Hey guys, just wanted to update you. I'm flying from Dallas to Alabama tomorrow a.m. to pick up a three-owner 2002 E320 Special Edition (silver/silver) with 77k. The price is just at $10k. She has the 17" five-holers, which I love. The car is for my wife.

Have the MB VMI sheet - and understand why the first owner got rid of the car after three years.... Get this: 13 warranty services under 30k in three years -- 2!! steering racks; cam position sensor; control arm mounts, one cat, flexible srv. (FSS) system?, axle seal ring, pinon bearing drive?, upstream 02 sensor, brake light switch,CD changer) -- and again at 61k (light engine work? and CSI clean up.

Also spoke to the shop that maintained it under a third-party service warranty and got the skinny, verifying that all services were done on schedule. Also spoke to the third owner (the car is at a car lot) who loved the car and said it never gave him a lick of trouble. Don't think he considers replacing two window regulators, a cooling fan (wobbly shaft), front rotors and pads, and the ACC control unit "trouble" . He bought the car from a good friend of theirs (2nd owner) -- so I think I've got a pretty good sense of the history.

I'll report in often on what I'm taking on regarding preventative maintenance etc., and with questions I'm sure. My wife and I are excited to be back in the MB fold, for sure, even with the wrench turning I'll have to do.

Thanks to everyone that responded to this thread and especially to Paul for e-mailing back and forth with me.

Wish me luck on the 600+ mile drive back to Dallas tomorrow!

Ah, so you didn't manage to kick the habit! Welcome back to the fold.

Sounds like a nice car you found. I'm a little surprised you had to go so far afield to find a good example, given that you live in DFW.

The VMI on my ex-2001 wagon had more work than you would like to see as well. But you know what - by the time I got it, everything had been sorted out. One window regulator was the worst problem I had in 5+ years.

Best of luck with the new ride.

- JimY

Hey Jim, thanks for the note and vote of confidence That's exactly how I explained the VMI to my wife. And is exactly what the case was with my 960 volvo... the dealer repair receipts from the orignal owner stack 1" high -- but even with 160k on the odometer, she's the most reliable car I've ever had.

I was surprised too. about the lack of quality cars in the DFW area.. but everything I was finding here was either retail priced or had prior accident issues. One car I looked at last week ('02 / black) had factory paint all over it except for the rear drivers door and quarter and one side of the trunk lid, yet the hood and fenders had been removed.

Not a good sign. And none of that showed up in the carpy carfax report. Total red flag.

The quality/private party valued cars just aren't here -- which suprised me. I concluded that all the nice one or two owner cars were getting snapped up by wholesalers and then auctioned, which are primarily procured at various car dealerships in the metroplex. Most of the car lot cars (craigslist, autotrader, etc.) I saw had issues.

Nice thing is my flight will cost nothing (employee perk). I'll just lose hotel fare for a night and some fuel money and about 10 hours of driving time

Welcome back to the fold, Chris. Looks like a nice car, except for the fact that it's missing a V8.

__________________
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 think you are spot on about certain wholesalers. I have a friend of close friends, who is a wholesaler and he always gets them great Benzs Porsches, Bentleys for himself and other customers even Harleys. from all over the country.

And I have never heard of any of my close friends being disapointed with the cars they get from him. Even though you would think there are a lot of good used cars retailing in this area (NYC), most of my friends pay a small premium to him and get good cars

Just my 2 cents

Holy hell that list reads more like an Audi's repair history than a Mercedes' (M-class excepted ). Must've been a Monday/Friday car during Oktoberfest or something. Should be a good car for your wife if the last owner had no issues, though.

I suggest picking up a crank position sensor and replacing it ASAP as a precautionary measure (it's at the right mileage for it to fail, there's a 50/50 chance of it giving you any warning before it fails, and when it fails it WILL leave you/your wife stranded), and you should change the trans. fluid, filter, and electrical connector assembly if there are no records of it being done when you get it home, too. Diff fluid wouldn't be a bad idea either, depending on when the warranty work on that was done; nobody ever remembers to do it.

__________________
-Kevin
Past: '67 250SE, '86 & '87 560SELs
Projects: '73 Buick Riviera, '75 350SE (grey market, stick shift)
Cars that actually run under their own power:'87 300D Turbo, '03 Corvette Z06, '07 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Limited

What is the "MB VMI sheet?"

And how can I get this document on a preowned MB I am considering buying?

__________________
'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

A VMI is a Vehicle Master Inquiry, and only includes items replaced under warranty. It is not a print out of ALL of the maintenance done on the car.

This VMI belongs with the car, not the previous owners, so they will provide it to you free of charge.

__________________
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".

Paul is right. Not sure if any MB dealer will print out a VMI for you -- you may have to have some work done there. I've got a friend who is a MB mechanic, and he was pulling them on all cars I was considering. You can only get nonwarranty repair records at the dealer where the car was serviced.

Will do on the crank position sensor, Arkie. Thanks, man

OK. Got the car back home Friday night. The 1240 mile round trip one day fly-out-to/drive-back-from Alabama (to TX) was no problem thanks to three halves of "stay awayke" ( = three cups of coffee) and a box of Lemonheads. The car got 30 mpg while running 75 mph. Pretty impressive. Only issues I noticed is a steering wheel vibration at idle (motor mounts) and a whining in the rear differential around 40-50 mph or so (carrier setup from a past warranty replacement, I believe). I'll live with the whine and change the mounts Also, the inside trunk release isn't working properly. I'll figure that one out eventually.

I washed the car this weekend, treated the leather with Leatherique (which totally brought the sun faded gray leather back to life -- I'll do this again in a couple weeks), sanded and polished the headlights (This totally works….1000 grit then 1500 grit wet paper followed by 3m plastic polish and my orbital buffer ----- amazing results. It took the yellow haze out of the headlights and made them crystal clear.) I then pulled the glove box assembly out to get to the cabin filters and two huge charcoal cannsisters under the passenger's footwell.

To do items in the next three weeks in no particular order:
• Transfer title
• Car inspection
• Car registration
• Tint windows
• Take to my friend and have him remove and paint the rear bumper assembly, side view mirrors, spot on front bumper and then two strips that run over the doors from the front to rear glass (plastic trim). I can do paint/body, but just don't have the time these days to handle.
• Take to my MB dealer mechanic friend to put on a lift and check it out for me -- see what she needs
• New crankshaft position sensor
• New spark plugs
• New fuel filter / air filter
• New cabin filters and charcoal filters (four total)
• Pull the transmission pan, change the filter, flush 12 liters of transmission fluid (changing the fluid)
• New engine oil/filter
• Drain and replace rear differential fluid

In the next year, I will remove all the birdseye black maple (which is uneven in tone plus has some clearcoat fading) -- 13 pieces in all -- and look around for a woodshop to remove the clearcoat, lightly sand and stain the wood, and spray it with a nitro finish. If you see the trim in the backseat and the gearshift color, it's darker --almost black in color -- which is the way it's supposed to be. The dash, console and door trim up front is a lighter brown. While I'll restain and refinish furniture all day long with zero worry, you only get one shot with this the thin burlwood…so I'll let a pro handle it. Any recommendations and pricing guesstimates would be awesome.