[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Embraer

what years are you looking at? i think any of the 2000-2006 mercedes' would have issues, especially hard hitting, since they're out of warranty. we used to get e-class cars of that vintage into my shop all of the time for wiring harness issues, fried computers, etc.

i guess it's just a crapshoot.

The W210 E55 is 1999 - 2002, the C32 is 2001+ with the older models falling into my price range. The biggest E55 issue that I'm aware of is the transmission computer that will get fried if you spill a drink near the shift lever. There's also the issue of "lifetime" transmission fluid that seems to only last about 50k, but MB changed the official interval to 50k and most cars seem to list a transmission service. Like every German car there's the occasional broken seat motor or other electrical gizmo that goes bad, but no real huge gotchas.

Most of the C32 issues that I've found seem to relate to the cheaper build quality of the W203 as well as some supercharger issues, mostly sensor related. I'm still doing some digging on them, as I do like the cars.

Amazingly enough there's both a C32 and E55 for sale in Wichita, which is freaking amazing. Normally this town is an automotive wasteland. When yesterday's 8" of snow melts I'm going to drive both, hopefully by Friday.

The outlier is a 500E. If I could find one of those somewhat nearby, I'll have a very tough decision to make.