Britrover

Hello to all fellow W210 owners. I have been looking to get another W210 and have finally narrowed it down to a White with Tan interior 99 E320 98K miles and 97 E420 Black on Black with the same amount of miles. Both drive fine and I’m looking to decide which one I should take for the pre-purchase inspection.

I know one cannot tell me over the keyboard which one would be better but my questions is will a 10 year old E420 still have some life left in it if it checks out fine, my 99 4Matic has 114k and still drives perfect 9touch wood). I am leaning more towards the E420 as I like the black exterior but then I like the tan interior over black so am kinda torn.

Any suggestions between the two models and if I do decide to go for the E420 what are some of the common things that I want checked in detail?

The E420 is about 3k less than the E320 as well. Look forward to your responses.

Cheers

hadam

Only thing I should be worry for is the Tranny.

1997 and 1998 tranny had problems. 1997 was the first year MB change the tranny to 5 speed.

I rather go with 1999. I own both 1997 and 2001, both are great cars and thanks to this forum I can afford to own MB's. I have save many $$$$ just becasue of this forum.

nsupra

If both cars check out good id say go with the e420 since your saving some money and your getting little more power. If you could care less about the power go with the e320 all the way.

jimmydagreek

I had the 97 420 and loved it. No problems with tranny or anything for that matter. I modded the crap out of it and sold it with about 140k miles on it. It ran like the day it came off the stealership lot! The difference internally other than the 6cyl vs 8cyl would be the key. The 99 has a smartkey and the 97 has the switchblade and also the headunit. The rest of the car looks wise I believe is the same. Good luck!

Britrover

The tranny for the E420 is the only thing that worries me so I feel better after reading your post. I really want to get the E420 well will go hook at both of them again and decide which goes for the pre-purchase inspection.

Jimmydagreek – What is switchblade and also the head unit?

I had ordered the E 55 AMG Monoblocs for my 4 Matic but now they will be going to this car as I can do the stagger set up on the new purchase

jimmydagreek

The "switchblade key" is an actual metal key and flips out of the base with the push of a button to put into the ignition. The newer "smart key" works using infrared technology. "Head unit" means the stereo or radio in the dash.