Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedans

bargamon · June 2001

I owned a 89 420 sel. It had 105k miles in it and I sold it for a very good price. It was mint. A friend has it and I do miss it at times. Reason I sold was that car was designed in mid 1970s and went into production in europe in 79. I wanted more modern infrastructure. My 01' 430 does not have command, phone or some other gizmo's that are sensitive. The 89' will last for more years and look great. That model was very well made, including the interior. I recieved many compliments right up to the time I sold, and my friend is amazed how people react that its 12 year old! I did say yesterday I don't think MB is over engineering the cars as they did in the past, but neither is Japanese makes. Before the economic slow down there, they were over doing everything. Remember that sound deadning steel they used on the LS400, they also used it on the corolla! Cars got expensive and they had to lower prices. Engine technology has also slowed. ITs not that american cars caught up fast, but some makes slowed down to create some parity. I mentioned that the Present E class may be the best car because it was designed during the better days before price sensitivity set in. But look at teh GS lexus, nice car, priced well, but not as solid. Lots of gizmos and gloss. For many that is very important. I am about drive train and safety. Long term use and resale important to me. Also, at 100k some Japanese cars will come undone over time. Look at 10 year old LS400 interiors. The leather comes apart. You may want to stay away from 4matic as it may have long term issues. New system is better but if over 10 years is another story nobody knows yet. Drew is resident guru on that. You may want to look for a used E-class, a low miliage '00. Saves money and starmarked extended. If your going for the long haul, MB is the better alternative than any else.
If price and 4wd is important, consider a ML. FOr alot less than e class you still get the great engine, durable 4wd, and safety. Truck will drive as sedan, but we all have trade offs.2002 gets some of the desirable goodies missing in previous models. They will go up in price to compensate, so a 01' may be a great value if you don't value some of the changes as " must have". Most intriging value out there is new VW passat with 4motion and v-8. Will be available soon for about 38k. Redesigned exterior looks nice. New q45 is powerful, style a little bland, but gizmo laden. Those tend to depreciate quickly as tech gets out dated (Mentioned here previously by others).

Oh by the way, I canned the pool idea. Can only use it a few months a year, Does not add value to house, adds to power bill, gotta clean it. Im driving the pool now!

bargamon · June 2001

Truck will NOT drive as sedan.

sdjumin · June 2001

>Recently, my 1998 E320 has developed jerky, hesitant forward movements when I try to release brake very slowly in a slow moving traffic. Does anyone else have the same experience and have it fixed? Thanks.

landinggear · June 2001

I tried my dealer today and they say Motorola has made all the changes to the phone, not MB. Sounds suspiciously like passing the buck to me.

I'm going to make a big effort to get to the bottom of this because I see no point in buying a technologically INFERIOR phone from MB when I have a V-8160 from Motorola.

44264 · June 2001

I read in an article from 2001 onwards, the MB/Motorola phones will be forward compatible when the new phones come out. In other words, the new Motoroal V.60 (to be introducted anytime now) can be retro fitted into the MB car kits.

There are a lot of extra functions built into the MB Timeport interacting with the dash and steering wheel controls. There is no way you can just plug in a regular Motorola phone and get it working.

No doubt it's an expensive option and I also feel Motorola should have made the system compatible with more Motorola phones but if you use your phone in your car a lot, the set up is much superior over any third party handsfree car kits out there. The Timeport as a stand alone phone is inferior, but working with the MB kit makes it a winning set up in my opinion.

alirob · June 2001

Does the windshield wiper arm fold forward on the E320 to facilitate replacing the rubber insert. When I try to pull the arm forward it moves about an inch then resists. I don't want to break it off.

cte430 · June 2001

My F1's have 24K on them and they are shot. I spoke to a guy at tirerack the other day to get some opinions. He thought the F1's were good. I asked him about the Michelin Pilot Sport and he said they were awful in the rain. Not recommended. Asked about the new Yokohama's and he thought that they wear real fast. OK, nothing special. The one that he brought up and raved about was the new Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position. Better wet/dry than the F1's and quieter. The interesting thing is that the F1's are $100 more a piece ($300 vs. $218). However the Brdgstn's are new, and maybe they have better incentives to sell them. That's just the skeptic in me I guess. I'll get a few more opinions, but i'll probably end up with another set of F1's.

