i am shopping for an e320 wagon up to '95. today i drove a nice example, 1995, fine shape overall, my first impressions were very positive. the engine was silky smooth and quiet, everything worked perfectly on the car and cosmetically it had no issues. the car has 186,000 kms, about 115k miles. at first examination it was pretty much exactly what i am looking for.

there were a few things that i noticed, and i hoped to get some sage advice from those here on the forum who have much more knowledge than i do.

first - the coolant was green. i am under the impression it should be dull amber. i have used MB coolant in a few other vehicles i own, so i know what it looks like. how worried should i be about this? i have researched these vehicles a bit and understand that the cylinder head gasket should be replaced around the 100k mile mark. i do not believe this has been done on this car.

the second thing i noticed was a "clunk" when shifting the car from park to drive. the clunk was not loud or disturbing and similar to a sound/feeling i have noticed in many other automatic transmission vehicles, but in this car, which was so smooth and quiet otherwise, it sort of stuck out.

the last thing i noticed was that when i "floored" the throttle pedal at very low speed, the car did almost nothing. it was very responsive at normal driving speeds, but very slow off the line. mashing the pedal seemed to almost make it slower off the line than feathering it a bit. the dealer said this behaviour was normal for this vehicle, but it seemed odd to me. bear in mind i had never driven an e320 before today. i have drive a few 300's, but i recall they were all diesel.

while i am at it, i may as well ask if there are any areas of particular import that i should be looking at when inspecting the e320 from 91-95.

thanks for any input.

scott lyons

I purchased our '95 E320 wagon with 90k miles in 2001. It had a complete dealer history with the wiring harness replaced. As far as I know, the head gasket is original. Now at 125k miles.

I've replaced the following since purchased:

- accumulators for rear suspension
- exhaust (SS from Timevalve)
- the dreaded evaporator
- one ignition coil

Overall it's a been great car. It's relatively fast and definitely quick off the line; something is not right with the car you drove if not fast off the line.

Coolant should be amber.

I am actually looking to sell our wagon if you are looking for a really nice one.

__________________
as ever
Paul

1989 560SL
1987 300SDL
1987 300TD
1983 BMW 633CSi
1972 280SE 4.5

paul,

thanks for the reply.

yes, i would love to consider your car. unfortunately, since i am in canada, i cannot even think of it because the e320 from the US market is not admissable here in canada. the "why?" of this might be a subject for another topic, but it is true, us market wagons cannot be imported into canada, which is unfortunate because they are somewhat rare here compared to sedans.

scott lyons