Ok thanks for the info. I am looking for price ranges of actual recent transactions. Not for sale prices but their sold prices.

Not sure there's reliable sources on those. Although, auction sale prices on them would be available from dealers. Black Book pricing are actual auction sale prices. The Black Book is published weekly. That still won't tell you what they're resold for, but you can use that and NADA / Kelley Blue Book to arrive at pricing them too. Mine was bought below low retail, as an example. It was from the MB dealer that sold it new. 59K miles, complete servicing just completed. Carfax, almost perfect condition. It all depends on what you run across, and want to live with the purchase. There's an 05/06 CDI locator thread going on DD here, that a PP member ☆Greg established that is replete with options for the CDIs listed, as well as pricing profiling highs and lows, and mileage too.

One more for the roll call:

2006 E320 CDI
Tealite Blue on Artico Grey
146k miles

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/372006-new-acquisition-2006-e320-cdi-tealite-blue-artico-grey-146k-miles.html

What have you guys found by way of comparison between Sport and Comfort transmission settings?

I *think* I notice a difference -- the C mode does seem a little gentler on the shifts. But there's not really much difference in off-the-line acceleration between the two. I plan to leave it on S until winter, at which point I'll switch to C.

Great buy on your 06, by the way, shertex.

Thanks....bought from a guy in your neck of the woods (Stratham, NH).

What have you guys found by way of comparison between Sport and Comfort transmission settings?

Regards mpg?

Al things considered, the '05/'06 CDIs are far, far better cars than the 98/99E300s.

I wished I'd of not bought the 99 E300 in 99, but there was no way of knowing MB would be coming out with the CDI in '05.

I love this car ! It just make me feel in a Mercedes-Benz !

https://youtu.be/7XDfhXPGP4s

:)

3 months ago, after a 6 month search, I grabbed my dream CDI. 2005 W211, sunroof delete (tall guy), pass through folding rear seat, pewter over black, 1 owner dealer extended warranty serviced cream puff with 88,000 miles. Ran carfax, called servicing dealer and called owner to take off market 15 minutes after he listed it.
Flew from lax to CO at 8am on a Sunday morning and pulled into my garage at 615am the next day with $8,800 lighter wallet.

3 months in and absolutely stoked. My daily driver during the week and I drive it with boardsborts and flipflops and surfboard slid through the pass through on the weekends.

My 4th Benz diesel. By far the newest (last one was w124)

Wow. $8800 is a steal for 88,000 miles. I bought my first CDI in 2010, and my second one 5 months ago. They are awesome.

Yeah, that's one of the best CDI "scores" I've seen. Congrats.

Reminds me of what Charlie Munger said about the key to great investing: extreme patience combined with extreme decisiveness.

Misguided.
 

Car is NEVER an investment. It is an depreciating asset. CDI will not be a collectable.

No pictures, never happened.

You missed the point...never said it was an investment. The analogy has only to do with extreme patience and extreme decisiveness, which is a great strategy for finding a great car for a great price.

"key to great investing: extreme patience combined with extreme decisiveness."

I misread?? It was a wrong analogy then.

This is a really ironic post...

"CDI will not be a collectable"... nor will mid-80's Mercedes diesels, yet you own six of them.

"No pictures, never happened"...yet you have no pictures in your sig.

You are jealous that I have 6?? You got it all WRONG. I do not own them as an appreciating asset. I treat them as disposal cars. They are dirt cheap to buy, dirt cheap to run and absolutely disposable.

If someone brags that he/she got a good car. A picture would be appreciated or else it never happened. I never brags about my cars.

Well you can tell that I am brand new to these forums, and thanks for those who welcomed warmly.

I guess sharing my stoke could be seen as bragging. To those who would say "I never brags about my cars" I say "I never rushes to put pics on a site the same day I create a profile"..lol. I have taken exactly three pics and will put them on Inna bit.

Looking forward to learning with you guys.

