I know most usually move on to bmw's here, but i just wanted to reach and and see if anyone has experience with the w211 e550's. I'm looking at an 08 e550 certified low miles (34xxx) to replace my 02 tls with 137k on it. Just looking for people with real world experiences with these types of MBs. Thx!!

 

No experience with the 550, but when we were looking to replace the A6 we looked at the W211 E350. We test drove a few and we really did not like it. Car felt very disconnected from the road. Steering was loose, floaty ride (even with the sport package)... just not enjoyable. After talking about it we picked up a CPO W212 instead. Completely different car. Much better ride and drive, peppier engine, and interior was 100x nicer. Not sure if the E550 would be the same, but based on that experience, I don't have a good taste in my mouth from the W211.

 

I have a W211 E63 with 43k miles on it. It's been a good car, but it's had a few issues that are disappointing since it costs $100k new and has such low miles.

 

Be prepared to run into an electrical issue or two every other month.

 

Never had a single electrical issue with mine, and after spending a great deal of time on the MBworld forums I really haven't seen that there either. But perhaps the non-AMG cars are more prone to such things.

 

I agree with Pushing Tin. Did a ton of research before we bought ours and I don't remember reading about electrical issues being very common on the W211. The E-Class is typically very reliable...

 

May be the car we had in the family was a lone culprit but at the same time one of my close friend's first gen CLS had the same syndrome as well, he couldnt wait for the lease to end and turn the car back in, although I must add that he ended up turning it back in for the new E550 and so far he has been happy with it.

 

I dumped my W211 within 2 years. I am happy with my W212 so far.
What year was your W211?