Also known as: m273, 4.7 v8, 5.5 v8, m273 ke 46, m273 ke 55, s500 engine
The M113's replacement — a four-valve V8 in 4.7 and 5.5 litre forms, fitted to the S-Class, E-Class, GL, ML and G-Class through the late 2000s.
It shares its V6 sibling's defining flaw. The balance-shaft or, on this engine, the camshaft adjuster and timing components on early production wore prematurely, throwing camshaft-position and correlation codes long before anything was audible — and the repair is deep in the engine. As with the M272, the build date and whether the work has been done are the first questions, and a P0016-family code on an early M273 should not be cleared and monitored.
Beyond that, the recurring items are the intake manifold's air-flap actuator, which fails and produces a performance complaint with no obvious component behind it, and ordinary gasket and sensor ageing. It is a durable engine once past the timing-component question.
Cars fitted with this engine
7 generations, across 1 make. From the authored catalogue — an absent car means the catalogue has not reached it, not that the engine was never fitted.
Information, not instruction
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