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715 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  KarlBenzSF 
#1 ·
i'm looking at getting a W210 wagon in the near future..so figured i'd come over and see what they are all about. whats the best wagon model? common complaints/issues? anything to especially look for in maintenance records? any help you can provide will be beneficial. thanks in advance
 
#6 · (Edited)
I bought a 2001 E320 Wagon at the beginning of the year. At the time it had 139k miles. My wife and I really like the car. We have 3 dogs, so we put them in the back with the netting up and life is good.

I'm working on getting the car's demons exercised out of the car. Nothing serious, though. I hope all my issues and updated maintenance items will be resolved/competed within the next two months. I'm a newbie shade tree mechanic so that probably explains a lot. I must say most things are not hard to fix. With all the information, DIY stickies, and the gracious help from the members, this forum is invaluable.

Here are the problems I have encounted:
- Middle row folding seat would not go down. Fixed with help from several stickies.
- Radio not working. The issue was actually the amp needed replacing. Replaced head unit while I was at it. Wanted Bluetooth, Sat Radio, etc.
- Transmission would clunk and go into limp mode. Fixed that by flushing transmission fluid, replacing gasket/filter/etc. Also replaced the transmission wire plug. Had small amount of oil in there.
- Replaced transmission and motor mounts. Huge difference in riding experience!
- Replaced rear flex disk. Didn't do the front since previous owner had transmission replaced at 109k miles and it looked like they replaced the front disk.
- Replaced differential fluid. The old fluid was really dirty
- Replaced fuel filter, MAF sensor, air filter (still getting CEL light) - continue to work on that issue
- Currently have vacuum pump issue. Not sure what the source problem is.
- Car needed alignment. Had that done yesterday.
- Replaced tensioner pulley (original design. Apparently high failure rate. Replaced as proactive measure)
- There are several squeaks and semi-rough ride issues. I think that's because the car has 145k miles on it. That will be something I address later. Not high priority at this point. It still rides better than our 1 year old Toyota Highlander.
- The car didn't have much acceleration from dead stop. I reset the transmission adaptation. That fixed the problem.
- Rear roof mount antenna housing was broken. Replaced.
- Passenger sun visor/mirror light didn't work. Fixed that with super glue and small nail.
- The car only came with one key fob. Had to pay dealer $240 for a second key.
- The display console had broken ribbon cables causing the seven segment displays not to work. $115 fix.
- Cloudy headlamps. Plan to fix that with ClearView

From talking with the previous owner and the service records. Here are the issues/items they had fixed/replaced:
- Remanufactured Transmission replaced (105k miles)
- Breather hoses - right and left upper portion of valve covers that were leaking (116k miles)
- Fixed leaking valve cover (122k miles)
- Replace cylinder #4 ignition coil and cyl #4 #5 ignition wires (122k miles)

I purchased Carsoft, but you probably already have that or something better. It's great for erasing the codes and resetting adaptations.

The only real complaint I have is that there is no single jack point to lift the rear of the car. Apparently the only jack points are on the sides of the car located under the right/left lift points.

Good luck!
 
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