Interesting (to me, anyway) E430 Story
 

We've had our "new" '99 E430 for a week and a half now, and are really enamored with it. I fell like I should call it a "motorcar" or something, but my wife would just roll her eyes, and my friends would stop calling. Oh well...

I found a service receipt in the glovebox from the original owner, and called him, to get his opinion on the car. It was nice to get a really enthusiastic response. "Best car I've ever had. Never any problems, always serviced. Tried to buy it at the end of the lease, but the bank wouldn't yield. Wish I still had it." He did confirm one problem that I would like to correct- the driver's headrest only works intermitently. "I didn't want them to take the (multicontour) seats appart, so I never bothered mentioning it," was his statment. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Also, I'm considering a fluid/filter change on the trans. The car has 60k. I know MB says it is sealed, but that sounds like marketing not engineering to me. Comments?

Thanks,
Art

Yes, spend $250 & have the transmission serviced. Replacement cost can be $2500-$4000.
Also when the trans pan is off make sure that a magnet is added to the pan when removed. Part number 220-271-00-98.

M.B.DOC

Are you speaking of a magnetic drain plug?

Haasman

no, that number is for a special magnet that goes inside the pan.

Thank you. Is this specific to the 210's? Can it be added to any trans?

Haasman

Thanks for the part number. I just ordered one- $2.50, a record low!

Art

Haasman,

The magnet can be used in any metal pan. My 92 Chevy Astro has a magnet in the trans pan from the factory. When I do a trans fluid change, I clean the magnet and trans pan. The magnet does a great job of collecting metallic debris. The rear differential on my Chevy Astro also has a magnet from the factory that works very well on collecting metallic debris.

Art,

I changed the trans fluid and added the magetic on my 98 E320 at 80K miles. The fluid was filthy and the bottom of the trans pan had about 1mm of sludge - I also recommend the 60K trans fluid intervals.

Art,

I own a similar vintage/mileage vehicle, there are three recurring issues I've seen on the forums (do some searches for details)...

(i) Harmonic balancer can fail, consider replacing with latest rev part.
(ii) Transmission - do change oil (as noted by others).
(iii) Cabin air filter (paper), if it get's too dirty it may cause the fan speed control to overheat and fail. This weakness has been addressed in a new revision to the speed control and motor, so if you have the original design and it fails you'll need to buy a new motor and controller, i.e. expensive.

Generally the e430 seems to be a solid vehicle.

Good luck,

Peter