wbrewmeister · June 2001

I am a former owner or a 1983 300 turbodiesel. I put 200,000 wonderful miles on it before winter driving finally caused me to sell it. I am now considering purchasing a recent model (99' being the last year sold) Can any owners offer me any advice?

cce182 · June 2001

You could very well be right - that Moto actually does the programming for the phones. One would have to have specific knowledge about how to "flash" the nonvolatile memory in the phone, and set the commands in it's code to implement the special functions in K2 and K2a. But, it's likely that you'd still have to go thru the MB dealer to do this. I doubt Moto would flash the standard phone to the MB code without agreement from MB. I fully understand the frustration with this. Luckily, I did not have the dilemma since we had just one phone before I bought the E430. The phone we did have was an identical-looking StarTAC. The MB phone comes with a star logo on it (big deal!!) which allows you to set it down on a meeting table so everyone knows what kind of car you have - lol. I was unable to get my regular StarTAC to work in the car. It only works with the MB Phone. Good luck.

bargamon · June 2001

I thought I checked online with tirerack and f1's were $155 each.

are you looking at all season ultra high performane? or not a concern?

FYI: Drove 250 miles on highway over weekend. Mpg was 24.5 with A/C cranked, driving 75-80.

FOr last 3000 miles, in mixed use, MPG is 21.

blehrlich · June 2001

I have an S class and use 18" Pilot Sports. They are exceptionally good in the rain (we had a deluge yesterday). I can't imagine that the performance on the S class would be that different from that on the E class.

kcsupratt · June 2001

Here is a link of picutres of my car and my GPS system.

I will post more pictures when I get my car lowered this Wednesday.

http://gallery.mbnz.org/gallery/

Look under KC.

Thanks

cmayer · June 2001

I own a '98 with about 35,000 miles. I bought it used in '99 when that years production was essentially sold. I had driven an '81 240D since new for almost 250,000 miles.

It's a great car. I feel fortunate to have it. I've had no problems so far (knock on wood,) although I recently needed to replace the front brakes. Mostly city/suburban stop and go driving - I get 25+ mpg.

44264 · June 2001

Thanks for the link KC, how do you like your system? Looks pretty cool and I have a few questions if you don't mind:

1. How much did it cost you, parts and labor?
2. Is it DVD or CD based?
3. Is it hooked up to the stereo at all? If not, do you get voice directions?
4. How do you like it in general??

Thanks for your comments in advance..

vs4 · June 2001

I have a new E430 with only 400 miles on it. And I just found out two paint chips on the passenger side roof about 8 inches from the windshield and one paint chip on the hood. All 3 paint chips are about 1/2 to 1 cm each. Is there anything I can do to cover these paint chips myself or I am better off taking it to the paint shop for a touchup?

Secondly I have noticed that when I shift gear(take it out of "P") it makes a loud noise. Is this normal for a new car with only 400 miles on it?

Thanks for the help.

hjborn · June 2001

Does anyone recall how to reset the rear window so that it stays up? About six months or so ago, I had the right rear window go up to the top, then descend about an inch and stop. I took it to the dealership and they said it was due to some "anti-pinch device" being too sensitive, and they reset it for me. Had it happen again yesterday, and would like to know how to fix it myself. It's not too inconvenient for me to take it back, but I'm afraid it will happen sometime on the road. I seem to remember a discussion about this a few months ago.

bigrobnh · June 2001

A couple of questions.
1) I just got the Timeport from MB installed. As a former StarTac user I see no real difference and I feel that the StarTac is a fine phone. I do not like the color display as it is unreadable in daylight. Landinggear says that this phone is inferior to the V-60xx phones. Going to the Motorolla web site and doing the comparison I see no difference in features. Is the difference in signal strength or something? Even talk time looks the same. In fact, the Verizon national plan I'm on requires a tri-mode phone...not available in V-60xx, but the Timeport works fine.
2) I'm playing with the phone book controls from the steering wheel. That goes alphabetically through it but only shows the first of the A's, B's etc. I can't see how to step through ALL of them from the wheel. I did find that the up/down arrow on the stereo head unit lets me go through the letter I've selected with the wheel (or the right/left arrow buttons).

