I just picked up my first Mercedes - a 2001 Desert Silver E320 4Matic Wagon with 95K. It's in pretty good condition - few dings, but nothing visible mechanical. It drives as if there is nothing wrong with it, tracking straight, braking smoothly and straight, etc.
Sadly, because the owner was being reassigned overseas and had a deadline, I didn't have time to bring it to someone for a thorough inspection, but from all your posts I feel I was able to give it a good solid self-inspection (I've been lurking here for about six months as I decided this was my next car).
The car appears to have been dealer serviced by the first owner (0 - 85K miles), but the record book stops sometime after 50K. I don't think the 2nd owner did much in the 10K he had it, and I am the third owner. By the way, I paid $8K for the car.
What stands out is that none of the known hot issues are apparant. No rust, battery compartment is clean (except for 2" of kid snacks; pretzels, goldfish, cookies, crackers), underside clean, engine compartment clean but not washed clean, no visible leaks, etc., A/C works properly, no warnings in the FSS, etc. Everything seems to work as it should with nothing missing (except the darn cup holder cover won't stay closed!). Probably (hopefully), the only major thing was the CD-changer has been jimmied open, likely to remove a stuck cartridge. The radio still tries to read it with a "No Cartridge" error. Not a big deal for me.
Anyway, all the pixels in the dashboard are working. What isn't working is the lighting for the clock/gear indicator. When the headlights are on, it seems there is partial light on it. When the headlights are off, it's dark.
I haven't pulled the cluster out yet, so is this two bulbs, one bulb? Should the clock/gear indicator be somewhat illuminated if the headlights are off?
I guess I am looking for more of an understanding of what ot expect when I start tearing apart my car!
Yes, it should be illuminated. There are tons of bulbs behing the cluster, I recommend replacing all of them at once to prevent from pulling it multiple times (it's easy tho.)
Hey, support guy, welcome to the forum and "the club". Sounds like you got a sweet ride.
As Trey says there are lots of bulbs there, pretty much one (or two) for each thing and then a couple for background lighting. There are three or four different wattages which ties to the base color (they are T-509 base I think?) and you can buy those only at auto specialty shops, the dealer or on line. I got mine at autohausaz.com. (The background bulbs are wedge style you can find anywhere, but I think there are only two of them.) The T-base ones screw in 90 or 180 degrees, easiest way to R&R them is with a nut driver.
I'm in agreement with Trey that the fewer times you yank the cluster, the better. Pull it once to get a bulb count and then order all of them at once, then change them all at once. Test them when you get them out and maybe keep some of the good ones for spares. When I tested mine there were others burned out that I didn't realize, after changing them all the cluster lighting was much improved.
Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg
__________________ If the only prayer you say in your life is thank you, that would suffice. Meister Eckhart
When you learn from your own mistakes, that's experience.
When you learn from the mistakes of others, that's wisdom.
When you fail to learn from any mistakes, that's government.
I don't think the 2nd owner did much in the 10K he had it
He probably didn't do much to it in 10k miles... since the service intervals are every 10k-12k miles or 12 months... I really don't do anything to mine between services, other than odds and ends that may pop up... but nothing for the record book... I keep track of those separately.
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2000 C230K -- Travertine Beige Metallic
2002 ML320 -- Alabaster White
2002 ML320 -- Brilliant Silver - Dad's
1991 300CE -- Blue Black Metallic -- 129,000 miles -- Sold
1981 300SD -- Classic White -- 190,000 miles -- Sold
1977 240D -- Over 300k miles (Wrecked) -- My 1st car
Vehicle: 2001 E320 - Brilliant Silver/Ash: MBCA member
Location: The Mountain State
Posts: 6,381
Quote:
Originally Posted by PCSupportGuy
...The car appears to have been dealer serviced by the first owner (0 - 85K miles), but the record book stops sometime after 50K...
In my experience, the dealer won't stamp and fill out the service booklet unless you hand it to them ask them to. If dealer serviced between 50K and 85K you might be able to get a printout of the VMI (vehicle master inquiry) from some dealer. I would ask the one that filled out the 0K to 50K sections.
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Ich liebe meinen Mercedes-Benz!
Sounds like you got a sweet ride.
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