Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedans

jason64 · May 2001

Hi dunninla, and those who have lowered their cars, if you lower the car without changing the shocks, aren't you concerned about the premature wear on them? Does anyone know how long the factory shocks last? Thanks for your reply.

drew_ · May 2001

Don't miss the weekly MB Tuesdays chat at 6-7pm Pacific/9-10pm Eastern! All MB fans/enthusists/owners/potential owners are welcome to participate. Hope to see you there!

Click on the link below to enter the chat at the times above. Note that the link to the chat is always near the top of this page, just under the discussion topic title:

http://www.edmunds.com/chat/mercedeschat.html

Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards

svinaik · May 2001

Finally got the thing sorted out. Fuel Pump was the culprit. It was producing a constant humming noise in the area around the jump seats in the wagon. Dealer changed the Fuel pump and the Fuel filter and the noise vanished immediately.

vs4 · May 2001

Could someone please let me know if decorating a 2001 E430 for wedding purpose by some of decorating shops or decorating the car by using a tape will harm the paint/finishing in anyway.

If someone has better idea to use a particular product, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

bargamon · May 2001

got a loaner with 5k miles on it, just like my 430. It gets 23.5 mpg vs 20.4 for mine. IM sure loaners get beaten on a little more. 6 vs 8: power band different, but 320 is certainly quick enough, and does the job. I long thought 320 is an excellent engine, and it performs well for our ml320. Biggest difference is tires and wheel size. As many have commented after change, it changes character of car. 320 with 16' wheels is very smooth, quiet and corners nice. Actually body roll not as apparent. 320 configuration is excellent and lacks nothing. 17 wheel gives better grip, a more road feel (good and bad), and heavier feel. This is just a simple observation i thought I would share.

Question: some here have lowered the car with new springs. the other half would be to add stabilizer bars. What if just the bars were added? I don't care about cosmetic advantage of lowering (im sure it looks great!), but springs vs. stabil bars performance wise, what are the pros and cons of just doing one or the other??

jason64 · May 2001

While driving on the freeway at a constant speed, if I "punch" the gas pedal hard and try to accelerate, the car tends to "pause" momentarily before responding. My service advisor says it is normal due to its wireless design (instead of mechanical leakages). Does anyone else has the same problem? Thanks for your input in advance.

fishxprt · May 2001

I also have a problem with momentary pause. Every morning I back out of the driveway and after I put the tarns in I and put the pedal there is a definite pause before the car moves.
This only happens in the morning and may have something to do with the car being cold.
I have read on the Owners I class site that they have many problems with the I class stalling and acting like the power is turned off. Has anyone had a similar problem with the I class?

fishxprt · May 2001

I ment to refer to the "C" class site that has problems with stalling!!

tendons · May 2001

There is a lag of an eighth to maybe a quarter of a second when I push down suddenly on the E55 and it also happens on the BMW 740s 2001. It's enough so that I wind up thinking "what?" and almost about to depress the accelarator again, when it "catches". This happned once when there was a hole in traffic that I thought I could punch through, in the bmw, and found myself without power for that short, but slightly freightening quarter of second.
According to the service tech, there is no longer a mechanical linkage and strangely the computer takes a little bit of time to make a decision to retard ignition, change fuel input and other things that used to be simple. It's annoying at times.

greasykid1 · May 2001

Changed out the complete BOSE system in my 99 e300. (Have since sold it). My backround includes over 20 yrs. of audio experience & was extremely disappointed with the factory system.

Good sound comes thru your ears,not thru your feet & that is where the factory system is located @ the base of the doors. Proper sound quality can never be acheived form this design.

Take a good look @ the A pillar. You will see a small metal grill. Also look @ the extreme ends of the dash & you will see grills. THERE ARE NO SPEAKERS IN EITHER LOCATION!!!. Even more interesting is that if you remove these grills there are mountings for speakers,but NOTHING IS THERE! This goes a long awy to explain the poor sound quality.

Also there are not 8 speakers in the system as advertised. Only 6!!. One pair of speakers are "dual cone" and therfore counted as being 4.

