Mercedes E55 AMG hunt (W211)

[kevm14]

Took the E55 to pick up Ian after school yesterday. I have been switching back and forth between it and the STS on days that I pick him up. Boy that power difference...

There was a flatbed truck and a car in front of me on 102. I decided that wouldn't do so I just put it right to the floor from maybe 50 (so it clicked the kickdown switch at the end of the throttle travel). It kicked down to 2nd and by the time I had moved back into my lane, speedo said almost 90. I would have loved to see that from outside the car, just adding 40 mph in no space at all.

[kevm14]

Attempted to check the oil with my dipstick. It seemed quite low. I ran the oil check routine in the car and it said add 1.5 qts. My first question is, why didn't it have me add 1 qt before it got to 1.5 qts low? Second, exactly how low is the actual level? Hard to say. Really not getting a good reading with the dipstick.

I added everything I had left of my LiquiMoly 5W-40 which was something under 2L. That satisfied the computer so that checks out I suppose. But checking the level I still couldn't get a good reading on the dipstick. Annoying.

I also need to check the computer because it tracks how many miles until the next oil change (decrements from 10,000, no real algorithms). Then I can divide by my 1.5+ qts of oil added and see what the consumption is. It's going to probably end up around a quart every 1,400 miles which is....not as good as I thought it was since it never asked me to add and I also never checked. I guess I'll have to run the check procedure periodically though I expected it to alert me before 1.5 qts. Maybe at 2 qts? I thought it was supposed to do it at 1 though.

Also I think it's going to need a main battery. But that seems like something better to do next spring.

All of this is still true. Says 1 (driveway before cold start) or 1.5 qt low (at Lowes after a warm start). Just over 134k. I think a lot of the issue is a leak because the driveway looks like this:

I feel like a leak is actually good news because I'm hoping it's just that drain plug for the main sump. I think I need to just replace the gasket. Not ready to do an oil change but I think I could plug the hole with my finger while I put the new washer on the plug. That seems hilarious enough to work.

Oh and the battery part is still true. It hasn't not started which is pretty surprising but while I was in Lowes running the oil level check the battery protection system kicked in and I had just driven there. Time to replace the main battery as I had planned in the fall.

[kevm14]

Added about 1.25L. Mileage is 134,069. That's a decent leak or whatever. Need to assess. Also I think I need to add a little power steering fluid so need to order the right stuff. First time I checked it. I don't think it's that low. The dipstick has 20C and 80C max/min lines. It was barely on the 20C min line and considering it was like 40F this is not that far off, as I said.

I wiped down the front of the driver's side valve cover. This will allow me to assess how fast it gets wet. Research indicates that the top breather covers are common leak areas on these. The breather has a cover on the valve cover itself (yo dawg, I heard you like oil leaks). They are sealed with RTV. The valve cover itself has a gasket. Need to check it underneath before I get into any of this. Still monitoring.

I looked through to one of the underbody covers and there is plenty of oil down there so something is leaking and it seems to be approximately under the front of the driver's side valve cover. So maybe it's not the drain plug. It's probably ALSO the drain plug. Need to get under it and look at stuff. Do I have a lift yet?

Regardless, I seem to be adding like 1.25-1.5L every 1000 miles which is.....quite a lot.

Also ordered some power steering fluid (takes CHF 11S) and gear oil (takes 85W-90) in preparation for my trip in July. I'll be knocking off more things of course. Wonder if I should do coolant, as well.

Some info on typical leak spots. I just need to pinpoint to whichever area and inspect individually. Not surprisingly, there are many areas that leaks can (and do) occur. Gaskets usually get hard as a rock.
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/764 ... 1-e55.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/615 ... t-diy.html

The other areas (other than the breather covers I mentioned) include:
- Oil filler tower on breather also needs to be sealed against the cover.
- Oil cooler lines to engine
- Oil filter housing seals
- Power steering reservoir seal (not sure if the reservoir itself can also leak - they are super cheap anyway)

These are all things in the front/mid driver's side engine bay which seems to be where much of the leak is.

One guy in the thread also mentioned his cam position sensor seal was leaking. So yeah I think all of these just need to be pinpointed and dealt with as needed. A lift would be nice but I already said that.

