Hi W/S211 experts,

New on the forum. I'm considering buying an W/S211 E500 4matic kombi. I know my 1995 C36 in and out, but have little knowledge about E-class cars.

Besides the styling and the obvious power difference, what are the real life technical differences of the original pre-facelift W/S211 and the facelift model, especially regarding maintenance, reliability, durability, driving feel, etc.

I heard styling wise it would be easy to swap the original grill and bumpers for facelift parts. Is this true?

For example, locally for sale are these:
2004 pre-facelift, 1st owner, 110.000 km/68.000 miles
2006 facelift, 2nd owner, 350.000 km/215.00 miles
Both dealer maintained, 2006 is $1500 less.

I'd expect a high mileage car to have more service needs, but if the pre-facelift model is much more troublesome to begin with, it could be these might end up needing the same amount of work on a yearly basis.

Many thanks advance for the advice!

 

the Preface lift only had the 5.0 engine, and the Facelift has the 5.5 engine, as far as the grill and bumper are not interchangeable but I do know that the face lifted model are more reliable with less of technical problem such as the Command system, since I have noticed the drastic change with the software differences, since I had a 2003 E320 and now I have a 2009 E350 and there were certain features that was eliminated on the 2009 and best part they brought back the oil dipstick, since the dipstick-less that you have to go through the screen to check your oil level, is a pain and also the sensor oil level are prone to fail where you have to literally tear the engine pan out to get to the oil level sensor. so the Face lifted model eliminated the sensor and brought back the dipstick, however they deleted the dipstick tubing for the tranny since it's a 7G-tronic sealed system which you can not change the tranny fluid, which intended for life , but if you needed to change it, you have to take to MB to get it change hooked up through a machine.

 

Darn face lift has the DARN oil dipstick again, so after 20 years of doing oil check with clean hands - now I have to get my fingers greasy
We do have both and even 2008 model has Bluetooth and better navigation, the 2004 wagon is more comfortable.
Check if the 350 is having balance shaft issue, but IMHO the pre or post-lift doesn't really matter. Get the nicer car you can find.

 

There are a really good DIY guide here on the forum for changing the tranny fluid yourself on the 7G. I just did it and it was no problem. You just have to get a pump and adapter so you can pump in the fluid through the drain hole and then an IR-thermometer to measure the fluid temp.
You can also drill two holes in the cap of the oil container and put a hose up through one and up to the drain hole and then an air gun in the other hole, then you don't need the pump.

So it is no need to take the car to MB for the tranny fluid change if you are a little handy yourself.

I think the real thing to be aware for about the pre-facelift is the SBC brake system. I just bought a 2004 E500 and the SBC is my major concern about the car. I'm scared it will brake on me. It is also DIYable, but you will need to have access to STAR.

 

I am trying to keep track of SBC failures and to date on all forums I found about 4 reports.
Not that many considering the number of the cars.
Lot of whining about SBC is due to computer-forced replacement at certain number of uses, but this gives couple of month warning so you can get ready for the job.