E420 questions
 

I am looking for a 94' or 95' E-class MB and was wondering if the 420's have less problems in regard to wiring harness and head gasket problems compared to 320's. Is the E420 a better more reliable car? Second, I like black cars and have yet to see an all black exterior. Do all of the black MB's of this era have the gray lower half. If so can it be changed?

You won't find headgasket issues with the M119 V8. Wiring Harness is another story - same spotty failures as the E320's unfortunately. I would imagine the increased heat of this engine could actually result in more frequent failures!? :eek: Could any of our techs back that up w/experience?

All will have the two-tone paint (grey bottom), and contrarily to your observations, there are many, many Pearl Black and regular Black cars. Probably the most common color from what I've see both around town and on the forums.

I haven't seen an example of a black-painted bottom, but I've seen other colors done with excellent results, I personally prefer the two-tone look both as rock-chips and wear on the lower portion of the car is [i]much{/i] less noticeable than it would be if it was painted black.

Search the archives, there's plenty of good info on the E420 too!

Regards,
- Ryan

We are currently painting all of the lower trim and grille on my TE. Removal and installation is pretty easy so if you can take it apart it shouldn't cost too much to take it to a body shop to get the color change. Any damage to the components will obviously cost extra to repair. Be glad to give you any info you need to dissassemble.

There seem to be no head gasket leak problems with the M119 engine.

On this site, there are a few posts about engine wire harness problems, but they are limited to 1992 and maybe 1993 400E's (same engine and displacement, 4.2 liters).

The wire harness problem is nothing like the M104's.

I've never seen a black on black E420, but many Pearl Black with gray leather E420's.

One thing I've noticed though, on these cars is power steering pump leaks. It seems the extra heat from the engine is hard on the hoses and seals in the pump.

When I was looking for a 94-95 e420 I did find a few all black ones. All were 95's if I remember. I dont know if the previous owners did this or not, but they are hard to find. Maybe check autotrader.com and look at all the pictures thats what I did.

I own a 1995 E420 and...
 

I love it!
Although I am a second owner, but I have all history on this car. Yes, it did have some minor wire harness issues and was fixed at the dealer few years back by the original owner (he had warranty and didn’t cost him much to do it luckily for him!). I recently fixed a leaking power steering bump. It just started to leak but didn’t want to wait on it. And yes, the engine seems to run hot mainly due to the fact that it’s a v8 packed in a rather small engine compartment and so you get some heat related issues like wire insulations become brittle etc… The only issue I have with it right now is the oil pressure gauge went bad on me (dropped to 0 no problems with oil pressure itself or the sender unit or wire… it is the gauge) and I am searching for used one to replace it (new cost $475). I don’t have any other problems with this car. I love the way it looks and the way it picks up and go. See picture below. This baby has 275 horse power and very pleasant to drive and I will keep it for as long as it wants to stay with me;)

u might want to check out this post

click here

:-)

check this out...it's your car!
 

sold on ebay for 10k... looks nice..check it out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2401480822&category=6335

Thanks for the replies. The e420 is the car, now I have to find one in black or charcoal for a reasonable price. I missed a charcoal
one 6 miles from my house for $12,500 and 82,000 miles. What color is Joe's car?

what is up with the tacky "sports" stripe on the ebay car?

* along the side

Mine is charcoal all one color
 

with black interior.. See picture in my previous reply above. it's 95 with 38,000 miles. bought it from a lillte ole lady who drove the thing <5k a yer. it is almost new.

My buddy was high bidder on that eBay e420.

The guy has 5 MB's sitting in his drive now. (one is my '83 300D)

I told him he will be known around the neighborhood as "The Mercedes Guy"

Joe, What might one expect to pay from a little old lady? Anyone out there know of any little old ladies with pristine, low mileage charcoal or black E420's? I love the look of Joe's car.

I paid $16,800 for it. Bought it last October and now car has 38,400 miles. My buddy has a 1998 E320 bought it new and his now has 97,000.
I call it luck and good timing. I wasn't even looking for a MB when I ran across this one. This is my 1st MB and after driving it for few months, I will always own an MB. I may try BMW oneday! and here is a pic of the engine. I keep it clean the same way I got it. Best of luck for you too!

keeping engine clean
 

I've had someone tell me that if I want to pinpoint an oil leak I need to steam clean the engine first. He said that you can just go to those self service car wash places.

If I do spray my engine with one of those hi pressure nozzles, do I have to take some precautions first or is it pretty safe to just spray away?

I had a '84 Buick Regal and when I did it to that car, I had a real hard time getting the thing started after that. I'm afraid to do anything to mess up my Benz.

I bought a 1984 E420 8 months ago; love the way the car drives. Be careful of air conditioning problems....on this body style (all the E series) the evaporater and expansion valves are known to go bad. The expansion valve can cost $300, but the evaporater is an expensive $2000 fix. I just had my expansion valve go, and may also need an evaporater - as you can imagine, that was really bad news. If I were you, I'd have someone check the AC system very carefully before any purchase.

Jerry,

Do you mean a 1994 E420?

I am sooooooo happy with my 94 E420!

Yes, its the same one that has the ebay auction link.

It's a dream compared to my 420SEL.

The only thing I had to do, was buy a pair of tires for the front. The one side had the spare mounted. The other side had a nearly completely worn out Conti on it. (The blown out spare was in the trunk)

The "sports stripe" is hardly noticeable. Actually, I didn't notice it, until it was pointed out by renyf1

-Larry

Frankie and Larry..
 

Frankie,
As for cleaning the engine, I have been doing that for years. I don’t worry so much about others saying it could kill your electrical system… of course you have to be careful where you spray water. I don’t use high-pressure water (i.e. coin operated car wash). All I do is take the air filter housing off. Cover the intake and air mass with foil and plastic wrap and cover all electrical component with foil or plastic. Spray engine degreaser into the warm engine. Let it set for 10-15 minutes. If too much dirt, use a small parts cleaning brush to work away oil deposits etc.. with a garden hose and nozzle, spray little stream over areas with large dirt deposited. Dry the water with a rag as much as you can. Remove all plastic coverings. Put everything back together and run your engine for few minutes to dry it from water. For a final touch of shine, I spray tire cleaner over all plastic parts and air filter housing (a trick I learned from Jim. See item#21 on his link: http://pages.prodigy.net/jforgione/MB_S500.html ). As you can see from my pic above, you get very nice shine and no dirt is attracted to your engine.

Larry,
Nice catch! E420s are extremely fun to drive and pass other cars. It has so much power yet very elegant. I also like the older look with wide headlights much better than the new rounded look.

Our 95 Spruce Green wagon is the same color top and bottom. I'm pretty sure that for 95 only, both halves same color, regardless of what it is... except the plastic lower half has a satin clear coat.

I saw a 95 wagon for sale just recently that was Midnight Blue... same deal, one color all over.