Hey guys,

Have to move to the US for a few years for work in 2023 and have to leave my W213 behind for a few years. Looking for a W211 (had one before, 05 200k).

What's the best spec/year? I'm thinking 2008/2009, as high of a spec as possible w/ as low Miles as possible, budget 15k $ max don't really want the AMG models.

I'll be in the New England region so 4matic would be nice to have, any problems with the system in W211? Or airmatic (very rare to have airmatic in Europe so would be nice if I got one).

Anything else I should be looking for in terms of specs? Of course I know good W211s are hard to find so I won't be that picky besides Miles and years (60k-70k is my hard cut off for mileage don't really want to be replacing timing chains etc any time soon) thanks!

 

You'd be hard pressed to find one that low. You're more likely to find one loaded in an 08/09 model. They're pretty close but Comand was updated in 2009. Probably the 2009 would be the way to go because you might still have a year left with the 15 year extended warranty on the fuel tank leak. People do claim 4matic can be more problematic but I haven't had any issues so far. Many cars in the area are 4matic so they should be easy to find. Airmatic was in the E550, E350 no airmatic. Airmatic tends to fail in the 80-120k range so that'd be the drawback of buying one as it's still around $500 a corner. Did my struts and rear shocks but they're not that much cheaper as the Bilstein aren't that much cheaper than Sachs. Timing chain doesn't have a big failure rate, 70k is about where stuff starts to go and can go at any time especially when certain things are based more on time than mileage. I did my motor mounts at around 60k and also the same with pulleys/tensioner/thermostat. The intake manifold going can get you anytime though, need to change out the oil separator and the oil breather cover.

 

Nice one, the only problem I remember with my 05 200k was the ball joints and then one of the torque or speed sensors on the wheel that sent it into limp mode, otherwise it was fine did about 100k Miles and sold it on when I bought the W213.

I think I'll try to find a 2009 with as low milage as possible I guess, I would love airmatic and 500 a corner isn't a huge deal so I wouldn't mind a 550. For the US market all the cars were turbo / bi turbo right? None were supercharged?

One annoying thing I remember about my 200k was one of the lights would go pretty often (can't remember if it was both) maybe once a year. Never figured out what it was (they weren't xenon)

Thanks for all the wise tips!

 

For 2008/2009, the E550 was just a regular V8 but had more HP than the older E500/E320, no turbo. You didn't get turbo til the W212. That was the M273 which has well known intake manifold problems. The side markers go out a lot, water gets into the sockets and rusts it out. I used a vin decoder like below and specifically got the bixenons. No other issues with the lights so far. Also good to get the knock off copy of the WIS/EPC on eBay, around $10. They've stopped updating it as they have a new system now, but still works fine for the older models. Standard stuff like ball joints, tie rods, sway bar links, upper/lower control arms, ripped cv joint boots etc still apply so you have to keep an eye on things. Of course the more mileage you have the more issues you will have. Nice thing with the E550 is that real leather is standard instead of MB-tex with the E350 and you also get heated/cooled seats. Cooled seats weren't an option on the E350 and of course airmatic was standard, not an available option on the facelifted E350.

https://www.lastvin.com/