I bought my '98 E320 last year. Right away the sunroof went bad (something screwed up in the tracks), then a month later the mass air flow sensor went bad. I ignored the sunroof but mass air flow had to be changed which ended up costing me about $300 (because I knew a person who could get the part at dealer price and installed it myself).
A few days ago the "Break lining wear" message started showing up so I took it to the dealer because I also had to get some regular maintenance done. So I drop off the car... they did the regular maintenance for $360 and also end up changing the harmonic balancer because it was recalled. Then I get a call from the dealer telling me that the water pump is bad and should be changed right away (~$450); and about that break lining message... the front rotors and the breaks need to be changed (~$450)... additionally one of the oil sensors was leaking and needs to be changed (~$150). After going over my money-situation I decide to take the risk and bring it home. So this morning when I leave for work, guess what I see in the dash? "Coolant level"!!

All that plus the price of gas going up the way it is, I think I will need a big pay raise to keep up

So the million dollar question... Generally I am pretty confident in my mechanical skills, would I be able to do most of this stuff myself? (you can ignore the sunroof problem, I doubt I will ever try to fix that myself; I remember getting an estimate of about $700-$900 from the dealer) Can someone suggest a link to get the repair manual on CD for a reasonable price? I have looked on ebay but haven't had much luck in finding any.

Thanks!

 

Get a subscription to All Data. It's about $25 a year I think.

You can certainly do the "regular maintenance" yourself (essentially an oil & filter change). Brake pads & rotors are also a good DIY project.

 

I didn't even think there was going to be anything better than the CD manual, but the AllData DIY definitely looks like an awesome option. Also, if I am going to work on my MB, why not help my brother with his Infinity for only $14.95 .

One of my worries with DIY has been tools (which I forgot to ask about in the original post). What kind of tools will I need for the brakes and rotors? Any idea about the initial cost of the tools?

You have a very nice looking car by the way How much were the ST2/ST3 rims? Any problems with the rims? Rims are another set of things that I would love to change on my car.

 

Coolant low most likely due to water pump leak. Sounds like you bought a car that has not been taken care of, or, is a high mileage car or was taken care of by the previous owner curb side or all of the above. Remember its now 8 years old. The older they get the more repair and maint issues there are.

 

It has, what I call, only 60000 miles; which I didn't think was a bad number of miles...

 

Check these really good threads by one of our ex-members for the oil change and brake replacements.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w210/113724-okay-pictorial-diy-oil-change-three-parts.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w210/107227-okay-brake-job.html

Or search for user "Gregs210".

Good Luck.

 

Stop going to your rotten dealer, find a mechanic that knows his benzes and pay less. water pump change is easy, and oil sender cannt be that much harder. You can rent tools from Pepe Boys and Autozone i think.

 

Thanks. Check Tire Rack for prices for rims. I got the AMG 5-spoke 203s in 17x8.5 ET34 for $219 each. (The 17x7.5 size is $350+.) The 18x8 ASA ST2/ST3 replica wheels are about $180-200 depending for silver and about $280-$300 for chrome.

As much as I like the chrome ASA ST2s, I wasn't willing to make the ride sacrifice with 18s, I also prefer to have real AMGs as opposed to ASA replicas, so I went with the AMGs. Tire Rack for some reason doesn't list 17x8.5 ET34 AMG 203 wheel as an option for the front axle, but they fit with no problems whatsoever and cost hundreds of dollars less than the 17x7.5.