You guys are hilarious! I should know better than come to a diesel forum asking for advice about an e500! But, I agree with all of the dissent. My heart runs on diesel.

In any case, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something else out there that might fit the bill in all other respects so that I won't have to wait so long for what I really want. It has, after all, been since October since I've driven a car of my own. DH just got a new job, so I'm trying to figure out the logistics. It really would be much easier if this car were about 1000 miles closer.

I'm surprised you guys are so anti-New York. I know they use salt on the roads, yadda yadda, but the car spent most of its life in Virginia, so there's road salt there, too. Is that a dealbreaker for you guys? I don't know what to say except that according to the service records, it looks like the VA owner got it washed at the dealership, like, once a week. Seriously. The service records are 8 pages long, and it's mostly "complimentary wash". I mean, of course I would prefer it to be a southern vehicle, Texas would be best, but there just aren't that many. In fact, the car that I test drove so long ago that was actually what this thread was started about was everything I wanted, but I couldn't pull the trigger.

But I digress. You guys all say that there are loads of CDIs available, but maybe I'm missing something. There are 80 or so available around the country at any given time (according to Autotrader), half of them are black, half of the remaining are without many of the options that I want, like heated seats, full leather, leather/wood steering wheel, and keyless go (not a dealbreaker). Now, these things may seem trivial, but it will be my car, and I'm sure everyone here likes certain things about their cars. They're also in addition to the most important thing, which is a dealbreaker for me: a well maintained car. Quite a few of those available don't have complete service records, or the mileage is too high. I know, I know, there's no such thing, but there kinda is. North of 150k is too high for me to consider. So. That leaves me waiting for the car in NY. It's the right color, both inside and out, well maintained, all of the options I want except for an ipod kit, relatively low miles (about 14k per year), and clean. Unless something comes along in the next few weeks that hits all of those sweet spots, to New York it is!

 

CZ,
For a long time my wife has had her eye on keyless go. With her most recent purchase she got it (Nov '12). Now she is not so sweet on it.

I guess the main bug in the process is that she leaves her keys in her purse (makes sense so far). When she gets home she grabs the purse and the bigger bag that has her needs for work. Our garage is not attached, so when she gets to the door of the house she either has to set things down to dig for her keys or hang on to everything and punch in the number to the lock box to get the spare key!

Just one quirky senario that didn't exist before keyless go. there are others...she has a crossover vehicle and she cannot open the back hatch if it is locked because the key fob is in her purse and to unlock the doors you have to be within 3 feet of the DRIVER's door. So she has to dig for the fob or walk up to the driver's door and unlock the doors before loading the groceries or whatever into the back.

Regarding the numbers of cdi's available, I haven't looked since I found those couple I pm'd with a while ago...I should look again.

Glad you liked my little dramatization...I had a ball fooling around with the smilie doodads!

 

You have asked about New Yorkers:

Noo Yawkah Definition:
A large, bipedal primate found in the region of the United States immediately north of New Jersey. Often known to migrate to the beach regions of New Jersey in large groups known as bennies. Characterized by fake tans, backnee, valour jumpsuits, gold chains, suped-up cars with unnessecary spoilers, extreme body hair (which may be waxed). Also known for unjustified pride in their native land. This breed of American instinctively drives in the passing lane of any road they inhabit, well below any posted speed limit.

1) It could be a 'Hurricane Sandy' car and the guy hasn't gotten all the seaweed out of it!

2) I find it hard to trust people that I can't understand.

Whadsa madda wid da way Noo Yawkez tawk? Nuttin', brudda, 'cept dat dey wud be da foist to tell you dat dey dohn tawk wid a accent.

noive
poil
goil
moidda
berl
erster
youts
Toity-toid ohn Toid
fadduh, muddah, bruddah, sistah
dem, dese, doze, dat
singger
kee-ab
bee-ag
bee-ad
tawk
fawk
dint
shudda
wuntcha
smattuhr
juhhimee

Dere is moh, actually, but maybe youvadanuff. Trew? Anyway, assawayigoze.

Seeyuz guys & goils 'roun'
Kurtis

PS. Now that I think about it a bit, I don't trust anyone from Newyorkachusetts either.

 

Is the C Class diesel coming to the USA soon?

Could be an alternative ?

I am sold on mine after 5 years of ownership.

 

Yes, I can understand why that might be frustrating given those circumstances. My husband's Nissan has the equivalent of keyless go, and I just leave the key fob in the pocket of my jeans (I'm a casual girl). It's actually kind of nice, but we have an attached garage so the opener is all I need to get into the house. Again, not a deal breaker, but rather a convenience to which I've grown accustomed in the past few months.

