New E55 Owner with a few questions
 

Hello all. I just purchased a 2006 E55 AMG Kombi on Friday, and I had a few questions for those of you who have been long term owners and have things a bit figured out. The car has 114,000 Km, or a bit over 70,000 miles, and is in really nice shape. It has only one mod, which is a ECU retune, and it will likely stay that way, as it has more than enough power for my needs. Before purchase, the car was taken in for a final inspection, and there were a few things they suggested doing. They suggested new spark plugs, belts, and filters. Brake fluid was flushed and oil changed during the inspection, so those items are good. Are there any other items I should think about as maintenance?

The day after I bought it, I took the car on a run up to Brugge, Belgium to go to a beer fest. That's about a 4.5 hour drive from my place near Frankfurt Germany, and while it performed admirably overall, a couple concerns did surface.

The first is the fact that the winter wheels/tire seem to have something going on with them. The car dove perfectly smooth and straight on my test drive, but the owner included a set of winter wheels and tires with the car, and had them installed prior to me picking it up. They are on the car in the picture below. There was initially a pretty strong vibration on acceleration, but that turned out to be a rear wheel tire pressure mismatch, with one tire being over-inflated by nearly 10 PSI. The car does still have a vibration at speed though, and seems to pull to the right now. It honestly feels like the wheels were not balanced properly. Will have the wheels and tires checked soon, but wondered it there was anything anyone could think of that could cause the pulling other than alignment? As I said, car drove straight on test drive, but doesn't on winter wheels and tires. It is possible something happened to the car in between test drive and pickup, as that was over a week, and I am having trouble seeing how a wheel or tire issue could cause such a pull without showing up in uneven wear. Any thoughts?

My second concern was a howling from what appeared to be the power steering pump that appeared 2 days after pickup. A check revealed low power steering fluid, and a refill seemed to tame that noise a bit, but it still is a little noisy, especially on startup. Normal behavior? Or should I take a closer look?

Third, After a couple days I started noticing an intermittent buzzing sound and vibration that could be felt through the brake pedal. It seems to happen mostly in traffic situations, but I am not sure if that is just when I notice it because my foot is on the brake. Normal?

Finally, the hood alignment is slightly off, and I'm anal, so I'm wondering if someone could point me to a tutorial on getting this set properly? It appears there may be three different adjusters on each side, so I wasn't quite sure which to use.


A few non maintence related questions popped up as well. Does anyone have any suggestions for a phone mount that will work with a magnetic mount like a Scosche magic mount? I do not want to block the vents, and I hate shaky window/CD slot mounted junk because I find the vibration distracting. Haven't seen one that seems of appropriate quality and placement yet. Any suggestions?

Also in that vein, what are people using for music integration in their cars? My phone doesn't have a discreet headphone jack, so I am wondering if there is some way to integrate it via bluetooth or the like?

One note. This will not be a forever car for me, as I will be returning to the USA in a few years and will not be able to bring it will me, so the main concern is keeping it healthy while I have it, rather than making it just right for me as a long termer. Not looking to do any major mods.


Oh, and lastly, is there a way to remove the luggage cover from the back of the seats? I don't use it, never have used those, and I don't like the noise it makes over bumps.

A couple pics, because why not?

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...80eb468abd.jpg
My E55 with it's running mate.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...7e46dac1b2.jpg
It handled beer hauling duties quite well on it's break in run. :)

I won't speculate on the other concerns, but as a S211 E500 owner I can tell you how to removed the cargo cover. Lay your rear seats down flat, and the cover will slide out towards the driver's door, if I remember correctly. Mine doesn't rattle, and my son no longer rides in the rear facing seat, so I leave mine in all the time. By the way, congrats on the purchase and feel free to share all the pics you want! I'm pretty happy with my E55 sedan/E500 wagon combo would would grab an E55 wagon in a heartbeat if they weren't so spendy here in the US.

Love the wagon!
However, I am more concerned with how I get my hands on a few of the #12's you have.... Haven't had one of those in almost a decade!!

The brake pedal vibration is your SBC (brake by wire) pump rebuilding pressure. Normal operation. Turn the key to position #2 but do not start the engine. Pump the brakes several times and you will hear and feel the pump rebuilding pressure.

Maintenance- replace the intercooler pump and crankshaft position sensor if they've never been done.

Thanks, I'll try that tonight. It's not a major noise, but I have an issue with noises so anything I can do to make it stop is a major help to my mental health. LOL.

I'm pretty happy with my vehicle combo at the moment, and will be happier once I get my Cayman fully sorted again. I shipped it here from the States, and the shipping company broke all four shock absorbers and the steering rack in the process. Over $6,000 dollars worth of damages. Have had some issues getting everything back to normal, but hopefully should have it finally back ready for prime-time soon. It's nice not to have to drive it every day in the weather here though.

I hadn't had one since 2005-2006myself, which was the last time I made this pilgrimage. Brought a case back to the states and spaced out drinking them with good friends and family. Back then, it was hard to drive home just how special of a thing this was, but now it has become a bit more of a well known thing. We actually stopped at the In der Vrede cafe, which is right across the street from the abbey. Didn't have time to properly place an order this time around, as this was a last minute trip, but planning to do that in the future. As far as getting some for yourself, short of making the trip yourself, I can't really offer good advice. Unfortunately I can't risk mailing these, as our USPS privileges are at risk of forfeit if we send anything that is on the banned list, of which alcohol is a main factor. Would be sending some to friends and family if I could.

Hmm, not a fan of that buzzing thing. Guess I just have to deal with it, but would prefer a traditional braking system, for a number of reasons.

I'll look into the other two items.

My factory headunit only has bluetooth for phone, but not music streaming. I don't think any of the factory units got bluetooth streaming. I just use the auxiliary input in the glove box, I find that to have better sound quality than the bluetooth transmitters I used to use. I would just get a headphone jack adapter for your phone :y

Unfortunately that only works for short trips, as you can't use that jack and charge my phone at the same time. Using NAV and listening to music will kill the battery in about an hour or so.

One minor irritation I am experiencing with my car is a long delay when shifting from reverse to drive. It seems to take nearly 2 seconds to engage drive, and often results in a pretty severe thunk when it does engage, because I got impatient and hit the gas. Anyone else have this issue?

Had this EXACT problem an even had the guys at MB check it out they said it was valve body, then torque converter, and even trans after buyin ot all an it still did it took it to slc MB instead an the head badazz tech found out it was just a linkage adjustement an i didnt need any of the other stuff. Ended up gettin a lawyer an got all my money back for all the parts an labor. So i got a new torque converter, trans, valve body, rear main seal, and tcu all with 2 year warranty for free because the dumb tech at the other dealership failed to look at the linkage which i even asked about. He said its not adjustable lmao. Oh an he happened to be the shop foreman, he was fired 2 weeks later