Hi Folks,

Been a long time since I was here. I used to have a nice 85 300D and ended up selling it to get something newer.
However regret it in a lot of ways now, and looking to get another benz diesel.

Wife wants something newer with more safety features, so I zoned in on the 2005-2006 E320 cdi model. I've read it is the robust straight six engine without all the modern 'bluetec' emissions equipment. Mileage seems good considering the size of the car.

I'm looking at a car with 100-150k on the clock, what should I look for? anything that blows up on these engines like bad vacuum pumps or some other weak spot?
How are the timing chains? how long before they need a replacement or adjustment (via offset woodruff key?).

Transmissions ok? any weaknesses in them? high pressure fuel pumps reliable?

Any other advice appreciated.

Thanks

Chris

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Current Rides:

2004 BMW R1150GS Adventure
2005 MB W211 E320 Cdi

No weaknesses to speak of that would keep me from owning one. At least not from the perspective of any inherent other year model MB diesel car model's particular weaknesses. Do some reading here about them and weigh the options for yourself. I bought an OhSix a couple years ago, and am still learning them. This is my 3rd MB diesel car in 25 yrs.

Do a search on SDS as applicable to these cars. It is my experience that it should not stop you from purchasing one.

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Jim

Thanks, I did find stuff about the brake booster failure. It seems it doesn't grenade anything else however and its rare or at least not common.

The fix isn't ridiculously expensive either.

So far nothing bad about these cars.

Thanks

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Current Rides:

2004 BMW R1150GS Adventure
2005 MB W211 E320 Cdi

Research "Black death".

My 05 CDI had this problem when I bought it. Not too common, but it's not pretty when it happens.

Other than that, ball joints are not long lived, but easy to change.

Otherwise, compared to the W115, w123, W126 and W124 diesels I've owned, so much more power coupled with incredible economy. I still love mine.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

05/06 E320 CDIs with clean Carfaxes and less than 200K miles have come on-the-market recently for $7K and less. That's awful cheap for such a great car.

Mines in the for sale section. I paid 8 for it but it had issues and then put 1500 more in it. I have yet to see any for 7000 or less. Post some links joe.

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What Would Rudolph Do?
1975 300D, 1975 240D, 1985 300SD, 1997 300D, 2005 E320 , 2006 Toyota Prius

Joe is absolutely correct. GregMN picked his up for less than 7k....Another one in Woodbridge, VA that got snatched up today (I called on it yesterday but someone from NJ was en route to snag it).

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Don't worry man. You'll get yours . I know what Joe is saying. It's just not commonplace to find them that cheap. I wonder what issues they have though? The trade in value on mine is 11500 still. Just saying, because you pay 7000 for a car doesn't mean it won't become a 10000 car in a few months. But I prefer the mechanic specials and would rather pay 7000 and put 2000 in parts on it then buy one for 12000 that already had the repairs done. most of us probably do. but some maybe not. And those maybe should be wary of the 7000 cdi.

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What Would Rudolph Do?
1975 300D, 1975 240D, 1985 300SD, 1997 300D, 2005 E320 , 2006 Toyota Prius

BAM! It's gone!

That's correct. You snooze - you (generic you) lose on these bargains out there.

If I weren't in the process of collecting super-low miles E320 I6 CDIs, I'd buy all I could get my hands on @ those numbers!

The CDI for less than $5K with a clean Carfax sold in less than 5-business days.

What I do not track is CL (craigslist nationally) I'd expect tons of 'em there too at low, low prices.

If I were interested in chasing the CL ads, I'd likely have a lot more prospects to choose from. Trouble w/cl is that they're just too flakey in being legitimate.

I agree it's not common to find them that cheap....although Joe seems to be finding a bunch. I normally troll CL....perhaps Autotrader has more.

I called just to get a sense of the car's history/situation. It seemed on the up and up, although it's of course hard to tell over the phone. Story was that this Acura dealer gave the PO $6200 on a trade in...just trying to move it out for $69xx.

I'm not looking seriously....but let's just say that if anything ever happened to my 98 or 99, I know what my next car would be. Joe, if it comes to that, maybe I can pay you a finder's fee to find me a good one?

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

If you can roll a good one out of CL, that'd be great. I'd definitely suggest one monitors CL too in shopping them.

The Acura dealer rolling it out @ $6,995.00 , with $6,200 in it, sounds legit to me. Unless they wholesaled it at auction, they just want to get out of it. With the nation as a marketplace and the Internet, it makes shopping fun.

Some dealers will give you information that will help you see the light in making a buy from them. All these aging cars are going to have weak points or failures that need to be addressed, is how I look at buying used.

I tried autotrader.com but unless I am doing it wrong, it forces me to put in my zip code and only shows me stuff at the local MB dealer.

Then I tried Cars.com but all that did was annoy me and seed the Google ad machine, now I get nonstop display ads for used Mercedes.

Craigslist scares me. eBay person to person or independent auto lot scares me.

What is everyone doing to find these deals?

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

Expand distance you are looking on autotrader.

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Jim

I'm now looking for one. I think it's time I go new school