Having had both an early and late version of the W203 (along with a w202 and having driven a w204 on many occasions) I can say they're fantastic cars, but the early versions lose a lot of ground when compared to the last of the breed. The '01 C320 I had was quite nice (one owner, sub 100k mi) but it already appeared as if it was going to begin breeding costly little issues (power windows, rear defrost, climate control issues.) I'm much happier with my '06 C280 4matic in every regard.

If the C320 you're looking at has a good history it shouldn't let you down, but beware electrical issues.