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Any S550e owners still active? 550e reliability talk
S550e owner here and looking to see if there are others that are still active.
My car just hit 19k miles and I've been loving it. The plug-in battery has already been replaced once at 12,000 miles. Spent 30 days at the dealer. Covered under warranty. Other than that, no problems and I have really been enjoying my car.
I've seen some 2015s with 60k+ miles for sale recently. Even saw one with 70k. What problems have you come across over your ownership experience? List miles at which this happened as well.
Hey there ... I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd respond as I just got my 'new-to-me' S550e.
I had found what appeared to be a clean '16 with 113k miles and excellent maintenance records (from MB and on carfax). After a PPI, found that it had leaks in radiator & heater hose thru the firewall, oil leaks from the camshaft adjuster magnets, worn out control arm bushings, collapsed transmission mount and cracks in the driveshaft flex plate at the differential. I ended up using that to negotiate the price to a ridiculously low number and decided to tackle all the work myself. I have since taken care of the oil replacement, spark plugs, radiator & heater hose replacement, trans mount, as well as the diff flex disk.
I also found out that, thanks for the car being original sold in CA, there's warranty coverage in all of the US from MB on all the CARB emissions components for 15yrs/150k miles (10yr on battery). I found that out when I got an intake air leak, and the local MB dealer here in TX ended up fixing it under warranty from MB (They had to be convinced to call MB and confirm the warranty).
Overall, I'm super happy with the car. It drives amazingly well, so I'm holding off on the control arms, and I'm getting 12~14 miles of range out of the battery, so about 50~60% of my miles are on EV mode.
I'm interested to see how do you like yours now? How many miles have you put on it, and have you had to do any major services?
I've now owned my 2017 S550e for almost 1 year and have driven from 65k miles to about 72k miles now. While I live in Atlanta, the car resided in California (1 owner, no accidents) until I purchased it. The battery was replaced (by the original owner/MB) at around 15k miles. The upper motor leak/camshaft/etc. issue was done by MB around 45k miles. These items didn't spook me really since the car came with a 12 month, 12k mile factory powertrain warranty when I purchased it.
For the 11+ months or so that I have been driving it here are some observations:
Cabin filters, engine air filters, brake fluid had to be replaced when I purchased it - they were nasty.
Since the above were nasty, I immediately changed the oil.
EV range is 12-15 miles as most report.
MPG on a 30 mile trip is about 50mpg.
MPG on a 50 mile trip is maybe 40mpg.
MPG on a 400 mile trip is 32mpg.
MPG on a 600 mile trip is 29mpg - I believe this car could sustain 29-30mpg @ 75mph indefinitely with cruise control on.
I spend 95% of my time in Hybrid mode and 5% of my time in Sport/Performance mode.
If you really push her hard in Sport/Perf mode, you can easily keep the vehicle in the10-15mpg range! (hehe)
Total MPG since purchasing the car = 31.3mpg @ 6000 miles (as reported by the trip computer)
Reliability = 100% so far
Fun fact - I just barely qualified for the $4k used EV tax credit, so I drove her off the lot for $21K+taxes and fees (Sticker price was $27,900 I believe)
ADDED: OMG I almost forgot - my drivers side seat has the squeaky/scratchy plastic problem and I can't seem to fix it! I wouldn't count it as reliability, and I knew it was a problem when I bought it - I just thought I would fix it real quick (NOPE!) Time for me to start researching a fix for that issue again It is pretty annoying at times.
Last edited by Preston-ATL; Jun 29, 2025 at 11:26 AM.
Reason: added notes, pricing, photo
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It is pretty annoying at times.
