I've done a ton of reading on MB and for someone like myself, who does a lot of their own maintenance, a 2010/2011 E63 is looking like an affordable way to get in to a nice Benz.

I'm not a rich man by any means, but I do have access to a shop with many tools to do most of the work on cars.

Changing things like brakes, ball joints, tie rod ends, CV joints etc, and changing fluids like trans/rad/oil/steering is no problem.

My concern is the head-bolts, and the transmission.

I learned from the C63, the head-bolts can be an issue. I'm assuming it's the same for the E63 '10-11?

Any issue with this being an early iteration of the MCT transmission?

I have done reading but couldn't find any conclusive information as this is a somewhat rare car in the MB lineup.

Thank you for being awesome people

 

Hello,

So I have a 2011 and a 2015. I am actually selling my 2011 after I get it back from the dealer. Getting all new exhaust covered under extended warranty. A coil shorted and blew the main fuse to the ignition system thereby dumping raw fuel into the very hot cats where it exploded and blew apart the exhaust components (cats, mufflers, etc). This is a very rare failure for these cars. However, it annoys me to no end as a product design engineer that they did not consider this failure mode when determining potential risks and hazards as all of us product engineers are required to do where safety is involved. The guys in Stuttgart did consider a coil failing (by going open circuit) and then shut down fuel to that cylinder to avoid damage. BUT THEY SOMEHOW MISSED the scenario where all cylinders lose spark and fuel just keeps going. Ugh. So after the fire department came and declared everything safe ( someone else on the freeway called them WHEN FLAMES CAME OUT OF MY EXHAUST!) the car was towed to the dealer. The dealer then replaced both cat assemblies and O2 sensors and the faulty coil. That took them about 7 weeks while they waited on parts from Germany. Had the car back for 1 day and I was hearing horrible sounds coming out of the exhaust. Took it back to the dealer and they discovered (even though I told them to check it when they had it the first time) that pieces of the cats blew into the mufflers. DUH! So now I am told that the right side muffler assembly won't be available from Germany for yet another 6 weeks from today.

Are you kidding me? So let's see: MB engineers failed to predict and put mitigation in place for a failure mode that could potentially catch a car on fire, then they refuse to take any responsibility for repair cost on a 6-1/2 year old car with only 60k miles on it, and they top it off by demonstrating absolutely no urgency in expediting a part even when they are making money off of their blunder (the 3rd party warranty company is paying for the damage). I raised the heat with MBUSA and reminded them that I currently own 3 MB's and have owned 6 total over the years. Didn't matter. My SA also escalated matters. Didn't matter. So at the moment I am a bit pissed at MB to say the least. I am paying insurance and registration for a car that they have already had for nearly 3 months and I still have another 6 weeks if I am lucky.

Sorry for the rant. To answer your initial question:

There is a guy (someone else will remember his name) on this site that you can send a VIN number to and he will tell you if you have the head bolt issue or not. My 2011 did not fortunately.

I have had no issues with the trans. In fact I prefer the performance of the 2011 trans over my 2015 trans to be honest.

These M156 engines are known for valve train wear. Cam lobes and lifters and such. Although mine did not have any issues there. I know this because right before the incident above I spun a #5 rod bearing! Ugh. $19k repair and yet another 3 months at the dealer shop. Warranty company paid for that too. New crank, all new rod and main bearings, and a new rod for #5.

I can't think of any other things to consider at the moment.

Good Luck!

 

You can avoid the head bolt issue if you go with a later build 2011 E63. I have the MCT transmission and no problems, however at 72,000 miles its already had two fluid/filter changes. From your comment on repairs you must have a STAR or similar diagnostic tool and also the special sockets etc necessary to work on the E63. Also, the front brakes and rotors are very expensive, 700.00 to 1200.00 for each rotor plus the cost of pads. If the car has the carbon ceramic front brakes, they will cost at least double that for rotors and pads.

 

This is what scares me. Though this can happen with any car. I'm just wondering if it's more likely with a MB vs <insert other brand>.

