In the early 2020s, the S-Class W220 fell in price on the secondary market to completely indecent values. For the price of a new Solaris, you can buy a whole small fleet of these old geldings. In the first part, we looked at the main problem of this car: the body. He’s had bad luck with new paint technologies that almost never clean him up of rust. In this part, we will look at the second major problem: air suspension. Which, by the way, against the background of hydropneumatics, has now become almost budgetary.

Chassis

Brake system

In general, everything is fine with the W220 brakes – the main thing is not to confuse the terms ABS, ABC and SBC. This car has ABS and works well. The infamous SBC system is not yet available – it will only be installed on the E-Class W211. But ABC is not about brakes at all, but about the Active Body Control electro-hydraulic suspension. This is “connected" with the brakes only by the fact that some sensors are common and, in the event of a malfunction, the emergency bulbs burn out together like a “garland”. Why they scold ABC – in the section below.

Well, there are almost no complaints about the brakes. It is necessary to monitor the safety of the lines: pipes have already been replaced on half of the machines, and on the other half they need to be replaced, since there are already swellings. The original Mercedes steel pipes are quite fragile. Brake hoses, as a rule, if not changed, then all are cracked.

The calipers and discs aren’t much of a problem unless you drive hard. Front calipers will almost always be 4-piston, fairly reliable. The only exception is the top-of-the-range S65 AMG, which has a single-piston floating caliper, yet is very durable. The wheels are large, from 312 mm on the S320 to 345 mm on the AMG modifications. Quite often they lead due to overheating and temperature changes.

There are also large 300mm discs at the back, and the mechanism is always single-piston. The hand brake system is also implemented as reliably as possible – a drum mechanism inside the rotor. Pedal control with "American style" brake pedal and release handle. The parking lot can probably be broken up, but much more often it turns sour due to disuse.

The ABS is pretty flawless, the faults are mainly related to the sensors, adjusting rings and hub clearance (since the soundproofing is good, you can’t even feel it). Control units, if any, are available second hand at reasonable prices.

Suspension

You probably know what air suspension is – this is when air springs with a booster circuit are used instead of springs as elastic elements. This provides non-linear damping characteristics and avoids many of the problems with traditional springs and springs. And at the same time, adjust the height and stiffness in a wide range, reduce roll and much more, from “squatting” to facilitating wheel changes. And in general, everyone knows that this is a rather problematic system on older machines. In the case of the W220, the stereotypes don’t lie – it’s actually relatively problematic.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that for this machine the base is the "normal" air suspension. In principle, cars with springs were not produced. Well, the best trims had the "active" ABC suspension mentioned above.

Initially, the pneumatics on this body are very good: quite successful cylinders, a typical compressor, which later migrated to all cars with pneumatic drive, from Land Rover to BMW. There are no special design errors when laying highways and setting up the system, except for rather small ones. Thus, the filter on the compressor turned out to be rather weak, which led to its clogging and failure. The valve block was also easily contaminated from the outside, and the fittings suffered from electrochemical corrosion "due to" poorly matched galvanic metal pairs.

All this spoiled the impression of the system, even when it was relatively new. As a result, a sharp reduction in the cost of the “secondary” (pneumatics is considered here as problem No. 2 after a corroded body) and the unprofitability of quality service. In general, a vicious circle.

Nowadays, maintenance of pneumatics is not so expensive. Once upon a time, prices started at 50 thousand for a sleeve (or cylinder) and from 90 for a whole carrier, which practically knocked down the ranks of fans. Today prices are such that suspension bulkheads of other Zhiguli could be more expensive for the same mileage. Replacing the bushing on the rack 11-15 thousand conventional units, the used rack is the same 15. If there is wear on the valve, damper, stem and fittings, then replacing the assembly is a good way out.

But air suspension isn’t just about struts. Air escaping is often not due to the cylinder, but to the riser fittings, including the brass fitting at the top, top seals, valve seals, and of course the manifolds. A jar of soap bubbles in the owner’s trunk of a 220, not because you love kids, but because soapy water is good for spotting leaks. And chances are, if you buy the 220, you’ll also need this kid’s toy.