My salesman is pretty sharp did not realize this until I asked him to put his ear to the A pillar & hear nothing.

The remendy. Tore out the complete Bose system & the AM/FM/CASSETTE head. Mounted 3 way system in the dash/A pillar/door. Mounted a subwoofer in the rear package shelf(trunk mounted). Installed a new in dash AM/FM/CD player. In dash cassette without CD is stone age technology. Never missed the cassette.

NO PROBLEMS with any MB systems. Recommend that this type of upgrade only be done by a HIGH END installer who is used to working on HIGH END cars.

keikoe55 · May 2001

can anyone direct me where I can get the ext warranty for My wife's 2000 E class

bargamon · May 2001

Thanks for your opinion. Those who look to update will find your notes helpful.

The 2000 and 01 versions with teleaid have speakers in the dash. They are for the teleaid.

I agree with alot of your opinion. I believe when bose tuned the interior they could have done alittle better. The speaker grill that is empty at the A pillar appears to me to be a vented port which does empty some mid range sound. At least that what my ear is telling me when I put it to the grill. I notice some higher sounds omit from there, but its very ambient, or sort of "surround" effect. While not as efficient as a tweeter, it does offer a smooth transition of sounds. To tear out system would disrupt the teleaide system. Some might not care, but it would permanently disable teleaide integration with the sound system. Also, the newer models have many controls on the steering wheel and changing head unit would also disable its (sound system) use. I think the bose system works well and gives a good result. The individual pieces are not as good as aftermarket, but I don't know if the end result is worth the trouble, and at a price of losing steering controls and teleaid. A likely upgrade would be to re-amp and respeaker but keep the head unit on 00' and 01' models. Those with phone or command would not want to lose those options either. I find the low end satisfactory with the two woofers in the rear deck. There are 2 ports that could take another woofer each. In the s class, they do have them filled with woofers. I do wonder if adding the additional woofer might be too much, throwing the system out of balance. Also the empty holes may allow for venting of low range back from the trunk. Personally I do not want a "thump mobile."
Changing the four hi-mid speakers could help, but it might become to bright with more effiecent speaker. I don't know the power supply ratings for the amps, and as you know one would need to make sure it works well together.
In all, I am satisfied with set up and realize that cost would weigh heavy in redoing the system. Adding to much brightness would leave a hole in the mid range. The bass level could be in need of upgrading, and then you have more costs. The thinking behind bose is to derive more from less.

As I said, I agree with most of your opinion but relative to the new models, there are other considerations. I also know they changed the head unit in either 99 or 00'. The amps and cd unit are hooked up via fiber optics. Its clean. I think that pre 00' models could benefit from your upgrade suggestion without losing other features.

By the way, what are you driving now?? Im sure it has a hell of a system for sound!

dman12 · May 2001

Call Lisa Lehrbaum at Courtesy Motors Auto Center at 1-800-655-3535. This is a MB dealer in Chico, Ca. They sell the extended MB warranties at very nice discounts, and Lisa is very easy to deal with. I bought mine from her and I believe several others from this board have bought from her also. They seem to be the only dealer in the country who will budge from the retail price.

Good luck.

mbdriver · May 2001

dman12 got it right regarding warranty discounts. There are a few other dealers who will offer discounts, but not for the low prices from Lisa. And remember that you MUST purchase the MB extended warranty during your first year of ownership.

greasykid1 and bargammon -- I think I'm fortunate to be completely satisfied with the Bose audio in my '00 E320. After years of being exposed to jet engine noise as a fighter pilot (and the resultant hearing loss, which I've never noticed), I've been told not EVER to invest in expensive stereo equipment. So, the Bose system, to me, sounds terrific!

