rondocap

This is for the W220 S55 AMG, but I'm posting this here as well as there are many components and costs that are very similar between the S55 and E55. (The biggest difference would be the ABC suspension vs the airmatic, and some other considerations like the N/A engines vs the supercharged engines which can have other issues.) But most of this would still apply to even an E55 with higher mileage.


There is a general consensus that the W220 S class, especially some of the earlier models, are not reliable. In Fact, Mercedes reliability and quality took a downturn in public perception during the early 2000's, and only recently seems to have been rolling back.

What does this all mean? I hope to try and give some insight into this with some first hand experience, and factual price and mileage data for 1 full year and nearly 40,000 miles of driving during this year.

I have kept perfect records, including all dates, miles, and receipts for every maintenance done in the last year. In the beginning of this year, which we will start in November of 2009, I took the car in to a few Mercedes dealerships directly as I had not found a good independent to work on the car, but I did do so at the end of December of 2009 and thusly exclusively used the independent mechanic shop, whom seemed more capable than the Mercedes staff, and usually at least half or more the price in savings. So, for anyone who is out of warranty, I strongly recommend finding a reputable independent to work on your car.

I am not really a DIYer due to time constraints, but I do some of the minor stuff myself and would like to do the more complicated stuff as well. (I do the air filters, dust filters, charcoal filters, checking of all the service A/B stuff, etc.)

Here is my car information to start off:

W220 Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG, MY2001.

Current Mileage: 151,000
Mileage on November 16th, 2009: 113,585

• All of the campaigns were taken care of, and the car had a warranty up to 100,000 miles.
• I left some items out, like radar detectors, tinted windows, etc - as they are not service, but I left other items in
• that are good for the quality of the car, like rubber mats, wiper blades, etc.
• From December 29th 2009 and on, all service was done at an Indy and not the Mercedes Dealer. You can tell the prices went down.
• There are a few items that are left out as they were before the year, such as work on the ABC suspension around 105,000 miles, Engine mounts at 85k, and various other things done - but for practical purposes I will start this one year ago from November of 2010.

Service: Mileage: Price: (Parts and labor total)

11/16/2009 Oil Change 113, 585 $93.59

11/20/2009 Cooling System Flush 114,500 $425.00

11/24/2009 Lower Ball Joints and Control Arm Bushings 114,758 $1,643

12/01/2009 1.) Wiper Blades
2.) Full 10 CD set of Navigation CD’s 116,000 $351.92

12/01/2009 1.) All Weather Rubber mats
2.) Interior cleaning kit 116,000 $158.40

12/02/2009 1.) AMG License Plate
2.) Touch up pen 116,000 $56.23

12/02/2009 Left front Wheel Hub Cap 116,000 $15.01

12/05/2009 1.) Rear Brake Pads and Rotors
2.) Brake Flush
3.) Rear Differential Service
4.) Removed Grommet
5.) Replaced Headlamp washer Nozzles 116,284 $1,252.14

12/08/2009 New Spark Plugs 116,529 $620.10

12/16/2009 1.) Engine Air Filter
2.) Mercedes Anti-Freeze 117,200 $64

12/18/2009 Oil Change 0W40 117/358 $125

12/23/2009 Motor/Transmission Mounts, Power Brake Hose 117,500 $1,820

12/29/2009 1.) Transmission Gasket, filter, connector
2.) New Serpentine Belt and Oil Cooler reseal 118,300 $489

