Car Model Guide/ Engines/ M272

M272 3.5 V6

The pre-facelift E350's 3.5 V6, spray-guided direct injection. The balance-shaft gear fault that dogged the earlier V6s was fixed before W212 production began, so these engines are outside the affected serial range. The remaining items are intake carbon and the plastic intake-manifold flaps.

ConfigurationV6, naturally aspiratedDisplacement3498 cc
FuelpetrolInjectiondirect
Shared componentsdirect injection

Cars using this engine

VariantChassisBodyYearsPowerRiskGood buy
E 350 CGIW212sedan2009–2011292 PSR3€7,250
E 350 CGIS212wagon2009–2011292 PSR3€7,650

Engine and component issues

Carbon buildup on intake valvesdirect injection€400–€700
Rough cold idle, slow throttle response, misfires, gradual loss of low-end response. Direct injection puts no fuel over the intake valves, so crankcase vapour deposits bake on undisturbed.
Check: Not visible without a borescope. Treat it as a service item that's due unless there's a receipt. It's not a fault, it's an unbudgeted maintenance cost.
Turbo & intakeuniversalNot detectable at viewingevidence: documented80–120k km

Chassis, gearbox and body issues aren't listed here. They depend on which car the engine is fitted to. Open a variant page for the merged list.