The 1999 E300 that I had was built in late November of 1998. At some point I believe it was in October of 1998 there was a change to the sealant around the spring perch that was less prone to cracking and allowing corrosion of the weld. I always kept and eye on mine and the sealant always looked free of cracks.

O-rings....many o-rings, filters, fuel lines, and shut off valve. Be sure they are good. If you replace them I recommend using Viton o-rings as they will last much longer. They do cost more, but we are taking o-rings. Park the car on an uphill grade and let it run for about 15 minutes. If it stalls out there is a leak in the fuel lines.

Delivery valve seals.....mine went bad at 64,000 miles. Shameful...

Lower frame cross over below radiator. Drop belly pan and check. They are prone to rust.

Belly pans....the fastener design used stinks. Even with new clips they would drop out. It is a poor design.

Mine had a recall inspection for corrosion on the front doors. Mine had no problem at the time.

Intake gaskets. Keep one in stock at all times. So much maintenance/repair requires removal of the intake. It should have been attached with Velcro.

I loved driving my E300, but aside from that mine was a money eating b*tch. If it had been my first experience with M-B I would have never considered another.

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Current:
1985 300D aka Miss Margaret
1991 300SE aka Alarice
1995 SL320 aka Samantha
1997 K1500 Silverado
Past:
1999 E300 ex-wife got it and let her son ruin it
1984 190 2.3 ex-wife got it and let her son destroy a great car
1985 300D (CA version) aka Maybelline lost to deer at high speed.
1981 300D aka Madeline (went to salvage at near 400k) rusty, yet best car I ever drove
Wishlist:
McFarlan TV6 (only a few privately owned)
ReVere with Rochester engine
1917 Premier (only one left)

I'm about 90 miles out of Savannah and have to go down there over the next few days.

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Jim

hey jim

found an indie and they were supposed to have picked up the car a few minutes ago, so i will just have to hope for the best

nate you are not filling me with confidence here, lol

this guy was very familiar with the fuel lines leaks these had, etc and is going to check for all that, hopefully some of that has been replaced at some point

was also going to check the spring perches

did not feel the timing chain needed to be checked

plus just general checkover

i guess the motors on these last a long time but it sounds like there is a lot of money eating small stuff
from reading lots and lots of posts about them, checking reliability reviews etc
people love to drive them, but there is quite a bit of talk about small issues on them
did read some posts about people spending a lot on them
my boyfriend may be doing more on this one than we want

or i may be selling a really nice 99e300 in a year, lol

will see how it checks out today, talked to this guy a while and he sounded very thorough and familiar with these cars and their issues

-Check delivery valves for fuel weeping
-Check clear fuel hoses around fuel filters for air bubbles
-Check head for oil leaks
-Find out the last time it had a glow plug change
-My original alternator went out at 156k, so find out if that has been replaced
-Find out if the transmission fluid/filter has been replaced. I get mine done every 40k. If it hasn't, have the dealer or the indy do it right away if you buy it
-Check lower control arms for front-to-back play. If they move a lot, that means replacement. Not a huge cost, but can throw off your alignment and wear your tires unevenly on a cross country trip. There are poly replacements for the worn bushings available which never wear out.

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Ed
-1984 Mercedes 190D 2.2 5-speed gray market(bought@30,000 miles) (Sold back to original owner@170,000 miles)
-1999 Mercedes E300DT (245,000 miles)
-1999 Mercedes S500 Grand Edition (80,000 miles)

Courtney,

Whom is the Lucky Local Independent you selected for the P.P.I. ?

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

newmoyer, i think was the name

, do you know that shop?

Dietmar Stromenz @ Autobahn (In Sandfly, Southeastern side of Town)
Rob @ German Auto (off President Street on the Eastern side of Town)
Larry @ Troubleshooters (Almost at the eastern end of Hunter AAFB runway)

Dietmar was the shop foreman for the MB/BMW franchisee for years before
he went into partnership with Scott Pierce.
[Factory Trained in Germany by both companies]

Rob has had an Indy shop servicing cars for years.

Larry probably knows more about Mercedes than the Factory itself.


I'd still take Jim up on his offer,especially since you're coming from another planet to P.U. the MB...
(What the heck's a few hundred dollars when you're so far away?)

