Question on 2014-2016 S-Class Purchase
 

Hello,

New to the forums. Currently own an 11' BMW 535. Starting to get a bunch of oil leaks. Bought as a CPO and has being mostly reliable. Had Lexus prior to that I parted ways due to oil leaks. Looking to get either newer 5 series, Audi A7, or my preference a 2014-2016 S- Class.....or possibly an Lexus LS500 or GS350 or GLC-Coupe. I know I'm all over.

Just some questions
- How risky is it to buy a non-CPO model in terms of reliability?
- Any must haves on this car to look for?
- Do these come with run-flats being standard like the BMW's? This actually has been a huge headache for me with the BMW as far as tire replacements.
- What are the main problem areas?


How costly are the wear and tear items to service/replace? It was a huge jump from Lexus to BMW and I expect another jump going to an S-Class.

Read above.

Most cars are heavily optioned so the selection is huge. VERIFY maintenance records. Walk from problems. Check out Credit Union waranty products.

Good luck.

I have had 2 S550s, a 2012 and now a 2015. Purchased them both used and found them to be very reliable and easy to work on cars. I had the ELW on my 12 and it kind of paid for itself but I have no warranty on my 15 and I have not needed it. FInd one with low miles and maint records. I have not had any problems with my RFT tires, got a slow leak in one once and they fixed it pretty easily. I paid around 59K for my MY2015 2 years ago when it was almost 3 years old with 17K miles on it. Original MSRP was 120K so they depreciate a ton in the first 2-3 years. Depending on where you live you will want 4matic all wheel drive, other than that, find the one you like a buy it. And finally, the S550 is on an entirely different level from the other cars you are looking at. I did the same thing 2 years ago and ended up right back in another S class.

The Burmeister 3d system is the best audio system I ever had. The auto drive features are great too. Aside from that everything else is icing on the cake.

the oil leak issue is an eventuality with the F10 BMW. My wife has a F10, and I preemptively change the oil housing filter gaskets every 60-80k miles (with the oil change and coolant drainage which that procedure requires). I also change the valve cover at the same time as the valve cover gasket also leaks eventually at 100kmiles, and this replaces the PCV valve by default. The spark plugs get changed here too as the labor to get to the plugs has been done with valve cover exposure. These gasket changes are worth 4 hours of labor and 100 dollars in parts and fluids but would run 2000 bucks at the dealership. I also replace the water pump every 60k miles as the electric water pump fails without warning and can strand you in the freeway.

I consider these issues to be a design flaw of the BMW as the heat from the exhaust pipe causes early degradation of the passenger side valve cover gasket. The extremely high operating temperature of the N55 turbo engine at 245 degrees F causes early degradation of gasket rubber. The oil housing filter leaks are eventualities. In contrast the M278 engine operates at 190 to 200F. Early oil leaks are rare with the W222 S class.

Wear items are more expensive on this heavy car. Tires wear quickly depending on the type of tire you choose. Wiper blades are 170 bucks without installation with no spray but are the highest quality non streaking blades I’ve ever seen. Suspension will eventually need work. Air suspension will be far less costly to repair than active body control Magic Body Control. Suspension arms are relatively inexpensive.

i hate making comments like this but I do believe the engineering and design philosophy at BMW needs to change.

I have also found that if you can read a manual or watch a youtube video you can do most of the general maintenance on these cars. I just did my front brakes for around 500 in parts for new Rotors, Pads, HW kit, sensor and fluid. Cost a bit more though because I went with the low dust ceramic pads. Brake dust is now pretty much a thing of the past. I am also finding that with the Michelin RFT tires, they wear very slowly. Fronts still look brand new after 16K miles and I cannot rotate tires because of my staggered wheels. I am somewhat biased but these are fantastic cars.

Yep, need to replace the oil filter gaskets as we speak. Was also told the oil pan or oil pan gasket was leaking. I think there is another leak from or near the engine to the left and below the oil cap. I've already replaced the water pump which went out right after the CPO warranty expired of course. Also, time for brakes/rotors and then RFT's again.. smh. I originally intended to keep it because I love the design and ride but.. sometimes it's time to move on.

Although, it is probably self explanatory. Why is it on a different level?

I looked at Audi, BMW and Lexus and none of them are as quiet or solid feeling as the Merc. Especially the Lexus, it felt like a dressed up camry. I like the look of the BMW's but have heard too many horror stories around maint. They are not as sporty but that is not why you buy an S class. They are like a vault inside.

so the MB CPO only provides an extra yr of coverage??? wow. so the only benefit to buying one is that you know it was serviced properly prior i guess?

MILTOWNHPT................I just bought a '15 S550 Coupe, 25k miles, and traded in a '14 CL550, 50K miles. I just remembered what I dislike about both cars.....the doors won't hold a positon if your parked on a grade/sloped driveway. That makes it difficult to egress the car without holding the door open with your foot. Sucks.

I don't care much for the 'self driving' features like lane keeping etc. I just turn 'em off when driving on road trips. If you come up on a big slow eighteen wheeler passing a marinally slower eighteen wheeler and the overtake is 'forever and ever', I like to put the left wheel on the yellow line so the passing eighteen wheeler knows there's someone behind him that wants to go faster than 55 mph on a posted 75 mph hwy. Grrr.

The runflats are good on this car even though I got a very large bubble on the left front on a drive from Gila Bend, Az to Ft Worth. Hit a chug hole a mile or so from the house. The runflats on the BMW 335D were noisy imho and I had them changed out for normal tires after I had put some miles on the car. Much quieter then..