I have an Acura right now with 450,000km that's had very few problems. It's spoiled me. I don't think I can afford to be out of pocket 20k USD if I spin a bearing in an E63 I pick up.

Some of these came with carbon ceramic brakes!? Yeah I'd really like to avoid that.

I realize there's going to be a tax associated with buying an AMG. Parts are going to be more. I can at least save on labour, granted I have the right tools. Which I probably do as my father is a british car enthusiast, and I'm considering abandoning the Japanese ship.

Thanks for the thoughtful advice, it gives me a lot more info.

 

I've read vrodman's story several times and it's clearly a horrific one, and 1 of the few really bad stories I've heard. Undoubtedly every manufacturer has their 2% or so of really problem product that had an issue or wasn't assembled well from the factory for whatever inexcusable reason. I would venture to say a significantly larger population of owners have had great experiences with E63 M156's and there is a thread around here about those with mega-miles. I bought a used one with low miles and love it. Don't let it scare you: use reasonable and best efforts to make sure you're buying an example from the significantly larger fraction of the population that has proven healthy and already had the headbolts done if that was required. A dealer can tell you. I called my local dealer and he gave me all completed service history on the car. Frankly, one of the advantages of buying a used car is you get the chance to find out if it's already well-sorted or not.

 

BTW, after buying my car used, I noticed the rear air springs had a small leak that cause the back end to sag over time. Rear air springs are, of course, not exclusive to the M156 cars. Though I had never messed with air suspension before, I replace them myself a month or so ago. Pretty easy project, actually. I imagine it would be a harder project for the non-AMG cars that had air struts up front, but air springs are straight forward. If I ever had to do it again, I could do it in half the time (isn't that always true).

 

He is correct in that the issues I had are not common. I believe I said this in the post. For whatever It's worth, I also snapped a half axle about 4 months before the spun rod bearing! lol. Again, covered by warranty. The 3rd party warranty company I have is not going to be sending me any xmas cards this year!

And yes, I have reported these incidents in a couple of other posts in the past. However, the BS part delays from Stuttgart is a new development. And it is this more than anything else that has me chapped as I understand that things sometime just break that are not common. Think about this for a minute. Stuttgart has ZERO right side muffler assemblies available for these models! ZERO. Just makes no sense. God forbid they have a few parts sitting on a shelf for a bit until they are needed. Might cost them $100. Nope. Let's just wait until someone needs the part and then MAKE IT. Unbelievable.

Lastly, you should recognize that I also just bought a 2015 about 4 months ago and love it. I also bought a brand new 2000 E55 back in 1999 and that thing was almost bullet proof. Never a serious problem in 200k miles. So I am a believer in AMG. I am just really annoyed at their current business practices. Really not MB like.

If you find a car you like, get it checked for the head bolts and listen for valve-train noise. Of course pay $100 or so to get a full inspection from a mechanic on a lift. You will love it if it passes the tests!

Cheers

 

I've had a pretty positive experience on owning my 2010 (touch wood) model. I've had it for over 3 years and the only time it left me stranded was when two of the accessory pullies decided to seize and sheer the belt. Apart from it being an inconvenience, the repair cost me around £200GBP and it included changing all 5 pullies, plus the main drive belt on my driveway.

I was under the impression that the 2010 + models all had the revised headbolts, cam gears etc, but you can validate this by looking under the hood for black valve covers instead of the white ones in earlier engines.

I believe cams/tappets are something which plague all M156 engines at some point in their lives, regardless of MY, so that's most likely going to be the thing you can count on to fail at some point. Usually these failures are few and far between though, so I wouldn't lose much sleep over it if the previous owner was a badass and kept it serviced regularly with good oil and always warmed their car up before driving it harder.

Aside from that...sure, every car has it's other 'common' problems if not maintained nicely, so don't worry about it too much. One thing I will say though - the M156 engine E63 in my humble opinion is a little slow out of the box....it does need mods to make it exciting and snappy to drive. If this doesn't bother you too much, then you'll love it. I do. It has handled pretty much every situation for me really well and I'll be very sad to see it go (mine is up for sale now).

