Thinking of buying a W211 - E320 (2004)

[andrew mitton]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at buying a E320 Avangrade 2004 W211 model.

I was wondering what are the common faults with this model? What should I be looking at when buying one?

Any advise would be great.

Thanks!

 

[flt.eng]

I have owned a 2003 211 e320 avantgard with full mb service record for about a year, Its let me down once & not a very pleasant experiance. In the fast lane of the
M4 the engine just cut out, with no warning. It turned out to be the crank sensor.
You can imagine I was not happy that an engine protection device can put you in such a dangerous situation. Fortunately for me the traffic was going slow due to an accident ahead. Other than this I love the car. The only serious thing is to check you
have a bher radiator & not a Valeo (read previous bloggs) Your model should have the Bher, but I would check to make sure.I have heard some Valeos slipped through
cheers FLGT.ENG

 

[andrew mitton]

Thanks Flt.Eng. I'll look into it.

Btw, what aircraft where you on?

 

[flt.eng]

Hastings- Shorts Belfast- Comets- VC10- DC10 - 747 - retired

 

[diandave]

The only serious thing is to check you
have a bher radiator & not a Valeo (read previous bloggs) Your model should have the Bher, but I would check to make sure.I have heard some Valeos slipped through
cheers FLGT.ENG

I have a 2004 E320 CDi which has a Valeo rad, I've had a separate oil cooler fitted, so will not cause contamination problems.

 

[andrew mitton]

Hastings- Shorts Belfast- Comets- VC10- DC10 - 747 - retired

Wow, The belfast, I think there is only one still flying and from memory only about 10 ever made.
I'm a B777 driver but spent a fair bit of time in East Africa flying before.
Thanks again for info.

Regards,

Andrew

 

[trapperjohn]

Wow, The belfast, I think there is only one still flying and from memory only about 10 ever made.
I'm a B777 driver but spent a fair bit of time in East Africa flying before.
Thanks again for info.

Regards,

Andrew

I'm a B777 driver. Nice drive!!

 

[Omega]

I had a similar experience to flt.eng - though luckily mine 'cut-out' was as I was pulling up at a junction.
It's barely done 21000m & I usually use Shell diesel.
I had it looked at on a STAR, but it came up with nothing. The MB endineere said that he douible checked everything & the STAR dosn't show up any problems at all.
It's still worrying, cos I don't know what caused it, & when it might occur again.
I'm loath to fit a new Cam sensor, Justin Case it isn't that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

flt.eng: Is there a sticker on the rads for me to look for ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My only niggle with this car, is that it seems very noisy inside the cabin .
As well as tyre noise I hear all sorts of outside noises - which I really thought should be quieter on a motor like this.
It wasn't like this on previous Mercedes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Will be posting my findings on Marangoni tyres soon.

good luck Andrew


PS: I won't mention my flying a Cesna 172 then ??

 

[developer]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at buying a E320 Avangrade 2004 W211 model.

I was wondering what are the common faults with this model? What should I be looking at when buying one?

Any advise would be great.

Thanks!

Do a search on "galvanising". It was introduced in late 2003 manufactured cars so it's still possible for a 2004 registered to have rust problems.
Having said that, I had a Jan 2004 S211 E320CDI and apart from parking sensors and a dodgy wing mirror (chafed wiring) it was spectacular.

 

[corned]

Wow, The belfast, I think there is only one still flying

And that's only because it still hasn't reached its destination.