tendons · May 2001

The car is wonderfully powerful , but at speeds over 90-100 there is an almost wallowing, not quite, but the car sort of goes slightly from side to side, up and down when you turn the steering wheel slightly from side to side. Someone into racing cars said it's like the body doesn't follow the direction of the wheels for a quarter or one half a second. The car has 3000 miles with Dunlop sp9000. I had it in for alignment because it drifted slightly to the right, but nothing wrong was found.I had a 93 500e and it felt"hunkered down" at higher speeds, but this one causes furrowing of the brow; it just doesn't seem as stable. Anyone else with anything like this?
Stewart-spolet@aol.com

44264 · May 2001

With the Michelin Pilot Sports

merckx · May 2001

This hearkens back to an issue I raised at this site some months ago-no responses,though.
If you go back to Automobile Magazine's "Four Seasons"(don't know which issue from 1998 it was,but it had a yellow prototype of the new Beetle-summer issue?)report on the E320,they were quite dissatisfied with the steering and the ensuing wander. Overall,the were rather lukewarm about the car.
Each year,I've been expecting mention of a change in specification-there's been none.
Does anyone recall this article?Has this issue been resolved?

sequoiasaurus · May 2001

My wife and I are looking at purchasing a used E Class sedan. I would like to know if anyone has any recommendations as far as what year is better in the 1996 to 1999 timeframe.

I realize that a 99 is likely to have lower mileage than a 97. But if I find a 97 with low mileage and it is in good condition would that be good.

I guess I'm looking for things like options, production problems, etc that may not be obvious to someone who hasn't followed the E class line since being redone in 1996.

alirob · May 2001

The display on the dash of my 2000 E320 wagon does not show the trip computer. I can scroll through the various other functions, but the trip computer never shows. Anyone else have such a problem?

mbdriver · May 2001

How do you define "trip computer"? I have a 2000 E320 sedan, and I don't believe my car has a trip computer (similar to the one in the BMW). Are you referring to the fuel computer (MPG for various situations, gallons in tank, etc.)?

alirob · May 2001

On pages 98 and 99 of my operator's manual it describes the functioning of the "Trip Computer". As mbdriver suggests, it is supposed to tell you mpg, gallons in tank, etc.

44264 · May 2001

If you press the up or down arrow at the screen where it shows you your car's total mileage to date, you'll see the gallons in take and range.

The resettable mpg is on a separate page.

bargamon · May 2001

on "page" that show odometer miliage, shows a trip also. If you hit the r button on the dash to the left of gauges (hold for 3 sec.) it resets.

Or read the owner manual.

Have yet to take my 430 over 85mph. wallowing could depend on surface or if road is graded for rain falloff. In that, some roads are tilted. I think AMG has different springs and stabil bars than standard set up. If so, reviews would not be relevent.

Used 97-98-99??? 98 got new engine, 99 electronics upgrade. Read Edmunds for each year to understand. low milage 99's with starmark are expensive, but value is individual choice. The right car at a higher price is better than the wrong car cheap, and then spending on repairs. Don't want aggrivation to dilute your motoring experience.

walto · May 2001

I have a '00 E320.

I too have noticed a delay in "kickdown" with the accelerator pedal. In fact, the shift from fifth to fourth is instantaneous--so quick you can miss it. It is the further kickdown to third or second that is slow. I talked to the dealer about it and they said that if I remained unhappy with it, they could take me for a drive and reprogram it with a laptop. My solution in the meanwhile is the terrific click-left-click-right manual mode. I'll probably try the reprogramming at the next service.

On the high-speed stability issue, I think there are three very distinct problems. When I took delivery of my car, I was horrified at the stability at even 60 mph. My previous '93 300E was on rails, and stability actually improved with speed as the car squatted on the suspension.

The first of these three issues is the steering: it is too quick and the center position is poorly defined. It's as if the front suspension lacks caster. So, some of the "instability" is simply too much driver input. Try driving the car with one finger on the wheel and stability will improve. You can then learn to drive with a normal grip. This problem seems aggravated by small body movements in response to crosswinds which actually do not upset the tracking of the car. Learn not to respond to these.