Alright... 5 pics are on my profile now, including one coming through the Rocky Mountains on the maiden voyage and another of the speedo showing 40.4 mpg door to door on an LA to San Diego drive the next week.
I have owned equal numbers of Benz diesels and VW TDI's and only rarely had this kind of economy in the best of 'em. Yes, stoked, and sharing the stoke (or bragging, you decide).

David, don't be put off by random posts here and there. This forum is a lot of fun and extremely informative. And most of us relish the simple pleasure of sharing the news of our new acquisitions...I certainly do. I was pretty stoked by my perfect 06 CDI with 146k miles for $8,000....but you did even better!

It is hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

It's summer. Some days it's hot outside. People get stuck sitting inside their house with nothing better to do then to take euphemism literally.

Hi David, i do not mean to offend, my bad. Please accept my apology. Welcome to the forum.

Hey, it's all in fun. I poked you right back. Have a great day guys!

Stumbled across this on google.

On the fence between giving a teenage daughter my car (2006 E320 CDI) and keeping it. I think I'll keep it.

I'm the original owner, bought new in 2006. Just rolled over 105k.

Big ticket items in that time off the top of my head...

1) GPS antenna died, 700 dollars worth of labor because they said they had to take the trunk apart to get at it.

2) Key computer died around 80k, 2000 dollar replacement.

3) Transmission case seal on the back of the engine started leaking shortly after 100k, another 2000 dollars because you gotta drop the transmission to change the gasket.

4) Of all of the interior things that could go wrong (in the 10 years I've lived in HOT climates, NOLA, Dallas, etc), the only one that's a design flaw is the headlight switch. Whatever sealer they used on the plastic started to melt about a year ago. The rest of the interior is in fantastic shape other than the wall next to the front doors on the vertical structure inside the car. If you're like me, you have the driver seat set way back because you're taller than 5 foot nothin'. If you do, you rub against that interior cover over the vertical support in the frame every time you get in, eventually wearing a hole in it because it's cloth. Not a big deal, take it to your local upholstery shop and replace it with leather and it's fixed. Other than these two minor issues all of my electronics, buttons, and switches work just as well 10 years later as they did when I bought the car new.

5) The center speaker dies every few years because it's in the dash right in the path of incoming sunlight. 100 dollars to get the factory replacement, there's a harness so you just plug the new one in. Be careful not to crack the plastic around the A/C thermostat taking the grill off that covers it.

Whatever the vinyl is that Mercedes uses, it's the best stuff I've seen. My seats are vinyl with the leather inserts in the center. The vinyl around the outsides of the seats looks like it's still brand new, and I do not clean and seal this stuff at all, just wash it every few months.

Mine has always been dealer serviced. Oil changes are a couple/three hundred bucks because it's a diesel, of course, takes about 12 quarts of full synthetic so they're gonna be high no matter what. On the upside, you only do it once a year or once every 10k.

I have had no engine/transmission issues other than replacing that one rear seal between the engine/transmission. I still get 36 mpg or so on the highway, and the turbo still spins like a champ.

This was the last model year of the inline 6 without a filtered exhaust. The filtered exhaust requires a fluid replacement every couple of years for 400 dollars or so at the dealer. This one spews black smoke on the car behind you, like a Mercedes diesel should, causing the driver of that car behind you to decelerate in fear.

People reporting auto transmission issues: read your manual! You can manually shift this car but it's poorly documented. With the shifter in the normal forward 'drive' position you can manually shift the transmission by bumping the shifter left or right. If you put it in manual mode, it stays in manual mode until you turn the car off. It's easy to do this inadvertently if you bump the shifter. It's not a flaw, it's a (rather silly) feature.

Traction control on mine still works well in the rain. It's saved me a few times. On snow/ice, it's not a very good car but that would be the case for any high torque diesel RWD vehicle. Be careful on the ice in the winter. I stopped buying the dealer's overpriced tires as of my last tire change about 20k ago in favor of Pirelli. The dealer tires are an oddball Michelin, if I remember correctly. The dealer's tires do ride a bit softer/quieter, but they're not worth twice the price of the Pirellis.

I think I've replaced the main battery twice and the aux battery once in 10 years.

All in all, the best car I've owned.