[kevm14]

Here's a list of stuff for my NC trip:
[X]- Need a new main battery. Mercedes or aftermarket AGM. Just need to replace it.
[X]- Investigate front end. Probably do thrust arms assuming my check doesn't cast doubt on that conclusion.
[X]- Investigate rear end, specifically right rear. I think something may be clunking back there and just need to wiggle all the things and see if I can find something obviously worn out.
[X]- Replace rear shocks as a result of a final inspection/decision on the rear end thing.
[X]- Adjust parking brake to make sure it is not dragging
[X]- Then I would need an alignment
[X]- Do a half-assed flush and top off of the power steering. I bought a quart so I'll plan to use most of it. See if anything is leaking.
[X]- Change diff fluid
- Coolant? Probably should...
[X]- New plug wires
[X]- Diagnose and repair the oil leaks that seem to be on the driver's side forwards the front of the engine bay. I listed the possibilities already but need to take a close look with the underbody covers removed. None of these seem that hard to fix, because this isn't the V12.
[X]- Will need an oil change before the trip and need to replace the drain plug washers if I didn't lose them already.
- Do I try some brighter HID bulbs? The low beams are lame.
[X]- Wipers
[X]- Consider doing the right rear door lock module. Most of the time the rear passenger cannot open the door from the inside. If you lock and unlock the door manually it will occasionally work but this is obviously not proper. This module is like $300 and seems to be a little fiddly to change so there is a reason this is at the bottom of my list, even though using the car for vacation would suggest all doors need to be fully functional......
[X]- Replace driver's door handle (button stopped unlocking the Keyless Go)
[X]- Repair trunk harness
[X]- Restore TPMS (in progress)
[X]- New tires
[X]- Restore multi-contour seats
- I have the intermittent P0505 lingering in the background so if it becomes obvious what the issue there is, then maybe I could fix it. I don't think this is critical to the operation of the car so I am not going to just throw parts at it. Maybe I could smoke test it. Seems to be some kind of vacuum leak. Could try resetting the throttle....or replacing the TB gasket again. Sigh.
[X]- MK Ultra TCU tune!!! See other thread. Very excited about this!

[kevm14]

Add a spare crank position sensor and observe the process to change if it happens to fail on the road. Or replace prophylacticly.

Also check the serpentine pulleys. Some may be making noise. That's precisely the kind of thing that could fail driving back to back highway hours. And it would really suck, too.

[kevm14]

Looks like the CPS is located on the driver's side behind the head, on the transmission bellhousing. I assumed it would be on the front, accessible under the car. Don't even need to get under the car. Looks like the bolt is a little tricky to get to (it's an E8) but other than a combo of extensions, and maybe a U-joint, it looks pretty easy actually. I will at least order the sensor.

This is one on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001COAS78/re ... merReviews

These are used on so many applications. Actually let me check Rockauto.

Cheaper on Rockauto.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 97&jsn=505

Maybe I should get from FCP Euro. Only slightly more than Rockauto and lifetime warranty.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/merced ... escription

Anyway here is the application list. It's....long.

CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE 2004-2008
DODGE SPRINTER 2500 2003-2006
DODGE SPRINTER 3500 2003-2006
JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE 2007
MAYBACH 57 2003-2012
MAYBACH 62 2003-2012
MERCEDES-BENZ C230 1999-2005
MERCEDES-BENZ C240 2001-2005
MERCEDES-BENZ C280 1998-1999
MERCEDES-BENZ C32 AMG 2002-2004
MERCEDES-BENZ C320 2001-2005
MERCEDES-BENZ C43 AMG 2000
MERCEDES-BENZ C55 AMG 2005-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ CL500 1998-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ CL55 AMG 2001-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ CL600 2001-2014
MERCEDES-BENZ CL65 AMG 2005-2014
MERCEDES-BENZ CLK320 1998-2005
MERCEDES-BENZ CLK430 1999-2003
MERCEDES-BENZ CLK500 2003-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ CLK55 AMG 2001-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ CLS500 2006
MERCEDES-BENZ CLS55 AMG 2006
MERCEDES-BENZ E320 1998-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ E430 1998-2002
MERCEDES-BENZ E500 2003-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ E55 AMG 1999-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ G500 2002-2008
MERCEDES-BENZ G55 AMG 2003-2011
MERCEDES-BENZ ML250 2015
MERCEDES-BENZ ML320 1998-2003
MERCEDES-BENZ ML350 2003-2005
MERCEDES-BENZ ML430 1999-2001
MERCEDES-BENZ ML500 2002-2007
MERCEDES-BENZ ML55 AMG 2000-2003
MERCEDES-BENZ R500 2006-2007
MERCEDES-BENZ S350 2006
MERCEDES-BENZ S430 2000-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ S500 2000-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ S55 AMG 2001-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ S600 2001-2013
MERCEDES-BENZ S65 AMG 2006-2013
MERCEDES-BENZ SL500 1999-2006
MERCEDES-BENZ SL55 AMG 2003-2008
MERCEDES-BENZ SL600 2004-2009
MERCEDES-BENZ SL65 AMG 2005-2011
MERCEDES-BENZ SLK230 1999-2004
MERCEDES-BENZ SLK32 AMG 2002-2004
MERCEDES-BENZ SLK320 2001-2004
MERCEDES-BENZ SLK55 AMG 2005-2010
MERCEDES-BENZ SLR MCLAREN 2005-2009

