E280 CDi Sport dilemma

[Mercforever]

Hi All

After a very long break from Mercedes (ventured over to the dark side for a few years - BMW) i have decided that my next purchase must be a Mercedes!

I'm specifically looking for e280 or e320 cdi.

Got a second child coming so wanted something more family orientated, but retain power, mpg and the grin factor..

So here is my dilemma. I have seen a 2006 e280 cdi sport (pre-facelift) that i like. Done around 110k with fsh. Going for around 6.5k mark. Its a mint example and fully loaded (including panni roof + sat nav).

Do i hold out for a 2007 model? I have read a lot of horror stories around the SBC issues on the older Mercs.

 

[Buffers]

Hi, not that l am an expert but l know there were many problems electrically and mechanically with the early 211s so if l were you l would definitely go for a facelift model, which were mid 2006 l believe. many of the issues were addressed and resolved. There are plenty of related threads on the site about this. Hope this helps.

 

[GordonTarling]

The later pre-facelift cars are fairly well sorted, but the SBC issue remains. If you possibly can, try to find a facelift model and then you're spared the pain of SBC, it will also have quite a few other 'improvements'.

 

[PXW]

I wouldn't be too negative. There weren't many problems by that stage, though obviously you have to be aware that you are looking at a 7 year old vehicle by now, so it's unreasonable to expect it to run error free as if it were new. From about end 2004 iirc they were fully galvanised - certainly all 280s (V6 diesels) will have galvanised bodies even pre facelift. The facelift have a few added bits but the main change was SBC. These units do wear out and are quite expensive - worth checking whether your target vehicle has had one replaced. Otherwise Mercedes were entertaining out of time claims on them for a very long time - what the service history on your target vehicle?

But apart from that, tbh, I don't see any great advantages to the post facelift. I ran a '55 plate 280cdi estate for years without major problems. Not sure the facelift brought any major mechanical changes - I think gearbox and engine were unchanged, for example.