Mercedes-Benz S320 - Any Good or Money Pits?!

[300CE]

I quite like the look of these and they seem to be getting cheaper and cheaper. Are they any good or should they be avoided at all cost?!

Many Thanks in advance chaps.

Just found this from flicking through the eBay ad's:

2001/Y Mercedes-Benz S320 auto 4dr Silver **MASSIVE SPEC** | eBay

 

[s500colin]

Might be very cheap but no mention of any service history and what massive spec looks like std S class SWB

 

[Benzowner]

I used to own an S320 petrol, averaged around 21mpg, 33+ on a run. Bought mine from a main dealer with very low mileage, 8 nyears old with less than 36k on the clock with one previous owner. I knew things would probably go wrong with such low mileage so made sure of a good main dealer warranty. The lis is as follows, the main pully broke down and smashed through the sump (£1500 worth of damage) covered by warranty and a known issue that should have been fixed before I bought the car. I guess the car you are looking at, the pully would have been replaced. The cats on the exhaust packed up, probably because of the low mileage, and again because of the low mileage, the front disc callipers were replaced as was the non functioning comand, All this happened under warranty, after that, I had three years very pleasurable motoring. The only other thing, they do rust, not as bad as the E Class, mine had rusty arches and door bottoms which cost me around £700 to have put right. Woukd I buy one again, yes

 

[brigadier]

Only thing that scares me about them is AIRMATIC.

 

[300CE]

Many Thanks for the info chaps! It's the replacement costs of parts for newer cars that worries me nowadays, although my best mate would do the work for me so the labour element would be removed.

I'd have to have a long think about whether it would be cost effective to move over from an older motor that is simple to work on and so far, pretty bullet proof.....hmmm!