E350 money sink

[MerrieMike]

Having owned an E350 CDI Blue Efficiency Avantgarde for almost a year and a half, I have regretfully decided to get rid of what has turned out to be a money sink. To date we have spent over £6k on repairs, and I am appalled at the cost of parts and the difficulty of obtaining them. I am not convinced that the Mercedes diagnostic system is all that it is cracked up to be, and of course it is only as good as the operator. Sad, because we love the quietness and comfort of the car, but the price is just ridiculous. I think back to when I had a series III Landrover LWB Safari. I was forever underneath the thing, but at least I could repair it and my good lady had no difficulty falling asleep in it in spite of the 2,25litre diesel! Sadly, good examples fetch house prices (or nearly).

 

[robsterpaterson]

Having owned an E350 CDI Blue Efficiency Avantgarde for almost a year and a half, I have regretfully decided to get rid of what has turned out to be a money sink. To date we have spent over £6k on repairs, and I am appalled at the cost of parts and the difficulty of obtaining them. I am not convinced that the Mercedes diagnostic system is all that it is cracked up to be, and of course it is only as good as the operator. Sad, because we love the quietness and comfort of the car, but the price is just ridiculous. I think back to when I had a series III Landrover LWB Safari. I was forever underneath the thing, but at least I could repair it and my good lady had no difficulty falling asleep in it in spite of the 2,25litre diesel! Sadly, good examples fetch house prices (or nearly).

Could you detail the issues you've had please?

 

[markjay]

Sorry to hear that.

Unfortunately modern Diesel engines can be costly to maintain and repair, especially the emissions control systems (and even more so with cars fitted with the dreaded AdBlu system, which luckily you car doesn't have).

What are you considering as your next buy? Presumably a petrol car this time? Or perhaps an EV?

 

[Fady]

I had one of those for 9 years (albeit in Sports trim) and cannot recollect spending anything on it beyond service costs and a replacement battery. Rear suspension was beginning to drop randomly overnight but indie was unable to diagnose the fault since it didn't happen all the time but I px'ed it like that. So sounds like OP is unlucky. Could have been mileage dependent I guess as I never got to 60k.

Also - didn't all of the Blue Efficiency cars pre-date AdBlue?

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Having owned an E350 CDI Blue Efficiency Avantgarde for almost a year and a half, I have regretfully decided to get rid of what has turned out to be a money sink. To date we have spent over £6k on repairs, and I am appalled at the cost of parts and the difficulty of obtaining them. I am not convinced that the Mercedes diagnostic system is all that it is cracked up to be, and of course it is only as good as the operator. Sad, because we love the quietness and comfort of the car, but the price is just ridiculous. I think back to when I had a series III Landrover LWB Safari. I was forever underneath the thing, but at least I could repair it and my good lady had no difficulty falling asleep in it in spite of the 2,25litre diesel! Sadly, good examples fetch house prices (or nearly).

That's a lot! Ive spent a fair bit on my S212 E250 - probably less than £4k though in 5 years or so (excluding servicing). For sure it's not been anywhere near as reliable as my old Mondeo Mk4 though it is i would say more complex, and on balance i prefer it. The self levelling suspension i think you have to treat as a consumable to be honest. I would say ive been a bit disappointed in the robustness of things like engine mounts, and some of the components that have failed (oil cooler etc). I paid less than £10k for mine though 5 or so years ago and on balance i think it's a lot of car for the money, even with the repair costs.

 

[W1ghty]

Wow , sorry to hear about the costs , that’s shocking , I’ve not spent that in 12 years and 130k miles (servicing and all parts) .
Sounds like you have just been unlucky .

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

I did spend a lot on my car in the past few years, even though it had FMBSH and already had the oil cooler seals done. No major problems really but at the end of the day the equivalent car is 50-60k and if you buy one for under 10k you’re still going to have 50k car problems. Or at least maintain it with OEM or MB parts, decent tyres and brakes, gearbox servicing etc.

Doing nearly all the work myself helped, but once they get over 100k miles they aren’t cheap to maintain - I assume the OP had a major issue though, curious to hear what it is!