Thanks,
BigRob.

kcsupratt · June 2001

I paid about $3200. I got a good deal. I think most places would charge close to $4000. The GPS is DVD based and covers all of the US.
The GPS is not hooked to the stereo. It has it's own speaker and it does talk !!

I love the GPS except the map needs to be update. I think the new update is coming out in a few months. The current one is from 1998. That is my only gripe so far.

I hope this helps.

cce182 · June 2001

for hjborn.

This window behavior is one of the many poltergeists that have and continue to afflict my car. Usually, I do not have the window problem unless I have used the "gang-open" and "gang-close" functions of the remote, invoked by holding the lock or unlock buttons on the key to open/close all of the windows and roof. This was my first call to 1-800-FOR-MERC since my experimentation with this was in my garage while it was raining outside. TeleAid would be glad to help you, too. Here's what works for me. Get in the car, key on, then raise the offending window using the first-click of the window button (not the second, express-up click). When the window rises to the closed position, continue to hold the button at this first click position for 5 seconds or so. The window should then stay up. I think this technique also works for calibrating other motors in the car, e.g. seat controls, mirrors, etc.

On an unrelated subject, I'd be interested in hearing from other E-class owners with COMAND who would like to trade out-of-date Roadmap Navtech CD's. I have Map 7, would be interested in 6 and/or 8.

jures · June 2001

I am ready to go to 17" tires on my 00 E320 4matic, i have read many posts regarding the yokohoma avs db tires and i would like to get them, but i live in the phila. area, and would like to run these all year, can someone give me an idea how they will perform in the snow ? thank you roger

macbest · June 2001

What is a good price to expect from the dealer for a CD changer on a new E class? Unit and installation, what have others paid?

bigrobnh · June 2001

I answered my own question on the ride home last night. Yes, these hands free phones are much safer :-).

If the multifunction display is in Audio mode and you press phone on the head unit, you, indeed, only get to step thru the alphabet w/the steering wheel control. Not only that but the multifunction display doesn't display anything.

If, however, you put the display in Tele mode (a mode that I didn't know existed since I just added the phone), the controls take you through the whole phone book AND display in the multifunction display.

Later,
BigRob.

bargamon · June 2001

KCSUPRATT: Nice pics, Can you close the wood door to hide the Alpine unit!

Do you need to move the gear shift back for the screen to move out?? Nice Job!

VS4: When you remove from park, are you waiting for the engine to lower the rpms?? It is to quickly heat up the coverter, and takes only about 15 seconds.

tomsky · June 2001

I paid about $850 for mine, installed. The dealer wouldn't budge on the price.

Jack

vs4 · June 2001

bargamon - Thanks for answering the question. Yes I do wait for about a minute before I will take it out of the "P". All the other gears shift normally except taking out of "P".

drew_ · June 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

jamesr88 · June 2001

I received a 4/50000 extended warranty on my 00430 from lisa lehrbaum at courtesy motors for 1780.

drew_ · June 2001

Topic: Those Little Annoyances - what really bugs you?

vs4 · June 2001

Anybody know where I can buy a matching wooden leather shift knob with Mercedes star logo for my 2001 E430. I know Mercedes sells a matching wooden shift knob with logo on it but it comes with the steering wheel and that costs about $800. I am only looking for a shift knob, I do not like wooden steering wheel.

Thanks for pointing me to the right source.

bargamon · June 2001

I got one with wood and polished alum. Good price and looks and feels great. It has the star on top. I get all kinds of compliments and requests for buying info.

http://airpressusa.com/car-accessories/index.html

Good luck!

bargamon · June 2001

bargamon · June 2001

you can find that model under "all models"

They also have a nice leather and wood design also if you must.

broon · June 2001

just paid $750 incl. tax and install to put one on our new SLK320. dealer quoted 900 but went to 750 pretty easily.

vs4 · June 2001

Thanks bargamon

tgif888 · June 2001

Need some insight. Carsdirect.com is selling the E320 at $1300 below invoice and $1700 below invoice. Anyone knows why? Is that a new model coming out?

Thanks.

tgif888 · June 2001

I mean $1700 below invocie for E430.

raybear · June 2001

Is added to the mix, this helps drive the price down. There is a new model coming out, yes.

