cut my fingers, and use force to jam in two filters, and charge me $80 for the filters? Why do they make everything so hard? I was looking at an old Lexus SC in a parking lot recently, and wondered if that were my hobby car. It could have been, but never would have broken and just been a car vs. a hobby, I guess.

 

I am keeping mine. I don't care what the blue book value is. I think W221 is a great platform and I love it.

I understand your issues. The car is expensive to maintain.

 

Wow ..just WOW for the cost to replace the failing suspension parts and have the new parts be bad out of box and or fail quickly.. That would be a no-brainer for me on getting one of these other wise fine motorcars...

 

People who don't "know" MB much, or are not auto enthusiasts in any general sense do not believe my 221 is a 13 year old car when they see it. It still looks brand new. I'm seeing less and less of them on the roads these days, and when I finish installing the catless exhaust and Weistec-tuned ECU, this car that already easily keeps up with Gen7 Corvettes will leave those, Hellcats, etc. in the dust.

The proceeding gens got too tech-heavy. The 221 is the perfect mix for me. I like buttons.

 

Well all work has been done and I am happy for a short while till next thing goes.
at this point I feel like a mad man putting out fires with gasoline!

I did change the rotors and pads and shields myself, which gave me some satisfaction and lots of muscle pain the next day.
I feel like Akenobo pads don’t bite as hard as EBC ones I had on before. But then if you see the old rotors, 30 % of rotors was not even used. Maybe they will get better with more miles on them.