Advantages: Performance, Economy and good motorway car Disadvantages: Severe corrosion problems, mechanically unreliable after 100,000 miles
I bought my 1997 E300TD in 2005, with about 100k mikes seduced by the image of quality, reliability and longevity. All went reasonably well for the 1st 12 months as I enjoyed the comfort, performance and relative economy from the big car on long motorway journeys.
However it was all about to change...the alloy wheels were restored at 115k as they had corroded. Then the front spring hangers rotted and had to be welded at 128k, by 135k the front crossmember had rotted away and needed welding; both of these serious issues M-B repaired under warranty. By now the wheel arches started to bubble with tell tale rust, and I used a Smart repair operation to repair (£475), as the local M-B dealer quoted £3,500 !!!. Good tip here from the Smart repair company; (when the car is bone dry wire brush behind the wheel arch rim and fill ...
CountZobrowski 22.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Mercedes E 300 TD
Advantages: Good engine performance Disadvantages: a few rattles on the trim & road noise
I went for the TD4S, it's the lowest specification model, no air con, steel wheels, one driver side air bag, basic radio/casette. The plus side to this is it's less attractive to potential thieves than a TD4 with all the "bells"
The car drives very well as the 1951cc diesel engine is excellent. I have not found any great problems with acceleration it moves off quite well and while not a sports car it copes when there is a need to pull away a bit sharpish in to moving traffic. The gearing is excellent, very positive and quite forgiving if you are over geared for the speed, takes a lot to stall it. It has a hill descent control device on the gear stick, designed for descending steep slippery off road hills. I don't think I will ever use this facility and maybe should have been an optional extra.The car handles very well and is nice to ...
Advantages: Very high build quality, silent running, prestige, badge, lush, solid, fast, sumptuous. Disadvantages: Difficult to park, dealer will empty your bank balence, large car - small....... !
Mercedes300SEL , S320 Limo 1993.
How I acquired the vehicle?
In my course of work (Mobile vehicle mechanic) I meet a lot of people in the trade.
Because of this, I get the nod when any quality vehicles turn up in the scrapper (for what ever reason they were scrapped).... many times this is down to un-economic repair costs.
Which are for this beast, astronomical? ...well if you are prey to main dealer prices and practices, cars like this will never be owned by the 'less well offs' and I include myself in that statement. It's better to be lucky than rich sometimes.
For me, it's a case of; sod the usual car buying outlets and get your self down the scrapper. Lucky for me then!
On first inspection of this car in the breakers yard, I was shocked by its size; it was huge, damaged, covered in dust + thick mud caked the wheel ...
