Risks of buying an elderly E320 Cdi

[Redchaz]

Good evening all ( and hopefully ZX10R NIN ),
My Volvo V90 lease is about to end and with current massive economic uncertainty I am thinking that I should downgrade to £3-£4 territory and buy something outright.
I need something fairly substantial for ferrying grandchildren amongst other things and I have been drawn towards Mercedes E320 CDI's of mid 2000s age. I have read about poor rust proofing on these but generally speaking am I opening a can of worms by looking at these of this era ?
Many thanks in advance,
Charles

[Monkeylegend]

Apart from rust look out for the black death caused by leaking injectors, and glycol contamination of the gearbox, caused by leaking valeo radiator. Worth a google to find out a bit more.

The front springs are also prone to snapping unexpectedly.

Generally they are pretty robust though and good for high mileages with the right sort of use.

[Redchaz]

Thank you ML.

[TonyG2003]

I would try to get a facelift (post 2006) V6 e320cdi since they are a bit better built - better electronics, no glycol issues, less rust than the prefacelift cars. I ran one for 100k with any significant issues.

[Monkeylegend]

Alex225 had a good one for sale on here and over on the MBClub UK website, not sure if he has sold it yet. Might be worth dropping him a pm.

He would also be able to tell you what to look for.

If you are lucky he might see this thread

[Redchaz]

I spotted this earlier and thought it looked interesting:

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1224272

[Redchaz]

Thank you Tony, I have notred your advice.

[Monkeylegend]

Redchaz said:

I spotted this earlier and thought it looked interesting:

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1224272

Probably worth a look. I would check for evidence of a replacement rad and make sure you lift the engine cover to see the injectors. If has black gunge round the injectors they will probably need replacing.

I would also check to see when the transmission fluids were last changed.

Mot history looks ok apart from worn tyres during their ownership.

[goldieandblackie]

I have a Mercedes 320cdi on a 58 plate which I brought from a relative in Nov 2017 at 131k and now run up to 155k.

Aside from the usual service parts I had all the fluids changed including the auto gearbox fluid (£160),it also had a new condenser after a stone put a small hole in it.

I found it to be very good on fuel and tax is £300 per year, i would suggest you try to find an 08-09 model, mine came with heated and vented seats plus massage function which is a nice option.

[RhysH]

I done the same as you back in September, I bought 58 plate car with 104k and full MB history. However I think it got to the stage where previous owner had it for most of its life and start to let the little niggle jobs go. Because I'm.fussy have probably put just over ok into car to get right now and it's now drives spot.on and fallen for the old bus. My notes I had to fix:

Over hauled the front suspension . Nee front arms and drop links then short after spring snapped so replace both springs with genuine items and put two new front shocks on. Wow what a difference!

New ac condenser, re gas

Fix wiring on folding mirrors as this broke (common fault)

Egr valve

Full servcice including gear box oil

Change to revised oil.seperator as these can break at this age and cause further problems.

Most of the above I suggest had not been done on car as values are falling low and would have been traded in. Just make sure get a decent one as.most now falling into hand of people who will cut cost on repairs!

[Jesus-Quintana]

I have a Facelift W211 3.0l V6

The camshaft sensor can go (£28 for a decent Delphi version). Make sure the owner hasn't warmed the car up before you arrive. Start it from cold if possible.

Make sure your auto gear changes are clean and it's not hanging onto a gear and refusing to change. It *could* indicate a dodgy conductor plate in the gearbox. These go from £200-£400 for a recon unit. As stated above, I'd definitely recommend a service on the 722 gearbox. I looked last week and it was £130 for parts. That's nothing for peace of mind. I'm not 100% certain but I believe the facelift models have the 7 speed auto (722.9) and the pre-facelift have the 5 speed box (722.6)

The MAF sensor is an offender for the W211

Also, one biggie on the V6 engine, and I'm not sure if it's linked to the MAF, is this:

get on an open road and plant your foot. Almost straight away, the car could start juddering. If you take your foot off the accelerator then try to accelerate, it'll take ages to get to 40mph. Turning the engine off and back on fixes the 'safe mode' but any hard acceleration will cause the juddering again. This is quite common...nobody seems to be able to agree on what causes this.

I'll just add, I love my W211. I have no desire to change it (unless someone would swap it for a W201 !!!)

[AC43]

TonyG2003 said:

I would try to get a facelift (post 2006) V6 e320cdi since they are a bit better built - better electronics, no glycol issues, less rust than the prefacelift cars. I ran one for 100k with any significant issues.

I had a 2005 (petrol) pre-facelift E Class. Ran it for 7 years and took it from 95k to 140-odd k. The next owner had it for another 20k/2 years. I didn't have any major issues bar replacing the air suspension pump, flywheel pulley & tailgate lock assemble although I think the next guy had to replace a couple of air struts.

No rust but the electrics had the odd fit, throwing up spurious warnings now and again.

The facelifts had a number of issues resolved including better wiring looms, a move away from SBC brakes (which is a known to fail), sharper suspension & steering and, in the case of the diesels, much-improved V6 rather than I6 engines.

When I say "better" I mean moer powerful and refined and proper rivals to the BMW equivalents. Other swear by the older I6, especially for fuel economy.

But, for the overall package, I'd say go for a facelift if you can affored one.