 

[flt.eng]

I was with East African Airways on Comets & VC10 64-68 Then to BOAC.
Concerning tyre noise I must admit I also expected a much quieter cabin with this
car. Its fitted with continentals. The cam sensor problem can I understand be an intermitent fault,due to heat. Now the big one -VALEO radiators-Identification is
not easy, I understand there are labels but not in view.The other option is the style
of the side seam crimping. On the Valeo it is what I would call castleated, on the
Bher rad. its a wavey crimp. I found that if you shone a light at the front bottom
left & right of the rad. you can just make out the crimping. There are pictures of
the different rads. on Benzworld. in previous blogs. On the face of all this to the
ones buying an older car its a problem thats been forgotten . Basics-- Up to around
2004 certain models In particularly W211s could have one of a bad batch of valeo,
rads. As the gearbox oil is cooled through the same rad. glycol fluid was leaking into
g/b oil. This can then result in a very expensive repair bill. ie new g/b-torque con.etc.
Hope ive been some help


at

 

[rascalmaster]

Turbo charger (assuming yours has one... diesel?) and the gearbox, are common possible causes for concern.
good ATF changes done by someone who knows exactly what they are doing, carried out every 37,000 miles, goes a long way towards the longevity of the box...
Turbo- common sense practices like not switching the engine off straight away when the turbo/ engine have had a hard work out, and not hammering it when the engine is still cold help a lot. Inlet port shut off motor/ valve is the other possible cause for concern on the turbo... see this post (towards the end of it) for symptoms and the cure!
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/engine/108870-fault-codes-w211-e280-help-please.html

 

[flt.eng]

My car is E320 petrol. I agree g/b oil changes every 40k is good practice, even though MB says its for life. But this dos'nt do any good with an internal leaking
radiator.I also agree with DIANDAVE a very good option is to fit a bypass cooler
for the g/b. assuming your not sure what type of rad you have. Could you let us
know DIANDAVE the details of your mod. cost etc.

 

[bigbear]

When you find one to purchase insist on a glycol test.
I had mine done after reading all the horror stories on the forums.
I had 75%ppm contamination, had a separate cooler fitted and a complete flush of gearbox and rad.
So far all seems good, hopefully it was caught early enough.
I really love the car, the trouble is as much as these forums are helpful when you read all the problems people get with MB's you probably would not buy one

 

[Millfed]

just bought a E320 2004 W211

Just bought a E320 - great car, only a couple of problems though.
Dodgy indicator on mirror.
parking sensor
noisy inside - but I think its the tyres.

Not sure about the radiator - not heard of this before and it is scarying me? Will look in to which one I have.

 

[diandave]

My car is E320 petrol. I agree g/b oil changes every 40k is good practice, even though MB says its for life. But this dos'nt do any good with an internal leaking
radiator.I also agree with DIANDAVE a very good option is to fit a bypass cooler
for the g/b. assuming your not sure what type of rad you have. Could you let us
know DIANDAVE the details of your mod. cost etc.

Andy Gayle did the modification, the new gearbox oil cooler sits in front of main rad, supply and fit was £330 inc vat and a very neat job they did.

 

[flt.eng]

Which part of the country is Andy Gale & do you have his phone No.

 

[diandave]

Which part of the country is Andy Gale & do you have his phone No.

Here you go..

http://www.mercedesservicing.com/andy-gayle-mercedes.asp

 

[E55 in waiting]

I bought a 2003, made or should I say registered, in September. It has the right radiator and has no rust. This has taken me 70,000 miles in the last three years and the only issues are that the airmatic has played up in the last 2,000 miles needing a spend of about £700 to get it right and the car still lowers over three days to very low. The pump always brings it back up though. One interesting thing is that the automatic load cover packed up two years ago and when it came back from the airmatic work it started working again. It is interesting because I took it to a main dealer and paid £50 to have a diagnostic check where they told me the motor had failed and for £600 they would get it working again. That is a lot of nights out for operating it manually!

 

[andrew mitton]

Thanks E55,

I still have not bought mine yet, trying to get as much info out of the dealer as I can. I really should add, and probably should have mentioned that I am buying this car in Australia.
The dealer has told me, so far, that they are not aware of any galvanizing done to any of the Aust cars as they have no rust issues. Not sure how true this is.
He has also not been able to tell me what make the radiator is, but has been able to confirm it does not have a separate cooler for the gear box.

Thanks everybody!