Hardthur

Hello everyone, after having spent almost a year with a C250 CDI 2013 I'm seriously considering to move forward and directly get a W222 or a W213.
My W204 was quite weirdly configured :
The owner chose to skip the parking sensors and the leather interior and decided to get the heated seats and ILS headlamps instead.
I must admit that not having parking sensors was quite a mess considering that this car was (almost) my first ! Quite odd that this wasn't standard.

What I need for a car :
I'm a 20yo french guy, I love driving, I love spending time in my car and I really like Mercedes. I first started with a Renault Clio 3 (a city car) and only kept it for two months because I needed a better comfort, better sound system and better everything.
So I switched to a W204 with 110k miles and I added 13k miles to it in 10 months.
Now I want a better car. Not for any particular reason, except for at least parking sensors, but I simply want, again, a better car at everything.
I love the luxury a S-Class is providing, the great Burmester sound system, the dimensions of the car make it look like a boat etc.

But I was also wondering about a W213, indeed these E-Classes are newer with the 9G tronic transmission, with newer engines etc. They'd surely be more reliable.
I have read a lot of threads on this forum, watched a lot of youtube videos about these two cars and I cannot help but still wonder which one I should get.
The average market price in France for a w222 is around 33k € (36k $) and a W213 is around 29k€ (31k $)

As of now, I can buy a 2014 S350d SWB for 20k€ + my c-class from a professional seller.
The w222 however does not have a 360 camera and has around 125k miles. While I can get a warranty, do you think it's worth it to buy such a high mileage car ?
The professionnal seller will however do all the necessary usual work on the car before handing it to me and I can have an extended warranty (1 or 2 years).

So to sum up, here are my questions :
- Is the difference between a w222 and w213 that big ?
- Is the 360 camera necessary for the S-Class or can you quickly be accustomed to the dimensions ?
- Regarding maintaining costs, is it THAT higher than a W213 ?
- Is magic body control really worth it ? (I believe the S-Class I can buy doesn't have it)

Thanks in advance for your help, I really wish to make a definitive choice.

Nico9182349

Your questions are a bit too generic for me to really answer. But I can tell you that the step in terms of upkeep and complexity from a C to a S-Class is significant. And yes it is definitely a big car. But no one really needs a 360 camera in my opinion. It is helpful but good old PDC is good enough.

Especially the W204 was a pretty reliable robust car with reasonable upkeep as far as I know. In your budget, I'd recommend to always have at least 5000 Euro set aside for repairs etc. Can you work on the car yourself? If not, maybe you want to keep more on the side.

Hardthur

Thanks for your answer
Unfortunately I don't have much knowledge in automotive repair. So yeah I would have to keep a significant amount of money in case something breaks in this car...
Could you tell me what's your current experience & thoughts about your s560 ? Did you have to do any unusal work on it ?

Nico9182349

Mine had a lot of issue but it is under warranty Buying a S-Class without a good warranty if you are not a car mechanic yourself is a big gamble. I would not do it.

Hardthur

Thanks for these infos. Wow your S-Class has been a nightmare at first haha
The silver lining would be that mine, having a high mileage, would have all of these potential problems taken care of right ?

Does your w222 work perfectly now ?

cfmistry

There is a big difference between a W222 and W213. In the drive, the interior, the size, etc.

Most of us here are in the US so we do not have experience with the SWB version (we only get the LWB W222).

The size is large, the 360-camera is absolutely needed. It is probably my favorite feature of the car because without it parking in my garage would be a big hassle.

Maintenance costs are high but will not be significantly higher than a W213.

The cars you are looking at are high mileage. Whether a warranty is necessary is up to you, but the following questions should help guide you: Can you do any maintenance on the car yourself? Do you already have a good MB mechanic you trust? Is a $2500 repair a big bill for you? How important is reliability to you?

Hardthur

Thanks for your answer. I cannot do any maintenance on the car myself as I unfortunately don't have any knowledge about it.
Could you tell me if you mean replacing the oil etc ? Is it actually not that hard to do ?

I do not currently know a MB mechanic. I know there are some specialists that are very well rated on google close to me so I might try there if I have any issue.
2500 is a lot of money and I would not indeed like to spend them on my car a few months after having bought it.
Reliability is not that important, I just don't want to waste 5-7k per year on a car.

Nico9182349

It's been pretty good but it took a while to get there

Hardthur

Thanks for your answer
My reply needed to be approved by a moderator I have no idea why.
So i'll do another quick one.

I cannot do any maintenance on the car (beside the windshield fluid and coolant probably), is it easy to change oil for this car ? I believe there should be some tutorials somewhere
I do not know any MB mechanics but I do know that some of really well-rated MB specialists are near me so i'll give them a try when i'll need em
2500$ is quite a lot of money. I guess if I spent around 3k per year on the car to repair the unusual parts it wouldn't bother me that much. If the bill were higher, I might not really like that.
Thanks also for your feedback regarding the 360 camera.

