Just purchased an E55 AMG 2001 with 29K miles. Took it to the local MB dealer for an inspection. They found the following:

1. Valve covers reseal
2. Oil pressure port reseal
3. Rear Main seal
4. Motor and transmission mount drivers side collapsed and leaking
5. AC Compressor leaking freon
6. Shifter bushings x2 missing
7. Balljoints "has play"
8. Brake Flush
9. Air Filter
10. Spark Plugs
11. Fuel Injection Service
12. Coolant Flush
13. Disinfect ACC
14. Fuel Filter

Obviously the service dept wants to get rich as they quoted $6,300 for this service.

But, I do have questions:

1. Where is the oil pressure port located on the engine and where do you buy the seal?

2. Where do you buy the tool to fit the bolt on the valve covers and what is the proper torque?

3. Also where are those "shifter bushings" and where can you purchase them?

BTW, I've already broke the little rubber antenna on the roof but found a replacment (rubber components only) from Bekkers.com

The replacement of the rubber parts was easy but for getting the rubber part that goes over the antenna through the hole in the housing, german gudintite.

 

Geez, a 2001 with 29K miles and all these problems...Where did you find this car?

 

Sounds like they're desperate since Christmas is just around the corner. You should just buy them a case of vaseline for their own use. LOL!

 

ESTJ -

First of all, congratulations on getting an E55 AMG. I don't know how much you paid for it, but I'm sure you looked it over and decided it was worth it.

I'm sorry that your dealer has come up with such a list of things needing attention, but these cars are not cheap to maintain. You might not need to get everything done all at once, but you want to make sure you keep on top of maintenance requirements and safety.

You'll have to determine if you feel your dealership is upstanding and capable. It's quite likely that your dealership is doing its best to give your vehicle a thorough evaluation, and the mechanics are pointing out everything they can find.

I, too, own a 2001 E55, and I love it. It's been expensive to maintain, but I've never felt that my dealership was ripping me off. Every time I take it there, I get a small crowd of employees around it, admiring and commenting on it. They recognize it's a very special car, and they treat me as somebody who knows cars and wants only the best. Sure, it's easy to be cynical and say this is all an orchestrated ploy to separate me from my money, but I really doubt that's the case.

Take a good luck at what you've got, try to determine if your dealership is trustworthy, and evaluate whether you want to have the professionals work on your car or if you prefer to do it yourself. I'm the kind of owner who leaves things stock, who appreciates the capabilities of MB & AMG engineers, and who pays to have things working properly.

I wish you the best of luck and hope you find great joy in your new purchase.

Thomas

 

Ouch,
I thought my $3900 service for my 2000 clk430 convertible with 57K miles was bad.

 

Thomas when you say expensive how much are you talking about? And besides change oil what other maintenance do you need to do and how much are they?
thanks

 

Wow! car is worth about 15K and cost $6,300 to fix. Sound like someone getting screwed. Suck to be that person.

 

When was the last time you shopped for one of these? At 29K miles, the car is worth about $20K.

ESTJ,

All of those repairs are "Christmas come early" for that dealer. What a rip.

I wouldn't do ANY of those things on a 29K mile car unless something is not working or badly leaking.

What I would do is replace the coolant and driveline fluids. That's about it.

Your car is a real gem. They are fantastic cars and to get one with such low miles will give you years of fun and safe driving in a respectable car. They are also very, very reliable if maintained. You can't touch that value at $20K or so with any new car today.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't have time to list everything with associated charges. My 2001 E55 has almost 90k miles on it, and repairs have included a complete air conditioning system service, complete brake job, mass air flow sensor replacement, window motor replacement, ESP malfunction requiring replacement of stop lamp sensor, and suspension problems requiring new springs. Of course, there are also "A" and "B" services, as well as Summer/Winter wheel changeovers with alignments. We're talking thousands of dollars, I'm sad to say.

I paid well over what these cars are going for today. I thought I was getting a fairly good deal at the time for a used E55, but depreciation still hits these cars in a big way. Regardless, I love this car and think it's a near-perfect high-performance sedan. I really can't think of what more I could want in a car, and I love cars.

Thomas

 

what did you pay for the e55 and what type of dealership did you get it from?

 

Valve covers probably just need to be tightened. You can do it with a regular socket wrench, you don't need a star socket. Use very little torque, you don't want to damage the aluminum. If it still leaks (unlikely) then you can debate actually replacing the gaskets.

Personally, I wouldn't replace the plugs unless you're getting misfire codes. Plugs go bad with use, not time. Some will disagree with me. The only problem with waiting on the plugs is they get harder to remove the longer you wait.

Fluid flush like brakes is a good idea. It probably has water in it from sitting. Oils that haven't been changed may have broken down over time.

