Can anyone share problems/experience/good suggestions with W210 4-matic wagons. I just bought one 2003 with xenons. I have a couple of month warranty left and I was wondering what should I be on a lookout for.
Has some lists of things to look for in late model w210s. Also, in wagons, make sure Self Leveling/Hydraulic Fluid Reservoir is filled to appropriate level. Wagons use quite a bit of this stuff. Also, may be prudent to replace the fluid in the reservoir and put in a new filter if hasn't been done in several miles. Filters are only $13.
Thank you for your reply. I did notice that the hydo fluid is a bit under the min level and the xenons do not seem to adjust properly. I get a lot of flashing from opposite going traffic. Is the replacement of hydro fluid a regular maintenance item? My car is still under the maintenance warranty, so I could ask the dealer to replace it (?). Is it difficult to do?
I love the wagon. It's a great utility vehicle and it drives like a real car.
You should be able to level the headlights yourself if they really are bad for other drivers. There are adjustment screws on the top of each headlight unit and I think the procedure is listed in the manual.
Changing Hydraulic fluid and filter is not under the maintenance warranty, unless something is broken. But it is very easy to do yourself, and cost is less than $30 if you buy parts from www.autohausaz.com. I think it's $8 for the Fabi/Bilstein (sp?) hydraulic fluid and $13 for MB Hydraulic filter. Fabi/Bilstein is perfectly ok to use instead of MB Hydraulic Fluid, which is @ $25 a quart, and is probably the same stuff. Several recommend it. The filter and fluid will pop up if you search under 2003 e320 wagon on their site. BE SURE that the fluid part number listed on the reservoir cap matches the fluid part number you are buying. Autohaus will list both official MB fluid and Febi for that number. I made the mistake of putting in MB Power Steering fluid in the reservoir and realized it at the last second and siphoned it out. It's totally different and meant for the sedans that use it for steering only.
It's debatable as far as being a regular maint. item. A few resident experts at mercedesshop.com think it should be done every few years. Some think it can wait 100k miles. For less than $30 to change, I don't mind doing it every few years. The self leveling suspension is costly to repair, so anything to lessen the chances of that item going bad. Here is a link to DIY instructions. Only tricky part is pushing down on top of filter spring to losen hook underneath, and then repeating to put back on:
Linear Mode
