newbie--first purchase

[bekana]

Hi
newbie here and never owned a mercedes, so here goes, I am looking at buying E class 320CDI sport 06 plate, 45k full history,1 owner and demo,I have spoken to a couple of local independent garages about any known problems and had different replies, one guy almost talked me out of buying it!!!, anyway just how good or bad does it get, always had Fords or Japanese so its an unknown area for me, all info will be very helpful, thanks in advance

 

[camerontyler]

Hi bekana, welcome to the forum.

If you don't really need 5 seats and your looking to spend 12-15k then may
I recommend a CLS instead. Not only will you feel 'the business' but you will also
look 'the business'. From a 25 year old, I rate it as the hottest affordable Merc available, and that's giving it presidence over my lovely C class.

See affordable example, others available -

2005 MERCEDES-BENZ CLS CLS350 4DR TIP AUTO 7 DAYS FREE INSURANCE

 

[camerontyler]

Another - £14k 47k miles

2005 MERCEDES-BENZ CLS350 Tip

 

[JasM]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Dryce]

Hi
newbie here and never owned a mercedes, so here goes, I am looking at buying E class 320CDI sport 06 plate, 45k full history,1 owner and demo,I have spoken to a couple of local independent garages about any known problems and had different replies, one guy almost talked me out of buying it!!!, anyway just how good or bad does it get, always had Fords or Japanese so its an unknown area for me, all info will be very helpful, thanks in advance

If you are speaking to independents then make sure they know about MBs.

With any MB at this level you need to check all the gizmos in the car work.

2006 was the point at which the E-Class was facelifted. So the car will either be a pre or post facelift.

After 2004 these are generally reliable cars - but complicated. Bodies will be galvanised and boot/bonnet/front wings are aluminium.

Basic parts like brake disks, pads, and suspension parts are not as expensive as you might think. (A colleague paid more to have his Citroen C4 rear brake discs/pads done than I did on my E).

The pre-facelift models have a more sophisticated braking system - SBC. It uses an extra hydraulic pump that will expire after so many actuations - so far MB have been replacing these for free and in the US the part is warranted for 10 years.

Front spring failures are regularly reported. Typically they go 'bang!' in the middle of the night.

Service history is important. The car should have a full history from MB or an independent that specialises in MBs. Servicing intervals will be annual or 15000 miles on a car of this age - whichever comes first. Pre 2006 cars may more likely be variable servicing - the intervals may vary between around 9000 to 16000 miles and up to 2 years - depending on what the car has been indicating.

The 'Sport' model has a firmer suspension. Be sure that you can live with it on the wheel size that it has.

 

[bekana]

e-class

Hi
thanks for all the replys, I need five seats so it rules out the CLS,the model I am looking at is a facelift model,nice spec with parktronic,sat nav,heated seats etc,my one concern was the hard suspension, is it much harder than a standard E class? it has full service history from main agent,gearbox oil changed at 41k,everything checks out ok with the history and the main dealer has confirmed it,

 

[trainer]

Hi Bekana and welcome to the forum. Good luck with your new car

 

[mikestrivens]

Welcome and enjoy your new car. It will certainly put a smile on your face.

 

[rizlar]

I would stick with the Ford or Japanese, less money, better quality the same or more toys, similar performance. Not so impressive to your friends, neighbours, colleagues who have never owned a Merc though, you feel more important driving it too, if you are bothered about that sort of thing. Lots here would disagree but I had a Merc and have recently been driving lots of new fords, skodas, hondas etc and I can't believe how good they are. Just my 2 cents, Good luck anyway with whatever you buy.

 

[s500colin]

Hello
Welcome to the forum