I've seen them for $2000 below invoice from dealers in SoCal.

kcsupratt · June 2001

The place where i installed the GPS got it so i can close the door so no one can tell if I have a GPS. And i do not have to move the shifter in order for the display to come out. I have about 3/4" clearance. Just made it

The screen swivels also but since i have the door it barely moves left and right. If i removed the door it would rotate more.

I hope that helps.

livetodrive · June 2001

My 2001 E430 came with a Timeport phone that has a monochrome display. Does anyone have a color display on theirs?

kenyee · June 2001

The 2001 timeport should be the 4 color one. Go kick your dealer and ask them why you got the monochrome one; I didn't even know it would work.

varig · June 2001

For those of you that have recently purchased (not leased) a 2001 E320, did MB sell the car below MSRP? If so, what would be reasonable amount I could expect. A few postings back mentioned some dealers selling below invoice. I assume that is for their current inventory. If I order from the factory can I expect to pay MSRP?

I recently read an article featuring the new body style in R&T. It is set to debut in Europe Spring 2002 and in North America Fall 2002. Mentioned that interior will be upgraded along with braking system. The photo of the car was terrific, but then I am also concerned about buying a car in its first production year. My logic is that MB has had years to work out the bugs in the current model. What do you think? Thanks for input on pricing too.

44264 · June 2001

The CDMA phones have the color display, the TDMA have the regular monochrome. Whether you get the TDMA or CDMA depends on your cellular carrier.

bargamon · June 2001

I think in this market, 5-7% off msrp is not to way out on '01. You will have to get what they have in stock to achieve that, and possibly an off color..

You answered your own questions. THis current model is right as rain. New model will be terrific, but perhaps at a higher cost. Current model is debugged, and thats worth something. First on block premium could exist as many love to get cars early. If so, new model is still some time before its introduced and pricing reasonable. I would pay msrp if I knew buggs worked out. That will take time, so in reality (mine at least) that car is 2+ years away. In the mean time, Im loving my 430!

jawanda · June 2001

Well, I just took delivery on a 2001 E320 4matic wagon yesterday, and I paid approx. $300 below invoice. From what I have heard, some are priced even lower. I made an offer, and they accepted, but you will definitely be limited to stock on hand. Dealers are receiving $2000 on top of the holdback for cars delivered by end of June. The dealer said they expect '02 models during July.

I sold my 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser(a great vehicle, IMHO) to get the wagon. I planned on posting my thoughts on the two later. They cost nearly the same(new, that is).

-AJ

macbest · June 2001

Jawanda: I've ordered an 02 (built early June) and still can't get a firm date on when they will release the 02's, July, August, September. You indicated that your dealer said July. Have any others heard this time frame? Usually, they want to get rid of most if not all of the 01's. And July is way early for when they release typically waiting until September. Any one else heard anything on this?

jures · June 2001

will someone with a e430 4matic please let me know if it came from the factory with 17" wheels and 235 45 17 tires? i have been advised not to take my e320 4matic to 17" wheels. thanks roger

jawanda · June 2001

I agree it sounds early as well, but it does explain the discounting on the 2001's. I had to call quite a few dealers to find a wagon equipped as I wanted. A couple of dealers had none, and the rest had only one or two, and they all said they were getting no more 2001 E-class. I can't imagine they want to go too long without cars to sell, as not everyone can wait for unspecified delivery times. It seems E's are going for quite a bit less than what I paid, I settled on the price approx. 10 days ago, and they are cheaper every day.
That said, you never know...

As for wheels, can I put the 17" wheels and tires on the 320 wagon without any problems/modifications? It seems the sport package on the sedan doesn't involve any difference in the suspension with the bigger wheels, though I'm not sure.

-AJ

kkops · June 2001

dcman2,

Try the following site for leather problems. This stuff works great!

http://www.leatherique.com/

sfmartin · June 2001

My '02 E55 was scheduled to be built during the middle 10 days of June. Dealer says delivery should be during the last 10 days of July.

sshowitt · June 2001

I am looking to replace the std Continental Tires on a 99 E300, anyone have any suggestions, thanks

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedans

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles

Your Privacy