 

 

lol this is sooo true!

Every Mercedes I've driven and owned has had the same bizarre alignment issue where the wheel wants to always rotate to the left. W124, W210, W211 (two of them!) and my W212...ok well my W212 hasn't got it yet, but I'm sure some day it will, haha.

 

All good info ^

I've owned my 2010 E63 for coming up on 3 years now. Almost 155,000 miles on it. About to take it on a 4000mi+ trip.

Other than munching on tires its been great.

My biggest issue is the Conductor plate/valve body had to be replaced, and that was the only work done to it that i couldn't do myself. Ran like $2k from the dealer. Car would not go into drive.

Other than that....
Aux battery
Main battery
Voltage regulator
Both engine mounts
Front sway bar end links
Brake pads on all 4 corners
Gear selector assembly (my fault)
A plastic air line running from the compressor to valve block causing "Airmatic Malfunction"
One headlight bulb
Cracked dipstick
Cracked Oil fill cap
Serpentine belt

All that i did myself. Before my long trip, im going to-
Change the coolant (was 2-3 oz low, i've never had to add any since i purchased it, needs to be changed anyways)
Remove the belt and inspect all pulleys
Change oil
Change spark plugs
Install a new battery


Other than that... Just mods. Every single fluid in the car has been changed at least once, other than the coolant (which im about to do)
Oh i also replaced both bumpers, all the grilles in the front bumper, and the side skirt due to someone hitting me/ previous damage

I absolutely love the car. As mentioned before, the m156 e63 doesn't just walk other performance cars and drop jaws. But it is fast without a doubt, with a lovely sounding powerplant, combined with a nice, comfortable, good looking luxury car.

I won't lie though, owning it out of warranty is eerie at times. The "Low coolant" message made my heart drop (figuring:headbolt) but being that the car still runs and idles as usual.. plus it was only down a tiny bit... plus it hasn't lost any more... plus it has no other signs of that issue... plus the oil analysis came back clean.. i am thinking it's okay

I wouldn't own this car if i had to haul it to the dealer for every single issue. It would not even be close to worth the hassle/money.

Working on it myself is interesting. I get to learn more about it as i do repairs.


Just look for one with verifiable, acceptable service records. It took me months if not almost a year to find one with the options and the records to match.

Before i got mine, it had an intake manifold gasket replaced (61k), a rattling noise in the pano roof fixed (12k), the COMAND knob replaced (91k), and Pad/Rotors changed 5-10k miles before i got it.

Other than that, normal maintenance, most importantly- religious oil changes.

Feel free to ask me any questions if you feel like it. I *may* can help

 

Reading all of that made me think....the M156 needs more people like you. Good attitude towards owning a car like this.

I do wonder though if the M156 is a little in the shadow of the more tunable M157, esp now that they're only a few G''s more to buy. I've had my car for sale now for a week but not had a single enquiry yet. I'm not sure if it's the miles, the time of year or the price. My guess is the miles. I don't know why, but people seem to be afraid of AMGs with higher miles, eventhough they have a first class service record. It's just the way of the.world I suppose.

 

+1. Definitely, from dinman's posts, it's amazing to hear and see what he has done via diy to keep that M156 powered W212 in top condition.

 

The most common problem you'll find is having morons in an Altima or Infiniti equivalent with an eBay exhaust trying to race you.

 

Yep. And me personally, i'd rather have a well maintained higher mileage car than a low mileage, abused, just out of warranty car

Thank you sir. Trying to keep it in one piece

Very true





To the OP: An example of "problems you may have"

Yesterday i changed my spark plugs and 3 guide pulleys. Spark plugs were original (153k miles) and so were the pulleys. Spark plugs didn't look too bad. The pulleys were pretty shot, all made a lot of noise.








​​​​​​

 

I think the OP may have changed their mind regarding purchasing a Mercedes E63. The OP has not responded to this thread in about 10 days.

 

life goes on...