E270 estate help and advice please

[Ultrarep]

Hi All
I am looking to buy a 2004 on E270 estate and would like to ask the gathered experts here their advice, as i have never owned a Mercedes before.
I need to move to a diesel auto as i have a currently duff back and the manual that i currently drive is just agravating my situation.
I have settled on the E270 or pos E320 estate but am confused about the elegance, avantgarde, specs and cant find any brochures or other concise info to tell me whats standard and what are / were options. I drive 150 miles a day mostly on fast A roads and want comfort and a good ballance of power and ecconomy with as many creature comforts as possible. Not easy i know.
I would like a good spec car with heated seats and nav if poss but have spotted two nav systems in car adds, 1 with a big glossy full screen, and another with a small screen which looks possibly text based. Any advice and guidance on these trim and equipment issues would be appreciated as well as any other advice on the models re issues to look for good points and bad infact any guidance at all really.
I love my current Jag and this E series is to me the only car that suits what i want so i prostrate myself before the forum for advice.

 

[guydewdney]

Sport is hard suspension, avant is medium, elegance is soft. Or get one with airmatic and you have all three modes at the push of a button.

I have airmatic (look for a black switch rear of the gear knob with white suspension symbols on it, not the parktronic switch which is in the same place).

Beyond that, the rest is cosmetic, ie wood trim etc.

Nice functions on the w211 estate are-
Airmatic
Parktronic
Electric boot open closer (switch on drivers door by your knee)
Dynamic seats (switch under left knee on seat front)
Comand sat nav
Distronic (auto cruise control distance from car in front)
Xenon lights

All have climate control, ekectric mirrors, windows etc. Auto wipers i think is std with auto lights?

 

[Dieselman]

A 2004 version will be Classic, Elegance or Avantgarde. Sport was 2006 on.

Classic is a bit down market for what you want, Elegance is aimed at genteel luxury, Avantgarde is more sporty, slightly lower and stiffer, black interior wood, blue tinted glass.

A 270CDi is what you want unless you need a bit more Go. It is by far the most frugal engine.

 

[guydewdney]

I stand corrected on the model specs.

 

[mbenz1]

If circumstances allow, then its really worth stretching out your budget for 2006 onwards (facelift) E-Class. The only downside is that you won't get a reliable engine as the 270 in the facelift, but the facelift has much better reliability, mainly the electronics and build quality. A V6 diesel in the facelift W211 is thought to be the 'perfect match'. Also with the facelift, the looks are alot more modern compared to the pre facelift.

Since you have mentioned that you do 150 miles a day, a V6 should benefit you in terms of driving refinement and economy.

Also, if you do buy a diesel, a drop of injector cleaner at certain intervals or alternatively premium diesel fuel should keep a diesel nice and healthy according to your daily mileage.

 

[Ultrarep]

Hi guys

Thanks for the kind advice. I know this wont be the first time that this had been asked so i appreciate the input.

Is there anything else that i should watch for on a car? I am leaning towards the E270 now as a pref but would not reject the right spec E320.
I am very mechanically savvy and capable so would appreciate any inside track on what fails what to look for on a test drive etc.

Many thanks

 

[mct_cars]

There was a mild "refresh" from 04 model year onwards (so 53 plate or there abouts) which fixed a lot of the earlier reliability problems. It also introduced a CD player as standard instead of a complex tape player with units scattered around the car.

Avantgarde trim also added Xenon headlights and half leather as standard, they were options on Elegance and Classic.

Sat Nav wise, there are two types, APS 50 which is the smaller screen and Comand which is the big full screen. Neither are very good by todays standards. If it was me I'd look for a CD player car and upgrade to the newer Comand from the newer model with Hard Drive storage, SD Card slot etc. Easy to upgrade on CD player cars but more difficult if it's already got the older Sat Nav units.

As for the engine, the 270 is a great option with a lot more lower down torque than the 320. If you buy one, unless there's evidence of a thermostat change, replace it as they go duff meaning the car takes a while to warm up and gets far less economy wise. 320 is also a great engine though.

270 is a bit rarer as it wasn't fitted with an auto box as standard and by the time you added it, the price wasn't far a off a 320 which came with auto.

 

[Rory]

If circumstances allow, then its really worth stretching out your budget for 2006 onwards (facelift) E-Class.

Didn't they drop the SBC braking at that point? It's getting more fixable on older cars now, but still expensive.

2003ish also had the Valeo radiator problem (coolant getting mixed with ATF) although any car that suffered is likely to have fixed by now.


Aother thing I'd add is, if you're not going to look after it yourself, make sure you have a good MB indie on hand.

 

[mbenz1]

Didn't they drop the SBC braking at that point? It's getting more fixable on older cars now, but still expensive.

2003ish also had the Valeo radiator problem (coolant getting mixed with ATF) although any car that suffered is likely to have fixed by now.

Aother thing I'd add is, if you're not going to look after it yourself, make sure you have a good MB indie on hand.

I'm not sure if the SBC issue was sorted in the mild update of 2004.

Hopefully someone can inform the OP of when the SBC and Valeo rad. issues were sorted...

 

[guydewdney]

04 didnt have the valeo radiator problem, but does have the sbc fun.

 

[Ultrarep]

Hi many thanks to the collective fir all the advice. I am a bit more clued up now and habe short listed 4 cars to look at.

Last question here amd then I am off to join the MB world.

Are bigh milages ok on thes cars if they have full history?
Most of what i am looking at are around 150k miles and mostly on the E320 which i am happy to go with.

Thanks again

 

[Troon]

SBC was deleted at the June 2006 facelift.

Don't discount a facelift E220 CDI — economy and running costs are better, the facelift 170PS/400Nm is no slouch and on motorway cruises, the four-pot roughness (versus the six, it's not that bad in absolute terms) all but disappears.