Just about to buy W211 E500 Sport facelift

[reza_q]

Hi all

I have left a securing deposit on the above car sold by a Mercedes dealer. It's come in at a great price as it seems an E class with a 388PS engine isn't doing the rounds at the moment....

It's black on black with lots of options like heated electric seats, parktronic, Nav, sunroof, telephone, Bi xenons etc etc. It's also 1 owner from new with all bills, MOT's and receipts in a large file (they guy was UBER fussy, paid over £51K with the original purchase invoice provided).

I was wondering if anyone has one themselves? I am particularly interested in facelift cars. I drove a S500 last week with the same engine and thought it was stonking, I can only assume the lighter E class would be stupendous!

The car is on under 50K and comes with the tier 1 warranty. Mercedes wouldn't sell me the year two warranty as they don't do it as the point of purchase (shame as BMW did last year with my 550i M Sport for the low outlay of £500).

I'm hoping people can give me an idea of the car in terms of ride, handling, performance, fuel economy and reliability; I have heard of the air suspension failing but Mercedes have concluded that the warranty covers this ultimate failure.

The lure of 388PS, 530Nm and 0-60 in 5.3 seconds a little too tempting for the relatively low outlay! I just sold an E38 740i Sport which was a great car but ageing somewhat and I missed my old heated seats!

Any advice welcome.

P.s - Regardless of what I tried the dealer would not throw in a years tax! But I got a great deal and the £1000 deposit contribution by Mercedes finance was enough incentive!

 

[developer]

E500 W211 are rare - it sounds like a great car - don't forget the photos.

Is it badged - if not everyone will think it's a 320 or even less.

I'd wear the badges proudly because of it's rarity and because it's a big f*ck off V8 .

 

[Charles Morgan]

I had a pre-facelift E500 so I can't offer great insights into your engine, but as mine was a phenomenal car to drive, comfortable and very powerful, I suspect you will have a great time! Oh and economy is fine.

 

[blue gnome123]

A friend of mine has the e550 coupe in the US. It is pretty damn quick, to say the least and makes a nice growl. Debadged they are very understated.

 

[reza_q]

Thanks gents, yes it is debadged; it appears that the original owner wanted to have the ultimate Q car....

Collection is in two weekends (I'm going there this weekend to ensure I'm happy with it, I am VERY fussy and am looking to find things for them to rectify before I collect it).

Photos will be in a few weeks. Note that I am seriously tempted to retro fit the AMG bumpers, side skirts and wheels. Would this be 'wrong'?

P.s - It also appears to have an F1 paddle shift option, which appears to be large shift levers behind the steering wheel for the transmission. I have not seen this on an E500 before, was it an option?!

 

[SL300-24]

Paddleshift is standard on "sport" model....

 

[Charles Morgan]

Nothing wrong with fitting AMG kit - if it looks good to you, why not?

 

[nickod]

I've got a facelift avantgarde estate and it is a great Q car. Most people don't realise what you have so it surprises most cars especially audi a4's and 3 series(for some reason I'm never tailgated by genuinely fast cars like 911's).
It has been reliable but eats through tyres ( at 200 each) and does sometimes as low as 13mpg around town and up to 30 mpg on longer journeys. It's smooth, quiet, quick when you want and very practical apart from fuel. The hk sound system is very good but the linguitronic and electric loader are pretty useless options IMO. Heated steering wheel is great too. Lot of car for the money. Is yours the black saloon on the mercedes website at 16k?

 

[RWDpetrol]

I've got a facelift avantgarde estate and it is a great Q car. Most people don't realise what you have so it surprises most cars especially audi a4's and 3 series(for some reason I'm never tailgated by genuinely fast cars like 911's).
It has been reliable but eats through tyres ( at 200 each) and does sometimes as low as 13mpg around town and up to 30 mpg on longer journeys. It's smooth, quiet, quick when you want and very practical apart from fuel. The hk sound system is very good but the linguitronic and electric loader are pretty useless options IMO. Heated steering wheel is great too. Lot of car for the money. Is yours the black saloon on the mercedes website at 16k?

