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2014 s550
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Hi, just wanted to introduce myself. I’m new to the forum. I recently bought a 2014 low mileage S550 and coming from a BMW. I understand I’ve got a new learning curve to go through so I might be chiming in here now and again asking for advice, but to start off with my first question, is there anything I can do to this car preventative maintenance wise to get ahead of any of the common problems that might occur it only has 19,000 miles on it and is very clean car but I do know that there is the common oil wicking from the cam sensor harnesses and perhaps I should disconnect the oil pump harness to keep the oil pressure high to prevent any internal engine problems such as bore scoring. so far this is what I’ve been able to find on the YouTube channels Common problems. If there’s anything else I should know about I’d appreciate the experience from the members in this group, I live in Ontario Canada, and have a full shop in my garage with 2 lifts so i will be taking ownership with a hands on approach to maintenance.
Last edited by Nitrouspaul; Jun 7, 2026 at 10:32 AM.
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Hi, just wanted to introduce myself. I’m new to the forum. I recently bought a 2014 low mileage S550 and coming from a BMW. I understand I’ve got a new learning curve to go through so I might be chiming in here now and again asking for advice, but to start off with my first question, is there anything I can do to this car preventative maintenance wise to get ahead of any of the common problems that might occur it only has 19,000 miles on it and is very clean car but I do know that there is the common oil wicking from the cam sensor harnesses and perhaps I should disconnect the oil pump harness to keep the oil pressure high to prevent any 8nternal engine problems such as bore scoring. so far this is what I’ve been able to find on the YouTube channels Common problems. If there’s anything else I should know about I’d appreciate the experience from the members in this group, I live in Ontario Canada, and have a full shop in my garage with 2 lifts somi will be tak8ng ownership with a hands on approach to maintenance.
You have a M278 right? Is the oil pump solenoid even applicable to that engine?
For the harness pigtails, you could consider this:
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From: Phoenix
222 S-65
OP get your friendly service advisor at the local MB dealer to present you with a VMI for your car. It will list all the work performed by Mercedes, all campaigns performed, all options the car is equipped with and other fun things like radio codes.
Low miles on your 2014. You have a shop so unless they have been done previously fresh fluids are top of the list. The transmission lacking a dipstick has and continues to be a head scratcher for me but once you've done that service it is easy. When you have the pan off weld a bung to it for a drain plug so you can quickly and easily do a drain and fill of transmission fluid. This negates the need for pulling the pan to put the plastic guy back in place every time the fluid is dumped.
Rear-driver? If so there is a good chance it is equipped with Magic Body Control. Good stuff. Another fluid and filter to change.
Enjoy your car!
Low miles on your 2014. You have a shop so unless they have been done previously fresh fluids are top of the list. The transmission lacking a dipstick has and continues to be a head scratcher for me but once you've done that service it is easy. When you have the pan off weld a bung to it for a drain plug so you can quickly and easily do a drain and fill of transmission fluid. This negates the need for pulling the pan to put the plastic guy back in place every time the fluid is dumped.
Rear-driver? If so there is a good chance it is equipped with Magic Body Control. Good stuff. Another fluid and filter to change.
Enjoy your car!
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2014 s550
i do have majic body control. Oil was changed but not sure about others. I have a problem already for this forum.
yesterday battery was totally flat. Installed another one. Today battery was comletly flat.
only change is i parked in garage with ds window down and didnt lock the car.i am reading that this can kill battery overnight. This is stupid. Anyway to bypass?
i will charge battery today and close window and lock door and reassess in the morning to confirm for sure. Anyone ever hear of this?
yesterday battery was totally flat. Installed another one. Today battery was comletly flat.
only change is i parked in garage with ds window down and didnt lock the car.i am reading that this can kill battery overnight. This is stupid. Anyway to bypass?
i will charge battery today and close window and lock door and reassess in the morning to confirm for sure. Anyone ever hear of this?
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i do have majic body control. Oil was changed but not sure about others. I have a problem already for this forum.
yesterday battery was totally flat. Installed another one. Today battery was comletly flat.
only change is i parked in garage with ds window down and didnt lock the car.i am reading that this can kill battery overnight. This is stupid. Anyway to bypass?
i will charge battery today and close window and lock door and reassess in the morning to confirm for sure. Anyone ever hear of this?
yesterday battery was totally flat. Installed another one. Today battery was comletly flat.
only change is i parked in garage with ds window down and didnt lock the car.i am reading that this can kill battery overnight. This is stupid. Anyway to bypass?
i will charge battery today and close window and lock door and reassess in the morning to confirm for sure. Anyone ever hear of this?
