Joeker82

Hey Everybody,

I am new to this forum. Just picked up my 99 Mercedes E320 AWD this weekend. Bought the car off of my Mom's cousin. It is a one owner car, with 234,000 miles on the clock. Always serviced at Mercedes dealers it's whole life. It purrs like a kitten and tracks completely straight. I love it already! Drove it from Bonita Springs, FL to Chicago, IL no problems!

PS - I got it for $1,500. Is this a good deal? Here are some pics.

RichardM98

Congratulations! I'd say if you made it back with no issues you probably got a very good deal.

If you can do some of the routine maintenance yourself then these cars are pretty economical to operate. You might read the 'Read Me First' post above to learn of the kind of issues you might have down the road.

Joeker82

That's what I was thinking too. It was just serviced at MB of naples at 225k. The brakes feel alittle soft. The last rotors and pads were done at 150k. So, i'll probably be doing those this weekend.

iam_second

she looks good man, congrats

RichardM98

MB uses disposable pads and rotors. That is, no turning of the rotors. Let me know if you want the specs for rotor and pad thicknesses. Generally, most drivers get 2-3 pad changes before replacing the rotors. Also, front and right rear calipers have wear sensors and you should see an error on the instrument cluster when they go off. But you still have 2.5mm of pad thickness so no need to panic.

Joeker82

I ordered the sensors from autohauz. Just going to get the pads local. Should be good with the rotors. No?

homepukes

It sounds like you got a good deal, congrats.

Joeker82

Thanks everybody! I look forward to learning as much a I can. I'm very mechanically inclined, and not afraid to do it myself. This site seems to be very knowledgable.

RichardM98

Service limit for the front rotors is 26mm and for the rear 10.5mm. The general rule is if the thickness is at that point or would be before new pads are worn down then replace rotors with pads. The brake fluid should be replaced (flushed) every two years. I try to do that before pad replacement since when I compress the pistons there is fresh fluid in the lines.

To measure the thickness a micrometer or vernier caliper will work. There are also inexpensive vernier calipers just for that purpose. As the rotors wear an ridge forms at the very edge. Placing a couple of small magnets on either side allows you to measure the thickness correctly.

You may want to get some packets of MB Brake Grease. It goes on the metal to metal contact surfaces where there will be movement such as the back of the pads at the piston location, on the guide pins where the front pads slide along, etc. Prevents squealing.

Joeker82

Sounds good. I'll have to pick one up. I used to own a e46, so I'm familiar with german cars.