Hello MB World gurus,
I found a 2003 e500 with keyless go/pano roof for an insane deal.
I've had a 2013 e350 and a 500 SEC, but I've always loved this era of mercedes.

it has 130k miles on it, AMG wheels, new (but generic) tires.
clean carfax, and it has service records for the past couple years.
front heated seats have a split at the front middle cushion.

Here are the issues-
1) Brake- bring to shop indicator is on (the SBC recall has not been done on this, I checked with the dealer)brakes did feel a little..... less than smooth upon application. (owner replaced rotors and pads sometime in the last 6 months at an indie, non mercedes shop.)
2) Electrical consumers off- shows on the display (trunk battery is new) Car has been sitting mostly for the past 2-4 months,
3) Panoramic roof does not respond to the switch at all, only the rear shade opens and closes
front pano roof shade is non op and stuck open.
4) AC powers on but does not blow anything (owner says it was fixed as of today, so it works now...)
5) Keyless go button on shifter not working.
6) Only has one key

Here are the pros:
Straight body, no accidents.
Shifts great and smooth through all gears and in manual mode. (trans / coolant issue was addressed)
Drives straight, no weird noises, no pulling, no squeaks.
Interior is an 8.5 out of 10. Clean, smells good, no major flaws (aside from he front seats)
Has a folder full of service records
all electrics seem to operate fine (aside from pano roof)
Airmatic suspension seems to function, car was level and even when I arrived.

Crazy low price. Under $2k.

Do i run for the hills? Or do I chance it (i can do some of the mechanical wrenching myself as long as it doesn't need to go on lift)

Someone be the voice of reason.

 

There's no SBC recall, just an extended 25 year warranty. For electrical problems, could be bad alternator or the battery just needs to be fully charged. Had the non functioning pano, may just need a reset. The gears for the shade sometimes get suck so may need lubrication or something. Non working keyless go button on shifter could be a loose wire in the shifter. Mostly heard about on the facelifted models, but that may be because keyless go wasn't that common on 2003 models. I think they also had the bad radiators too and the early 2003 were probably one of the worst years for the W211 aside from the engine problems in the 2006. It was true of what they said about avoiding first year cars. An extra keyless go key is probably in the $500 range from the dealer so probably not worth it as you can only get them from the dealer. I'd invest in some key tracking device and put it something with a lot of keys so it'd be hard to lose. I still have all my keyless go keys as the cost of the replacement tends to make you more careful as to what you do with the key. Airmatic is also expensive to repair so it'd be a fun toy until the repairs cost more than the car. The E500 would have had real leather. Still if you consider 2k play money, it's not too bad if you just get a couple years out of it.

 

There is good reason why those cars sell so cheap.
They can be very desirable when you are skilled DIY, but nightmare for owners who take them to shops.
I had similar situation with SL500 that I bought for $1400. I could fix it very cheap and had some fun with it, but later it was still hard to find a buyer.

 

Less than 2k, go for it.

It's not as expensive as people make it out to be.

 

We'll judging by the comment "you like this model" tells me your kinda leaning towards getting the car. If your handy I'd say go for it, however the cost to play goes up with "fix this, and fix that!" At the end of the day whatever you decide we're be here to tell you one of two things....1. We told you so, and 2. How can we help you with that problem! Pics of that 500 SEC?
R,
2MERKS

 

Nice find!!! I'm biased because I just bought a 2007 e550.!!

 

The SEC is at my garage in Hawaii. Next time I'm home I'll grab a snap.
I am leaning toward the car, yes, and I look forward to the guidance and jokes about my possible purchase!

 

Way less!!

 

I'm not too worried about the DIY side I guess. I got pretty comfortable doing general work on my ls400 and my Touareg. My biggest hesitation is being a bonehead and overlooking a major red flag during the inspection.

I'll let you all know what goes down!

 

The only know pithole in for those years is SBC, who you have covered under extended warranty. Confirm it doesn't have airmatic?
The rest seem to be small or cosmetic issues, so yes, it sounds like excelent deal for a guy who knows how to turn wrenches.
Good luck on the inspection.

 

If you are worried about missing something, find a MB dealer that performs prepurchase inspections. They will generate a report with repair costs. Cost should be about 1hr labor. I always do this when purchasing a used vehicle.

 

W211 with M112 or M113 engines are known to eat engine mounts frequently, regardless of how easy your drive. Take a good look in the engine bay to see if there is any leaks on the actual mounts. The engine should sit relatively 'high' up in the engine bay. Or have someone rev the engine in D with brakes on to see if the engine rocks excessively. Mounts are relatively easy to replace and not too expensive. Another sign the mounts are bad is if the engine sounds loud in the cabin or you get more vibration in the steering wheel at idle.

Airmatic will leak no matter what. If these are the original air springs, I am very surprised it has lasted this long. So plan on replacing the air springs in the future. Good news is the aftermarket replacement by Arnotts are not terribly expensive ($350~$400 range) and not that hard to replace. If you think that is expensive, look up the price for the air spring on a recent year S-class.

Suspension. Other than the airmatic shocks, the other parts do need attention after 100k miles. Ball joints and lots of the rubber bushing wear out. If in the future, you change the front airmatic shock, might as well change the spring control arm at the same time.

Engine. Relatively bulletproof. Most everything on the engine is easy to fix. Leaking valve cover gasket, tensioner, accessory belt, pulleys, power steering reservoir, spark plugs, even the water pump can be easily accessed.

 

In general MB's are known for eating engine mounts. They use liquid filled ones and they don't seem to last as long as solid rubber ones. That's just the trade off between better damping and longer lasting. Even the W212 have the same issues but it's harder to replace the mounts on the W212.

 

Thanks,

Mercedes says the recall/warranty work will be covered fully.
It does have airmatic but the car was cold when I went to see it and it was level and not low.

 

Car is in a very remote area so taking it to a dealer isn't an option. Plus it is non-op reg so it can't really be driven very far.

I'm thinking about purchasing a decent scanner tool for mercedes and running the diagnostic myself.

 

I am pretty discouraged but more mad at myself. My daughter and husband always had mb and I drove theirs alot. Fell in love and got stupid 13 yrs or do later when I buy one. Don't believe it's a good deal any more. Just found out it was made by Chrysler and is kinda huge issue. Starting issue since day one. Got a great battery for the trunk and thought the issue wad resolved. Has the problem with sitting after a day or two and not driving at least a 100 mole drive to charge. I pulled out the electric seat plugins under both. Wasn't the prob. I believe chances are it's the aux . Battery now. Anyways just throwing it out there but while I'm on, does anyone know price range on the aux battery?? Thx sorry for rambling , just feeling depressed..

 

The early W211's weren't that great, I'd prefer 2007+ after the balance shaft was fixed. The 2006 was the last year for SBC and of course after that there was no aux battery. Charging problems usually boil down to the alternator/voltage regulator, battery control module or the aux/main battery, rarely is it something drawing too much power but it's still a possibility. You would get the aux/main battery load test to see if it's good or not. While SBC was covered for 25 years, the fuel tank is only 15 years so a 2003 is probably past that. You fill up the gas tank and if you smell fumes in the back seat, the gasket at the top of the fuel tank is leaking and they normally just replace the entire fuel tank including the pump/filter. You could just DIY your own gasket which some people have done.

 

Hey guys,
Thanks for the insight. I decided to pass on the car. It was pretty cool, but the more I looked into it there ended up being some other questionable issues that I knew would eat up a lot of my time trying to diagnose and fix.

I'll keep you posted on my search!