Seems to me that this is an awfully good time to snag a W210 for very little money. I don't know about markets in other parts of the country, but in Southern New England these cars seem to languish endlessly. Here's one example Diesel - Mercedes Benz, 1998 E300 that's been on the market for over a year.

I think if I were looking for one of these I would tell myself that $3500-4000 and a bit of patience can secure a good example.

Not unrelated is the fact that it now appears to be rather easy to find nice condition, reasonable number of miles 05-06 CDI's for under $10k.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 160k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 180k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 79k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife