2011 E220 or E350 Estate - which to buy?

[RichardG]

Hi everyone,
I'm a new member (50 years motoring experience with many, many cars) with a budget of around £15k, seeking advice on whether to go for an E220 or E350 auto estate (2010-12) with 40-60k on the clock.
My initial impressions are the 4 cylinder 220 feels rough whereas the 350 v6 feels much smoother and less like a taxi/canal barge. Currently, the E350 would be my preference....but are there technical/maintenance snags or huge differences in running costs between the two engines? My mileage is around 7,000 pa. a combination of some city driving and European trips Tax and fuel consumption are less important than absolute 110% reliability, comfort and pleasure from the driving feel.
As a relative stranger to the nuances of M-B, what should I be aware of? Apart from service history, what should I look-out for in either model when viewing possible purchases? I hear nasty stories about expensive injector replacement on the V6 at around 70k miles. Is this really an issue?
Any advice would be appreciated. Looking forward to hearing your views/experiences. Thanks in advance.

 

[Lennox]

E350!!!!! My experiences are BMW 5 series and Audi A6 but 4 cylinders are ok if you need economy and don't mind the lack of 6 cylinder refinement. But if you can E350 all the way.

 

[HB]

350 without a doubt. In terms of reliability it comes down to pot luck with any car.

 

[LTD]

As an E220 owner, buy the E350. Ignore the E250

 

[kenny1000]

I have owned an X5 and an XC90, now the proud owner of an E220. I find nothing like driving a taxi or barge (I work at sea). My first merc was a C220 and was the worst car I ever owned (needed to be repaired every week, rust) but the best car I ever drove, hence after owning some nice cars I have come back to merc.
The E220 dose everything I require it to do, has plenty of torque, fast enough off the line and has good enough acceleration on the motorway and will also return 50ish mpg at 85-90mph. With my new job my mileage would not be much more than yours, and when I get home I look forward to getting in it and just cruising. Sound system and all the gadgets make it a lovely rouge all round. Just my opinion

 

[Bri]

E350 all day

Hi Richard
I have owned an E350 for 12 mouths now, its a 2011 with 38,000.
Only problem I have had was with airmatic, it took Mercedes 3 goes to sort out luck for me it was on used car warranty.
The 350 is a lovely car to drive lots of power very smooth it is a little heavy on fuel round town 25mph or so but on a run will get 45 to 50ish.
I also have had a 2008 E220 in the past this was also a very nice car to own with very few problems, had that for 3 years much more economical but not as smooth and lot less power.
My advice would be go for the E350 I don't think you will ever regret it. hope this helps. Bri

 

[RichardG]

Hi Richard
I have owned an E350 for 12 mouths now, its a 2011 with 38,000.
Only problem I have had was with airmatic, it took Mercedes 3 goes to sort out luck for me it was on used car warranty.
The 350 is a lovely car to drive lots of power very smooth it is a little heavy on fuel round town 25mph or so but on a run will get 45 to 50ish.
I also have had a 2008 E220 in the past this was also a very nice car to own with very few problems, had that for 3 years much more economical but not as smooth and lot less power.
My advice would be go for the E350 I don't think you will ever regret it. hope this helps. Bri

Hi Bri,

Thanks for the advice. Is there anything particular (other than the obvious wear & tear, service history, etc.) that I should look-out for in choosing a good used example with around 60k miles?

 

[Bri]

Hi Richard
If you can find one with a good Mercedes service history and it looks clean inside and out you wont go far wrong.
I purchased mine from a main dealer paid a bit more but got 12 mouths Mercedes approved used car warranty with it (piece of mind). Also I travelled 250 miles to get mine as it was in Poole Dorset but had good spec low miles full Mercedes history. Worth looking out of your area for a good one if you are going to keep it for a good few years.
I can honesty say iv no regrets getting my E350 lovey smooth engine loads of power just a great car, and being an estate loads of room.:bannana:

 

[gIzzE]

7000 miles a year?

Are you talking about the E350 petrol or diesel?

There is not much between them all to be honest mpg wise.

I had a 350cdi 2010 estate and now have the E350cgi 3.5 V6 petrol.
On the school run of 6 miles they both return the same mpg.

As an average the petrol is 3mpg behind the diesel and on a long run the difference is 4mpg.


2009-2010 cars will have the 5 speed transmission on the 4cyl cars, and the 7g transmission on the 5cyl cars.
Most 2011 cars moved to the 7g+ transmission, which is meant to be a fair bit better consumption wise. I'm not so sure.


I have the 3 litre diesel with 7g transmission in our C320cdi Sport Estate, it is fine, it is quite nice, it is not a patch on the petrol though for refinement, and I always worry far more with older diesels than I do with petrols, so much more to go wrong.

I am doing 15k miles a year and the difference at the pump is about £7 a week. So for 7000 miles I would simply get the best specced car you can find for your budget, they are all pretty good regardless of engine.

 

[billy21]

I also have an E350 estate (CGI Petrol). It's the 2010 model with the 7g gearbox - Like you, I only cover about 7k miles a year. Fuel economy isn't great on short runs but neither is the diesel. On longer runs it is surprisingly good (this weekend I averaged 30.5 mpg on a 120 round trip from Surrey to Woodford via the M25). It's an absolutely fantastic car to drive - very smooth, comfortable and powerful and It's also proved to be the most reliable car I've ever had - the only problem I've had is a dying battery which I replaced for £150. As it's a normally aspirated petrol engine there are no turbos, dpf filters and common rail injectors to fail.

 

[sjhalstead]

Go E350

Just bought an E350 cdi blue eff avantgarde estate 2 days ago it's awsome giving 43 mpg so far