redgaucho

Hi, guys

I'm visiting from the w202 forum. A friend of mine is considering a 2002 E320 w/45k miles. They are asking $26k for it.
He hasn't seen it yet, but as an acft mechanic, he wants to do his own PPI. What kind of maintenance items should he look for? Any particular areas of concern? How reliable have your e320's been? What is your real-world gas mileage city/hwy?

Anything else you may want to share would be appreciated!

TIA,

Serge

JimPurdy

Serge,

The price for the 02 E320 sounds reasonable. The car should still be within the waranty period - 50k miles. I would look for the regular maintenance to be performed at the appropriate flexible service intervals - always with Mobil 1. My experience with both my E320s has been quite trouble free. The mileage has been 20-22 mpg in town and 25-29 for the '00 wagon on the road. The '03 is 1-2 mpg worse around town since my wife has a heavy foot but gets 27-32 mpg on the road.

Jim

stemags

I would recommend the 02 210,,it was the culmination of the company's best seller,and is still touted by owners and dealers alike as one of the more reliable chasis.
The 02 had fog lite issues which in my case was corrected by retrofitting a heavy duty harness on both sides.So far,thats the only issue,other than maybe a rusting problem under door seals,near rear lic. plate frame,or under passenger door ding moldings.

liz

I purchased an 02 e-320 4-matic with 28,000 mi. in Dec. Some things which had to be replaced were; the steering book, and all relevant issues concerning this (you will hear a whining sound while making slow turns both left and right), trans. pan gasket, rotors, trans elec. plug connectors (leaking trans.), crank vibration damper, silicone on rear headrests for squeaking, rusting lug nuts, motor mounts, instrument cluster and ball joints. The steering issue has just resurfaced -possibly a permanent defect. Check the warantee date, fortunately, all of this was covered. Also have thumping on drivers side during hard breaking at high speed and rough idle/ride. Beautiful car other than these issues.

stemags

My fiend Liz,,,that car sounded beat to Sh%t.I have 37K on mine and not one of those things are even close to an issue,thank the big Guy for that.I would have to say,that whoever drove it,made sure they hit every pothole they could find.I hope you are done repairing for a while.Did you mention that MB covered all that work?

liz

Thanks for the sympathy. Unfortunately, I am not done fixing it. Still have squeaking while going over bumps (probably something with the front end), rough idle, and thumping issue. I am just taking a break for now. I've been in the dealership every month religiously- I am actually on a first name basis with 1/2 the staff. Thank god, the other issues were under warantee.

stemags

I see,,,well once its done,you'll have a great car,reliable and safe.Please show us the car if you can,and thanks for sharing the experience.