Picked up this stately old lady last weekend. I was purchased new by the sellers father and he inherited it after the parents passed away. I was looking for a cheap car to keep the miles off the new truck. In the last 2 years I've had a 1998 C43 AMG and a 2005 SLK55 AMG, so I figured I would try another Mercedes.

The E500 came with all books, both keys and a bunch of service records. Looks like the original owners took very good care of it with most service completed at the local Mercedes dealer. I found receipts for the valve cover gaskets being replaces about 20k miles ago and the front suspension control and trust arms being replaced around the same time. 1.5 years ago the transmission was replaced with a rebuilt unit after the radiator developed an internal leak and contaminated the transmission fluid with antifreeze. Radiator was replaced then, obviously. Both systems flushed. Previous owner gave up and sold it because the rear air suspension is failing (see #8).

I liked it because it's a pretty basic E500. No keyless go, base sunroof, no COMAND. Would be nice to have a folding rear seat though.

The issues:
1) Headliner is falling
2) Damage to driver door and quarter from previous owner backing into it in the driveway. I think I can wet sand and buff the scratches and hopefully PDR the dents.
3) From being parked outside for 5 years with the previous owner, all of the beltline rubber weather strips are dry rotted.
4) SOS Malfunction! in display.
5) Clunking in front suspension over small bumps. From some digging, looks like it's probably ball joints.
6) Squeaking idler on cold start. Can't pinpoint exactly, but the idler above the waterpump is wobbling pretty good
7) Plastic pan under transmission is wet and when I drive it I get some smoke/ burning off of the passenger exhaust. Can't tell from above what's leaking. Everything from the top side looks dry
8) Rear air suspension goes flat overnight. If I park it in "raised" mode then it'll stay up indefinitely. My neighbor has had 3 W211 and thinks it could be the air suspension valve body. I'm not sure exactly how the air springs work, but it seems like the spring itself should not be the problem if it will hold air in raised mode. But please comment if you might have a suggestion.

Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have time to get in up on the lift and check it out fully. Then I can make a judgment on whether to fix it up or just detail it and trade it in on something else. I didn't pay much for it, so I can trade it and still be at least even.

Thanks!