Valve blocks can also be solved independently – it’s not difficult, but the result without support is not guaranteed. You can buy Chinese, half is also good and the price is quite reasonable. The compressor, piston and working group of the cylinder (the so-called "head") is bought in China. Reliability will be significantly lower than the original, but the prices are ridiculous, and this is usually better than buying from used copies with unknown mileage, especially since the old original is three times more expensive than the new "China".

Body position sensors and wiring to sensors and shock absorbers also fail due to moisture, dirt and age and contribute to increased suspension failures. It often turns out that a complete reconstruction of the pneumatic system costs more than the entire machine.

If there was a hydropneumatic alphabet from the factory, then the prices for everything would literally increase by about three times. The shock here is a fully controllable design that can change both height and stiffness, as well as retract and stretch. Structurally, the rack is literally an order of magnitude more complicated than the “ordinary” pneumatic rack. The resource is initially quite acceptable, about 80-150 thousand, depending on the roads and services, but the mileage of the cars is almost certainly many times higher.

The pump here is dual-circuit, it supplies pressure to both the ABC and the power steering. It is quite reliable, has its own separate filters for power steering and ABC circuits, practically does not wear out with regular fluid changes, it is important to prevent their levels and pollution from decreasing. But on older machines, this node can be a problem.

Losses happen quite often. Racks, hydraulic lines to them and pressure sensors are leaking. The system is very hot and the oil wears down the pipes over time. And the pipes are expensive, and it makes no sense to buy original ones at 30-80 thousand conditional units per car at a price of 300 thousand. Therefore, an ordinary hose begins to be pinched on clamps or in plumbing. But the oil temperature is often above 100 degrees, so such a "collective farm" will not live long. So, if you don’t want to spend money on the original, you need to look for a hot oil resistant one – it is more expensive, but not as expensive as the OEM.

All in all, while the maintenance budget for a W220 pneumatic can still be kept within reasonable limits, hydropneumatic versions are just insanely expensive to maintain, even if some sort of "alternative technology" is used. It makes sense to do this if there is a lot of extra money and the car was bought not for 200 thousand in a “half-dead” state, but at least for 500-600, in good enough condition and does not have a lot of problems. So you just need to keep the system in order. Well, if we are talking about a dead specimen, then you should think about installing springs. There are ready-made kits for the W220, you can also choose a set of body elements 210, 211 or 140.

True, not all services will undertake to remake it for springs in a car that originally had an ABC suspension. The fact is that along with the elastic elements, you will have to change the support arms – they differ in the installation location of the rack support. It is noteworthy that "pneumatic" levers (you can put a bolt with springs on them) are cheap, and "hydropneumatic" – less than a hundred thousand. At the same time, it is nice that all silent blocks for both types of levers are interchangeable.

On the upper and lower arms, the rubber bands can also be changed to completely factory ones, but “officially” the ball joints do not change separately. But against the general background, this is a trifle: the upper lever in the original costs from 10 thousand conventional units, and the non-original one is less than 4. The lower front one is even cheaper, from 6 thousand in the original and from 3 for replacement.

with a rear suspension is more complicated: structurally, this is the same five-link lever (as on the W201, W124 and other "legends"), but the levers are different, more durable and very expensive (18-75 thousand rubles each).), and there are no replaceable mufflers. However, some fit under the 210th body, others under the 140th. In general, if you wish, you can collect original elements. Don’t be intimidated by the five levers – they are quite inventive and at the same time offer excellent smoothness. The latter, by the way, plays a cruel joke: some owners completely stop slowing down on bumps.

Steering

System with conventional track and conventional power steering. The resource of all elements is more than 200 thousand, but the power steering pump on a Mercedes is prone to leaks at the intersection with the tank and howl. The reason is the design of the tank itself and the filter inside it. Power steering fluid should be changed more often. Practice shows that the fabulously expensive original casting is not needed. Especially economists-economists, when the pump fails, they change it to an analogue of "Shnivy".

