I found what appears to be a wonderful 1997 E 420 with 53500 on the clock and I'm going to test drive it on the 26 Dec, does anyone have any last minute hints about what I should look for? When I did a search I found some mention of a possible transmission troubles in late 96/early 97's and that it should have been in for a side airbag recall. Anything else that I should be aware of? I'd $ure hate to have to pay for service on a MB 5 speed auto... Thanks, Dave.

__________________
Thanks,
Dave

1998 BMW 540i Sport
1995 E320
1992 400E
1989 BMW M3
1979 Triumph TR7 (1st car)
1986 BMW 735i (Sold)
1980 BMW 320i (Sold)

I own and drive a '97 E420. It's not worth it. Poor paint quality and corrosion problem. Stay with your W124.

Thanks lucky! The car appeared very nice, but I was suspicious of it since day one because it was not a Starmark car, and it was priced $3000 less than any other one that I had seen. A look at the spare tire revealed a scuffed up wheel with a bubble in the sidewall of the tire. The 2 rear tires were Goodyear, and Michelins up front. Accident (nothing came up on CarFax)? To top that off the salesman at Bloomfield Hills (Michigan) MB gave me bogus information when I had him pull up the Master Vehicle Service Log. I knew that it should have been recalled for airbags, but 2 recalls appeared and he told me that it was a steering pump seal when in fact the second recall was for some frame wax sealing (or something close). He also told me that the Airbag recall that I recognized the code for (and did not tell him) was for a seal in the Left Rear of the vehicle because there was a L/R in the code (probably for Left & Right Side Airbags). It just goes to show that all used car salesman are exactly that, even at the MB dealer.

__________________
Thanks,
Dave

1998 BMW 540i Sport
1995 E320
1992 400E
1989 BMW M3
1979 Triumph TR7 (1st car)
1986 BMW 735i (Sold)
1980 BMW 320i (Sold)