1/04/2010 Cabin Dust Filter 118,700 $32

1/10/2010 4 Wheel Tire balance 119,120 $47

1/12/2010 2025 CR 3 v Batteries for Key Remote 119,200 $10.82

1/19/2010 Activated Charcoal Filters 119,580 $156.00

1/19/2010 Fuel Filter 119,540 $200.00

1/19/2010 Oil Change 0W40 Mobil 1 119,540 $119.00

2/01/2010 2 Pieces Driver’s seat plastic bottom seat trim 120,700 $85.00

2/25/2010 ABS Speed Sensor 123,776 $253.30

3/3/2010 Left front Side Marker bulb 123,950 $4.47

3/21/2010 Rear Tail light right / Marker Bulb 124, 900 $11.00

3/23/2010 Accelerator Pedal, Pedal Position sensor 124, 900 $282.40

3/26/2010 Touch up Paint 125,500 $21.73

4/08/2010 AC Charge Freon 127,000 $176.10

4/17/2010 Oil Change 5w40 128,500 $135

4/23/2010 Alternator 129,500 $832

4/24/2010 New Front Rim 129,700 $270

5/21/2010 4 Hankook Ventus Tires, Alignment, left Rim 132,700 $700

6/1/2010 Engine Air Filter 134,860 $60

6/2/2010 Fix Nail in right rear tire 135,000 $20

6/8/2010 Front and Rear brake pads 136,096 $400

6/10/2010 Oil Change Mobil 1 0w40 136,420 $143

7/09/2010 Toll truck 140,700 $70

7/14/2010 ABC Hose High pressure hydraulic line 140,700 $270

8/05/2010 1.) Cabin Dust Filter
2.) Wiper Blades 143,500 $53

9/18/2010 License Plate light, R 146,400 $5

10/08/2010 Oil Change Mobil1 0W40 147,658 $141

11/08/2010 1.) Inspection
2.) Engine and Transmission mounts
3.) AC compressor bracket fixed 150,421 $1,021

11/17/2010 4 Continental DWS Tires 151,000 $860


The grand total?


$13,492.21.


A warranty would have covered 2/3's of that, or around $9,000 - as some of the other stuff, totaling around $4,000, a normal warranty would not cover. (Stuff like oil changes, tires, brakes, etc)


That seems expensive, and that's not even accounting for gas (Around $7,000 this year - almost 40,000 miles, average over that period of 17MPG, and premium 93 gas at around $3.05 a gallon. Add another few thousand for insurance, and running costs quickly are in the mid $20,000s.

Now, it seems shocking when you add it up like that - but perhaps it isn't as cataclysmic as it looks. Most of it is just running costs that any car would have, albeit it an S55 is more expensive in a lot of normal items like tires, brakes, which tend to be more expensive than a C class, or other cheaper car, etc. And if you figure in a good warranty costs somewhere around $3,000 to $4,000, the disadvantage financially here, and the only thing that could be avoided, is around $6,000 a year which a warranty would have saved. Otherwise, even someone with a warranty would likely spend 75%-80% of what I spent figuring miles/gas/insurance are about the same.

I hope this information is useful to everyone, and they can see the real cost of owning a car as expensive as the S Class is, and was when new. So anytime someone thinks they are picking up a bargain in a cheaper used S class, they may actually be spending much more than a cheaper car. Big V8, tires, brakes, all equal more expenses versus a cheaper and smaller car, which will also most likely have better gas mileage and possibly cheaper insurance.

One last thing: If it isn't obvious, even with all of the maintenance, I absolutely adore this car. It is comfortable, safe, handles well, powerful, and still looks as good as it did when the W220 was fresh. So it is a car I have a passion for, and thus the sting of the cost pays off - because driving 40,000 miles a year, I have definitely enjoyed it.

motorkas

ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL WRITE UP!!!!!!!! Thanks for taking the time and effort to share this information. I personally DO NOT want to know how much I have spent modding, maintaining this car but I will say this - what ever it is, I completely agree with your conclusion - SOOOOOOO WORTH IT

alextaylor29

Rondocap,

Thanks for posting this as literally I was going to do the same thing. I've had my e55 for 1 year now, got it with only 23K miles on it and now have 41K. Like you I drive alot to and from work mainly to the tune of 3k miles per month.

I do have the extended warranty and thank god for it. Literally today I just got it out of the shop and below are what I've had to fix in the last year and approximate total.


Things that have gone wrong/had to be replaced:

• Powersteering Pump and resivoir
• Fix transmission leak
• Fix Oil leak
• Both front cv joints and bushings
• Oil senor light/warning light thingie
• Components of the smog/emssions system (I failed emissions)
• 4 New tires

All told all this has cost me and more accurately the warranty over $4K in parts and labor. The oil sensor light/decector to replace was $700 by itself as it took 5 hours of labor!

Just this week to replace the front wheel bushings, arms (not sure what they were called, $2.5K.) It was so much the extended warranty guy had to go to the dealer to make sure it was legit and authorize it.

Thanks to my warranty which is good for 5 years and 100K miles, I've only had to pay about $500 of all of this. This is my first benz and I do love the car, but when speaking to an MB Mechanic he said he'd never own a MB without an extended warranty which I found very revealing. Basically on the E55's he said the tranny and engine are bullet proof, but all the rest of the minor stuff, these are his words, wear out very quickly.

To be honest I know there's a, "Pay to play" with MB's but I've been really surprised at how many "minor" things have failed on my E55. I do get the whole, "German engineered, high precision thing" but...why not just build in a dip stick for the oil so one doesn't have to pay $700 to replace a little sensor.