The rail is moderately reliable: if the suspension is not dead and the tire is not very low and wide, then it lasts a long time. After 250-300 hours, there is usually little kickback and leaks are extremely rare, and most pipes leak due to corrosion.

Transmission

Common problems

Most cars are rear-wheel drive and have no particular problems. The rear gear is solid, as long as you don’t waste oil and pull trailers (in an S-Class, hardly anyone would think, what if?). Cardan shafts can play, but there are no problems with the bulkhead – the loops are accessible and easily replaced. With strokes greater than 200 (i.e., 90% of cars), it makes sense to regularly monitor the play of the gearbox and rear CV joints.

All-wheel drive cars also have problems with the intermediate shaft bearings in the crankcase, they need 120-180 thousand before starting or howl and very often they turn sour on the seat. As a result, when replacing the transmission, the engine cover is torn. As a result, there are already few crankcases, cheap used ones have long been selected.

Mechanical boxes

Cars with manual transmission go on the road, but this is the result of non-factory manipulations. There are funny examples: for example, with a V8 M113 compressor and a manual transmission, a kind of “sleeper”, the main advantage of which is the ability to surprise neighbors downstream. At the other extreme are the cars of the south, where the S320 diesel got a manual transmission because the automatic transmission broke down after 500,000 runs. But in real life, you are unlikely to find such a machine for sale, much less accidentally buy it.

automatic boxes

We have been very lucky with the W220 machines. Basically, the car is satisfied with a very reliable 5-speed automatic transmission of the 722.6 series. However, in the last few years of production with five-liter engines, a new seven-speed 722.9 has also been installed, which simply does not differ in reliability. But first about the main thing.

The 722.6 boxes (also known as 5G-Tronic) were the first fully electronically controlled Mercedes boxes with forced shutdown of the gas turbine engine. The design largely inherited the 5-speed 722.5, but there were some surprises.

The most annoying problem was found on cars manufactured before 1999. Under load, the bushing of the K2 drum broke. Then the drum itself broke, and the vibrations of the rods and chips stopped almost all. Now boxes with a problematic body are practically never found, except for cars with engines up to 3.2 liters, if you’re lucky, they can survive to this day. On five-liter and more powerful, the bushing was most likely replaced with a bearing in the first three years of operation of the machine. In any case, there were not many problematic serial boxes on the W220, and you can always check them by the serial number of the box. For serial number up to 1317917, for others up to 1324240.

There was also a less obvious problem on the pump cover: there was also an unreliable bushing, which was again replaced with a bearing during the upgrade. The chances of meeting a machine with a sleeve in the back of the pump are much higher than with a drum sleeve. The problem does not occur so often, mainly due to a lack of oil, but when it occurs, it is not recommended to change the cover separately for the bearing version, only complete with the shaft.

The oil passage through the transmission seal to the automatic transmission control unit (EGS) is a very common problem. The 192444-EM connector with internal gaskets should be checked and replaced regularly. If the connectors are in oil, you need to change the wiring and repair the unit – oil corrodes plastic and paint. The most reliable way is to install a new A140270116128 board, a new tensioner and a new harness to replace the oiled one. Of course, they usually get away with cheaper solutions by simply replacing the oil seal. Freewheel failure is also a common problem with pre-2001 exhaust boxes. 1-2 and 3-4 shift bumps are usually caused by them.

In 250-300 races, age-related features of the automatic transmission begin to appear. Increasingly, shaft speed sensors fail, which requires repair or replacement of the internal electronic board through which oil enters the control unit. Or welding sensors.

On copy boxes, where the oil is rarely changed and often annealed at high mileage, the gas turbine lock solenoid wears out first. Initially, this is expressed in knocks when the lock is running in a cold state in second gear and further – sometimes when the gas turbine engine slip mode is used. The lock-up clutches themselves can pull a little more, but usually the oil becomes contaminated due to their wear, and gas turbine engine cutting is already necessary. The design is quite progressive, here the blocking block consists of three friction clutches and four steel rings and therefore serves for a long time.