[kevm14]

Here's a list of stuff for my NC trip:
- Do I try some brighter HID bulbs? The low beams are lame.

https://www.amazon.com/OSRAM-Xenarc-Boo ... merReviews

These may be the ticket. Pretty pricey and "off road only," They also may not last as long as stock. But, and this is a huge shock, apparently you do NOT need to remove the front bumper to replace the HID bulbs on these cars. I know, I couldn't believe it either.

[kevm14]

Here's a list of stuff for my NC trip:
[X]- Investigate front end. Probably do thrust arms assuming my check doesn't cast doubt on that conclusion.
- Investigate rear end, specifically right rear. I think something may be clunking back there and just need to wiggle all the things and see if I can find something obviously worn out.
- Then I would need an alignment
[X]- Change diff fluid
[X]- Wipers

Did wipers, diff fluid, and fixed the front end clunk.

I inspected a few things on the rear.

Tires
The rear tires are more or less down to the wear bars in the center of the tread though the edges actually look alright. Characteristic over inflation but not sure if that's what it was. Not sure what I am going to do. Doesn't seem quite right to go on a road trip with the rears in this condition. I did rotate them left to right at least.

Brakes
Inspected the rear pads. They look good. Maybe 75% life left.

Suspension stuff
Nothing seemed amiss. The only thing is I wiggled the shock and it may be clunking a little? According to the forum, clunks on an up and down motion can be shock failure. So maybe I am in the early stages of that. I'll let it get worse before I do anything. It's fairly minor though annoying because when the rear hits certain bumps there is a harshness that feels like a bad bushing. It's subtle but will likely get worse. Then I will do something about it. If it doesn't get worse well, then I may ignore it.

Still to do:
- Coolant
- OIl change
- Re-polish (maybe wet sand or something) the low beams and I guess ceramic coat them with something, again? The internet says I can wet sand with 2000, then 3000, then compound and maybe polish. Then I could ceramic coat. Or maybe ceramic coat instead of the polish step.
- Still may upgrade the HID bulbs

Not sure if I will bother with the door luck module. It's $300 and a little annoying to do...

[kevm14]

Well this is something.

This would be a good time to boast about my backing skills I guess. This car has no camera and no Parktronic so it's all mirrors. I did this on the first shot and this is pretty much how I wanted it. Fun fact: this car is 1.8 inches shorter than my CTS-V according to the internet. You wouldn't expect that. I would say it's packaged better but the first gen CTS was a decent sized vehicle, too, for a sport sedan. The E55 fits a little better back seat, more front seat knee room, a bigger trunk all with a shorter wheelbase and a slightly shorter vehicle. Those crafty Germans.

[kevm14]

- Re-polish (maybe wet sand or something) the low beams and I guess ceramic coat them with something, again? The internet says I can wet sand with 2000, then 3000, then compound and maybe polish. Then I could ceramic coat. Or maybe ceramic coat instead of the polish step.

Did it. I did 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, compound, polish and the Cerakote stuff. Still seems a little hazy and must be on the inside so I guess this is as good as it gets. Would need new lenses to improve further. I guess that's why people do that.