For me it's more of the inconvenience not having the car for a week or so while it's in the shop as I drive 100 miles every day to and from work. (We've got a beater Hyndia that I used instead.)

I was actually going a write a letter to MB saying something like, at 41 years of age I will continue to buy their cars for the next 30 years because of their combination of, luxury, power, status, safety, performance, hertigage, etc. The ONLY thing that outweighs these variables and would make me not buy a MB for the next 30 years is a lack of relability/quality. It doesn't have to be honda/toyota relabiable, but one should not have to pay $3K-$4K a year in maintenance to just keep it running.

I haven't written the letter yet but talking to the wifey this might be my last MB which would be shame. If I went with a Lexus or Infinity (diggging the M45 to be honest), I would never have had these issues at this mileage and certainly would not have cost me this much.

Anyway this is NOT a rant, I do love my car and have some mods scheduled, just remarking on it's surprising...fragility...for components other than the engine and transmission.

That aside, I think I'm going to put on the 180mm pulley and HE with a custom tune from Dyno Comp for 620HP!

Should be in teh next week or so and I'll shoot a short video of it, once everything is in.

Thanks for listening.

Alex

MB_Forever

Good write-up.... you're lucky you didn't have to replace an ABC unit, they're supposed to be $2k per corner and that is an Indy shop price

220S

fwiw, this is a one-year survey on a car that is already well over 100k miles and is going on 11 years old now.

So, the first question that comes to my mind is what is the actual operating cost over that 100+k miles and 11 years. Isn't that what's really the important part? After all, owning a car like the S Class that is already "over the hill" (to a certain degree) will definitely cost during those "twilight years" of operation.

In addition, if the OP just bought the car last year with over 100k on the odo, then what was the purchase price of the car? One should take in account the purchase price and add that $13,492.21 to it. Because we all know that they depreciate rapidly and are a bargain used. Taking in the fact that the MSRP on a 2001 S55 was around $100k when new (and that's 2001 dollars), and now the OP has basically fixed everything thing that went bad, it is probably still a decent bargain for the kind of car it is.

We know these cars are expensive to fix and cheap to buy. So it all tends to 'balance itself' out, I guess. You can buy other performance high end Euro cars that are over 10 years and 100k miles for cheap, but understanding that they will cost big money to repair and maintain. And that's why they're cheap. It kinda all comes out in the wash.

Anyway, thanks for posting the details. It sounds like you repaired a lot of stuff and you'll probably get periods of no repair and just maintenance. I doubt you'll need to spend $13k each year.

rondocap

Thanks for the responses - I know this is a 10 year old car, but basically everything that I had to repair on this car can and does go wrong in much newer and lower mile cars. (The big difference here being within warranty, I can't remember how many times I've read people write: "Fixed a bunch of stuff today, thank god for warranty as it was a few grand".)

The ABC stuff I've narrowly avoided this year. All I had was that ABC high pressure hose that broke, and around 105k miles some work was also done on the ABC.

Anyway, as these cars depreciate fairly quickly, they still are a good value even with the maintenance. The trick here is knowing that; and having a budget for repairs and including that in the overall experience.

///AMG4EVER

Good write up. Even though at 40K miles/year is more than double the average mileage, this should be a must read for the newbies wanting to "steal" a high mileage 55K amg for under $25K.

I learn this through my C32 ownership on the last 5 years.

At the moment, it is cheaper for me to lease a barely loaded 2010 Honda Accord ($10K OTD for 3 years) than to use my C32 or CLS55 as a DD for 15K/year.

rondocap

This is the conclusion I have also drawn from this. Most of the people who have responded with their own experience with the W220, while having lower costs, always have much lower mileage like 3,000, 6,000, a year, etc. So it seems like to daily drive a car like this a year, when putting on serious miles like 40k, it will be expensive without a warranty.

There is a benefit to daily driving these, of course. They are safe, comfortable, full of technology, and fast/powerful. It would certainly be cheaper to run a Japanese car for this type of mileage, though!

BlownV8

Is your E55 a 4 matic? Front CV joints?

alextaylor29

Yes that is correct. They had to replace all the components of the front wheels basicall. CV joints, bushings, bolts, etc. Out the door for all teh service for this week alone was $3K. Luckily for me, out of pocket it was only $300 bucks.

