Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

Looking to buy '03 E500 or E320. Any issues?

2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Musikmann 
#1 ·
Hello fellas. I'm tradingin my 99 E320 for an 03 E500 or E320. Some people say go for it, some say don't. Does anyone here know why I shouldn't buy either? I really want the E500 but will settle for an 04 E320 if the quality is better. Thoughts?
 
#2 ·
E500 Everyday of the year. I have owned both. I currently have the E500 and I am blown away by it everytime I set foot into it. Every journey has a sense of occasion. It's not bad on fuel either. I travelled from Cheltenham to Great Miss this weekend at a steady 70 and returned over 30 mpg. Average 23mpg. Town is a miserable 17mpg.

I'm looking to sell my E500 because I need an Estate for I play in a band and will soon lose the access to my wifes MPV. I would talk to you about a sale however, I need an E500 Estate to replace it with. Email if you want details.
 
#3 ·
I have been told that the 1st year E500s had a lot of problems. Even a MB tech on here said the early W211s were junk compared to the newer ones (that post talked me out of a 2003 E500 and I had also been looking for one as my next upgrade). If I were you, I'd look newer than 2003 for an E500, but the 2003 E320 might not be as problematic.
 
#5 ·
johnmajor said:
I get all that. But I was thinking since those problems were way back in 03, 04 the previous owner would have all that stuff fixed under warranty by now. What do you guys think.
I'm not familiar with the E500 but I would generally agree with the above. If you just check that all the factory recall work has been done, I would not expect any more trouble from the 03-cars than later ones (I know some here claim the opposite).

Depends also where you live, the 210 has serious rust problems, partly that could be equally OK if the doors were all done etc. But I wonder how well the front spring supports can be fixed, and it had the leaks at the back... The W211 has some limited rust problems but hasn't been an issue for my car even if it does see a lot of salt.
 
#6 ·
I've got an '03 E500 with 73,000 on the clock. I've put about 25,000 on since I've owned it. I haven't had any major problems with it. I have had the Keyless go feature on my driver's door stop working (will lock, but not unlock), and my drivers side rear door likes to act up when it's cold outside (I still don't get it). I would think this would occur on a 500 or 320, so I would go with the better driving car, which is definitely the 500. Just my two cents.
 
#10 ·
MIL141 said:
Just an observation here. On nearly every forum I notice Musikmann airing the same issue with 2003 built cars. He is quoting the same statement over and over.

Musikmann - we get it ok - message received!

There must be something else you can contribute?
Hey don't be so hard, shouldn't you blame the person who keeps on asking even if the answers are already there?

I would not blame either one, people often have hard time searching the forums for info that already exists there and then the same answers tend to get repeated. Some don't bother searching at all but we are neither forced to help others if we feel they do not deserve our time.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Diesel Benz said:
Hey don't be so hard, shouldn't you blame the person who keeps on asking even if the answers are already there?

I would not blame either one, people often have hard time searching the forums for info that already exists there and then the same answers tend to get repeated. Some don't bother searching at all but we are neither forced to help others if we feel they do not deserve our time.
Thank you Diesel Benz.

To MIL141: I am not the only person making those statements. I have heard the same thing from a GM of a Mercedes dealer to a couple of technicians. I think the information is worth relaying to anyone looking at 2003 E500s.

I still like the way the W211s look, and I'd love to have the more HP/Torque that an E500 has. I'm just going to have to wait until I can afford a 2005. From what I hear, I'll definitely take a chance on one of those.

I must admit, I have never owned one of these so it's probably better that I not bash anything on the W211 forum. My apologies to all if I have made any statements that are blatantly false.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top