There is no reason to spend more than $4500 or so for an excellent condition W210. I know because I just sold one for that! 
The rust is a real but manageable issue. Don't let that in and of itself scare you away. When I bought my 98 two years ago, I had to spend $700 to address the rust on all four wheel wells. Car still looks great.
That being said, if you can pull together $8-9,000, get a CDI. A better car in every respect IMO...especially since you live in a high salt area.
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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
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