Ribo89

Hi,

I'm thinking of buy a 2004 Mercedes E320 with very low miles (30k original miles). I own a 01 C320 with 38K miles and know all the troubles of the early w203's.

What should I be looking for mechanically when buying this car?
What are the common problems withe these cars?
How reliable are they?
Any other things I should be looking for?

Thanks!

mxracer

Im a noob but .......I bought a loaded 04 e320 4matic with 41k about 3 months ago. By far the best car i ever owned. That being said, the first thing i did was get the service history and make sure its up to date. When i was looking if i saw duplicate service visits for the same item at different milages or more than 10 visits (excluding oil changes) then i passed on the car no matter what the price or condition. I paid more attention to the service history and what they fixed than the car itself mainly because of the horror stories on here. I will say it was scary to see the amount of sevice visits on some cars. This is probably more important on 03-04 but i wouldve done it on a 2011 if thats what i was buying. Funny, my friends say i found an acceptable service history that came with a car. Anywho, on my car they replaced the passenger seat control module $1100. and ball joints $600.00 (common) and thats about it. Im just glad i purchased the warranty because id be pissed if i had to spend 1700 on a 3mo car. Good luck!

Ribo89

Thanks for the great info and advice. Can you tell me more about those "horror stories about these cars"? How much was your warranty?

Ribo89