If you pull a little harder, one of the three sleeves (or more) wears down to a sticky layer, and dirt clogs the filter and valve body. Some unique people manage to get the box to blows due to the failure of the line pressure solenoid, usually when working with dirty oil, it remains to the last. And here, during the exchanges themselves, boxing starts to kick a lot.

With powerful engines, it is possible to develop clutch packages K1, K2 and B3: on boxes after 2001, they are thin and one-sided, and the operation algorithms allow you to smoothly turn them on even when pushing at full load. And as a result, they gradually wear out.

Since 1999, gas turbine engines have been running without a drain plug, so it has become harder to know how contaminated the oil is. Replacement is also difficult: in order to wash off the accumulated dirt in the torque converter, it is recommended to replace it with hardware or simply open it every time if the oil has time to darken. By the way, 722.6 is one of the first "officially maintenance-free" boxes, so many did not change the oil in them at all. As a result, dead variants appear with initially very high quality and a potential resource of up to 400,000 km or more.

But against the general background, 5G-Tronic is practically without problems – all childhood diseases were cured 20 years ago. In extreme cases, you can buy a used version of thousands for 30 conditional units – these automatic transmissions have been installed for a long time, so there is a choice.

The 722.9 7-speed gearbox, rarely seen on the latest W220 models, was another technological achievement: for the first time hard-coupled, with mechatronics, very low losses and at the same time the size of a 5-speed gearbox. But there were more problems with the launch than with five stadiums. Then the weak body collapsed and the mechatronics broke down and there were no spare parts for a long time. The design was remembered only when the next S-class, the W221, was being repaired, and on the W220 7G-Tronic it is pain and tears, and quite expensive, because both used parts and boxes are at least twice as expensive.

The main problem is overheating up to 130 degrees, as a result of which not only the internal seals die, but also the box heat exchanger, which leads to the ingress of antifreeze and complete breakdown.

Electronics also flies due to temperature. The shaft speed sensor matrix, wiring plastics, and electronics boards flake off under heat and become brittle. As a result, the map often has to be completely changed.

An identical oil pump from an old 722.6 on a new box suddenly earned a maximum of 100 thousand, after which a howl and loss of oil pressure began almost with a guarantee due to a dead tree bearing.

The front part of the box bell was broken by vibrations – cracks are possible on all versions of the automatic transmission that were on the W220, because the problem was fixed only after 2007. The oil pan is fragile, any contact with the road is contraindicated. This.

In addition, there are weak planetary gears in the box, a weak K1 drum in the first versions (only those that were on the W220) and the same gas turbine serves a maximum of 200 thousand before the bulkhead, and the problem is not only in the wear of the retaining seals, but also during vibrations .

For this automatic transmission, it is necessary at least to replace the cooling system with a new one, lowering the temperature to 70-80 degrees – then there will be fewer problems. The resource of all oil seals, oil pump and electronics will increase significantly. Well, only three points can be distinguished from the advantages of this box. With it, the car becomes very cheerful compared to the "pleasure" 722.6, fuel consumption is slightly reduced and is perfectly diagnosed by the scanner.

Four-wheel drive

Rare all-wheel drive cars are no worse than ordinary ones. The transfer case is solid here, except that the front gearbox and its countershaft can be a waste. It is necessary to check the condition of the bearings in the cavity of the engine crankcase, they rotate easily, and their resource is not very large due to constant overheating. The front gear seals are also subject to thermal leaks.

Motors

Common problems

W220 engines are very good. The main feature for him M112-M113 is, perhaps, the main strength of the car. But it is necessary to monitor the health of the cooling system – expansion tanks traditionally break down, because Mercedes does not know that their shape should be simple, ideally spherical.

Here you need to install the best air filters – all engines with lokasil and alusil, and these coatings are very afraid of dust and dirt. In general, engines love affection and quality service, and, as I recently found out, they do not like to turn on the check engine even if one of the cylinders fails, trying to behave like Japanese engines – do not remind the owners of the problem while the car is still running.

