alfa

I'm buying a euro spec'd W220, yer model 1999 or 2000.

I know the airmatic is problematic but aside form this what do i look out for?

Also how do i know if one of the airmatic struts are shot or if the pump's down? Do i need to take this to the shop to inspect?
The seller says that the battery is dead which is why he wont turn off the engine? Is he hiding something, Is this an indication that the airmatic or any other part is down?
Can i check the airmatic via the onboard computer error codes?

Thanks guys i love the car but i just want to know what to look out for.

Gondon

Avoid 2000, It has the most issues. Also sounds like the seller is full of ****. Move on to the next car.

So the batterys dead and his car is always on?

LOL definatly stay away !

S500 Man

stay away from that car jesus...car is always on cause battery is dead lol

Jezza

This doesnt make any sense, are you really meaning to say that he leaves this car running ALL the time? As in all night when its parked outside his house?

ibeforreal

Leaving the car running does seem a bit crazy. One of the other things I would also check for is to find out if the instrument cluster has been replaced. The 00 and 01 really had a serious problem where everything goes completely dark. The good news it that they are warranteed by Mercedes via a recall for 10 years. Does this guy have any records?

Skylaw

Alfa, take a look at these-

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...-look-out.html

The links at post #5 at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...questions.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...48#post2969848 is a broad-brush treatment of major differences in model years.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...ly-w220-2.html provides recent opinions of older S-Class models.

The information on phone systems and manuals are for U.S. spec cars, so they won't do you much good - but the rest might.

I would pass on the particular car you're looking at. A dead battery could be caused by several malfunctions in addition to a worn-out battery, and they could be expensive to repair (the forums have several strings dealing with this). Also, how did he start it? Electronics damage can result from jump starting a W220. And yes, he could be trying to hide an Airmatic problem (a serious one, if it would show up soon after shutting down).