MBNUT1

While the car is pretty reliable you need deep pockets should something break and there is a lot of stuff to break. These are not cars that you pay the used price entry fee and you are done. My read on the situation is that you would be better off moving up to a W213.

Sean._.S

3k per year on repairs is, imo, enough for the w222. These cars are pretty solid when it comes to reliability. (A few exceptions as Nico has experienced). I'd maybe go for a nicely optioned S350d. The reliability of the M278 (in the S500/S550) is still unknown past 100k. I've seen some say it's good and others say it isn't. We had a 12' C63 and when comparing the two, it's a huge leap in luxury. Build quality wise, I found the W204 to be built very well. Imo, the facelift W204 has better build quality than the W213. The W213 looks very similar to the W222 in the interior but it feels (weirdly) much cheaper & less expensive. I've had my w222 for 3 years now (28,000 miles to 58,000 miles) and it has been decent to maintain. (Maybe 1,500 USD a year). But... that's with fairly low mileage. If you could find a 2013-2017 S class (before the facelift) with lower mileage and more options, I would definitely do it over the 2018+ (facelift) version. Oil changes are very simple and easy on these cars. Hope this helps.

Hardthur

Hi thanks so much for your help !
Indeed I was really pleased by its build quality, I found it quite premium for the price I paid it (13k$).

As of now I keep an eye on well-optioned w213 that are around 28k$-34k$ and especially on well-optionned w222, they're around 32k$-40k$.
Which options are actually essential on these two cars ?
Would you happen to have/find an option sheet listing all of the possible options of the w213 and w222 ?

Have a good day

BenzV12

W222 is a different class , you should be able to see the difference when you drive or sit in one of those . I have not driven any W213 but should be more refined than my W212
I could park my dad's Cadillac Fleetwood which has 5.71 meters or 225 inches long even without parking sensors let alone a 360 camera . However, once you are used to a 360 camera , even a rear parking camera won't satisfy you .At least it's for me .
A diesel 6 cylinders W213 should be higher than a gasoline 6 cylinder W222 maintenance wise
Magic Body is awesome but ABC is equally great too .

Nico9182349

This one would make a good new thread on its own actually. We've had FIVE cars in the family with that engine and we never had issues but they were all under warranty with full MB service record etc. and the highest mileage/last one we just sold at 122.000km (2013 ML 500). We did that mostly cause warranty was running out in June. However like you say the amount of used cars on the market that have had their engine replaced is quite frightening. There is a great Youtube Channel, unfortunately only in German, called Motoren Zimmer which specialises in MB especially V8 and V12 and they say the engine became reliable for high mileage past 2015 I think.

MBNUT1

See this post for potential required repairs.

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...gs-2500-a.html

Sean._.S

I found a post I made about the W222 options about a year ago...

I would stay away from the Extended Nappa Leather as cfmistry mentioned (distinguishable via quilted leather). Despite being beautiful, the leather dashes are very prone to start peeling. As for the Distronic+, I would not want a car without it. Even though it's not as advanced as other systems, in day to day life, it makes driving less worrisome. On roads that aren't marked by lines, if there is a vehicle in front of you, it will follow them. My S doesn't have the Warmth & Comfort (sadly) but on paper, it seems to make the interior that much more comfortable. Oh I also recommend getting the 360 cameras. (Not sure if this is standard equipment on the facelift 2018-2021 models). It's a large car and it makes it much easier to learn.

As for other options...
Premium 1 - (Ventilated Front Seats / Keyless Go / Massaging front seats) Must have.
AMG package - I think it is almost needed... It makes the car look that much better.
HUD - (Displays navigation info / speed limit / vehicle speed ) Not needed but makes life a tiny bit easier.
Night Vision - A complete gimmick- I never use it.
Splitview - (Center screen displays 2 images depending on seating location) Again, another gimmick. Cool party trick- that's about it.
Comfort Box - (OEM pullout storage tray in trunk) Useful for putting restaurant take-out boxes in but again, not needed.
Exclusive Trim Package - (More wood paneling. On seat backs + 2nd trim piece on door panels). Not needed but makes the base-trim interior look nicer.
Magic Body Control - (No body roll whatsoever + nicer ride) - It's not a must have but it is nice. It only removes bumps about 50% of the time and it really isn't that much better than the standard air suspension.

The option packages may be different in other countries outside the U.S.

Hardthur

Do you know how to spot a w222 that has Magic Body control ? Does it have a particular button inside ?

Sean._.S

Yes- In the center console where the suspension button is. If it has "ABC" written on it, it has Magic Body Control.