The runflats on this S550 are great as far as tire noise. The CL550 with 20" non runflat tires would give me right around 68-70 db noise at 75-80 mph. This S550 gives me b/t 63-65 db at 76-80 mph. A much quieter car/tire noise. If came with Goodyear Eagle f1 Assymmetric 2 tires. The replacement tire was close to 404 bucks unmounted.

I don't care too much for the perfume device. I turn that off also.

The 2011 and 2014 CL550s 'wallowed' if put in Comfort and driven hard.. I left it in Sport all the time. The S550 coupe is much better in Comfort. It seems they 'fixed' the suspension with the S550 imho.

Paid 63K for this '15 S550. Won't buy a car without awd/ 4Matic. I use it on the Padre Island beaches that you can drive on for over fifty miles from the Corpus Christi area to surf fish.

I'm thinking the CL looked a bit better than the S550. A cleaner looking car. Oh well, too late now.

If you buy a 2105 and up with factory warranty left you can buy an addle 3 year factory warranty for about $3600. It does not have to be a CPO car and actually the money you save will buy the 3 vs 1 year warranty of the CPO. CPO cars are not what they used to be. If you buy CPO buy from a private owned dealer to me they have more incentive to make you happy vs a a dealer that owns 25 dealers where you get lost in the system.

I had a 750i m and I will tell you the MB feels like a rock vs the BMW. BMW quality has dropped so much Im not sure what they are doing. Their 7 interior looks amazing in pics but when your in the car it looks like a Lexus and thats not a good thing. The worst part is the technology overload. It is just way too much when you just want to do one simple thing. They gave me a 4 grand coupe as a loaner once and all I thought to myself was why in the world would anyone buy this thing besides to say look i have a BMW. It was so cheap looking inside with hard plastic everywhere.

Definitely get the highest MSRP car you can find. Night vision and distronic , 3D stereo and Napa upgraded leather package gives you other upgrades. I’m at 38 k on 2014 and seatbelt in left rear was only problem since new according to service records , my car is a CPO so a warranty will really let you get use to it and trust it more. And a addional 2 years can be had for 3500. Good luck with your Hunt

Does MB have a VIN decoder like BMW that tells all of the options through the VIN? Is there a Burmeister and a Burmeister 3D system or just one?

There are 2 Different Bermiester systems ,the base unit one has 540 watts and like 12 speakers and the 3 d has somewhere like 23 speakers and 1640 watts , and the sub woofer in the trunk makes the whole car rattle and shake . If you like to crank your music, the stereo is great Not sure on options on car,

Get the VIN and contact Mercedes chat (https://mercedes-benz.custhelp.com/app/chat/chat_launch). They won't give you the MSRP print out but they'll tell you every option the car has which is basically the same thing.

https://www.datamb.com/ seems to be free. I found it by searching for "mercedes vin [my S550's vin]" :-)

It does list the packages with codes and names that are not the same as the Mercedes US product materials. e.g., the Burrmeister 3D system appears to be: 811 HIGH END SOUND SYSTEM

Right, this website does not use the same plain language that Mercedes uses. If you familiarized yourself with the codes this could be a great resource. If not, Mercedes can help you understand whats happening with the car in question. 811 code attached:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...506446e877.jpg

What is everyone getting MPG wise?

About 21 mpg mixed, but I immediately turn off the annoying engine start-stop. On long highway cruising I get 27mpg on trips from Ventura to Orange County. My wife’s 535i gets around 24 to 25 mixed driving but it is mostly highway miles.

Regarding the semi passing the semi. 99% of trucks in the US are set to not go over a certain speed. Mega carriers like Swift, Knight, CR England, et al, set their trucks to around 65-66 mph. Drivers are limited to the number of hours they can drive in a day, and most of the drivers are paid by the number of miles they drive. Yes, the truck in the left lane is going marginally faster than the truck he's passing, but he's trying his best to get around the slower truck and is going as fast as his truck allows. Believe me, the driver knows you're behind him, so no need to give him any additional pressure by riding the left line.

24.3.............Gallons into miles traveled, not the digital readout. That's from Ft Worth to Gila Bend, AZ. All interstate driving of 75-85 mph. Virtually the same as a '14 CL. That's hwy only. I've no interest in around town mpg or mixed driving.

That's on a S coupe. Yep, posting on the wrong forum.

It is common for an inexperienced mechanic to misdiagnose a OFHG leak as an oil pan leak. The most likely scenario is that the OFHG and the oil cooler gasket (which should be changed together) be replaced.

I've owned several recent BMW's, and I will not return to buying BMWs until the engines are radically redesigned. My wife's F10 is going to get driven into the ground until it is no longer reliable but the extra 3000 dollars worth of service costs every 60k miles (or 500 dollars in parts and 8 hours of labor) should NOT have to occur. Mercedes is much easier to maintain. I think it is a crime that BMW does not list gasket replacement and pump replacement in its recommended maintenance booklet as it is essentially a requirement.

The S class is the ultimate luxury highway cruiser. My wife loves riding in the back seat with the executive/chauffeur package. She routinely falls asleep.

In my 2015 S-600
I got 20.2 MPG over 21K miles
I get 25-27 MPG on interstates at 75 MPH
Note: This is the 6L V12.

Here is the link to the decoder: https://www.datamb.com/