The second issue is the wheel-tire combination. Changing the stock wheels for an AMG 17" wheel and the stock MXV-4 205-55-16 for a YOKO DB 235-45-17 has improved the tracking to the point that it is impeccable. This is the reason, I believe, that the E430 never received this criticism. With this wheel/tire combination, the high speed stability and steering response are excellent. I imagine that the shorter sidewall is largely the issue here.

Finally, the year 2000 "facelift" of this car has passed unappreciated. Everything from the base of the windshield forward is new, including a lowering of the engine in the chassis by about 3/4". This was done to lower the center of gravity and allow changes in the bodywork to improve the aerodynamics and high speed stability. It worked. Unlike the pre-2000 cars, the later ones squat with increased speed and are fine. Too bad MB took this long to deal with the problem.

My only final recommendation on stability would be to slightly stiffen the shock dampening. This would reduce the body twitching (in response to wind gusts) and the impression of instability that comes from this. When Bilstein has the heavy duty aftermarket units for this car, I'll replace them.

walto · May 2001

. . . and the Bose sounds fine to me. It's not what I have at home, the ambient noise in the car makes this moot to me. Also, are people making a distinction between the two levels of Bose in these cars? (The standard and the "premium" that is part of the E2 package.)

slugger4 · May 2001

My wife was in an accident in her new e320 yesterday. She was hit by a Chavy Cavalier in the drivers side rear wheel. The guy ran a red light. She is fine - no airbags deployed. She said it felt incredibly solid when she was hit. The l/r wheel was pushed in and there was some damage to the body right behind the wheel. The repair shop gave us an estimate of $2800. They said most of the cost is for suspension/control arms to be replaced. He doesn't recommend replacing the left rear quarter panel because he thinks he can pull out the dent and reshape the area. I asked if he should replace the whole panel and he said since it is welded and not bolted in place, ther is a risk cutting the panel out and causing additional damage. Does this sound right to any of you? Should I insist on replacing the whole quarter panel? I don't like the idea of my Benz having bondo and fillers.

microrepair · May 2001

For what it's worth, my 96 E was rear ended 2 years ago and the entire rear was replaced. The body shop did a magnificent job. Unless you dig up the repair history through MB, you'd never know it wasn't original factory... My only complaint was they actually left a couple footprints on the trunk carpet liner.. Which they then vacuumed up..!

I might consider bondo on an 81 Benz, but not an 01... Insist that the other guy's insurance company cover the new rear quarter...

drew_ · May 2001

Don't miss the weekly MB Tuesdays chat at 6-7pm Pacific/9-10pm Eastern! All MB fans/enthusists/owners/potential owners are welcome to participate. Hope to see you there!

Click on the link below to enter the chat at the times above. Note that the link to the chat is always near the top of this page, just under the discussion topic title:

http://www.edmunds.com/chat/mercedeschat.html

Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards

mbdriver · May 2001

I have to both disagree and agree with walto on the stability of the 2000 E320. In February I took an extended trip (165 miles, all Interstate), and my 2000 E320 handled beautifully at 80-95 mph. Unlike walto's, it tracked well, was extremely stable, and the steering response seemed intuitive. In short, it was solid as a rock. I even got 28 mpg! But my tires were 215/55-16 Contis, not 205/55-16 Michelin, like walto's (a mistake by walto in reporting tire size, perhaps?).

Then, about six weeks ago, I upgraded to 17" 5-spoke E Style MB alloys and Yoko AVS dB 235/45-17 tires. With this change, I agree wholeheartedly with walto. Everything improved dramatically, even the appearance of the car, but especially the driving feel! Someone in this forum said recently that the E-Class was probably designed for the 17" wheel/tire combo, and to differentiate from the more expensive E430, the E320 was given smaller wheels and tires. I believe it.