 

That's an interesting take on New Yorkers...we here in the south don't speak with an accent either!

I have heard about the c-class diesels that are supposedly coming, but I'm really not a fan of the c-class to be honest. There's no real reason for my bias other than my father's rants against baby Benzes when I was growing up (he had some amusing things to say about BMWs as well that aren't for polite company). You know what the say about apples and trees.

As for Sandy, the guy lives in Sound Beach, which he says is 100ft above sea level, and the car was garaged during the storm. The inspection that I ordered on it was carried out in December, so after the storm, and it reported no water damage. Could be a false sense of security, sure, but everything checks out so far.

 

At least test drive one !. Was that a long time ago ?

The W204 diesel won Car of the Year Award here.

 

You left out CarMax. If you do find one there, you must act quickly, as
they don't seem to be able to keep 'em in stock when they do get one.
At this time, all they have are 2008s and later with the V6s, and you
do not want one of them when compared to the 2005 and 2006s.

Bare in mind, you are indeed searching for an eight year old vehicle that is used,
and there are not hundreds of choices as there might be with a Camry.
Therefore, it is not always possible to find one that meets all of your required choices.
On our 'need-to-know' list . . .

What exactly are they?

Color(s), both inside and out?

Manditory options? What you must have and what you can do without?
Better to not get or even want Keyless Go.

Radio, such as the satelite radio option?
(May be added don't you know? Mine did not have it, but it does now! )

Full leather?
You have indicated that you want full leather, but most if not all CDIs do not have 'full leather'
but what is known as MBZ Tex which acts pretty much like leather and many consider it
to be superior to real leather. MBZ Tex is what mine has.
Many people say that they have 'full leather' but it just ain't so.

A Leather/Wood steering wheel is nice and I wish I had it, but I do
get along fine with just the plain old leather covered wheel.

Again, try to find any CDI that has not been where salt is used on the roads during winter time.
That means New Mexico, some parts of Colorado, Texas, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington,
the South, and perhaps some other states I've omitted?

It does not matter where you must go to find such an excellent example!
I got real lucky with mine. It was less than 35 miles away here in Southern Califonria.

Where is your location by the way?
A CDI will travel over 700 miles on one full tank, so you are only two or maybe
three full tanks away no matter where you find a good one and you can
easily make 800 miles a day and stay in a motel every might.
Last summer, my wife and I went from Murrieta (80 miles South of Los Angeles) to Minaki, Ontario
(North of Minnesota) in three days, staying every night in a motel, a distance of 2,300 miles,
and we are both in our seventies.
We could have made it quicker except for the slow speed limits!
It is hard to hold a CDI down to them, and no one wants or needs a speeding ticket.

It is worth all of that to get a good CDI! Once you have one, you WILL AGREE.

If I seem nosey, I am not at all; I am merely trying to be of help.

So be a good youngen, and answer all our questions and we will find you a good CDI.
A good one is hard to find, but worth looking for and maybe worth waiting for?
Don't get in a hurry and buy just any old one.

Good luck.

Regards,



Derrel

 

Thanks!

 

Oh yeah, and heated seats. Gotta have heated seats. Deal breaker.

 

All W-211s sent to N A came with a regular S/R except for one 2007 E-Klass
gasser I saw at Carmax one time.
Don't know how whoever got that one originally got it here like that, but there it was!

BTW, I can understand you demanding heated seats, and we too had to have 'em.

HOWEVER, you do not want a car with the 'Panoramic Sunroof ' option
no matter how nice the car may seem otherwise.
I am surprised you have not run accross the negatives about that option?
Dealers don't know any other way to fix them except to replace the entire thing to the tune of $5K.
Do a search and read up on them. That will stop you from even considering one!

I hope that CDI that you are waiting for in NY does not have that option?

Other than that, keep on looking and 'rots-of-ruck'.



DHG

 

Ha! It actually does have a pano roof. I did do a search on them awhile ago, and what came up seemed to be hit or miss. Some people have them, and they rattle like crazy. Others have them, and they're fine. It seems like if it's one that rattles, forget it, it never goes away and greatly pisses off the owner. I've seen some people say they have it and don't know what people are on about - they love it. So I figured since I had it inspected, asked specifically about any rattling from the roof and made sure it was tested, and it came back clean, I wouldn't worry about it.

Mistake?

 

IMHO . . . YES. But, that choice is yours.
The question is, what would you do if that car were yours and it suddenly started to rattle?

Could you live with it or could you afford to spend all that money to have it replaced?

