Hi everybody, I have decided to buy a MB and would like to get either a 2005 or 2006 E320 CDI. After some research, It seems they are very similar. I live in California so they are rare so I am basing this by looking at pictures, etc. What I have noticed is the there is a BIG price difference between a 2005 and 2006. It seems that cars with similar equipment, options, and mileage are priced about $10,000 apart. Most 2005's are about $28,000 to about $32,000 and most 2006's are about $38,000 to $42,000. What am I missing? Are there any significant changes between the model years? Any help would be appreciated or any other tips in buying a CDI.
I am not a diesel owner, so I will defer to someone who really knows. But I bet that the new V6 turbodiesel engine came out in 06 replacing the inline 6 with the cast iron block. Do a little research and I am sure it will become clear.
X72 is correct. I just bought 2005 model, because it was so affordable, that I just couldn't resist.
Beware that Carfax is listing 2005 models as V6 when in fact they are I6. Even dealers don't know that and you will find lot of them listed on ebay as V6, when picture clearly shows I6.
V6 offers 9 extra HP and better tourqe, but with higer fuel consumption.
I brought mine to Bay Area from Chicago and love it. Look at my thread about "cluster readouts" in general section.
Good luck on your search and welcome to the forum.
No that's not it, the V6 Bluetec diesels weren't available until 2007. The 06 and 05 are very similar cars. I'm getting about a $5k difference on msn autos which would be a more acceptable difference in pricing. The only reason I can see spending 10 grand more would be that possible the 05 you're looking at is out of warranty and the 06 still is in warranty. (both cars came with a 4yr 50k mile warranty).
The '06 becomes even more expensive if you want to install Sirius because the front-to-back wiring was deleted for this model year.
Otherwise, there's no difference in the cars except that the '06 probably require fewer SBC brake updates. Doesn't matter as they're all free for 10 years.
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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '06 E320CDI
2007 introduced the V6 bluetec engine and was 45 state legal. 2008 introduced the 50 state legal cars which inject NH4 into the exhaust stream to clean up the particulates. I am no expert on CA regulations but I thought the 2007 cars could only be leased via a CARB waiver MB got from CA. As well those cars cannot be resold in CA once their leases expire. To register a used diesel MB in CA it must have more than 7500 miles on the odometer. As such it is not unimaginable they are rare in CA as you stated. The 2006 and prior cars are inline 6 engines, use Common Rail Injection, and don't have any of that fancy exhaust technology. So I'm betting the cars you do see in CA are cars that were brought into the state by purchasers or transplants. I.e, they weren't bought in CA off the lot. Another thing that makes these cars rare is people don't really tend to give them up. The engines in the diesel operate at a bit more than 10x the pressure of a conventional engine. As such they are built like tanks.
When I did my search (April to June of this year) I did notice a price increase for 2006 cars. I didn't see anything like you explain with a 10k difference. Most I saw were about 5k more. Those cars had less milage and usually carried some form of remainder warranty. You'll pay more for a car that has a transferrable extended warranty. Personally that didn't scare me. I ended up with a 2005 car that exactly matched what I wanted. Black, stone leather, nav, AMG rim kit, 40-45k miles, well maintained. At the time I looked there were like 5 around across the country. The range I saw was 28k to 35k. Mileage was anywhere from 28k to 117k. One thing that amazed me was the price of the high mileage cars wasn't much less than a car with lower miles. In some cases cars with 60k miles had asking prices well above what I paid for mine, or what my seller was asking, on a car with 46k mi. In the end go with one that has a well maintained history, service documents if the seller has them. If MB did the work then service records are available at any MB dealership when you take the car in for service. They'll know the history. I found mine for sale from a man who was a 25 year ASE certified master mechanic and owner of his own shop. My car was formerly his wife's car. They cherished this car and it shows. When I took the car in for my first oil change my shop told me the guy who owned this car really took care of it. Only the best parts were used and there isn't one thing on it that needs any immediate attention. My new shop told me, "we'll see you for oil changes and you'll want to replace your fuel filter next year." "They usually start leaking a little bit of oil around 200k miles but just keep going." So this has me on a new quest. How many miles can we put on this car before it dies. I've never kept a car longer than 2 years so this will be a challenge for both me and the car. My shop laughed and replied, "you'll probably die before that car does." I'm 32...we'll see who lasts longer!
2007 introduced the V6 bluetec engine and was 45 state legal. 2008 introduced the 50 state legal cars which inject NH4 into the exhaust stream to clean up the particulates. I am no expert on CA regulations but I thought the 2007 cars could only be leased via a CARB waiver MB got from CA. As well those cars cannot be resold in CA once their leases expire. To register a used diesel MB in CA it must have more than 7500 miles on the odometer. As such it is not unimaginable they are rare in CA as you stated. The 2006 and prior cars are inline 6 engines, use Common Rail Injection, and don't have any of that fancy exhaust technology. So I'm betting the cars you do see in CA are cars that were brought into the state by purchasers or transplants. I.e, they weren't bought in CA off the lot. Another thing that makes these cars rare is people don't really tend to give them up. The engines in the diesel operate at a bit more than 10x the pressure of a conventional engine. As such they are built like tanks.
When I did my search (April to June of this year) I did notice a price increase for 2006 cars. I didn't see anything like you explain with a 10k difference. Most I saw were about 5k more. Those cars had less milage and usually carried some form of remainder warranty. You'll pay more for a car that has a transferrable extended warranty. Personally that didn't scare me. I ended up with a 2005 car that exactly matched what I wanted. Black, stone leather, nav, AMG rim kit, 40-45k miles, well maintained. At the time I looked there were like 5 around across the country. The range I saw was 28k to 35k. Mileage was anywhere from 28k to 117k. One thing that amazed me was the price of the high mileage cars wasn't much less than a car with lower miles. In some cases cars with 60k miles had asking prices well above what I paid for mine, or what my seller was asking, on a car with 46k mi. In the end go with one that has a well maintained history, service documents if the seller has them. If MB did the work then service records are available at any MB dealership when you take the car in for service. They'll know the history. I found mine for sale from a man who was a 25 year ASE certified master mechanic and owner of his own shop. My car was formerly his wife's car. They cherished this car and it shows. When I took the car in for my first oil change my shop told me the guy who owned this car really took care of it. Only the best parts were used and there isn't one thing on it that needs any immediate attention. My new shop told me, "we'll see you for oil changes and you'll want to replace your fuel filter next year." "They usually start leaking a little bit of oil around 200k miles but just keep going." So this has me on a new quest. How many miles can we put on this car before it dies. I've never kept a car longer than 2 years so this will be a challenge for both me and the car. My shop laughed and replied, "you'll probably die before that car does." I'm 32...but you sure do see lots of old turbo diesel mercedes cars made in the late 70's.
In my neighborhood there is good number of MB build prior 1980 in pristine condition, still driven on daily bases. Few Porsche from 1960. but those convertibles go only on holidays.
Than we have annual parade of cars from 1930's and 40's.
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