Adobe

Does anyone know where I can find a owner's manual on the Intenet for the E320/E430. I've found an interactive one for the new W211 but not for the older E-Class.

BTW, I'd planned to buy a new E430 when the W211 came out but missed my chance. I now have an opportunity to buy a nice 3 year old E430 with only 23,000 miles on it. It's a one-owner, private party car serviced by the local MB dealership.

Has anyone any negative comments about this model?

I keep a car for a long time. My current 300E is now 12 years old and I owned my previous 190D for 17 years. This new car will probably be my last one and the first used car I'll have purchased in the last 43 years.

raymond g-

LOL, you sound as frugal as I am. The last car/motorcycle I purchased was back in 1983 and they're both still in pristine condition. Couple of weeks ago, in a moment of weakness, I purchased a '99 E320 and now I need to learn as much as I can about it. All the black boxes and electronics in the modern cars has me spinning. Doubt that I'll make the transition from fixing nearly everything myself, over to the Benz.

If someone wants to sacrifice an owner's manual, I can PDF and post....or send via CDROM. In order to do a good job I would need to cut the binding before auto (hey, a pun) feeding the pages through the scanner. I would reassemble using the plastic 'comb' binder. Yeah, I have a copy myself but don't have the patience to hand hold the book for every page. Besides, you get that awful curl image due to the attached binding. I also prefer to keep my own manual in factory issue condition.

Anyhoo, my first post and I guess I this is my way of introducing myself to the others here.

"My name is raymond and I'm now an newly afflicted, M-B addict." :-)

No doubt I'll be one of the neophytes asking for help very soon. Thanks for your collective wisdom iin advance!

Adobe

Raymond,
I certainly don't need a manual badly enough to have you scan it

Since the cost of owning a car is generally the second largest investment for most people and since the major costs of car ownership are the cost of money (borrowed or otherwise) and depreciation, I have been buying Mercedes for more than 20 years.

The longer you can keep a car, the less it costs you. Most people want a new car every few years. My brother-in-law admitted to me that he buys Cadillacs over Mercedes because he wants an excuse to buy an new car every four years.

I've also found that most people never consider what it costs to OWN a car but only worry about what it costs to BUY. A Toyota Camry may cost more to buy than a mid-sized Ford product but the Camry will cost a good deal less to own over as short a period as 5 years.

I've found that Mercedes are among the easiest to service and repair and that they are among the very few that will truck on forever with a little TLC.

Actually, the frugal one in our family is my wife. If it was up to me, I'd still be driving BMW's and not worrying about the problems and cost.

raymond g-

I have 3 motorcycles and one pick up truck. I have at least 2-3 repair manuals for each vehicle. The factory manuals have been broken up and each page inserted into a sheet protector and into a three ring binder. I use an old music stand (complete with lamp) to hold the manual while I'm working on the vehicle.

IOW I share you sentiments about taking care of vehicles, although somewhat zealously if you ask my friends. The neat thing is that up till now, I've really enjoyed working on them. With my E320, I'll just let the local mechanic handle the repairs. Too old a horse to learn about the electronic components associated with the new rides. :-)

jimmydagreek

Don't forget to check on ebay! Here is the link to one.

Adobe

Thanks but I wasn't looking to buy one since I'd eventually get one if I bought the car. I've learned that you can find out more about how a car works by reading the manual than by listening to a salesperson.

Incidently, if anyone wants to see an interactive owner's manual for the new E211 E-Class, here's a link to the site. This is for the english version.

http://www.mercedes-benz.com/com/e/h...oon/index.html

jago1244

hi adobe, first, i wish you and your next car many more years and miles together!

i own 2002 e430 4matic, 23k also. mostly quite pleased, although these cars tend to have a few chronic but i think minor probs, like lights , esp fogs, burning out far too often, rattles from sunroof, steering rack squeaks , lug nuts rusted. all in all not a bad list, and all of which i have experienced and had all repaired under warranty , incl bulbs.

i think you'll find a large pct. of owners have shared a small number of problems.

that said , i recommend!

good luck , john.

Adobe

Thanks John,
I took a look at the car and decided that a black car really won't work in Arizona

The reason I was thinking about a W210 is that I felt it wouldn't be plagued by the problems the new E-Class has had. Maybe I was wrong. Besides, I really would like a Mercedes V8 and the new E500's are way over priced.

I'm really depressed about the apparent drop in Mercedes quality. I'm tempted to keep on driving my '91 300E until the wheels fall off. It's only got 64K on the clock and is about as nice as a car this old could be. I took a 5,000 mile trip this summer and it used slightly over 1 quart of Mobil 1 15W-50.

EddieGTP

Goto www.edsoto.com

I have it on the server. This is a 22 meg file and the download might take a while (384 upload)...

Its an Adobe PDF file.

Adobe

Thanks Eddie, that's just what I was looking for.

jago1244

i dont think the items i outlined are worrisome issues , but if that scares you off, then stick with your (relatively) low-miler w124. i bet if its in good shape now, it will be just as good 5 years from now due to your care.
good luck!