You can find most of the parts you need at parts.com or autohausaz.com. A lot of the stuff you can knock out yourself (or ignore). An independent shop can probably tackle everything on that list. I have a guy where for hard stuff I bring the parts and he does the work. Very reasonably priced.

 

My thoughts while reading this thread before I got to your post. With such low miles I would change all fluids, belts and hoses

 

This car belonged to someone that lived in NY but was a snowbird in West Palm Beach FL. Hench only FL winter miles. The whole car looks showroom condition as if no-one ever set in the rear seats or passenger seat. Believe me it is immaculate in every way!

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I will start as some have suggested by tightening the valve covers slightly, then a thorough cleaning in that area to look for any leaks.

Next will be a trip to an independent MB mechanic for replacement of the engine/tran mounts.

I have already replaced the oil and filter with Mobil 1 and Mann so the next routine maintenance will be to replace the brake fluid.

Belts are good even though the belt is a AC Delco?????

There are no computer recommendations other than to change the oil, BTW any one know how to reset the service message??

I still need to determine where those "shifter bushings" are located and where can you purchase them?

Also need to locate the "Oil pressure port "

Thanks to all will post pictures some day soon!

 

is located below the oil filter canister.
Gasket sold at www.autohausaz.com
takes 5 minutes to replace diy guess where !!!
motor mounts $63 ea. and trans mounts also sold there and diy on w210 forum www.benzworld.org
16 spark plugs bosch 7422 are under 5 bucks each and with the 17mm boot tool are an easy 2 hour diy
plugs are due simply from age you don't want them bound
and don't use anti seize !
and it is really an easy diy if you follow directions
shifter bushing about 2 bucks at autohausaz.com easy diy also on the w210 forum
They are bsng you on rear main seal.
Change the brake fluid.
Change the coolant zerex GO5
fuel filter waits till 50-60k miles also at autohausaz.com
and easy diy
air filters ditto.
does the a/c work?
run the onboard diagnostics check out the values and errors
post them here or have an a/c shop evacuate the system install a new dryer and refill
at 40k miles drain the transmission change the filter use mb spec fluid and your transmission will serve you well for years.

if you did the jobs really needed won't add up to a 5bill.
more of course at an indie shop but not even near the almost 7 grand quoted.
run from any dealer...............
Fss reset is in the owners manual
if you need one I can pm you a link to one online


$3900 for a 2000clk430 service somebody got screwwwed.Who takes an 00 430 to a dealer?


Also 20k for a low mile E55? they are in the low 12k zone for low mile examples 20k will almost buy you two nice ones with under 100k miles

thhaar find a indie shop you are getting fleeced if they are aligning the car at every tire rotation the only time it needs alignment is if a bent part was replaced ball joints or some other sort of damage or wear.
Or if you lower the car,but that is a nuther issue

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I happen to drive a totally stock E55. I am aware that independent shops charge less, and I'm not naive about dealerships and their service departments.

I happen to value the professionalism offered by the local dealership, the convenience of appointments that fit my schedule, the availability of loaner cars, and, most of all, the well-trained mechanic who has years of experience and does his utmost when servicing my car. I'm far from wealthy, but I'm fortunate to be able to afford my E55 and keep it running properly.

I realize there are many here who do their own maintenance or go to independent shops that provide good service. I'm glad there are so many E-55 enthusiasts here, and I enjoy all the inputs on various aspects of ownership.

Thomas

 

stop having wheel alignments done not needed unless as noted
give the money to your stock portfolio

 

Thanks ohlord!

Took off all the plastic last night and indeed the leak is from the oil pressure port.

Valve covers are good but the seals on covers on top of the valve covers are shot and the passenger side has a leak. Don't know what you call those covers are what the part numbers for the seals would be, guess I will call autohausaz today to see what they have to offer.

Thanks you are a great help!

 

The valve cover has a gasket. The breather (smaller part on top of the cover near the rear) uses a liquid adhesive as a gasket. Generally just tightening everything back down will stop leaks.

 

hahahah Ohlord is back at it smoking crack again

seriously give it a rest you have no idea what anyone's mechanical abilities are, yet you think they should never go to dealer, and diy everything and on top of that with cheap *** parts too.

wheel alignments are done best at the dealer, nothing beats a BMW/Audi/MB alignment machine with printout specially for the money...it does take a while, but it's done right the first time...
lmao i'll take another jab at Ohlord's tunnel vision in couple more years lol

back to topic,
if you want to do it right with the valve cover gaskets, take them completely off the car, then remove the breather covers as well (little top pieces, clean off all the old adhesive) and get a new adhesive tube, they are about $20 but it's the original black strong stuff...
also don't go aftermarket on the valve cover seals, oem is too cheap to skimp on it.
i'll have to look up part numbers if you really need them, i have done them not too long ago...

