Your insight has inspired more questions -- hope you don't mind.
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I think the M113 ends up being more reliable because it doesn't have to work
as hard - that's why there is very little fuel economy penalty. If you drive the 2
on a daily basis, the V-6 always seems to be in a slight strain compared to the
V-8.
--- Interesting. Our '95 E320 always seemed to have an abundance of power, IMHO. Of course, my wife went from a n/a Volvo 940. Is the M113 power less linear (noticable across the entire RPM range) than my '95 was?
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If I wait long enough, I might just hold out for the W211 - everything so far
on the ones we see seems like its going to be a good car long-term, though I'd want the earlier ones that still have the M112 vs. the M272 (the M272 of
the E350 has had some problems with countershaft gears stripping and it requires engine removal
to put new shafts in, and pulling the timing chain - though we haven't had
one in the shop for this yet).
---- Everything I read about the W211s was "stay away from the early ones (E320 model)...go '06 and up. So I was convinced that if we jumped on this new of a model, it would be an '07. BUT, it sounds like the '06/7 E320 models have potential issues with the crank countershaft. Not good. But good to know. Any more details we'd all greatly appreciate.
(Is it just me, or do the 211s look my "generic" than the 210s?)