2004 E320 Wagon - Yeah or Nay?

[LeeH]

Mercedes-Benz : E-Class Wagon in Mercedes-Benz | eBay Motors

I'm a wagon fan. Shaun's miraculous survival and a string of issues with my new used Mazda5 got me looking around. Would a 100K miles E320 be a nice bargain cruizer or a recipe for financial disaster?

[onewhippedpuppy]

That was during the Daimler-Chrysler era, where Mercedes quality was less than stellar. Lots of cool gizmos means lots of stuff to break, and those are not simple cars. I would do a lot of research and tread carefully.

[EarlyPorsche]

Having owned Benz products from that era, I can tell you that you have nothing to fear. Lots of people complain but if you know that every time a bulb is burnt message comes on you are OK then youre fine. Many friends have owned and continue to have that era Benz and have perfectly reliable cars. I would buy it without a doubt if its well maintained.

[HardDrive]

I had an 06 E350, and the navigation module went out 3 times in a year. $1200 a pop. It was under warranty, but that was enough to convince me to let it go.

That all said, it was a beautiful car. Refined, but not isolated. The engine was responsive, and the suspension was compliant, yet very capable. I'm considering a 10+ E350 as a replacement for my 997.

100k is up there for any car.

[sc_rufctr]

That's a lot of car for 14k... I'd find it hard to pass up but it is 8 years old!

Can you DIY something like this? I can't imagine why not.

[jyl]

Maybe cheap for the same reason that a 100K mile BMW 750 is cheap . . .

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by EarlyPorsche

Having owned Benz products from that era, I can tell you that you have nothing to fear. Lots of people complain but if you know that every time a bulb is burnt message comes on you are OK then youre fine. Many friends have owned and continue to have that era Benz and have perfectly reliable cars. I would buy it without a doubt if its well maintained.

My little C has been a fantastic car and would buy one again in a heartbeat.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

hope I'm not derailing your thread Lee.

I'm looking at this one:

Mercedes-Benz : E-Class Station Wagon in Mercedes-Benz | eBay Motors


I like the 2003-on look quite a lot.

See what Denis has to say.

[greglepore]

The newer cars certainly have more stuff to break, but the older cars certainly have their issues. The 124s that Shaun is looking at have weak head gaskets (the replacements are reengineered) that are a 2500-3k job to replace, bad wiring harnesses, and known transmission issues. Still, the solidity of the car is frikin' amazing, and the interiors pretty much bulletproof.
People complain about the post Chrysler cars, but they seem as well built as Beemers from the same era, maybe better. They're not as robust as the 124's, but the build costs on those cars would have priced them out of the modern market.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

hope I'm not derailing your thread Lee.

I'm looking at this one:

Mercedes-Benz : E-Class Station Wagon in Mercedes-Benz | eBay Motors


I like the 2003-on look quite a lot.

See what Denis has to say.

Looks like a nice car. I'd want to know where the oil leak is, it's probably not a cheap one or he would have fixed it. Nice colors. I wonder what he actually wants for it?

As for the w211 cars, (the '04), I've never had one but I like them and my only advice would be to get a thorough PPI by a good MB shop and see service records. They are well made cars.

[sca037]

A friend has had 2 of that era, but here in MI they develop rust pretty badly.....but in AZ that's pretty unlikely

Brian

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by speeder

Looks like a nice car. I'd want to know where the oil leak is, it's probably not a cheap one or he would have fixed it. Nice colors. I wonder what he actually wants for it?

Yeah, it tends to be either an external head gasket leak, or the cam seals...neither is a cheap fix.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

I'm looking at this one:

Mercedes-Benz : E-Class Station Wagon in Mercedes-Benz | eBay Motors


See what Denis has to say.

Denis and I have this conversation all the time. The eBay ad boldly states "NO RUST", which to someone from the Northeast means "no rust holes" where to someone in California it means "no discoloration of the cadmium plating"

Here is that car's "rust free" underbody:





I'm sure the car is very nice, just pointing out the different relative perspectives

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by speeder

Looks like a nice car. I'd want to know where the oil leak is, it's probably not a cheap one or he would have fixed it. Nice colors. I wonder what he actually wants for it?

I sent a question thank you..

My car was running rough a month ago. Pulled plugs, 3 plugs and lead sockets had oil on them, one badly eough to miss. Valve cover gasket definitely. no time to change that but put in new plugs, cleaned it all up and I gained a few hp. hoping it's something like that. motor never ran better.

what was great was piston crowns were all silver, spotless, with 175K miles on the motor.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Yeah, it tends to be either an external head gasket leak, or the cam seals...neither is a cheap fix.

If it's coming from the top of the motor, you're right. In rare cases, it might just be the VC gasket but any 18 y.o. M104 engine with original HG is due. They are fantastic engines and cars but they need a good owner who is willing to maintain them. Considering the safety and performance of the model, plus the fact that it's built better than any current $100k car, it's stupid not to maintain a clean one.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by kaisen

Denis and I have this conversation all the time. The eBay ad boldly states "NO RUST", which to someone from the Northeast means "no rust holes" where to someone in California it means "no discoloration of the cadmium plating"


I'm sure the car is very nice, just pointing out the different relative perspectives

Yeah, quite the regional difference in that term.

I've gone to look at cars in SoCal that are listed as "having rust", when I get there I see a dry car.

"Where is the rust?"

They then point out a deep scratch in the paint with bare sheet metal that has an orange tint to it. Conversely, in Minnesota, "no rust" means that there are no holes big enough to stick your foot through.

FWIW, that w124 could be a pretty solid car for Boston. That's a relative term.

Here is a nice MN. car, they may or not mention this rust in a CL ad.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Denis, I hate it when you post about the old Mercedes products. It makes me start looking at the W124 500E again.

[EarlyPorsche]

On another note if you can afford the E500 of that era you will have a torque monster rocket on your hands. The M113 V8 is probably one of the best engines in the world. The 5 speed and new 7 speed are good transmissions but they do need fluid changed to make it last a while. Benz used to say no fluid changes on the 722.6 5 speed but now they do spec a change. If its been changed regularly and not beat on then the body should go before the transmission. There are little things you'll want to do like this particular plug on the transmission thats about $15.

NOTE: I do not know much about the brakes but a friend who was a dealer tech told me the brakes used to be servo driven and require special tools to take the pressure off before you can work on them. This may or may not be true but I think it is true as I recall hearing about it back then. May not be too expensive to R&R but I have no idea.

Any airmatic issues you should be able to remedy with an aftermarket bag. I recently did an air bag on a GL and it took about 2 hours from start to finish.

[LeeH]

Well, my Ebay wagon didn't sell. Kicking around flying out to take a look in person. Selling dealer says it's documented that the bags on the air suspension were recently replaced. I guess it gets extra points for that.

One thing that concerns me is that similar cars that are slightly older seem to be worth half as much. Think this one's about to take a big drop in value?

[Nostril Cheese]

Get a BMW wagon.