Does this mean a new engine was intalled ?
 

Looking for a car for a friend. Found an E350 (gas). On the build sheet it says the following:


Engine no.: 272972 30 863174
Major assembly variant: A 272 010 25 00
Part var. design.: 27297230
Text
BITTE BASISMOTOR A 272 010 37 45 80 BESTELLEN.
FOLGENDE TEILE VOM ALTMOTOR UEBERNEHMEN ODER IN NEU BESTELLEN.
OELABWEISBLECH,OELWANNE OBER UND UNTERTEIL,OELSTANDSSCHALTER,ABWEISBLECH,
AUSPUFFKRUEMMER UND BEIDE MOTORTRAEGER.

PLEASE ORDER BASE ENGINE A 272 010 37 45 80.
USE THE FOLLOWING PARTS FROM THE OLD ENGINE OR ORDER AS NEW PARTS
OIL BAFFLE,OIL PAN UPPER AND LOWER PART,THE OIL LEVEL SWITCH,DEFLECTOR,
EXHAUST MANIFOLD AND BOTH MOTOR MOUNTS.


Does this mean that a new engine was installed by the dealer ? Maybe due to balance shaft issues ?

If it was installed by the dealer, I don't think it would show up on the build sheet.

I believe that the build sheet is dynamic and changes/updates to the car are reflected. I do not know that for sure, but I have reviewed a lot of build sheets and have seen what I think are post production updates to the vehicle.

The car has been sold. I thought that getting a 2008 E350 4matic with a newer engine for less than $5000 could have been a good deal. Listed as 160K miles, if the balance shaft required a replacement at 60k to 80k, the current engine would have less then 100k.

I am not a fan of the M272 E350 4matic vehicles. They're gutless unless you absolutely floor it. The M272 doesn't make enough torque to haul around the W211 especially with 4matic and the 722.6 is laggy to shift/winds out the gears....the resulting MPG's are horrible....teens in the city and ~25ish highway.

If going W211 go for a E320 CDI (05-06) or a E550 etc. Way more power.

The W210 E320 was a way more peppy vehicle especially off the line. Also you can get good deals on the newer vehicles at this point, I'd move on to a W212 vs the W211, they're a big improvement.