Bump
 

Re-Find

Suspension Common Problem for W211
 

Just replaced the rear springs and shocks on mine. Raised rear and improved ride.

Remember to check the rear springs. They seem to break in the last turn at bottom where they sit in the lower cup. You really have to put car on jack, remove wheels to inspect. Break point was at small area that the springs hung from in factory where the coating was applied but didn't make it tho the hanger point. There was also rust and coating deterioration right at bottom where spring comes in contact with retaining pan or cup.

E320 CDI
 

I recently purchased an '05 E320 CDI and did some rather extensive work on it. Fixed the black death problem and replaced glow plugs. Also have YouTube videos and a blog post on the subject here, for those who are interested.

Nice....didn't know the lack of changing air filter could contribute to injectors leaking.

So what would be the connection between not replacing the air filter and the injectors leaking?

After reading this entire thread I can see you guys Love Your CDI! I noticed one on a CL search in the Bay area (as I recall). It had just under 100k for an asking 15k (over priced) from a MB dealer. I was the beautiful light blue W/what I call the Palimino? ivory interior.
The initial purchase (as we all know) is the cheap part, I can see these are very expensive to maintain (as any MB) I'll pass & keep my 83 CD! I'm finding now that MB is dropping parts available for my car, how long will it be till you can't get parts (such as the brake system) for a low production car that's already 10yrs old? I keep my cars for a long time & don't rack up the miles. I have a new Rubicon for a DD don't want to drive my CD in the rain, anyway just my thoughts.

There's an 05 E320 CDI w/39K miles on it for about $13K @ a dealer in Little Rock, Arkansas.

It can be found on AutoTrader dot com. It's White over black interior IIRC.

These cars get 40 or better mpg on the HWY, so it's pretty cheap to drive 'em home.

Pre-Purchase checklist
 

Without looking at the whole thread, is there a comprehensive pre-purchase checklist made up yet? I know there are the big ones: black death, SBC brake system, springs etc. I would like to see a "bullet point" type list that I can print up and have with me to check off as I inspect a car. Also, it seems pretty easy to check the condition of the injector seals by just removing the plastic cover, but how about the other items? I don't think a seller would mind if I removed the cover to inspect the injectors, but jacking up the car and removing wheels in his driveway might be too much to ask for. Most places that I will find cars available, are several hours away, and I would have no place to take a car for inspection. I know I could probably set up something in advance with a local independent repair facility if I am seriously considering a certain car. However, I am mainly interested in inspecting it with my own eyes, and am willing to learn what to look for. I am looking forward to joining the CDI Club, but also need to exercise patience so I get the best car for my money. Thanks, Rich

Why so much less than others?
 

I saw this, and it is much less than others I have seen
https://neworleans.craigslist.org/ctd/5946471328.html
Is it the mileage?

2007 MERCEDES E320 CDI 4DR DIESEL - $5950 (428 VETERANS BLVD METAIRIE LA)

2007 MERCEDES

fuel: diesel
title status: clean
transmission: automatic

more ads by this user
AUTO AC ALL POWER LEATHER SUNROOF NAVIGATION BOES RADIO SUPER CLEAN RUNS AND DRIVES GREAT HAS GREAT SERVICE RECORDS AT MERCEDES DEALER CLEAN CARFAX 2 OWNERS NO ACCIDENTS 178510 MILES ON IT NO TEXING CALL CHARLIE 504 427 5931

Cheap, but has a trans problem
 

This one in NC has a trans problem. The guy changed the fluid, and the problem started. He will probably take 4K for it.
2006 Mercedes Benz 3.2i turbo diesel,needs transmission repair otherwise car is in great shape inside and out. has 174k miles, and best mpg in its class,asking $ 4.500 or B/O, 704-615-8465

Is there anyone near Monroe NC that can look at it for me?

I haven't seen a check list for this specific model. It shouldn't take too long to do a quick review of the thread and jot down one. Looks like you know about the important issues.

Did the W211 have the 722.9 transmission? If so that transmission will be toast if anything other than the special, extracted from unicorn poo, MB proprietary fluid is used.