I drive it a lot, about 3K miles a month but I've had a lot of cars in my life, also having driven alot and none were this costly just to maintain for the first year. Do note I got my car with only 23K miles on it and it now has 42K.

I do lover MB, really I do. I can afford them and would LOVE to own an S65 adn tune it to 900 ft/lb and 750 hp and still be able to drive around the clients and wife and kids.

But I do maintain I should not have to spend $4K a year to keep a car running with such low miles. Most other non-german, yet luxury brands, Infinity, Lexus, Acura, heck even Chrylser/Lincoln (yeah I know that's a stretch) do not cost that much on a yearly basis to maintain.

Not saying I'm selling the beat *yet* rather just remaking on it's surprising unrelability with minor things. It's like, "Death by a thousand cuts." The engine, tranny, breaks are rockstars, but it's like MB skimmped on the remaing minor, supporting systems.

Anyway I am NOT ranting I promise, just sharing.

Alex

AMGPilot

No such thing as a 4Matic E55, no CV joints on the front end....

BlownV8

They must have changed the blinker fluid, put some 30 weight ball bearnings in, and changed out the faulty installer valves.

E55 does not have front CV joints. You may want to get some money back or call your local DA so they can look at fraud charges.

06E55

I do all of the normal maintenance (oil change, air filter, cabin filter, wiper blades, supercharge belt, serpentine belt, pano roof lube, and transmission filter/fluid change) on my 2006 E55 myself, so my cost of ownership hasn't been too bad for me at all... I have only had it to the shop once for a major repair (airmatic failure) and that was covered under the new vehicle warranty. I have an extended warranty until 100,000 miles (I just rolled over 50k) so I hope everything continues to go smoothly. I do all of the maintenance on my wife's 09 C300 as well... I use www.genuinemercedesparts.com to order my parts from. For the Mobile 1 0W-40 oil, I have found WalMart to be the cheapest at $6.37 per quart and my local Advance AutoParts will price match whenever WalMart is out (my WalMart only stocks about 9 quarts of this compared to the four or five rows of 10-W40 and 5-W40.

I do the maintenance myself as I like to be sure things are done correctly. I was looking through my service book and I noticed that the techs had written 5W-40 and 0W-30 in the service book! It might have been simply written incorrectly, but one never knows. If I do it myself, I know it is done right. Once you do things like oil changes a couple of times on these vehicles and know exactly what covers underneath the car you have to remove to get to the drain plugs and disassemble and reassemble the oil filter assembly, an oil change should take no more than 30 minutes if you are doing it on your driveway and your car is on ramps. About 15 minutes if you have a lift... Air filters can be done in 10 minutes or so and cabin filter takes about the same. Transmission flush is about an hour... Probably just because of the way I do it (follows the DIY on this forum). Supercharger belt is about 10 minutes. Serpentine belt took me about 30 minutes just because I had to figure out the routing of it.... It's amazing how much the stealership and even independents make off service! I guess that is probably their main revenue line though. I doubt if even 10% of their customers do their own maintenance.

I'm tackling spark plugs/wires and brake rotors/pads with my next oil change. Might do a brake fluid flush as well...

dvb247

Stop it guys, your scaring me, I've had my car nearly 2 years and spent zip on it with no warranty on it either!!!!!
Just had a 60k mile service at MB UK dealer with no horror story!

pearlpower

It is good to know a few are having good times with their car, and you can include mine in there as well, reliable so far. But.......it only takes one issue to send you into the poor house with these cars.

rondocap

Heh, yeah - It's not the end of the world, it really depends how much you drive the car. Logically, the more miles in a shorter time span, more stuff you will need to do.

I'm going to keep tabs on how much I spend this year as well. I am hoping that the amount I spent last year was just stuff that goes after 100k miles anyway, and that this year I have smoother sailing. In fact, if you look at my records, August through October, I did not really spend much - less than $200 and that was just on an Oil change, and air filters.

But that $200 has a catch: I drove significantly less in August through October, and much more when the bigger issues occurred. There is definitely a connection.

regor60

Well, you spent $4K in a year, but that's not the same thing as spending $4k per year.

The costly items you fixed odds are accumulated over the 5-6 yrs your car has been on the road and over 40K miles. The fixes ought to last for the same period going forward.

More accurate to say $1k per year which would be peanuts

220S

And that's really why these sorts of "analysis" are pretty much meaningless in the real world. The key is how much does the car cost to maintain over its lifetime. Not how much somebody spends for a particular duration after buying a used car with x number of miles on it and a relatively unknown previous history.