How do you know IF rattling might develope on any used CD you might buy?
I for one would not buy any W-211 that has one for that very reason.
I would not drive a car that has a rattling S/R, and that is what most people complain about that have them!

The dealers do not seem to know how to 'fix' them except by replacing them to the tune of $5K.
Do you want that?

One of the things we appreciate about our CDI is how quite it is.
There is No Wind Noise and there are no rattles at all and I keep the
tires inflated to 38 PSI in the front and 40 PSI in the rears cold.

That's one of the reasons it runs so good and gets such good fuel economy.

If you do get one, do not set the tires at the PSIs you read on the fuel filler door. 28 front and 30 for the rears simply does not cut it.

So the CDI you are waiting for has the dreaded Panomatic S/R.

If our CDI were to rattle, that would cause me to hate it, and IF it couldn't be fixed, I would not keep the car.

Why do you want it, especially where you live and the climate there?
The entire top will be Black, and you know how that color absorbs heat.
We are talking Black from the front windshield all the way to the back glass.

Better IMHO to pass on any CDI with that roof and the possibilty that that option can and might go bad.

Of course, that is your choice, but I would keep on searching IF I were you.

Good luck.



DHG

 

I guess I am one of the lucky ones. It will be 7 years in April that it was manufactured and the pano is silent.



Continued good luck on the search!
Cheers

 

Perhaps by the MY 2006, MBZ discovered how to make them better.
Maybe it is largely the 2005s that are having all the problems.



DHG

 

Hi all, I wanna chime in. Recently my beloved W124 has been getting low mileage. I love the V8 and did consider an E550/CLK550, but right now I am not in the greatest financial place to have to spend extra money on repairs and petrol.

I guess I do want a reliable car (as reliable as these post 90s models go) I have done a lot of research and definitely prefer the CDI over the Bluetec (at least in the USA, Europe is a different story). Since 05-06 is my only option, I probably can't get a CPO at this time.

My main question is 1. where to look for these babies? I live in CA and there are barely any here. I will be moving to SC (near Charlotte) in June, so that will help a lot with the search. But then again, petrol there is +80c cheaper so by then I might be reconsidering the E550...

I found the biggest abundance in auto-trader. One key factor, I will need financing (or auto-loan through my bank) so private party is almost out of the question, so I can't take advantage of those sweet CL deals.

2. How can I go about purchasing one from a dealer in another state? I guess I will be subject to that state's tax.
3. Should I just wait until I move to SC since there are more cars there and the price will drop further?
I really don't want a car over 70k and definitely don't want a car over 100k (unless it's <$12000).
4. How much of the repairs can I do myself on these new cars? I have been doing mostly everything on my W124 and father's W123 (and W201 before that) without a STAR reader (or any reader since there is no ODB).

 

If your bank can't help you with an private party sale, you need a new bank.

Try a Credit Union.

 

1) Absolutely agree with N-Jay. Car is too old for CPO but, I CPO'd & 2 year Extended Warranty'd my vehicle and have not used it yet in 18 months!

2) The dealer only charges sales tax if they do your title work. If you are from out of state, the dealer will assign the title in his state in your name. Then in order for you to get plates in your home state you will need to go to your local title office, pay your state's tax and then receive a new title under your home state.

3) This one you have to answer. Not sure there are more '05-06 CDI's there, but it certainly would be harder to check one out on the west coast after you move. I have not seen a bias in price by state. I believe you will easily find one in your mileage range. After driving one for a while, the mileage wouldn't bother me at all as long as all records are available and maintenance was done in a timely fashion. I plan on driving for many thousands of miles anyway. Also, If I saw a great deal I would not loiter about!

4) Well if you go W211...Welcome to the 21st century
Many W211 forum members believe that the '05 and '06 CDI's are the last of the DIY Mercedes. Still plenty of room under the hood to work. You can do whatever your skill-level can handle, and you will have the added capability of ODBII. Just search for help for your favorite repair or maintenance item and see al the posts that are retrieved.


The OP of this thread at this moment is waiting for a fellow in NY to pick up his new car so that she can purchase his CDI. I think sha also has an alternate choice if things chamge. I believe she will purchase with up yo 115,000 miles with a complete history. I would be comfortable up to 135,000 with good history.

Of course should you start talking gassers, Goose and I are gonna have to pay you a visit too.

Hey, Goose, you big stud!

Good Luck to you both...Kurtis

 

Looking on the Autotrader Site alone, we see that there are currently seventy-nine (79) CDIs listed at prices
ranging from the highest of $26,900 (I wonder what they are smoking?) down to the lowest $10,999.
There is one that is $2,200 but that must be a typo, so forget that!

