I am looking at a 96 C280 with 121K, Runs and drives great. I am somewhat concerned because the owner hit something in the road and lost all of his oil, destroying the engine. He replaced it with a 97 engine with allegedly 65K. It runs like a top. Should I be overly concerned about this issue? Also, are there any particular issues with this model that I need to be aware of? What is a good price for this scenario?
Thanks in advance.

96's and 97's used the exact same engine so I don't see any problems at all with the engine compatiblity.

I'd be more concerned with the actual mileage of the engine that's in the car now. Can you confirm the miles of the transplanted engine? Where did it come from? He has to have records of some kind. I'd also like to see a maintenance record of any kind. With used cars, maintenance is not just one thing. It's everything.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

I've owned a 96 C280 since Feb 2000. I bought it with 56K and now have 111K. Here is a list of things I've had to deal with over the past 50,000. This is what you may be in for. Note that I love the car, it's not as sporty as my BMW 325 that was stolen but it has it's strong points. My Car has the Straight 6, I thought that 97's came with the V6??? So if you have a V6 your potential problems may differ.

1. Computer Temperature Controller Problem - One day my AC stopped coming out of the center vents.. it all seemed to route to the defrost outlets! I explored the vacuum control system located behind the glovebox, found the vacuum distribution/control valve unit, opened it up, tested all the solenoids (they were ok), checked for vacuum (it was ok too), so I removed the computer controller from the dash and discovered that the connector was corroded. I cleaned the connector and the system was 100% again. Most recently there seems to be a short in the LCD display, if I tap the temp up and down buttons it flickers.

2. Oil leak - turned out to be the upper valve cover gasket $110.00. I pulled the star report at the dealer and found out that the lower valve cover gasket had been replaced under warranty and is known to leak. Since then it's leaking again and the first opinion I've gotten was that it is the head gasket. I plan to take it to another shop or consult a Mercedes mechanic directly to be sure it's not the valve cover gaskets again.

3. Water Pump - Had the water pump spring a leak around 80k.

4. Fuel Gauge - If I top the car off with gas the fuel gauge shuts off. It drops to zero but then comes back once the fuel amount lowers, if I don't go beyond the gas station pumps auto off it doesn't happen.

5. Misfire - recently the engine has lost spark to cylinder 6. It's not too much to take the cover off the top of the S6, so I did and reseated all the spark plug connectors. Problem was fixed. Although the oil from the leak has found its was to the spark plug area and probably is the cause of the failure.

6. Some of the Speedometer gauge lights burned out.

7. Replaced Battery at 105K

So as you can see mechanical things wear out, the biggest problem that is really annoying is the Oil leaking. Replace one seal and the next weakest seal fails. However I've owned an older BMW and some Hondas and they all experience problems at this age... things wear out but the oil leaking seems to be a BMW/Mercedes thing. I wouldn't say this car has been much more expensive then a Japanese car, parts can be found at wholesale type parts dealers at similar costs to non Mercedes parts.

I have access to Mercedes Finance company auction cars and opted to keep my 96 since I've been through all of the 50K to 100K problems...

The first Mercedes car to ever get the V6 engine was the CLK 320 in 1997.

All other Mercedes with six-cylinder engines got the V6 in 1998.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".