Hello guys. This is Laura again. I have few questions that I would appreciate if any of you can answer any.

I have a 2001 S55 AMG with no major issues. It has 65K miles, one owner. I purchased it two months ago.

Is there a book that will give you locations of things like: cabin filter, thermostat,...etc. I know somethings are obvious but some are not, especially for awoman. My broher can work on cars but I need to know where some things are.

At this mileage will it hurt to change the thermostat and the cabin filter and plugs?

How do I know when for example plugs need to be changed, filters, and so on. I have the book tat came with the car but no service intervals are indicated.

I have this little vibration whenever I take off until I reach about 45mph. The steering isn't shaking or anything, and the tires have about 40%, not sure if that can cause it or whether this is how the car is. It feels as if the whole car is vibrating, a little, making it a bit uncomfortable.

Any ideas?

 

Plugs should go 100,000+

No point in changing the thermostat until you have a problem.

Cabin filter, air filter probably need changing, depending where you live and how dusty it is.

You should be able to go to the MBUSA site and buy a DVD of the repair manual.

You can also sign up for a free EPC (electronic parts catalog). It will require you put a credit card number in, but you won't get charged. You need to manually renew it annually, but when you log, it also tells you how long you have left. It is 100% free.

"http://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/login.jsp"

The vibration - could be tires, could be a bent wheel, could need an alignment, maybe a flex joint. Could be lots of things. Find a local tire/alignment shop with a good reputation. They'll sort it out for you.

 

When we had a 2001 S 430 we test drove it and the first thing I noticed when driving was the vibrating idle and take off like you described and we had them check out the fuel system and, sure enough, water had somehow gotten into the fuel tank and the dealership of course fixed that issue for free for us and it never did have an issue with vibrations ever again. Just watch out around 100k miles...S-classes' Aeromatic hydraulics systems tend to bust at that mileage and it can be a rather dangerous and expensive situation. Ours went out at about 104k and it collapsed on its undercarriage the day after we dropped it off at the dealership for a hydraulics inspection. Long story short, we refused the $6k repair bill and instead traded it in for our new C 300 Sport 4matic with a standard, yet comfortable suspension that guarantees no collapsing of the undercarriage hehe.