Buying review Mercedes-Benz E-class (W212) 2009-2016 Common Issues Engines Inspection

Hi everyone in today’s review we will take a closer look at the Mercedes-Benz E-class that was built between 2009 and 2016. This car has the internal code W212.

Based on analytics this car is quite popular as an occasion, especially in the United States, that is the reason we will review this car. The e-class sits at the heart of the Mercedes line up. In Europe it is one of the main cars found a the cab stand. Longevity, reliability and comfort are key words when talking about the E-class. We will check if this is the case for the W212 as well.

In 2009 the car came to the market, available as sedan and as estate. Later on Mercedes also sold them as coupes and convertible. But those cars have their own specific attention points that we will not cover in this video.

With all new Mercedes cars, new gadgets will be introduced. Think about Lane Keeping Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, and Blind Spot Monitor. Now available on many cars but back in 2009 exclusively on the E-Class.

In 2013 there was a facelift for the E-class. Most noticeable where the headlight units that where now combined into one unit. Also very important; reliability was improved. Mercedes did a good job since the car now was the most reliable car in the class according to the British consumer association.

The E-Class came with petrol, diesel and diesel hybrid engines.

The availability online for second hand cars. Mostly diesels with an automatic gearbox. If you want a manual you have to look carefully. These cars are designed for long motorway journeys, so a big diesel engine and automatic is the way most customers specify these cars.

Here in Europe used W212’s start at 9000 euro and the most expensive cost 70 up to 80.000 euro’s. I expect prices to drop the next couple of years, mostly since most people view diesel as polluters. Also our government is putting up barriers when it comes to diesel. Some cities will not allow you to drive there with your diesel. Depends on your city and country, sometimes only EURO6 emmisions engines are allowed. Check this for your country before buying such a car.

Strong points of the W212

• Comfortable
• Packed full of gadgets
• The car holds a solid imago

Attention points
Even though the Merc is packed full of gadgets, much of these features where brand new at the time of introduction. What is the result of this 10 years later ? This results in some electronical issues here and there. After the facelift many of these issues were resolved.

• The fuel pump sometimes causes problems, so the car sometimes does not start or delivers less power than normal. Usually this is easy to solve, but sometimes replacement of the fuel pump (to be found under the back seats) is the only remedy
• Ignition locks appear susceptible to faults in the early years of construction. Only the replacement of the ignition locks resolves this problem
• There were some electrical gremlins that will sometimes show up. Think about error messages or staling of the engine. Often these troubles have to do with corroded plugs and or poor connection plugs to the computer / ECU of the car
• When starting with start cables. Observe the instruction manual first. If you do not do it the correct way you might see an increase in error messages and electronical interference. A reset of the car at the dealer is often the only way to solve this.
• Sometimes the lever of the gearbox will not switch out of P. This is often caused by a low battery voltage, but the cause may also be that the switch for the brake lights is broken. If one of these things is not the cause, check in your computer housing whether the car indicates the position of the gearbox. If there is no P/D/R or other standard reading, there is probably a problem with the gearbox itself
• In the case of the four-cylinder running on tree cylinders, it is necessary to replace a plug on one of the injectors
• The Piezo injectors of the E250 CDI are sensitive, simply replacing them will not always do the trick. These injectors have very small margins in which they can operate.
• The automatic gearboxes require a liquid change every 80.000 kilometre or every 3 years. If these gearboxes are not maintained properly the will often run less smooth and start making sounds. Ultimately they will stop functioning.
• Last attention point that is worth mentioning, there were problems with the early hybrids. Sometimes the car would not start anymore, not even when the driver only selected the diesel engine. Problems were fixed with software updates

So all and all quite some attention points, as said earlier the facelift of the car in 2013 turned out to be more reliable. That is not to say that the car that was built between 2009 and 2012 was less reliable, just a few more attention points, these can give you more room to negotiate the price perhaps.

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See you in the next review.