That seems to be in the sweet spot range.....I'd say 100-175k should get you a reliable vehicle with lots of potential life. This is provided you carefully review maintenance history to make sure it has been maintained. Also expect to spend $$s going forward to keep it that way.

If you are not risk adverse, units with 200k++ can be a great deal. Several with over 400k have shown up for sale which indicates these can be high miler vehicles.

These were (are) used as Taxis in EU. ;)

I bought my 05 CDI (145K) late last year; it has the gen I interior. I looked at five IIRC, drove three and bought the one in the best condition for cheaper than the other four. I bought it at a small buy here/pay here lot with cash. He had bought it at the local auction- which is common. Here in south Florida most cars over 6 years old do not stay at the dealer which traded for them- they get sent to the auction and then to a small used car lot or a non luxury dealer. My car has the apparently rare dynamic seats- which is my favorite option - they are simply fantastic. It's a dark metallic green which appears black to most people over a beige leather. Heated seats are awesome and so is the HC sound system. I wish I had the trunk pass thru. Asking prices in South Florida are between $8800-14,000 depending on miles and seller. I found the power levels of the engine vary greatly between examples- some are dreadfully slow in comparison to others and some are in the middle. IDK why- but I'd check for the leaking injectors if I were in the market again.

Never driven a CDI and would love to check one out and see what it's all about. I called the closest one to me in Manchester NH Pre-Owned 2005 MERCEDES-BENZ E-Class E320 CDI for sale but was told it has engine problems, not for sale and going to auction.

The expensive tools needed ($1k to $2k) to do DIY maintenance is kind of a turn off for me though.

X2 on dynamic seats. They only were available in the 2005. Perhaps MB thought they were offering too much luxury/performance in their mid-line vehicle.

Difference in power may be injectors or.....EGR system. Apparently these can be fouled especially when there has been a lot of short distance travel. Can anyone illuminate from first hand experience? Any DIY procdeures for cleaning the EGR valve/system?

Are you referring to the diagnostic computer system? Basic PM seems easy/low cost for things like air, fuel, oil filter/oil changes.

In my opinion, I do not agree with that statement.

yes, tools to read and clear fault codes and to program ecu. Also tools to service the fuel system, pulling injectors etc.

Can you tell me what tools are needed and what they cost to read/clear fault codes and program ecu, and to service the injectors?

I'm thinking that it may be the leaking injectors ... ie black death. I drove a CDI which had just started to leak in two injectors and it had less power than my car, and another CDI which was far slower which had well over 200K- but I did not check for BD. My car has no BD and it's powerful. You can buy aftermarket tunes which basically close off the EGR and it only gets fresh air- which is what I will do eventually.

If I drive mine to NY this summer and I'll come visit!

I use a $13 Amazon bluetooth code reader with my smartphone to read and clear codes. I would not call that expensive. I would assume programming ECU's would be pricey on any vehicle. I've never done it.

I disagree with the need to get a $2000 diagnostic system to be able to do maintenance on the car.
Would I like to have one, absolutely. Do I need one to consider owning one of these cars? Not really.
If I run into a problem that cannot be diagnosed any other way, for $125 I can get an hour at the dealership on their $10,000 system and an experienced tech thrown in.

A $60 UltraGauge can read and clear fault codes. It can read many of the engine's sensors in real time.
I have one page on mine set to read out fuel rail pressure, intake manifold pressure/vacuum, coolant temp., voltage.
I do not consider re-programing the ECU to be maintenance.
You will need to add a set of torx and e-torx sockets to your tool box.

In almost 200k, my dealer serviced car has had 2 glow plugs replaced and 1 injector. All things that the car's fault codes will tell you exactly which one failed.

Plug your maximum dollars into finding the most car you're shopping for. There's what your dollars will buy. That's what most around here seem to do.

The sub-$4,995.00 E320 CDI was the best deal I've seen here. Miles don't hurt these cars.

There you go. These are very affordable for all, IMO.

The '05s were customarily more loaded than the '06es. I'm not a bells-n-whistles guy because they're failure-prone in the long run. The heated seats however, were a must have!

My '99 E300 had too many options for my tastes, so I didn't want that again when I was searching for the right E320 CDI.

If anyone can provide pictures of the various stages of the pass-through rear seat back system start-to-open, it would be greatly appreciated. I may have the pass-through seat system on my CDI, but don't realize it.

I'd say that the "sweet spot," is what one can afford for one. And even then, some aren't able to use the 49 States as their marketing buy area. I let that geographic marketing area/option to buy from where I found the one I wanted. At the end of the day, I realized the best used ones were in my home state of Texas. So, it was just a matter of time finding the right one.

The $4,995.00 list priced E320 CDI, was the best value for the buck I've seen. Everything else is paling by comparison. That one would be hard to beat.