Newbie: Advice on my first MB to be!

[zoi]

Hello everyone.
I should be a proud owner of a merc soon. I need all the advice I can get as I have no knowledge with regards to MBs. I just sold my motorcycle as I'm about to get married and the wifey doesn't want to take a risk riding with me on the bike. I am looking at this E320 CDI sport in black.
This is what the dealer says:
4 Doors, Automatic, Saloon, Diesel, 45,850 miles. Black Metallic Black Leather 7 Speed Auto Comand APS x DVD Sat Nav Bi Xenon Parktronic 18 Alloy Whells Speed Sensitive PAS Radio 6 Stack System Electric Seats Drivers Memory Leather Steering Wheel Sports Pack MB Service History

He's sasking for £16500. Is that a fair price?
All advice will be appreciated

 

[ringway]

Welcome Zoi.

I'm sure someone will be along soon with specific advice and answers to your questions.

In the meantime spend as much time as you can reading about your model on this forum. Doing so will save you a lot of money and hassle.

Full MB service history is important if you wish to claim for any warranty issues including rust!

What year is the car?

Perhaps you could reveal details of the dealers website/advert so that the car is easily evaluated by forum members before they offer advice.

Regards,

Paul.

 

[trapperjohn]

Welcome Zoi. Ditto what Ringway has said. The real experts will be along soon. Nice to have you along.

 

[HughJarse]

Zoi, how old is it?

 

[Londonscottish]

Welcome Zoi.

I am not an E Class expert but have had a look at them in the past.

One of the key questions to me would be is this a facelift model? At that price and with 18 inch wheels it might be.

At least one knowledgable person (a mototoring journo) has stressed to me the benefits of going for the facelift (although bear in mind that that was for the E500 and a chunk of that benefit was for the new V8 petrol engine that came with the facelift).

You might want to chack out what Chris Harris wrote in Driversrepublic.com. He ran a facelift 320 CDI estate with a Brabus chip. He reckoned that it brought the 0-60 down from the 8's to the low 6's and brought 0-100 down to the 14's - pretty rapid for an oil burner.

So my advice for what it's worth is to go for a facelift and either set aside an extra £1k for the Brabus chip (MB-approved) or get a facelift E500 with 386bhp.....

 

[zoi]

Hello Londonscottish the car is a 2005 o5 plate.The car is on autotrader and the dealer seems to be a home trader. The link below shows the choices that I have.
Buy a used MERCEDES-BENZ E CLASS Car - Auto Trader UK

Initially I was very keen on getting one with a sat nav but reviews on this site see to that it is not very user-friendly so I'd rather just buy a tomtom. All I want is the sport version as it has the electric steerin seats 18" alloys and the sports skirtings and double exhaust.
What do you reckon?

 

[zoi]

Its a 05 model HughJarse

 

[zoi]

By the way this is the particular car that I like
Auto Trader UK - MERCEDES-BENZ E320 CDI Sport Tip

 

[jaymanek]

Price is ok, I just sold one exactly the same but 55 reg with 41k in silver for £16500. Ensure you get a good warranty with it.

 

[zoi]

Price is ok, I just sold one exactly the same but 55 reg with 41k in silver for £16500. Ensure you get a good warranty with it.

Unfortunately he's not offering any warranty. There dont seem to be many sport ones around

 

[zoi]

Can i buy a warranty from an independant company?

 

[acm718]

Note I'm not an expert, but possibly one of these without satnav may be difficult to sell on? I know BMWs are worth less without nav.

Warranty-wise, I wouldn't touch something that expensive and electronic without something cast-iron. Warranty Direct etc are all very well for major problems, but would they cover, say, an electric seat breaking? Could cost!

 

[jaymanek]

well its basically a private sale and i wouldnt pay a penny more than 14.5K for this car with no warranty.

 

[Dieselman]

If you do decide to move further with this particular car have an inspection carried out at an MB dealer to include a full diagnostic report and service history check.
If possible go for a facelift car as they have less niggles and lose the overly complicated SBC brakes.

 

[jaymanek]

being an 05 V6 engine, they are pretty solid.. but DM suggestion is a good one, a local MB dealer or specialist..

dont use AA.. waste of money ans will only put you off the car.

 

[zoi]

If you do decide to move further with this particular car have an inspection carried out at an MB dealer to include a full diagnostic report and service history check.
If possible go for a facelift car as they have less niggles and lose the overly complicated SBC brakes.

Is this the facelift as it mentions new shape but i cannot really differentiate

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2006&vehicleRegLetter=56