Bottom line -- if anyone is unhappy with the handling of an E320, go for the 17" wheel/tire upgrade. It will make a world of difference.

jason64 · May 2001

The FSS on my 01 E320 has been giving out "lamp defective, check lamps" warnings when I drive it at night. But every time I checked all the outside and inside lights (including foglights, license plate lights, inside mood lights, etc), I couldn't find anything wrong??? Does anyone else have a similar experience? Thanks for your reply.

drew_ · May 2001

TOPIC: Tues., May 22nd "Road Rage. What's up with that???"

bargamon · May 2001

Where you at these days. Now that your a company man, or a "suit", are you not allowed to participate? I have not been spending too much time at the ML site as its just too much at times. I do miss the controversy! Did you sell your E-class and moved on? Do tell!

bargamon · May 2001

I did not get the recent 320 loaner over 6omph, but did feel the steering was lighter, and thus lacked the on center feel that my 430 has. Not that it was bad, just different. When I shopped, I considered the E-320 but for $5000, the wheel upgrade, metalic paint, and v-8 was good value. This way I did not have to spend more on upgrading the 320, I hated the Idea of losing money on changing wheels and tires.

Gas mpg was 20.5 before heat came and kicked on A/C. Penalty seems about 1-2mpg with it on. 6500 on my odometer.

Dealer reprogrammed my speed sensitive volume control so it does not drop off at low speed at low volume. Thanks to whom ever mentioned to me it could be done.

great comment on upgrade to 2000 model. It was deciding factor on my purchase as previously E class was not on top of my list. With model comming to its close and lots of inventory, these are great cars at great prices. Im sure many will want new model, but price and dependability will make it very attractive. My plan is wait about two years till bugs worked out of new model (IF any....) and the first round of upgrades. MB seems to work in 2 year cycles.

Two grades of Bose?? I have the E-2 package, but always thought it was bose or no-bose?

cmayer · May 2001

On several occasions, my '98 E300 has issued that message. I've found that my driver's side amber front lamp, wiring or socket is flaky. It won't light, only to be ok after a few days. I think it's humidity related, like after I've had to take it thru a car wash, although I hasn't happened every time I've taken it thru.

The warning has also been issued and, like Jason, I can't find anything not working. After a few days it's disappeared. Further on humidity, I've associated this also with rainy weather and wet roads. This area near the wheels seems susceptible to wet roads.

Once it really worked when the same lamp on the passenger side needed to be replaced, but I delayed looking and changing it due to the "crying wolf" problem.

When the system asked for front brake pads (at about 35k of mostly city driving,) I brought this matter to the service advisor.

In their efficient manner, they changed the lamp and charged it back to MB. In the few weeks since, I've not had the warning and both wet conditions have happened. Who knows, but, at least, the issue is in my service history as I'm losing my MB warranty at the end of the year. Haven't decided on a third party extension - I'm not Starmarked (obviously;) it was about 18 months old when I bought it.

For the record, I beleived the system when it called for brake linings, and I confirmed its requests for oil, coolant and blue washer fluid as well as the valid lamp failure. Glad to have those warnings.

pompano73 · May 2001

I have an 01 E320 with the standard tires. What is the proper inflation for these tires? I looked in the manual and it says 28, but that can't be right I think I'm reading it wrong. I like a smooth ride but don't want to overinflate. I also live in hot South Florida. What is the inflation that everybody else uses?

fishxprt · May 2001

I have a 01 E320 and use the gas filler door info for inflation. If you want the smoothest ride like I do, 28 lfs. (cold tire) is the best that I have found. If you go any higher, ride suffers greatly on rough streets.

walto · May 2001

Yes, MBDriver is right. The original Michelin MXV's were 215s. But the car was really scary at speed compared to my previous 300E. Maybe the Contis are better tires. The 17"/235 upgrade, though, is what really integrates this car. It is easy to believe that it was designed around this set up.

On the new model, I'd offer the following. The parts manager at my dealer is a good friend, and if you want to know what's going wrong with cars, he's the one to ask. It takes MB three or four years to really iron out a car. They are not good at innovation, but they do plug along until they get it right. Look at the part nummbers. The last two digits are the revision number. On my 2000 E320, many of these are up in the 20's and 30's.

On the 320 vs. 430, I thought about it a while too. I decided on the 320 because I like the sound of a six better, and because of the mileage. My car regularly shows 27-28 mpg on highway trips in the 80 mph range. That's hard to beat. And the six has enough power to kill you any day of the week, especially with the beautifully integrated transmission/control unit.