Plus that data (even with repairs over a lifetime) need to be with a specific aggregate sample number, not just one car here and there that gets reported on a car forum with a limited number of owners.

rondocap

220S: It is hard to get a big sample of these cars, because they are made in much lower numbers than something like a Honda or Ford. Of course, it is best to examine sample data over a longer period of time - but I don't think a car's lifetime is necessary. A good record of a 2-3 years driving similar miles can give you a good idea of what to expect at certain driving rates per year and what can happen. Every car and condition can be a bit different, but there are certain things that everyone experiences.

alextaylor29

Not sure of the exact repairs as this is from memory but it was done at a MB dealier and inspected/audited/approved by the warranty guy who came down and inspected things onsite.

So I wasn't ripped off nor were these, "Phantom" repairs.

Alex

220S

Yeah, I understand what you're saying. And my response is more in the ideal sense, I suppose. That's why there's that True Delta website which tries to collect repair data over a period (and unfortunately is 100% dependent on owner participation, which is its weak spot.)

What I feel is the real concern is how much does a MB (of any model) cost over a period of ownership (that includes it's early life, too.) Most of the reports here are used cars owned for a short period, and sometimes with unknown histories, etc.. There is a point (in time and/or mileage) with any brand where used parts just need to be replaced; a law of physics sort of thing.

And yes, we do know certain things that seem to go bad nonetheless (thanks to people on this and other MB forums), like Airmatic, ABC, certain sensors, pumps, etc.. And that's the case with all other brands, too (like BMW, Audi, etc..) That's always good to know.

There have been millions of MBs sold in the world, and some models and model samples are more problematic than others, etc.. But there's no hard data unfortunately. Only Daimler has that info (and of course even that's not complete due to Indies and DIYers.)

Anyway, my question is what's the true cost of owing a MB (and a particular model.) That's hard to really know. I have no idea what you paid for your car, what was done to it in the past, and what you'll be spending in the future on repairs.

Also, I think the big thing with these cars is the cost of repair. It sometimes can come close to Italian exotics. I think that's what a lot of buyers don't expect. And that's what really gets them nervous more than anything else.

Edit: (fwiw, places to read about cars with big mileage and their repairs, etc., is on the Mercedes Benz Club of America forum and on the Peach Parts Shop forum. Those people tend to have cars with tons of miles and keep them maintained and running for decades.)

rondocap

Here's a poll of sorts for you guys: Having seen these facts on the maintenance, and considering I drive nearly 40k miles a year, do you guys think it would make financial and common sense to buy a cheaper car to daily drive? I was thinking something like a Honda Civic, which would be cheaper on gas, and more reliable and cheaper to fix.

I figure that I'll make up the purchase price of the Honda Civic (used of course) with a few months of driving it, and not spending on my S55. I'd use the S55 only for pleasure and occasional trips, probably down to 10k miles a year at most from 40k. That would keep it in better condition, too - I love the car and would not want to sell it. If I keep driving it at this rate, soon it'll be 200, 250, even 300k miles - and who knows how expensive that journey will be!

Thoughts?

Hazy1

Looking at the frequency of those repair dates, I don't think that I fill up the tank as often, and I drive 20-25k per year.

rondocap

So a little update on the car. It now has 165,000 miles, up from the 151,000 that it had previously. in November of 2010. (So about 14,000 miles in 6 months).

In that time, basically all I've needed is a new engine air filter, new 4 brake pads and 2 front rotors, 2 Oil changes, and a Xenon bulb. Not much more than $1,000.

I am really starting to have a different take and viewpoint on the car. I always enjoyed it, but at first I was sort of not sure where the maintenance would take me. The more I drive it, and the more miles go on it, the more I really respect and admire the vehicle and the build quality.

With the amount of miles I put on, and at the pace I do it at - I think it holds up very well. The car, even being a 2001 with 165,000 miles - drives perfectly. No rattles, powerful acceleration and precise braking. Everything works. I am really starting to have a lot of confidence in the build quality. Sure, a few items have been replaced- but that is expected.

What really impresses me is that every time a part is replaced, the car really does go back to being factory spec, or at least as close as it can be - i.e no "old" car affects like rattles or poor performance.

I think it will easily hit 200k+ miles, if not more. If I buy a newer MB, especially an S Class with less miles, I know that with proper maintenance it will go for literally a few hundred thousand miles.

OK55

Obviously, no pano roof...! Comforting though to hear of the relative reliability at this mileage. Thanks for sharing...
Brgds