Petrol engines

The M112 and M113 engines are structurally as similar as possible. These are 6- and 8-cylinder 90-degree V-engines. The W220 was equipped with a 204 hp M112E28 six-cylinder engine. (S280), M112E32 for 224 hp (S320), and after restyling – M112E37 with a capacity of 245 hp. (S250). M113E43 eight-cylinder engine with 279 hp. (S430), M113E50 for 306 hp (S500), M113E55 for 360 hp (AMG S55) and 500 hp M113E55ML compressor. (restyling S55 AMG).

The "six" has a balance shaft in the collapse, the "eight" has only one gear. The 6-cylinder crankshaft is the so-called “split” one, so the sound and traction are excellent. Structurally, these are all aluminum motors with lokasil liners – almost like alusil, but they contain more silicon and higher surface hardness (but also brittleness). Aluminum cylinder head, three valves per cylinder and two spark plugs. Timing transmission is chain, two-row, there are no phase regulators. Intake manifold with ribs to change the geometry, has a vacuum transmission.

There are several design flaws. First, increased oil consumption due to low ring preload is often criticized. This is not even an inconvenience in a friendly way: with such a volume of oil, you can afford an extra liter of consumption from one change to another. But cylinders with such an interference do not really wear out, and if the engine consumes 2-3 liters per 10 thousand, this is not a cause for concern. Also, part of the oil is lost through a rather simple VKG and valve seals. In this case, there is practically no carbon deposits on the piston assembly, and this is not a problem.

It is the leakage through the exhaust valve seal and the leakage to the outside through the seals that most often cause the first serious problems and a jump in oil consumption. With an increase in oil consumption to 0.5 ppm, it is necessary to check for carbon deposits in the piston assembly and for scratches, and at the same time check the condition of the catalysts: they cannot withstand this consumption for a long time and will quickly crumble.

Carbon deposits, intake manifold leaks due to damper failure, intake dirt due to infrequent filter changes or the installation of cheap consumables can still lead to scratches. Here they do not develop as fast as on alusil, but the technology is essentially the same and the problem can only be fixed with a bushing, since there are no repair sizes for engines. Rather, theoretically, lokasil and alusil are sharpened, and the surface is engraved or treated with special brushes, but in practice no one does this.

Another common problem is misfiring – bottom spark plugs are difficult to change and often overlooked, especially on cylinders near the engine shield. Otherwise they are very successful engines often found with over 500 stroke and in excellent condition. Their example shows why manufacturers switched to Alusil technology with such enthusiasm. When the problematic M272/M273 series appeared, Mercedes had 20 years of experience with engines with similar coating hardening technology from the M117 to M113 series, and everywhere the result was excellent. We wrote about the fundamental difference between the "old" and "new" series separately and in great detail.

Compressor options for M113 engines have their own characteristics. Thus, an increase in operating pressure causes slight inflation of shirts with 300+ strokes, and initially without surface wear and scratches. This causes an increase in appetite for oil and a progressive "friction" on the loaded side of the cylinder. When operating with detonation on such engines, scuffing occurs quite often. The 5.4-liter AMG version is, in principle, as simple and affordable as the regular one, and if the resource is smaller, then it is very likely that the loads on it were much higher.

You can also read about the problems of this engine line in the reviews of the E-class W211 and W210.

The 12-cylinder engines of the M137 range with a volume of 5.8 liters and the 6.3 AMG version that appeared in 1999 are very similar to the versions of the M112 / M113 engines, which are as compact as possible in terms of piston unit dimensions, but are no longer compatible with them from the point of view view of the components. This was done because the engine was made as compact as possible, and 12 cylinders were required more for prestige than for high power. Thus, they have a reduced cylinder center distance, and while maintaining the general layout with 3-valve heads and locasil bushings, while maintaining synchronization without phase regulators, all elements had to be made more compact. At the same time, it was necessary to change the ignition system, installing one ignition module for each cylinder head.

