I have '97 E320 which i picked up at the factory in Germany. Has about 94k miles. It is a very good car but there have been some major problems which I did not anticipate in a car of this price point. Fortunately most of them occurred during my warranty period and Mercedes-Benz ate the costs. If you get one with a a straight 6 cylinder motor, be sure the head gasket doesn't leak oil. There was a design problem with the block that caused this and the solution is to replace with a re-designed gasket. Also, check the rubber bushings in the front lower control arms. They can go soft and cause a front-end vibration that feels like wheels out of balance. Finally, the A/C evaporators are weak and have to be replaced in a lot of the cars because they leak. Expensive - as the dash has to come out. If you can find a '97 E420 or a '99 E55 in good shape with complete service records and can get it inspected before you buy it go ahead. They are better cars than most of this age. I prefer them over the W211 from a quality standpoint