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

All these shops are in Wilmington North Carolina? I did not see these names in any search I did

The good ones don't put a lot of advertisement out there.

__________________
Jim

Wow, this is all great info, depending on how the car checks out, I will probably have one of these other shops go through it also

NO,I was going on the link to the MB @ Grainger in Savannah Jim Provided.

Only thing I know about The Tarheel State is it's North of S.C. and south of
Virginny.

All the shops I mentioned are in Georgia.

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

Are you getting this from a dealer or individual? I bought my car from a dealer in the Raleigh area. Flew down from Michigan to look at the car. The mistake I made was not buying a round trip ticket. This reduced my bargaining power and put me in the frame of mind that I had to buy the car - it was my ride home. I did as much as I could being 700 miles away from the car. When you fly out for one car with no way home, you are stuck with that car. I should have lined up more cars to look at. Renting a car would have been a better option than having the dealer pick me up - I was at their mercy. I like the car but I paid too much for it.

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95 E300 Diesel 200K

Not true for all dealerships, at least not the one I frequent. I will admit the dealer employees who know the 13+ year old cars are fewer.

Have a conversation with the dealer & mechanics and you will be able to determine if they are competent.

I do not know that the perches were only gassers. Interesting, I have my dealer friend check my perches about once/yr.

Good Luck !!

__________________
Gary
Experience is something you get, Just after you needed it....
'99 E300 295K, '83 300D 220K, '75 240D 185K sold
'80 MCI Bus Conv DD 6V92TA, w/4 cyl. Kubota diesel GenSet 12.5KW

i have been watching every 98-99 e300 in the country on craigs, auto trader, ebay, cars.com, etc for the past 6-7 weeks

done a lot of research, reading about the problems this model had etc

these cars all seemed high to me in price, i dont know if this is because of high fuel prices right now or what???
i know this a popular model but...

everything 150,000 miles and under is listed at 10,000 and up, pretty much everything i found around 100,000 - 110,000miles was 12, 000 and up, under 100, 000 up to 15 grand, even 18 grand

there were a few 250,000 -300, 000 mile cars that were 7-9 grand

this one seems to be a mint 99 1 owner with 151, 000 miles for 8900 out the door, no fees, nothing this dealer has been awesome working with me
got it right to the mechanic i wanted to check it out
told me the mechanic was a good one and had a good reputation in town and that he was very impressed with him when he met him today and discussed the car with him
which jibed with what i found in online reviews about the mechanic

the couple of things i wanted fixed per the mechanics recommendations dealer agreed too immediately
the dealer has good reviews online also and the car will be stored inside until i pick it up

i think overall i lucked out

i might could have waited around and watched online some more but i am ready to buy and i still wont have the car for another few weeks, did not have a lot more time to waste and was having no luck finding anything closer to me

i was not convinced that one with 110, 000 in good shape for 12 grand or more was worth the 3000 or more price difference, i almost feel better putting that 3 grand in this car and knowing which parts are new

any other cars i found in the 9000 range were higher miles, more owners, northern cars- which ruled out a lot of them for me - these things seem to be really popular in the northern/snowy states
not near mint condition, etc

on the car i used newmoyer in wilmington for the mechanic and he spent 30 minutes talking to me before he checked the car and a good 40 minutes going over all he found on it and answering my questions after he checked it out

i was impressed by him and may have him do a few things on it before i drive it home

he found no fuel leaks on this one, which surprised me, in a good way of course!

he did find a little oil leakage around the intake areas, he was not overly concerned about this, said it was common on these cars and for one with these miles
may just need an intake gasket or something like that

car drove and rode very nice, he felt suspension and steering were good

tires are almost new

ac/heat good

he said he could barely hear an air leak when the turbo is kicking in when you stomp on it but would have to do some investigation/break down on it
to determine exactly what the problem is
told me upfront it was the only thing he was not certain would be a cheap repair because he does not know exactly what it is without further work on it

felt the car was totaly fine to jump in it and drive it 2000 miles

i will probably have him go through it some more , change some fluids, drive it some more before i head over to pick it up since it will be sitting there for 2-3 weeks

i hope it turns out to be a good car, feel very good about the whole deal so far

thanks for all your help, sure i will be on here with more questions, etc

Welcome aboard.

__________________
Jim