Hi there,

I for one also think $2000 in repairs a year is rather high.
I do like the design of bimmers as well, but as soon as I get into one I am let down by the plasticky build of the interior. Also I worked in Denmark at a BMW dealer and I saw the repair bills. Everything seem like special order and repair costs were consistently high. I for one is a very biased MB fan. I love the feeling of quality. In comparison I am not considering the latest 3-4 years of cars for MB or BMW. I do feel like MB has lost some ground during these years. I hope years to come proves us wrong but the stories worries me.
My experience with my last 4 MB's are as follows:

1998 - 2000 300ce from -92:
Got it with 67000 miles one owner from the dealer and negotiated 3 years starmark warranty for $980.- . Only thing ever went wrong was a dead battery, which MB replaced as it was not an original MB battery. My wife was sold on MB's. In terms of depreciation, this was my most expensive (-$7000).

1999-Current 300sdl from -86: (currently 172000)
Found this one owner car with 124000 mi. Same mechanic for the last 14 years, who has all rec's.
Has beyond reg. maintenance cost about $1200. Worst things were a leaking injector pipe, a stuck window and screecking wheel bearing. (Battery is way overdue and brakes are due soon, no warping though). Depreciation is negliable.

2000 - 2003 s500 -96: Starmarked for 4 years for $2000.
Leased this one for 36 mth's. Paid 52000 + tax. US Bank signed up for residual of 38000. This past februar I negotiated with US bank through 2 mth's (they called several times) and finally paid 20800. Two weeks later we sold it privately for 28000 with still one year of transferable starmark warranty. Depreciation very cool. Bank lost a little. Got new tires and heater core on the warranty. Had to do brakes myself for $700. Nothing else ever went wrong.

2003 - currently 560sel from -89:
This car I just bought. ("Buyer beware" story). I had just put new brakes and rotors all over for $670. Everything else has been done to it. Paid too much but with all the repairs I feel, I have a very good car on my hands.

In my experience I believe that buying an older well kept MB with proper maintenance history can only save you money over the long run. No other car can come close in terms of total ownership cost compared to the luxury you enjoy. With the newer ones with problems and depreciation factor, it is another story.
I believe I will be driving MB's for the rest of my life. 65% of the reason I would say is the total ownership cost. Rest is the fact that they are very safe and drives very nice. I do miss my S500 but I will say that I feel I was lucky with the one I had.

I think many people who have stories with older ones are either inheriting other peoples problems or mistreating their cars. I believe german cars are more sensitive to misuse and bad maintenance. One way I see people mistreat cars is by not letting them heat up and cool down properly. It's easy to hurt a car in these two phases.
Another thing I have made my wife no do is the parking on a hill without setting the emergency brake. The car then hangs in the transmission and when she shifts to drive upon leaving the car makes a big jerk, which can't be good for the transmission. Also when I meet her she would sometimes shift to park before the car was at a complete stop (barely moving). But it still resulted in a jerk. I don't know what these actions do to the car but my common sense tells me it's not a good idea.
What do I know. I just know that my MB experience has proven to both my wife and I that keeping older MB's. A prerequisit though is that one knows which models and which problem with model to look out for. That's where these forums helps out so much..

Jari