mystro

It kinda hard to believe someone has already put 120,000 miles on an 05..it was a long distant daily commuter according to the owner. The KBB says trade-in in good condition at close to $15K depending of options. My first question in the forums is, what are the big issues to be concerned about with this car, the owner says he had to replace a few suspension parts (already??) while under warranty and that he always used full syn oil's. Even tho the car looks to be well kept I'm still concerned with not so much the mileage but replacing suspension parts so soon. I can find many 05's with less then 50k mileage in the $23K-$26K range. I own an 87 TD Wagon with double that mileage getting close to 300K by the end of this year and only had to do relatively minor/expected fixes and NO suspension issues except shocks ( I think it was the last of the hand built benz's also which makes it special to me) anyway..that was a totally different engine and era at MB..I really know nothing about the CDI or the E. CR mag and MB blogs have an abnormal amount of complaints on MB in general, alot of service issues and quality problems and dropped MB well below the top companies..never the case of the older models even the lowly 240d was virtually bullet-proof and build like a truck as is my 87 wagon. Whats your opinions generally..should I spend alittle more and get a lower mileage 320 cdi or offer him full book and go for it? *I hate to put ya on the spot so soon


thx

atikovi

Hate to tell you but except for AMG engines, there hasn't been anything really hand built at Mercedes for the last 30 years.

stickygreen

No problem...high miles usually means easy miles.

107k on our '05 CDI and it has been near flawless.

Diesel Benz

You mean you are glad to tell that their engines are machine tooled all the way? This is the only way to allow the necessary accuracy when modern engines are built.

Parts assembly is another thing, usually robots do that better too but robots are not economical for engines that are not produced in huge volumes.

mystro

Several year's ago I contacted Stuttgart since I was considering buying another MB only this time pick it up and spend some time in western Europe. I was told by the rep when I mentioned my 87, that the wagons were the last line to have team hand assembled car's ,the build sheet it will show who they were and the check-off list. I should have qualified my statement as hand assembled not built.

lkchris

This number of miles suggests a lot of miles driven before introduction of ULSD. Expect EGR/manifold deposits.

mystro

mucho thanks for the headsup, I may have a followup question.

Scraz51

It is good that machines build the engines, look at the hand built engines from england, everyone of the companies is bankrupt except for Lotus.

When we lived in England we owned an MG, it was hand built, it was the most unreliable car known to man. Nearly every person in england has owned a hand built MG, or equivalent, they are all terrible. Hand building engines is completely overrated. Sure companies do get it right, but for cars that are being churned out like sausages, I would rather a machine builds it as it is less likely to produce "human" error.

stickygreen

Why would LSD cause any problems? It was only with the introduction of the 3.0L v6 diesel in the US that ULSD was required.

mystro

I'm not up to par on this 05 engine ,could you send me a link or explain what I will need to check/clean/replace? Thanks

lkchris

All the VW diesels and many Mercedes diesels have experienced clogged manifolds/EGR systems due to LSD. Doesn't matter what was "required," this is what has happened. The solution for all of them is ULSD. Should have been "required" earlier.

lkchris

Went on one of the MBCA tours to Germany and saw production lines for both AMG engines and the V6/V8 engines.

AMG engines are hand built (have builder's signature affixed) and the others are machine built on an assembly line.

Scraz51

Jeremy Clarkson made a pretty good point concerning this lol, he said that there were something like 5,000 (don't quote me on that but it was a big figure) E55s or CLS55s hand built for world wide shipment in one year, supposedly all coming from the AMG factory in germany. That is 13.7 Engines per day in that one year for one model of car. They would need to have A LOT of employees there, and at most I would say it would be 100 that actually make and design engines.

As much as AMG like to say they are hand built, I really don't think they are, it is just a marketing point. They obviously get some guy named Hans Gurbenschafendafenduck to look over the engine in very fine detail, but I think it stops there. Some are probably hand built for when tour groups pass, but the amount of AMGs ordered to the US probably says different.

mystro

I called the local MB shop and talked to the CDI tech, he says it isn't a mileage issue that would worry him but the fact that the second owner couldn't get the service sheet from the MB dealer who was selling it since it was a lease return and purchased at a dealer auction in another state. Question..wouldn't a leased car be required to have all services done at the proper intervals? Also, If I get a carfax in this car..will it show the original lease dealer?

lkchris

So when I stood there and watched the tech insert piston/rods into the engine block and then follow the engine to the next station where he bolted on something else, I was imagining it? The techs indeed follow the engine around the assembly line starting with bare block and ending with completely assembled and dressed engine. Same tech the whole trip. At the end the engines go to test cell where they are electrically spun for testing--which someone else does (but the assembly tech will hear about it if it fails).

http://www.mercedes-amg.com/#/one-man--one-engine

Scraz51

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...s-03-07-a.html

There is a post there that says there were 3218 E55s produced in 2004... over 360 days (give or take for holidays) that is 9 engines per day, in a typical 9 hour day that is 1 engine per hour that is assembled, placed in the car, rigorously tested and driven out.

I'm sure they have a lot of engines that are made by 1 guy, but I think it is more of a marketing thing than them actually doing it as there is a lot of demand for AMGs.

Its not that I have anything against MB or AMG, I just think it is a funny point because the figures of engines produced seem a lot higher than human ability.

C43AMG

Congratulations! One year and 275 posts was all it took for you to lose any and all credibility on this forum.

CharlyE500

9 engine a day is very posible.... if they have 5 tech so 1 tech build 2 engine per day. I think its posible to build 2 engine a day since they know the engine so well. After all, AMG cost 70% more than other no-AMG car.
E55 was $80k when was new and E320 $45k !

Scraz51

I suppose so, but after watching all those American Car shows on Discovery I thought it would take much longer, but I guess all those cars are from the 1970s and parts are hard to come by.

mystro

If someone could help me with my last query, preciate it since time is a factor regarding this car. Thanks

atikovi

You're kidding right? People that lease cars tend to be cheap (if they want to/could spend more money, they would buy) and since they have no real stake in the car, probably skimp on service.

mystro

That might answer why he couldn't get any service sheet. Years ago I had a company leased car and they did require by-the-book services from
a qualified shop..the times they are a chang'in I guess. Thanks

atikovi

What is the asking price on the car?

lkchris

Actually, the engines hand built at Affalterbach are trucked to Sindlefingen or wherever and installed on the normal assembly lines alongside any other model E-class or whatever. There is no car production at AMG, just engines. The engines are not tested in the car, since they've been tested already at the engine assembly stage.

mystro

Because of the lack of service documentation on this 05, he has left the price to the highest he gets offered. I have not made up my mind..I leaning towards not making an offer..I'm just too damn picky about service doc's to take a chance although I suppose I could throw a low book good condition trade-in price his way but I'm afraid it'd be accepted. I was told by someone locally who sells nothing but top shelf used cars that he wouldn't buy a MB from that era..he claims the bean counters from both MB and Chrylr were trying to cut costs and that MB dropped 14 spots on reliability..it wasn't Chrysler's fault which MB would like everyone to think, it came straight from Stuttgart it's has been written and spoken about a gazillion times on wall-street. He said the 07 things started to get better but big damage had been done...even Hyundai had/has a better rep but I'm not giving up so easy this 05 mainly because of what I've read here and other places from actual owners although 90% of them I'm sure had full documentation and service history. If I could get this paperwork on the car..it would be a different story.

The previous owner of my 87 TDwagon damn near wrote a daily diary..I've been spoiled.



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