A friend has had a CL500 for almost a year, and the car is filled with bugs, including a lot of software problems. The bad one is the computer sensing a failure of the ABC and shutting it down. The car flops around like a dish rag. The engine has to be shut down restarted to reset this and he's taken to putting it in neutral and doing this at highway speeds. Scary!

On the stardard tires and inflation pressures, I ran my original Michelin MXV's at 38 pounds all around. The ride was supple and it made the car behave a little better. Look at the sidewall, which shows maximum cold pressure.

jason64 · May 2001

Thank you for your response. In my case, ALL the interior and exterior lights work properly. My service advisor said he won't be able to defect the problem lamp unless the car was brought in with the warning light stays on. This is because the computer does not have the memory for the problem lamp. Does that sound right to anybody?? I am sure this is an old technology to have the computer memorize what went wrong in the system.

yahoo2 · May 2001

I've been looking at upgrading my anti-sway bars on '99 E320 and have come across a wide range of prices. Eibach: $550, Lorinser and AMG: $700-$950, Brabus: $1150. Does anyone have any other recommendations? Does anyone have any idea why such a wide range in price? Is Brabus that much better than Eibach to warrant double the price? Any info will be helpfull and appreciated.

cjscotto · May 2001

I am looking at purchasing a 1993 400E. Does anyone have experience with this year and model. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

pompano73 · May 2001

28 or 38? I appreciate the advice, but want to make sure , I normally do city driving. Thanks again.

peterd320 · May 2001

Hello mbdriver, I have been considering the same 17" wheel / tire upgrade on my 00 E320 that you did on yours and seems to be very happy, I had my eyes on the AMG 5 spoke 203 style (on Tire rack's site), but it's hard to beat the price on the 17" 5 spoke E Style MB alloys on Discount Tires site, when you purchase your wheels, where you able to use the same mounting bolts & caps (from the original 16"s) or did you have to purchase new bolts since the ET on the 16"'s is 41mm & 37mm on the 17"'s any additional information will be greatly appreciated, I would love to see a picture of your E320 with the new wheels.
One final question, on your 17" set up, what pressures are you using front / rear.

keithlca · May 2001

Has anyone look at the price for E320 in carsdirect? It's 2k off due to dealer incentive. I thought the incentive won't happen until June. Does anyone know how much is the incentive?

raybear · May 2001

I was wondering the same thing. You can't go by carsdirect pricing to peg it, sometimes they're cheaper in one region than in others. My current copy of CarDeals doesn't show anything.

drivenow · May 2001

I have $500 on deposit at my local M-B dealership towards the next generation E class, AMG type. Can anyone tell me if it will be a 2002, 2003 or 2004, E55, E60... - and when will it be available. I am sure it will be worth the wait. Also, it there a dedicated E55/AMG site, and/or photos...
Thanks

raybear · May 2001

Okay, it is $2,000 until the end of the month. That makes sense. The E55 is not included.

tendons · May 2001

drive now.; try mbnz.org. there are sites for each different mercedes including a very enthusiastic e55 group, sort of like the m5 group in the bmw site of edmunds

dsg828 · May 2001

I am in the market for a E320. I live in the midwest in Missouri. Is it necessary to get a 4-matic or is the RWD adequate. Any other pointers on the E320. Thanks

midwestmb · May 2001

I have a 2000 E430 4-Matic. Have previously driven a '95 C280 RWD here in a St. Louis winter. I would absolutely recommend the 4Matic for this area. It helps in slippery/rainy weather as well as winter. The 430's power would be a disadvantage without 4Matic, in this climate.

coallen · May 2001

I own a 2000 E320 4MATIC. Buy the 4MATIC if you plan to drive in snow. In my opinion it makes a tremendous difference. The transfer case did start leaking at 8200 miles and was replaced under warranty. I was a little surprised given how gentle I am with my vehicle. My repair experience is probably unique as I don't remember anyone else having a similar problem.

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