 

An update:

Took the breather off the passenger side valve cover, cleaned and resealed, will wait another day before checking. Used the Blue RTV not MB $22 black stuff. Okay so maybe I have to redo it, but it wasn't that bad a deal, cleaning the parts was the hard job. When cover is removed make sure you stuff clean rags in ports so trash doesn't enter your engine!

Went to MB dealer to purchase seal for the Oil Pressure Port gave them the VIN and was told I had the old version and they tried to sell me a new housing and seal. Finally convinced them to sell me just the old seal. When I took off the housing to replace the seal it was the new type seal but somewhat different than the "new style" that I was shown at the MB dealer. The seal was not damaged so I decided to give a try with some of the Blue RTV with the old seal. Will replace the V belt tonight.. crank it up tomorrow and look for leaks, hopefully this takes care of the topside.. then it's off to the bottom side to see whats up down there. Off to get my money back unless someone wants the old type seal.

BTW there must be a Lockheed Martin engineer at Mercedes to put that lower screw right in front of the belt, and oh yeah don't drop the screws what ever you do, they could be trouble to find. Didn't do it but could see the disaster, cover the area with a rag in case you drop one.

While cleaning, I noticed something you should take note of: surrounding the hood latch is a plastic piece meant to prevent water from entering the hood. I removed the hood latch and this piece and discovered rust behind the plastic. Apparently the plastic and metal move against each other and wears the paint, then water enters (in my case FL rain and road seasalt) and becomes trapped behind the plastic. Will sand away surface rust and repaint.

Will update later once the blue stuff dries.

 

awesome
glad you're able to do it, imo it's better done this way since no mechanic in the world will take the time, patience, and attentiveness to detail on those covers

you're right the cleaning part is the hardest i can honestly say i hate taking off the black adhesive part of the process
when you're in there you probably already done it but check the little rubber hoses on the breather covers, sometimes they do crack with age and would throw off codes of lean/rich conditions...

 

A final update:

Finished evaluating this car and the diagnosis of the MB dealer, here's the breakdown:

1. Valve covers reseal - BS, the passenger breather cover had a small leak, repaired with about 2.5 hours worth of my time. Valve covers are just fine.

2. Oil pressure port reseal - This was a big issue that needed repair. Had I followed the MB advice I would have been stuck with $30 worth of parts I did not need. DIY with existing parts and Blue RTV. Works great, about 2 hours of my time and learned how to replace the belt at the same time.

3. Rear Main seal - Total BS, all oil on the engine came from the oil pressure port leak.

4. Motor and transmission mount drivers side collapsed and leaking - As far as I can tell this is BS as well. There was some rust/orange looking splatter around the drivers mount, but this cleaned off easily with soap and water. Comparing the drivers vs passengers mounts they look identical. If the driver's side was "collapsed" then I would expect to see a visible and measurable difference. There was none. Will continue to monitor for any "leaks" but I think NOT!

5. AC Compressor leaking freon - Total BS

6. Shifter bushings x2 missing - Ooops forgot to look for that one, will update later.

7. Balljoints "has play" - Either I'm not strong enough or this is total BS as well.

8. Brake Flush - This is debateable I suppose; the fluid is clear and test Okay, but who knows if and when it was done, so maybe and I know it must be DOT4 ONLY.

9. Air Filter - Clean as a whistle

10. Spark Plugs - I'll take the advice and replace them in the not too distant future just so they don't bind. But looking underneath this car, you can tell this car was a garage queen that never even saw the rain. So I doubt this has to be done anytime soon.

11. Fuel Injection Service - Will run Valvoline Fuel Injector Plus Valve Intake Cleaner through the next tank and then inspect.

12. Coolant Flush - Again a garage queen in Florida, will keep an eye on this though.

13. Disinfect ACC - Gimme a break!

14. Fuel Filter - Maybe at 35K

So far I have about 8 hours in cleaning and repairing and the cost of a single tube of Blue RTV and the injector cleaner, less than $10. So for those MB owners in the Raleigh area, STAY CLEAR of this dealer, they are now officially in my book a Rip!

Will post pics of this beauty soon.

Thanks to all that replied with the helpful comments.

 

Your motor mounts are bad, I've seen it in person before. They looked fine prior to removal with a bit of splatter around the drivers side one, but when removed and compared to the new ones, the new ones were 1/4 higher than the blown ones.

 

Thanks for this. I wasn't sure how one can tell if the mounts are gone. The orange splatter must be the tell tell sign. For only $125 worth of parts, I'll make the change to protect my engine and transmission.

Thanks again for the input!!!

 

Mercedes dealers are acclimated to customers of means and will throw everything they can at them.