Is that an E500 estate? I looked on Merc used site and can't find any.

 

[nickod]

There is a black saloon on there but no picture

 

[nickod]

Is that an E500 estate? I looked on Merc used site and can't find any.

Yes. Mines an estate. I don't think there are many 500 estates.

 

[cp3377]

Awesome choice - I had one for 70k miles (and a pre-facelift for 130k) and if it's been looked after which it sounds like it has then you've got something pretty special! I still miss mine in many ways - well mostly the V8 tbh... Mine was rebadged when I got it but I added the E500 to the back as it was a bit too "Q" for my liking.

Happy to answer any questions - at this stage, as you're getting it from a Merc dealer I'd just make sure it all works and that she drives beautifully. I managed to get 40k out of rear tyres and 25k out of fronts so just make sure she tracks perfectly and don't skimp on tyres - I used Conti sport contact 3's. If possible put the 97Y on the front as well as the rear tyres as the 93's can split inside before the tyre is worn out (I talk from experience here) and that's not a great surprise.

Enjoy - and post some photos! Here's a couple of my old one to whet your appetite hopefully!

 

[developer]

Mine was rebadged when I got it but I added the E500 to the back as it was a bit too "Q" for my liking.

A wise move.

I'd never hide a V8 .

 

[reza_q]

Hi all

Thanks for the kind comments.

It looks to have been removed from the website as it's mine!

I've asked them to chuck in the E500 badge, not sure if they will as I've hurt them too bad. They wouldn't even chuck in some rubber overmats! I guess beating them down over £2500 has that effect.

I managed to get two new rear Continental tyres aswell fitted as I wasn't keen on having just 4mm. These match the fronts which are on 6mm. All are Contact 3's.

Today they informed me that the plugs would be changed aswell since I asked (I'm being told that there are only 8 on this late engine?).

I've also been told the rear brakes are 50% worn and the fronts 30%. Should I push to have the rear discs and pads changed?

I honestly can't wait! No more BMWs for me now, I need a change!

 

[The _Don]

Just to make you aware of the following from the mb website -


When you choose one of our Approved Used Cars, you get the same attention and care as you expect when buying a new car. Every Mercedes-Benz in our Approved Used Car Programme must pass our rigorous safety, mechanical, electrical and history checks before being awarded our 12 months’ unlimited mileage warranty, 12 months’ roadside assistance and our 30 day / 1,000 mile exchange plan*.

In short, we've taken a very long look at it before you take your first.

In addition to this, there are a range of added benefits to make purchasing one of our used cars even more tempting:

- We’ll meet the costs of any routine servicing required in the first 3,000 miles or 3 months of ownership of your Approved Used Car (whichever comes first).

- 7 days complimentary motor insurance cover from Mercedes-Benz Insurance.

- MOT test failure cover, offering protection for your next MOT after you have purchased your Approved Used Car (for used cars over two years old)*.

 

[Charles Morgan]

You can but ask about the brakes, the worst they can say is no. These cars don't shift that quickly from stock, but you have done well so far.

 

[reza_q]

I think they'll say yes! The car is literally sold so I think for the sake of £200 or so in just their parts they won't refuse. They must have been trying to sell it for 3 months, the initial asking price of £16995 didn't help. I told the saleman then it was verging on the new E class prices.

I can't wait to see just how good this car is....

 

[cp3377]

The brakes seem to have a good amount of wear in them and mine never chewed through them (although it did eat a front calliper which was pretty costly but that I've put down to just bad luck. They may not do it Bering in mind the wear left.

The spark plug service is a big expense on these cars - they have 16 I believe, need doing every 60k or 4 years whatever is sooner and, annoyingly the new ones make no difference at all in my experience- although I'm sure it isn't healthy for the car to keep them in too much longer (but I'm no mechanic so happy to be corrected!). In the old engine it even ran slightly worse after one of the changes. It usually costs £500ish too because of the labour involved so you've done well there... Just check they've done it and it's in the records.