Mercedes-Benz S 600 1999-2002 engine

Since the degree of injection is low, the engines themselves differ little in reliability from the 8-cylinder M113, the resource as a whole is even higher, but … Ignition modules, each for 12 spark plugs, but it turned out to be extremely capricious. The form is often called a "flute" and is expensive, from 140 thousand conventional units apiece. Used is three to four times cheaper, but it’s a very delicate device, so buying a used variant comes with significant risks. With any power surge, lighting, starting on the "residual" energy in the battery or connecting a powerful consumer, the "flute" could fail. He is also afraid of condensation and overheating. Repair of ignition modules has now been established, and approximately 80% of the modules can be restored after a failure. The price of a breakdown has dropped to 8-10 thousand rubles. Still quite significant, but understandable. 10 years ago, such a module cost more than 300 thousand for a new one and about 100 thousand for a used one. Now used modules have become much cheaper – at least two or three times, and the chances of buying a useful one with a receipt and a guarantee are greater.

The engines of the M275 line in versions of the M275E55 with a volume of 5.5 liters and a capacity of 500 forces and the AMG M275E60 version with a volume of 6 liters and a capacity of 612 forces, which are occasionally found on newer W220s, differ from the "classic" M137 in two ways. They no longer have lokasil sleeves, but an alusil block. And they have two more turbines. Indeed, the working temperature increased, convulsions appeared. For older engines, this is most likely an accident, the result of maintenance, overheating, and similar problems. In M275, ridicule is almost inevitable. If the number of strokes exceeds 200, the chance of a collision with an unlocked engine is greatly reduced. It is difficult to cover a very compact unit, the chances of an error are very high, but there are successful examples of such work. In general, this is a much more capricious and expensive engine option to maintain.

Diesel engines

OM613 / OM648 engine range on S320d 197 and 204 hp These are classic inline-sixes from Mercedes-Benz in a very similar cylinder block and common rail fuel kit. Serious problems are also common: burnt washers under the injectors and sticking of both injectors and glow plugs, not very reliable wiring at the DPKV, fuel equipment malfunctions. The electric turbine drive on the OM648 provides better response but fails more often than the pneumatic drive on the OM613. All in all, these are very reliable engines and most problems are either fuel line aeration due to broken pipes and fittings, or poor maintenance.

Mercedes-Benz S 320 1998-2002 engine

Well, I already wrote about the OM628 series four-liter diesel V8 for the S400d in the Mercedes M-Class review. In short, you need to stay as far away from this engine as possible. Here, the cylinder head is unsuccessful in design, prone to breakage, a weak group of pistons in which the pistons break, and indeed the engine is very capricious. Installing the cylinder head from OM629 does not solve all the problems: even the stock version requires the installation of an EGT controller and individual sensors for each cylinder, otherwise the cylinder head and pistons will not resist.

To take or not to take?

If in the W220 you have chosen, despite the bad image, you nevertheless invested normal money or almost did not drive all these years, then you can take it. Well, if you really need a car of this class and you are ready to pay for its maintenance, you will not throw it in a landfill along with a disposable Solaris and repair it in the nearest garage, sawing it into parts. Or you want to tinker with the luxury of twenty years ago. Modifications to be avoided are those with M275, OM6248 engines as well as 722.9 gearboxes and ABC hydropneumatic suspension. They are significantly more expensive to use than other options and should only be used if you fully understand why. If you come across a decent variant with conventional pneumatics, the good old locasil engine, although not very aggressive, without water inside and stocked in terms of expensive interior details and bodywork, you can count on luck. Of course, in terms of operating costs, such machines are very far from the mass market, but they give more. Take it and enjoy the softness, dynamics and soundproofing of true turn-of-the-century luxury. But you still leave more than 200 thousand in reserve for expenses.

Post source: wekauto.ru

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Detail	original price	Not original price	Non-original price 2
braking system
Front brake pads	9 932	Combined 6 564	Text 4 610
Rear brake pads	3957	Eaten 3,695	Text 2 453
Front brake disc 330×32 mm	11483	Eaten 7 564	Text 6 680
Rear brake disc 300×22 mm	11951	Eaten 4900	Text 3 371