E-Class W212, thoughts?

[8bit]

Mrs. 8 is in the market for a new car, her existing W164 ML320 is becoming quite needy in terms of maintenance and repairs. One possible contender is an E-Class estate, W212 generation. Are there any common quirks on these we should be aware of? Also, what is the diesel/electric hybrid models like, in terms of usability and reliability?

[Scrump]

I have a 212 facelift E350d estate. Only intended for it to be a stopgap but have had it well over 3 years now.
Very comfortable and reliable. Surprisingly rapid. Just a pleasant place to sit and makes long journeys very easy. I have the multi contour dynamic seats which I really like.
Not very economical if used around town.
Not as sporty handling as a 5 series but I suspect better than your wife’s current car.

The only issue I had was the rear air suspension dropping. It needed a new airbag which was covered under warranty. From reading forums it seems that this is not an uncommon failure.

[8bit]

Thanks for that. Regards handling, that's not of particular concern really and yes, likely to be far better than the ML anyway - likewise the fuel consumption. Does your E350d have the 3.0 V6 turbo diesel? If so then that's what our ML has, it's a great engine but it is thirsty, this is one of the other primary reasons for wanting to change the car.

Regards the air suspension, do these all have that or was it an option/trim specific?

[Mr E]

All estates had rear air suspension I think.
Some cars have air all round. Mine hasn’t failed yet.

Had a pano roof leak, which was painful on the wallet.

I dream of 350d economy.

[AC43]

I've got a 2010 E500. I've taken it from 56 to 71k since March 2017 and its been pretty faultless. Although, like one of the other posters, I also have rear airbag that's leaking very slightly. Other than that all it's consumed has been 2 x ball joints.

I bought it to replace an earlier E500 which made it to 145k with minimal fuss.

They are solid, relaxing durable and a great way to cover huge distances.

Mine has air suspension all round (an option on non-500's) which adds another layer of sound insulation and means that the body control is uncanny even when loaded up at high speed.

[Scrump]

Estates have rear self levelling air suspension as standard. Full air is an option.
Mine is the V6 3.0, has the stop start and the 7G+ gearbox.

[8bit]

Thanks all, much appreciated.

Scrump said:

Estates have rear self levelling air suspension as standard. Full air is an option.
Mine is the V6 3.0, has the stop start and the 7G+ gearbox.

Essentially the same powertrain the ML has then. How's the transmission? I find it sometimes fairly unpredictable in the ML, sometimes you put the foot down and it responds quickly, sometimes it seems to take a couple of seconds to kick down. Our ML is a MY2009 car, though so probably an earlier revision than yours.

[a8hex]

LadyB8 runs a W212 350d estate (E 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY), hers is an Elegance or Avantgarde, can't remember, it was the "I don't want the Sport" option and like rocking horse dropping when we bought it. We've probably had it for 7 or 8 years. It's been pretty reliable, massively more than the W210 it replaced which we'd had from new and spent so much time at the dealers I hardly washed it in the first 4 years. The W212 hasn't rusted like the previous one either.
It's a pretty good place to sit for long trips, quiet, comfortable, surprisingly pokey particularly through the mid range. During last year's service the dealer loaded a firmware update related to the emissions test cheating and there's noticeably more turbo lag when pulling off at junctions than there used to be.
Handles much better than the earlier one too. I don't think it tracks quite as true as my Jags, but not at all bad.
We've had no major issues, just the occasional electrical gremlins.

[Inspectorclueso]

I’ve had an E350 Cdi for nearly five years, just gone over 100 k miles. Overall, it’s been excellent, I’ve kept it this long because I find it very hard to see what else does what it can. It pulls well, toes, has the seven seat option and isn’t a fortune to run. I had a GL 420 before and the E does most of what that did, but if far cheaper to run.

What out for oil,leaks, there are a couple of items that fail, cheap on parts expensive on labour. No other trouble in my time with the car.

[Monkeylegend]

8bit said:

Mrs. 8 is in the market for a new car, her existing W164 ML320 is becoming quite needy in terms of maintenance and repairs. One possible contender is an E-Class estate, W212 generation. Are there any common quirks on these we should be aware of? Also, what is the diesel/electric hybrid models like, in terms of usability and reliability?

Do you research very carefully if you are thinking of getting the diesel hybrid.

Many tales of unreliability, starting issues, new battery packs required costing £10-12k, Mercedes themselves not being able to sort many issues due to lack of trained staff and the complexity of the engine/hybrid system, the list goes on.

They discontinued the diesel hybrid sometime ago, that should tell you what you need to know.

As far as the E220 diesel goes, mine is up to 317k miles now with no major issues at all

[Scrump]

8bit said:

Essentially the same powertrain the ML has then. How's the transmission? I find it sometimes fairly unpredictable in the ML, sometimes you put the foot down and it responds quickly, sometimes it seems to take a couple of seconds to kick down. Our ML is a MY2009 car, though so probably an earlier revision than yours.

I don't whether you have the 5 speed or the 7 speed. My 2014 has the later 7+ gearbox and it is fine once moving, kickdown and in gear response is no problem.
There is a delay when pulling away from stationary, this seems common on many newer vehicles, but doesn't excuse it.