Looking For Info - Mercedes E550 2012-2016

[brucebanner]

I've been thinking about picking one of these up for several months as a secondary year round driver. It would see maybe 10k kms driving a year I would guesstimate. I've been researching for a long time and haven't really been scared away from the idea yet. I finally drove one(2016) earlier this week and as I expected, really enjoyed it.

I've never had something like this before and the potential maintenance costs are my biggest hang up. I like the exterior styling more of the 12-13 than 14-16 and don't think there is that much difference between the 2 besides looks but would like the hear otherwise.

Looking for some pros and cons, reasons to stay away or not? (Besides it being a 10+ year old German car)

Help me out beyond, I need all of it here!

[ExtraSlow]

No help, just support. This is a cool car idea.

[flipstah]

I had one and the V8 was very potent but the AIRMATIC air bags were leaking on me

I bet the Merc would’ve been more reliable than my S3 right now

It was a beast on ski trips. Put a Thule and you’re set

[killramos]

The V8 is very solid. Air suspension is a wear item as mentioned.

Interior pretty dated.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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The V8 is very solid. Air suspension is a wear item as mentioned.

Interior pretty dated.

There must be aftermarket solutions for this by now that don't wear out or fail so quickly.
Mustn't there?

[killramos]

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There must be aftermarket solutions for this by now that don't wear out or fail so quickly.
Mustn't there?

Sure. Being poor is always an option.

MB air suspension is great. It’s just an expensive wear item.

[ExtraSlow]

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There must be aftermarket solutions for this by now that don't wear out or fail so quickly.
Mustn't there?

Swap in metal springs you mean? Yeah, but that's losing one of the cooler features of the car.
Used to be popular with those Ford expeditions that had air suspension, but that's both a domestic and a truck, so maybe a different clientele than euro-luxury stuff.

Note, back in the day and expedition truly was truck-based.

[brucebanner]

Not concerned with the dated interior, it'll actually be nicer than anything I have now.. well unless someone would rather spend time in a Pacifica

Air suspension was on my radar but I didn't originally mention it. Everything I can find generally says the drivetrain is really good. I would imagine I would be ordering a tune for it rather quickly but not much more otherwise. Maybe something exhaust wise to wake it up a little. It was really tame, even on the loud pedal.

The 2 cars on my radar are low km, both under 100kms. With the 2012 having approximately 20k more than the 2016.

[Xtrema]

Didn't @Cos just picked up one of these?

[JfuckinC]

we had a discussion about this in another thread, lots of guys interested in them haha i like both the pre face lift and face lift versions.. good luck on the hunt man keep us in the loop. i dont have much else to ad i looked for a while but then i picked up the smashed ZL1 so stopped looking.. I even had my wife convinced it was a good idea because it had 4 doors

[bjstare]

Yeah these have been somewhat common among beyonders. I think @rage2 has a sibling with one.

[beyond_ban]

I had a 2012 E550 coupe and loved it. I think the styling is timeless (less the aforementioned dated interior, which really isn't that bad) and the engine is a beast. Resonator delete (if you want to save some shekels) really wakes the exhaust note up without any real downsides. While it has enough juice to put a smile on your face from factory, throw a tune on and you'll quickly be addicted to the seemingly limitless torque. Price to enjoyment ratio is high and they are surprisingly very stout when it comes to reliability. The only downside is in non-AMG cars you cannot turn off the TC completely unless you put it into dyno mode which is annoying to do and also kills your power steering. Can still get the tail out a bit but not as much as a non-M beemer.

That all said, i cannot recommend one enough.

[flipstah]

Mine was the pre-face lift so this brings me back

[dj_rice]

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There must be aftermarket solutions for this by now that don't wear out or fail so quickly.
Mustn't there?

I believe Arnott is a cheaper solution than OEM. Rock Auto should carry them

[benyl]

The E550 is nearly as fast as the E63 (well the CLS550 anyway). If you get a late 2016, I think Carplay works. Might even work in a 2015. Won't work in the 2014 for sure.

I prefer the facelift over the non facelift W212.

[rage2]

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Yeah these have been somewhat common among beyonders. I think @rage2 has a sibling with one.

Yea my brother has one. Let's see if he'll chime in. He chipped his, and lowered his (cheap and easy), it's obnoxiously loud with the farts that sound like a machine gun. And while my E53 easily kills his E550 off the line, he's got way more top end and blows by me around 140km/h.

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The E550 is nearly as fast as the E63 (well the CLS550 anyway). If you get a late 2016, I think Carplay works. Might even work in a 2015. Won't work in the 2014 for sure.

I prefer the facelift over the non facelift W212.

haha I just rewatched the old video. And yea, still shocked how close CLS550 was to your E63, and that's with @Mibz driving the CLS for the first time (I think).

[rage2]

From my brother:

Yeah definitely some maintenance things:

- cylinder wall scoring (get the car scoped with inspection), if it hasn’t happened already it won’t happen
- cam position sensor oil in wires
- cam adjusters
- turbo coolant hoses (cracks with age)

Bore score is the big one, otherwise it’s all preventative maintenance. Most of that is pre 2014 cars.

Oh yeah include everything airmatic

[brucebanner]

Thanks everyone, we'll see what happens and see if there is a deal to be made or not. Gathering info is never a bad thing. I'll be sure to keep those items in mind for an inspection if I make it to that point.

I would be happy with either car that I'm looking at I'm sure but the '16 is black in color and is pretty well that last color I would choose.