First few weeks with w211 e55

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DavidL

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 3, 2014
Messages
1,003
Car
s203 C55, x218 CLS63
I thought I'd jot down a few notes about my initial experiences.
Generally good, very comfortable and large, certainly easier to manage with than the impreza it will ultimately replace.
Goes well enough although maybe not as quick as I had imagined. It might be that you don't get that much sense of speed but the numbers do increase pretty rapidly.
It's not all that loud either but that might be part of its appeal.
There have been a few niggles too, mainly electrical.
I find that if I don't use it for a couple of days the drivers mirror will sometimes not unfold. If I relock and unlock it will behave then. Similarly for the cargo blind. It sometimes doesn't raise with the tailgate and once it has once its fine.
I've had 2 faults on the dash. ESP popped up on a long drive. Didn't make any difference and as the tracking needs doing - steering wheel isn't straight in the straight ahead position - I think that explains that.
Also one episode of the visit workshop and the car and up arrow, so suspension. Not happened since and the car sits level enough and repsonds to the 3 settings. I haven't tried the raise button.
Also today I stopped the car and there wa a loud buzzing from the front passenger side of the engine compartment which didn't stop when the ignition was switched off.
Once we set off and travelled for an hour it seemed to stop quickly and certainly wasn't on when we arrived at home. No error messages.
I think this is where the air suspension pump is but I'm not expecting issues here as the inspection noted it looked new or in good condition.
Hopefully it will not reoccur but I shall keep and eye on it.
One last thing, is there no way to display the time on the centre console?
You don't see the clock well from the passenegr side and it would be odd to have all those functions and not the clock.

Cheers

David
 
The buzzing sound you hear is the SBC pump going through its cycle.
 
The buzzing sound you hear is the SBC pump going through its cycle.

Ok thanks. So now often does it do this as I haven't heard it before and we were stationnary for 20 mins and it was still going.
It would be a releif to know its "normal".
SBC had about 350000 operations when I bought it so not new but with a good bit of life in it yet.
 
You should hear it as soon as you unlock the door, I'll admit that it scared me to death on my first ever W211, I didn't have a clue what it was and it didn't sound 'natural'.

Great system though, people only complain about it because of the potential replacement cost but just keep in mind that it was developed with the Maybach in mind (also used on the SLR which is the best car ever made)
 
The buzzing sound you hear is the SBC pump going through its cycle.

Hope it wasn't! The SBC pump only comes on for a couple of seconds at a time and after the first one on average every fourth use of the brakes.
 
Most people find the car very quick to accelerate, particularly low in the rev range - sledgehammer torque hit almost from idle thanks to the supercharger. What were you thinking of to compare it to?

If the SBC unit has done 350,000 cycles, it may be that it has already been reset once (rumoured to be needed at 300,000).

You might like to set the mirrors to manual fold only; if not, unless they've already been done, the wires will eventually break and you will lose the mirror adjustment function and the indicator repeater.

It's easy to make the exhaust louder, but the (relative) quietness is certainly part of the appeal for me. I prefer the performance to do the talking, not the exhaust...
 
Also one episode of the visit workshop and the car and up arrow, so suspension. Not happened since and the car sits level enough and repsonds to the 3 settings. I haven't tried the raise button.

Star will tell you the fault, mine did the same, white up arrow, star showed pump not reaching optimal pressure so I changed it out, better than being left stranded if it does fail.
 
I'll see how it goes but a trip to a Star dealer might be in order.
Speed - well on paper the e55 has the same ptw as my old 996 turbo and seems to hit 60 and 100 in almost the same time. A fraction slower (tenths) maybe.
Now my 996 had been tweaked to 490 so quite a hike from 420 and yes its a much heavier car so I'm being a bit unfair but I don't think it would see which way the 996 went. It is much quicker than my 944t which runs 315bhp ish so I think it performs as it should.
I'm not complaining, its plenty quick enough and the 996 only lasted a year as it was fairly unusable on the roads but boy did it shift.

My feeling is that todays epsiode was the suspension pump so not what it should do. We shall see.
 
I'd get that buzzing sound looked at. SBC pump as stated should only sound for a few seconds. Certainly not for 20 minutes continuously.

Have you got an indy in your area yet?
 
Its the first time its happened and nothing untoward appeared to result but yes prevention not cure.
But isn't the suspension pump not the sbc pump at the front of the car on the passenger side. That's wher it sounded as though it was coming from.
What about the clock - no way to show the time on the comand screen?
Indie - PC Autocare in Lydiard Millicent or there is a chap our member Rusty suggested. Merc only apparently but I don't know if he has star (which I'd need)
 
You're correct. I should have stated passenger side is suspension pump and drivers side is SBC. The SBC pump actuates every time you start the car for a few seconds. Never heard my air suspension pump so wouldn't know what that sounds like if there is a problem.

Sorry, Lydiard Millicent could be on the moon. Never heard of it:eek:What county?
 
Lydiard Millicent is just outside Swindon.
I'm aware of the air pump running briefly especially at startup and you get the odd brake pedal "fizz" which I believe is the SBC doing its thing.
 
I agree with the sense of speed - it doesn't seem like the car is moving fast when numbers disagree.

I have the odd quirks on mine. Been better since the electrics were sorted nearly a year ago.

ESP is indeed the steering wheel not being straight ahead.

Star will tell you the fault, mine did the same, white up arrow, star showed pump not reaching optimal pressure so I changed it out, better than being left stranded if it does fail.

Same here a year ago. Had been doing it since I bought it in 03/2011.

Buzzing could be SBC. If you switch off during a pump cycle, you could still be hearing that and you will get a louder one when you next go to start the car.

I let it finish the cycle before switching off.
 
As said above, Air pump is under the front wing below and to the rear of the nsf headlamp. Ive only heard mine when its bleeding air off.

My car the Sbc pump does its thing when i 1st open the drivers door or unlock it. as above i always let it finish its cycle before turning off also lol.

Ive never heard my Air pump runing.
 
As said above, Air pump is under the front wing below and to the rear of the nsf headlamp. Ive only heard mine when its bleeding air off.

My car the Sbc pump does its thing when i 1st open the drivers door or unlock it. as above i always let it finish its cycle before turning off also lol.

Ive never heard my Air pump runing.

Mine is quieter though if I turn off during the cycle does it make any odds on your car?
 
lol errrrm ive honestly never turned it off whilst its doing a cycle doh!!:doh:

If it's anything like mine - you will certainly hear it if you do.

If you don't - it's very quiet.
 
You might like to set the mirrors to manual fold only; if not, unless they've already been done, the wires will eventually break and you will lose the mirror adjustment function and the indicator repeater. ..

I was not aware of this feature, I would like to set the mirrors to manual, is it easy to do?
 
Yes, dead easy. Page 145 in your Owner's Manual. (No good looking for 'Mirrors' in the index, though; it's under 'Exterior Mirrors')
 
it's under the "settings" menu on the central display
 

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