R Class R320l Cdi SE LONG WHEEL BASE - feedback needed

[Weybridge]

Afternoon boys and girls...

I was wondering if anyone on the forum has experience of this merc:

"R Class R320l Cdi SE LONG WHEEL BASE"

If so I'd be grateful of any appraisal for quality, performance and practicality for a young family with a new born?

Thanks in advance.

 

[BTB 500]

My in-laws have a 2006 R350 LWB which they bought at about 12 months old ... so they've had it getting on for 6 years. That's the petrol V6 rather than diesel, but they've had no significant issues with it. I've been in it a fair bit as a passenger and it's a nice car. Being an 'older' R Class it only has 6 seats though - later ones are 7-seaters.

Obviously it's a fairly hefty car (long and wide) but it is my M-I-L's daily driver.

 

[jtotheb]

I've got an '06 R320CDi Sport short wheel base and absolutely love it. Has it for about 2 years.

Went for the SWB as an extra foot length on the back for the LWB just made the car a bit too big for us. In terms of quality, I've been very happy. Normal services every 10k or so. The only expensive thing I've had to have done was a new valve body (car was losing power when pulling away from stationery) - apparently a fairly regular fault and after much arguing with MB that they should do it FOC, I got a bill of £1,500 down to about £600.

It's a great looking car - bigger than it seems on the inside (mind the extremities!) and I like the fact it's a fairly rare sight.

Have done a few long runs in France and it is superbly comfortable on the autoroutes and really eats up the mileage.

 

[timwood2000]

I have exactly that model - LWB SE '07. First off, the SE is quite rare compared to the more usual 'Sport' models. No real differences mechanically. The SE usually comes with real leather instead of half suede half artico leather and the interior colour choices are different e.g. Sports are generally black or dark grey inside whereas mine has Cashmere leather and brown wood inserts instead of dark/black wood or chrome inserts.

I have had mine for 5 years and have had hardly any issues with it. I had an oil leak in year 1 and a replacement alternator in year 2, but apart from that it has been brilliant.

Brilliant on the motorway, very comfortable, smooth etc an pretty economical 30+ at legal speeds. Around town, although it is a huge car, is easily manageable.

Super practical, loads of space. Amazing value for money, now starting at less than £10k.

I still love driving mine everytime I get in it, and I have never kept a car as long as I have this one - for me at least, I have always thought of the R Class as 'almost' and S class estate!

As you can see, I would not hesitate to recommend them - just make sure you get the LWB as the SWB doesn't seem to make as much sense to me.

Good luck, and happy to answer any questions you might have now or in the future.

If you are looking at a particular car - let us have the link to the dealer website or the autotrader link and I'm sure there are plenty on here who would be happy to give you our thoughts!

 

[Ian Donkin]

Finger trouble using an iPhone!

 

[Ian Donkin]

We love ours - 56 plate so a 6-seat version; pano roof so nice and light inside despite black leather, very comfortable and very, very quiet & refined on the road. Okay, so it's not as fast as my E320 or quite as agile in the handling stakes, but it's a fantastic family bus that we've covered almost 4,000 miles in just 2 months.

An awful lot of car for little money second hand.

 

[Weybridge]

Thanks everyone for the feedback... Really useful and sounds like a great option!

Best wishes