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Old 02-11-2013, 09:42 PM
TylerH860's Avatar
TylerH860 TylerH860 is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Wichita, Ks
Posts: 5,187
The SBC brakes have a 10 year, unlimited mileage warranty. You will have to check on 03 and 04s that were sold in 2003 to see if they are out of that 10 year range. You can also check any dealer if any warranty work was done on them. The big failure is the sbc pump. I think its around $3k.

These pumps came programmed with a wear counter. At some point the pump knows its had too much use and triggers a fault code. Turns out these pumps start saying they're worn out much faster than MB thought they would, and initially they would replace them. Now fix is to re-program the pump to think it will last longer. When they fail you have something like 30% braking efficiency and a red warning light in the gauge.

So, alot of them do get replaced, some don't. If you buy a SBC equipped car it may not ever be a problem. Mine was reprogrammed almost a year ago and the pump is still fine. 60k on the car.

SBC was done away with after the 2006 model year. So 2007s have somewhat normal brakes.

The only other big ticket item is if the car is equipped with airmatic suspension. It is a wonderful system, but struts do wear out and cost $300 per rebuilt strut to replace. $1000+ a strut new from Mercedes. I hear pumps go out but have never seen one first hand.

So, if you want the least complicated W211. I guess the 2007-2009 E350 would be the way to go, as airmatic was optional. They are alot more expensive than a 2004-2005 E500 Wagon, which I think is alot more fun, but you have SBC and airmatic to contend with. 2004-2005 E320 wagons airmatic is optional.

4matics are very good. No problems. Do cost a couple of MPGs. E500 does drink alot more gas in the city, but I can eek 25MPG on the highway.

You might also look for a 203 chassis C320 wagon. They are very, very simple cars, good cargo, and great MPG. Real easy to top 30MPG with those.
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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!
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