faigenistic

My wife and I are expecting our first child this September and are in need a more spacious car for travel. She currently has a 2014 E350 sedan we bought used and we have had no issues with and love it. That being said, I am looking into MB wagon options for myself. I have our guy looking at auctions for used 2016 E350 wagons currently in the range of <40k with less than 40k miles. They do pop up few and far between and we have time to wait for the right deal. If I get one with this many miles it will give me about 1 year left on warranty and then I plan on extending the warranty 3-4 years with this dealer to have it covered until about 100k.

My question is whether or not it makes sense to wait for a used 2017 E400 wagon to pop up on the auction sites. I am not sure when the leased wagons for this model year will start being returned, nor I am sure it will be in a similar price range. If it is, I feel like I'd get more bells and whistles with the new model, but could also be opening myself up for added maintenance costs as this is the first year of the new model.

Any thoughts/advice you guys have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

ygmn

look for CPO as yo uget the unlimited mileage and an additional year on warranty

kajtek1

I heard E400 are very rare, so why you focus on this one, not widen your search?
Buying used you don't have much choices with MB. I like white cars, yet ended with black diesel, becouse it was only one I could find in 3 months search.
The V8 engines are good performers as well, while at freeway cruising deliver mpg just slightly lower than V6.
Warranty and mileage is personal choice. I don't hesitate to buy high-mileage MB as they can be found very cheap, while still looking like new car.
You buy cheap, you sell cheap.
When you spend 20-30 grands on used MB you will still get hit with tens of thousands depreciation.

bah212

MY 2017 wagons were not much available until after January of '17. I looked very hard that month as I was replacing a '14 E350 wagon, and ended up scoring a super lease deal on one of the few remaining '16 wagons. Since the most common lease term is 36 months I would not expect to see many lease returns until the end of this year into next spring.

FWIW my '16 wagon has been absolutely trouble free and just about to the perfect ride. Good luck.

gschwindt

I purchased a used CPO '15 E400 wagon when our twins came along (kids #3 and #4). Allows us to have both infant car seats in place and the third row is there for the bigger kids as needed. I don't use the third row for highway travel as I have some concern about being rear ended at high speed when they are so close to the tail gate.

The E400 wagon is a wonderful, rare dad-mobile that is legitimately fast. I test drove E350s as well, but the torque and feel of the 400 was intoxicating. To that end, I suppose I would recommend the 17 E400, unless you can find one from '15 or '16... I have had no issues with mine aside from a cabin temp sensor that was wonky and was replaced under CPO warranty.

faigenistic

i wasn't aware they even made e400s in 2015 or 2016...

gschwindt

They certainly did, but the wagons are rare...
Here in Toronto I have seen a total of two other E400 wagons on the road. In one case myself and the other driver waved at each other

faigenistic

ahhh, canada. yah i don't believe they were released here in the USA until 17, at which point they are running at like 50k+ at auction as leases haven't started being returned yet. a bit pricey.

gschwindt

Fair enough, I didn't realize it wasn't available in the states. Explains why I had so much trouble finding reviews of it...
The 350 is still an excellent wagon!

SteveE400

Not sure about E400 wagons in The States, but the sedans were definitely around for 2015-16. If you like the "zoom" factor, there is no competition. The E400 would win, hands down. It is even faster than my old Lexus LS430 V8, while getting better fuel economy.

If you get the chance, drive one, then you'll know.

Also, bear in mind that the 2016 E400 is the W212 chassis (or is it then called S212?), while the 2017 is the newer 213 chassis.

Jrseville

Thank you Steve,
You are the first person I’ve encountered that understood and was able to explain why our 2016 Canadian E400 does in fact exist. That includes 3 Mercedes Dealerships in Calgary and many hitch shops in both Edmonton and Calgary.

Anyways, I appreciate your taking time to explain and for clarifying that our 2016 E400 is built on the W212 or S212 chassis. I’ll start there on my next round.
those Stealth Receivers really are nicely done. Install looks pretty time consuming but maybe worth a look.

DubVBenz

I have a W212 with the E400 engine and love it. However, I wouldn't buy a W213 until it had been out for a few years, and still maybe wouldn't. W212 is a pretty stable platform. If you don't care about the extra performance of the 400, I'd go for the 16 W212 E350 every day of the week.

pierrejoliat

There are 5 wagons on my street, one 211 and one 213, the other three are 212's. my next door neighbor is an 80 year old lady with an E400, 2016, they exist. you just need to open up your parameters and spend more if necessary to get the car you want, everyone knows how rare and desirable they are, so not likely to find a steal, I would also suggest you limit your search to southern and western states, avoiding the rust belt. Once you do find what you want, you may want to keep it for some time and a rusty New England car might not be your best choice. IMHO.

Left Coast Geek

I didn't want a turbo, so I specifically got a 2016 E350 as AFAIK, all W213's are turbocharged. The 300 HP and 300 ft-lbs of the NA 3.5L is just fine, almost half again more than our E320 W124 wagon had.

ghlkal

Wow, that's amazing. I hardly see wagons around me. I do love the look of the E class wagon.

pierrejoliat

Yes it is, and none are for sale, we all go to the same Benz dealer, the lady next door had a 7 series BMW wagon previously, I believe she had that for 14-15 years, I expect this one she will keep as well.

Left Coast Geek

huh, don't think I've ever seen a 7 series wagon.... I admired the 5 series and was shopping for a early 00s 530i (E39) some years back but gave up, they were either thrashed or trashed or both. I also realized I didn't know a good BMW indie mechanic.

pierrejoliat

I remember it looking like this in Gold, you may be right, it might have been a 5, but I remember it was huge and looked just like my buddy's 740IL. would have been "95- '04 or so.
Her name is Jean Charmin, I don't suppose I need to say how her husband made their fortune...
.
Edit: my wife says her maiden name was Hoberg.

Left Coast Geek

huh, looks like a long wheelbase E32, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_7_Series_(E32) (model years 87-94)
and there's no mention of a wagon, so that might be a custom job.

the comparable 5-series was the E34 which definitely came in wagon form.

pierrejoliat

[QUOTE=Left Coast Geek;8318573]huh, looks like a long wheelbase E32, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_7_Series_(E32) (model years 87-94)
and there's no mention of a wagon, so that might be a custom job.

the comparable 5-series was the E34 which definitely came in wagon form.

Yes, that one looks way too small.

Edit: I will ask her the next time I see her.