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2014 s550
if i do find a draw i hear the seat modules are a culprit is that so?
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it will be fully charged overnight. It is now fully charged. I am going to test with a multimeter this morning for parasitic draw on the ground side. I will lock the doors roll up the windows and dummy latch the trunk. Then i will wait an hr for the modules to go to sleep and report back .
if i do find a draw i hear the seat modules are a culprit is that so?
if i do find a draw i hear the seat modules are a culprit is that so?
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From: Southern Delaware
2019 Mercedes Benz S560 4Matic
Hold on….are you saying that not locking the car can cause battery drain? I have a 2019 S560 4Matic, owned for a few years, park in my secure garage overnight and never lock the car in the garage. No battery issues yet. What does not locking the car have anything to do with it?
i do have majic body control. Oil was changed but not sure about others. I have a problem already for this forum.
yesterday battery was totally flat. Installed another one. Today battery was comletly flat.
only change is i parked in garage with ds window down and didnt lock the car.i am reading that this can kill battery overnight. This is stupid. Anyway to bypass?
i will charge battery today and close window and lock door and reassess in the morning to confirm for sure. Anyone ever hear of this?
yesterday battery was totally flat. Installed another one. Today battery was comletly flat.
only change is i parked in garage with ds window down and didnt lock the car.i am reading that this can kill battery overnight. This is stupid. Anyway to bypass?
i will charge battery today and close window and lock door and reassess in the morning to confirm for sure. Anyone ever hear of this?
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 33,012
Likes: 6,537
Hold on….are you saying that not locking the car can cause battery drain? I have a 2019 S560 4Matic, owned for a few years, park in my secure garage overnight and never lock the car in the garage. No battery issues yet. What does not locking the car have anything to do with it?
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From: Southern Delaware
2019 Mercedes Benz S560 4Matic
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W212 FL
Congrats, that's a great pick up given its mileage . M278s are one of my fave engines but those are not without faults either . I have heard leaking cam magnets but yours is extremely low mileage for it to happen I guess . Anyway, let's not forget it's more than 10 years old
Happy Driving
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2014 s550
Update.
the bluetooth transmitter for relaying ecuminformation to the otofix scantool i have was left in overnight.
It was drawing a load of .428 amps
i cant indertsand how this small drain could kill a oddessy agm 970 cca battery and the mercedes varta battery overnight as both are top tier.
But it did. My draw at rest with everying off (bluetooth removed from diagnostic port) doors closed locked is .07 amps now. A bit high as factory calls for .03 to .05 it will draw down battery voltage by .04 volts every 4 hrs.i am testing the battery volts every 4 hrs now for a 24 hr period to see if it stops because my battery is now at 12.55 volts down from 12.78. Knowing how sensistive these cars are to battery voltage i get scared thinking if i go out of town for a week and no tender what will i end up coming back too.
just went out to garage and after another 8 hrs the battery has settled in at 12.55 volts.
i am going to do this 24 hr experiment again with the window down and the doors unlocked tmrw and see if results are the same drawdown or worse as maybe this will,leave something on from sleeping and exasperate the draw. I will report again soon
the bluetooth transmitter for relaying ecuminformation to the otofix scantool i have was left in overnight.
It was drawing a load of .428 amps
i cant indertsand how this small drain could kill a oddessy agm 970 cca battery and the mercedes varta battery overnight as both are top tier.
But it did. My draw at rest with everying off (bluetooth removed from diagnostic port) doors closed locked is .07 amps now. A bit high as factory calls for .03 to .05 it will draw down battery voltage by .04 volts every 4 hrs.i am testing the battery volts every 4 hrs now for a 24 hr period to see if it stops because my battery is now at 12.55 volts down from 12.78. Knowing how sensistive these cars are to battery voltage i get scared thinking if i go out of town for a week and no tender what will i end up coming back too.
just went out to garage and after another 8 hrs the battery has settled in at 12.55 volts.
i am going to do this 24 hr experiment again with the window down and the doors unlocked tmrw and see if results are the same drawdown or worse as maybe this will,leave something on from sleeping and exasperate the draw. I will report again soon
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2020 S560 4matic. 2017 Z06 convertible.