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Wow , sorry to hear about the costs , that’s shocking , I’ve not spent that in 12 years and 130k miles (servicing and all parts) .
Sounds like you have just been unlucky .

Mines now on about 125k but engine and trans mounts were completely shot at 80k. Made a huge difference to the smoothness and was only about 400 quid.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

I have to say that coming from BMW, MB are more expensive parts wise. Maybe the OP had the rear subframe rust issue and paid for it themselves?

 

[kam09]

I would take a guess on the oil cooler seal needed replacing which would have been approx 1/4 of op's outlay!

 

[W1ghty]

Mines now on about 125k but engine and trans mounts were completely shot at 80k. Made a huge difference to the smoothness and was only about 400 quid.

Yep , mine were done at around 100k as a treat for the old girl .

 

[MerrieMike]

Sorry to hear that.

Unfortunately modern Diesel engines can be costly to maintain and repair, especially the emissions control systems (and even more so with cars fitted with the dreaded AdBlu system, which luckily you car doesn't have).

What are you considering as your next buy? Presumably a petrol car this time? Or perhaps an EV?

It's a bit early to think about particular cars. Our main concern is to get the remaining issues sorted and an MOT. We cannot afford to spend a great deal on the next one, and it's tempting to keep this one for a while, but I'm very wary about doing this. Certainly not in the market for an EV, although an older Prius plus is a possibility. Really something basic that won't have the electrical sophistication which has been the problem with the merc. I thought that Mercs were built to last, but quite clearly not, and not a patch on the Volvos and Saabs we have had.

 

[MerrieMike]

Could you detail the issues you've had please?

New brake pipes all round, plus new discs and pads, then multiple electrical problems.

 

[markjay]

I had one of those for 9 years (albeit in Sports trim) and cannot recollect spending anything on it beyond service costs and a replacement battery. Rear suspension was beginning to drop randomly overnight but indie was unable to diagnose the fault since it didn't happen all the time but I px'ed it like that. So sounds like OP is unlucky. Could have been mileage dependent I guess as I never got to 60k.

Also - didn't all of the Blue Efficiency cars pre-date AdBlue?

BlueEFFICIENCY cars had various (suttle) mods to improve fuel consumption and reduce emissions. The cars were both Diesel and petrol.

BlueTEC cars were Diesel with AdBlue. Total nightmare.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

Im not aware of the electronics on W212s being problematic, at least not at the current age of the cars. Do you mind elaborating on the problem?

 

[Smiley]

Running a 10 yr old merc is going to be expensive - unless you can a lot of the work yourself. The quality of the brake pipes is pretty shocking but really they should not be more than £1,000 tops to sort all of them. Pads and discs are consumables on all cars so you can not really count those against the car. If someone has taken £4,000 off you for sorting electrical problems on a 212 then either you have a real problem child car or your mechanic / garage does not know what they are doing - imho.

 

[tygertyger]

Wow, sounds like you’ve been really unlucky

 

[Headhurts]

The 212 range I thought to be pretty reliable, I purchased a new S212 E350 in 2016 and had it for 5 1/2 years it was very reliable overall just servicing and MOT.

I did have a new shock absorber fitted just out of warranty but Mercedes contributed 30% to this.

I hope you get yours sorted as that combination is pretty well matched.

Robin

 

[rich1068]

Running a 10 yr old merc is going to be expensive

Shouldn't be though should it?

(Your comment just got me thinking @Smiley My reply isn't necessarily aimed at you)

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Shouldn't be though should it?

(Your comment just got me thinking @Smiley My reply isn't necessarily aimed at you)

I tend to agree. My Mondeo had done 160k miles when i sold it to a neighbour (its still going) and was over 10 years old - and all it cost me was a DMF and clutch (it was manual - the DMF failed) and drop links. The Mondeo is actually a very well engineered car and dynamically way ahead of the S212. But it doesn't have that special kind of feeling that i like about the Merc. If i was after a pure tool to get me and "stuff" from A to B though i would go for the Mondeo. Its strange because the Merc feels more solid and durable, but the evidence suggests it isnt!