L-swimbo

Hey I'm looking around for cars to buy and the e500 with the v8 crossed my path with a good price it's a 2005 , now the thing I'm worried about the most is the air suspension going out and How expensive a conversion would be to have done properly.... Also I would like to know the problems and things I should look out for , I'm really interested in the car has a 117k. On it . And looks great . So what should I be mindful of please get detailed thanks .

Honcho

First... learn how to use the forum search.

If you fail at that, I'll be nice and give you these links to read:

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...iles-e500.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...2007-e550.html

Then read the forums!

kajtek1

Old topics need to be updated.
Few years back airmatic rebuild at dealer was over 6 grands, now with Arnot parts and $17 compressor rebuild kits - a DIY can have whole new thing for less than $2000.
Still something you have to calculate during purchase.
Original 2005 bags are overdue.

L-swimbo

Sorry just created an account today not familiar yet . But thanks I had a feeling they were over due , just wanted to see different veiws of how to approach such a job ,

Gcarpenter

I'm not a big fan of the 722.901 7-speed trannies.

cmriv

2007 E550 link is irrelevant because you have neither that trans or engine. and the 113 is alot less of headache! but eeekkkk, 117 on the clock. Expect things to be bad on it!

L-swimbo

I've seen some up for sale with almost 300 k lookin dam good but , this one truly looks amazing but Ik looks are deceiving lol , I don't want to buy it and 3000 k later it needs new air this n that or a fuel pump or something so I think I should stay away from it .

kajtek1

You can't hope that you buy +- 10 years old car and will drive it for next 10 years doing oil change only.
That was possible with W123, that did not have much gadgets and leatherette seem to be much stronger in the past, but you have to to have few thousand reserve for things that wear out or age.
Read how many horror topics we do have coming from ignoring alternator brushes replacement.
You wan to drive an older car that doesn't require lot of maintenance, buy Lexus or Honda

Honcho

kajtek1 has it right, although I've never heard or seen issues with alternators/brushes anywhere near as much as other issues talked about on here.

If you can't afford a couple grand a year for maintenance, you can't have "The Best or Nothing" ;-) ...unless you're a really good mechanic yourself with access to a good parts outlet.
Then again, y'always hear tell of that lucky b@stard that spends jack and has a million miles on his CDI.

There are two types of folks on these forums.... the DIY'ers that are here to learn how to do 54!t, and the others like me that have a half decent dealership (or indie) that they trust their cars to, and the disposable cash to go along with that, but also want to know as much about their cars as they can so that the stealership can't pull a fast one. Actually, there are two other types.. Konigster is in a class of his own as the most helpful awesome guy here, and the other end of the spectrum, Plutoe, who's here for comic relief, but usually just pisses people off.

Personally I really enjoy taking my car into the dealer for service and driving a brand new 80K "E Klasse" for a while ...but on more than one occasion I've had to tell them to just shut up, do what I say, and take my cash. Having Xentry helps immeasurably at knowing what's going on, and often I think I'm better at using it than some of their techs!

My E350 is my daily driver, goes like anything through the snow here in Colorado, and compared to my S Q4 Ghibli which is my major indulgence, it's tough to say which I spend more on... just bought my third set of rims for the E350 (thought I liked chrome once , then I "needed" 17" rims for the potholes, and now I decided black is beautiful, and just put some 19" MRR FS01s on it... mmmm purty!) , but the Maser dealers prices for service are truly outrageous if you think that MB is bad!

kajtek1

For clarification, I did not mean that neglected alternator brushes create a lot of troubles.
What I meant was how hesitating to spend $50-80 on new Voltage Regulator, when you can predict it is becoming due, can end up in $2000 expenses on towing and new alternator done at stealer's mercy.
That also show the cost difference between DIY and those who go to dealers with everything.