I saw an eBay listing for a W212 E350 Bluetec, where the seller was a third party car lot, they had a statement that said "every car gets an oil and filter change before we sell it". I cringed, since I am quite certain they did not use the 229.51 oil and fleece filter as called for in the MB guidelines.

I am not sure what trans is in an '05, but the guy said he used the correct fluid called for.

722.6 but it has a different self learning controller which may need to be reset

The 2007 is a V6. Priced right, given the miles, for what you're looking for.

I guess the value/price really goes down fast as the miles go up. That is the least expensive '07 I have seen.

If this car has truly been serviced regularly it will have lots of life left even at 180k.

If you decide to pursue this, and the records reflect that the oil cooler seals have been done, it would be a good deal.

It's a third party car lot, so you should be able to negotiate down to the low 5s paying cash, or have them include free shipping to CA for the advertised price. Or get a cheap ticket to MSY and drive it back yourself.

Thanks, but I would be afraid of buying a car without seeing it with my own eyes, or at least having someone that knows what to look for (and I trust), inspect it before I haggle for the best deal. If this car was any color but silver or black, I would probably pursue it vigorously. Being bright silver, I will pass.

ROLLGUY,

jay_bob is right in his last post. But as you said, I would not buy sight unseen either. Could be a helluva good 07!

Since miles don't bother you, I would search by price first. I'm adverse to the sellers on CL, so, I would enter your search parameters on AutoTrader.com & cars.com. You'll receive instant email alerts when a CDI meets your criteria.

Regards miles, higher mileage cars freak out many sellers, and they list them below KBB or NADA book published pricing, because their audience of buyers is limited. That's where you can make buys.

I set my maximum mileage @ 45K, so, I'm hardly ever getting alerts. My scope is National. I don't want to miss something.

Wow, this thread is all over the place.

Bought 2005 CDI from a *cough* forum member in late 2013 for ~$13k with 120k miles. At about 150K now.

Had several frustrating issues upon delivery to Maryland (drive from the middle of the country). Had asked about all of these before purchase, and here they were in my driveway. Assume these can be considered typical failure items:
1. Thermostat stuck open,
2. Lower ball joints creaking, but most other suspension points greased via grease needle to try to cover that...,
3. One non-functional power door lock,
4. EGR malfunctioned twice on the drive to Maryland, went into limp home.

The surprise [undisclosed], but still normal failure items:
1. Blower motor noisy in cold weather,
2. Air bag light stuck on due to failure of seat weight sensor

Since then, mostly a trouble-free ownership. Following MB's recommended service plus ~30k Tranny flushes. So have done water pump, pulleys, etc. now. Changed out most of the low pressure diesel lines as they were starting to crack.

Only unexpected failures have been:
1. 1 dead glow plug in winter of 2015,
2. Clunking I can't track down during some turns. Replaced upper ball joints, sway bar end links, and a thrust arm that looked worn.,
3. Occasional surged, particularly at low speeds. UK boards seem to attribute this to the transmission. Mine correlates with external temperatures, and I have a flush coming up...so we shall see.

Overall a good, roomy, comfortable, economical car, with a good bit of power.

Probably should bypass the EGR, but that keeps falling off my list.

atomix8,
Was this CDI from TylerH860?

It sounds like your engine/transmission mount,(s) may possibly be the clanking culprit to me. Esp. if they've never been changed.

Your related CDI problems sound like normal wear n tear items that may or will fail/wear. Mine has experienced the HVAC fan ticking at low fan speed, that I paid to have replaced at a shop.

One thing is true on the CDI, at least to me. It's going to cost me more than I'd like to pay in the frequency of necessary repair items and costs, than I'd like it to. If, I want to keep it totally up to speed.

Joe, Good point on the mounts, I hadn't thought of those, I'll take a look.

Was going to PM you the other answer but you're closed to PMs :)!

atomix8, You're now cleared to PM.

Dual exhaust?
 

I had a dealer send photos of the underside of the car, and it looks like it has dual exhaust. Do these cars have dual exhaust?

You're darn right they've got dual exhausts!

Genuine dually exhaust.......looks bada** too!