The average price is $18,027.

Now many of these are overpriced so anyone looking should consider those priced in the teens only.
Anyone paying over the mid to high teens is simply paying too much.
Do not be concerned with high mileage on the odometers!

I bought mine in December 2011 with 107,750 on it then and I now have almost 140K.
CDIs do not care about high odometer readings.
In fact, if you can find a good example with plenty of mileage on it that is priced low enough
as the one that's listed for $10,999, you can afford to do some of those things that
any used car sooner or later needs to have done.
Never mind that it has over 206K miles listed.

As an example, my friend just did my brakes.
Parts were $100 for both the front and rear pads, and he
did the labor for another $100, so $200 for brakes.
I'm sure I'm set for maybe another 50K miles now.

Anyone who puts off getting one of these fine machines is just lessening
the pool of good used cars available from which to choose.
Waiting for that New Yorker to final decide that he will trade is a big mistake IMHO.
What is he changes his mind or decides to keep that car?

I would not want any car that had spent its life in that general area.

Anyone who can't find the perfect CDI in that pool of over 75 examples
is simply being too pickey!

It does not matter where you find that good example.
Air fares are inexpensive on SouthWest and so is eleven cents ($0.11) per mile
for D2 to drive it back homeward to whereever you live.

Once you are driving a good CDI, you will wonder why you ever waited,
they are that good.

Take the time to read and study my Fuelly report below.

-----------------------------------------30--------------------------------------

DHG

 

Thank you for the opinions. I, too, think the $20k+ are a bit overpriced. I asked about after moving, since there are more cars near SC than CA, and also, I will have to move my car to SC anyway, that's another $1000 alone. If I can sell my 400E and get a E320 CDI before the move, I may consider the cross-country drive. I don't trust the 1993 with it .

The pool is indeed great and I really don't want to wait 3 months, but I have to weigh in the situation and see how things go. It is very possible (if I can get a loan), to get an E320 CDI while I am here and drive it to SC.

How do you go about the inspections when buying out of state? Buying a plane ticket is easy... but what if I arrive and there is something wrong with ze car? (BTW we bought the 240D from Oregon, it wasn't run in over 1 year, started no problem and drove it 10hours straight to CA no problem).
I'll have to research about private party auto-loan (higher interest I think) and how it works. Since I don't know the price I'll have to pay or when to request, etc.

Thanks for the support. I'll try to stay away from the gassers for now

EDIT: is there this iron thing on the back (forgot word in English) on which I can attach a Uhaul trailer (the smallest one)?

 

There is nothing left to say!

 

Just a quick update, still carless at the moment and just passed on a grey CDI in Tulsa that had a dark interior. I'm going to be a stickler about that one. Glad to see others are interested in picking up a CDI as well...

 

Other than the lousy color with that dark interior, and being way over-priced, and the fact
that they do not provide pictures at all in their listings, What did you NOT like about it.

When I do a search using 74133, I find there are 30 listings within a 500 mile radius.
That's unheard of here in my location. You will find only 7 listed.

There's one in Azizona that looks possible?

Out of 80 listings throughout the country, you cannot find a car?

Happy hunting.



DHG

 

HEY CZ,
Still waiting it out in New York/New Jersy?? What if this guy is waiting for hydrogen powered or a George Jetson type automobile??

Waiting to see your new wheels!!!!!

Hang in there!

Kurtis

 

Well, I started to post a long-winded reply on the ins and outs of my decision to wait for what I want, but it ended up being rather pointless. All I can say about the CDI in Tulsa is that I made buddies with a sales rep at MB Tulsa the last time I visited my mom, and he now shoots me a text any time something hits his lot that he thinks I might like. He sent over photos and the specs, but the interior is black, and that's a no-go for me. I could have negotiated a much better price (he said as much) had it been the right car.

Anyway, the deal on the car in New York is this: I'm not so much waiting on the owner to find a new car so he can sell as he is waiting for me to get the time to go up and get it. He is looking for new wheels but is also keeping his options open. When I can string together enough time off work to fly up and drive it back down, he will sell me the car then and there. If he finds another buyer between now and then, he can sell to that person. If I find a comperable car that's easier for me to pick up, I will purchase that. Everyone wins. Why that one? It rings all the bells, has a steller maintenance record, and is within the acceptable mileage limit. Yeah, it might have seen snow. Yeah, it has a pano roof that might rattle. Sometimes in life you take chances. I've watched friends of mine make decisions I wouldn't make in a million lifetimes, but it worked out for them. Different strokes for different folks, right? Besides, we're all here on the forum to have fun, right?rant over!