i think you just took all of that out of context,being a prior general motors service technician,the amount of maintenance these german cars require between lube oil and filter is next to nothing,i mean we all know the obvious,plugs, wire,s fuel filter, air filter,rotaton of tires,good fuel injection cleaner,89 octane gas,you just cant go wrong with any e series,be it a 300 or 400,just great dependable cars with little maintenance,we all know all cars are not perfect and trouble free,but a mercedes verse a gm is a much better choice.i prefer 300 series,my car is an 89 300 ce its got lots of little issues from being neglected but its only got 65,000 original miles on it,so change your alternator once in a great while upgrade it to a 150 amp,run some anti sludge oil such as castrol gtx or pennzoil.1986-1995 are all great series of mercedes,good luck.