Reviews or feedback on E class?? Especially high mileage. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

spinedoc · #1 10-28-2004, 10:32 AM

Gearing up for the winter and I really hate SUV's so I was very strongly considering purchasing a E320 or E430 4matic, 1998 and above. The most I want to spend is 20k, that should buy me a 98-00 E320 or a 99 E430 on the wholesale circuit.

Any reviews or feedback on the 98-01 E class in general, good car? Maintenance? Longevity? Problems? Many of the cars I am looking at have 70k to 100k miles on them, should this be an issue?

Thanks much for the feedback.

Southern · #2 10-28-2004, 07:06 PM

Spinedoc,

In general I love my 98 E320 which has 99K miles. The size of the E-class is just right for me (not too small and not too large). The car drives and handles very well. The original owner (from San Diago) put high performance tires on the car. When I encountered the first snow in Chicago the car could not make it from my driveway to my garage. I purchased a spare set of rims and put on snow tires (Michelin Pilot Alpins) and the car handles like it's on drive pavement in the snow and ice.

Maintence costs have been very low for me since I do my own maintenance.

Some of the problem areas for W210's are: harmonic balancer, rear window regulators, blower motor regulator, weak sunroof cables, signs of rust on the underbody, mass air-flow sensor.

Of the above listed items, I did not have my rear window regulators or blower motor regulator go out. If I had the dealer fix the other problems then my maintenance costs would be much higher.

I have read posts regarding the 4-matic system and read that they have problems with seals leaking. Someone with a 4-matic system could give you better insite.

There was an issue with the FSS system for these cars. Orignally Mercedes did not recommend synthetic oil and since the FSS could go up to 20000 miles between recommended oil changes there were reports of cars with sludge and excessive oil consumption. This was more prone to owners who ran past the FSS oil change interval using dyno oil. Several years later Mercedes came out with a letter recommending the use of synthetic motor oil for these cars.

Another issue with the W210's was the "fill for life" transmission fluid. Mercedes stated that the transmissions were filled for life but never defined the term "life". I change my trans fluid out at 80K miles and there was a layer of sludge on the bottom of the trans pan. I also "up-dated" my trans by installing a pan magnet in the bottom of the trans pan. Since Mercedes introduced the 722.6 transmissions, there have been updates along the way.

If you are looking at a high milage W210 I would recommend that you have the trans fluid change out. This transmission uses special trans fluid around $12/liter and uses around 7-8 liters including the torque converter.

The spark plugs are rated for 100K miles or 4 years which ever comes first. If you purchase a W210 with the original plugs over 4 - 5 years old expect to spend an hour or two to get the old plugs out. There are also two plugs per cylinder.

I purchased my 98 E320 when it was 2 years old with 58K miles on it. I am not afraid of high milage Mercedes - I feel that they were meant to be driven. Like anything else the car is only as good as the previous owner took care of it.

BTW - some day I hope to join you on the SL Forum. I would like to eventually get a used SL500 or SL600.

Hatterasguy · #3 10-29-2004, 12:28 AM

W140 S600's 1998 E300D is just shy of 150k and you wouldn't know it if you didn't look at the odo. They hold up just fine their are a few 200k+ examples around that seem to be holding their own. Just be careful of the spring perch's. They can snap off dumping the whole front suspension!

But only the 1998 and early W210's seem to have this problem. Mostly the ones with more weight up front like the E420/430 and the E300D's. Eventually MB will issue a recall but someone will probably have to die or get hurt first.