I also had a 97 E420, it was my daily driver for 7 years. I sold it with 240,000 miles on the odometer, still running great. I bought a 2003 E500 to replace it, and love it even more than the W210. I used to live in Madison too! I had a second set of winter wheels with Blizzaks for the E420, it was a great car for WI winters.
Yes, the 32-valve V8 from the 420 is an engineering masterpiece, although the 24-valve V8 in the W211 does have more power. The W210 E420 has 275 HP/295 TQ, whereas the W211 E500 has 302 HP/339 TQ. You can really feel the extra power, 0-60 takes 5.8 seconds, almost a second quicker than the E420 at 6.7. The power is much more immediate, and the car pulls very hard at any speed. The new 24-valve V8 is not as smooth as the 32V motor in the E420, you can hear more valvetrain noise as well.
Even though the W211 is a bit bigger, and is a more technically complex car, it is only about 50 pounds heavier than the W210 due to extensive use of aluminum; the front fenders, hood, and trunk lid are all aluminum.
The W211 handles noticeably better than the 210, the airmatic suspension system gives the car a super-smooth ride, but tightens up instantly if you pitch it into a corner hard. You can select three different suspension modes, comfort, sport I, and sport II. In comfort, the car glides along in pure silence. In sport II, the car is extremely firm and you can feel every expansion joint in the road, but cornering is impressive.
The interior in the 211 is more comfortable, and the instrument cluster and dash controls are laid out well. The interior looks and feels luxurious compared to the 210. Ambient lighting is really nice. The trunk is huge, with 15.9 cubic feet of space. There is a folding rear-seat option, to expand hauling capacity even more. Other neat options include distronic cruise control, glass panoramic roof, heated/ventilated seats, drive dynamic seats, park distance control.
Problem points in the W211 include the airmatic suspension; airmatic struts can fail, air lines can leak, causing the compressor to run excessively and burn out. Arnott Industries does make aftermarket struts and offers discount OEM compressors for less than half of what the dealer charges. Ball joints and motor mounts are also common wear items on the 211.
Overall, the 211 has more power, handles better, is more comfortable, and has more room. I still love the W210 though, my E420 gave me almost a quarter-million miles of trouble-free ownership.

 

w211 in my opinion

 

W211 E500 4Matic and towing??

Thanks for your reply. It is very informative. The 211 definately looks sleeker in design, and since I am in sales, I think it really impresses. What about the 4matic, are there any problems with that option??

What are your thoughts on my towing need?? Would I damage the all wheel drive by towing?? My old e420 is just rear wheel drive and it has not hiccuped yet after towing periodically for the last 70,000 miles. As I venture out in the next 12 mos and start looking for a W211, what should I look for?? I will probably look for one with about 100,000 miles on it. Is that a good strategy??

 

I had a 2000 E220cdit (210) and i loved that car, but because the rust problem i sold it after one and a half years, and bought a s211 and i must say that is two different technologies in those cars.
So i prefere the 211

 

imho, the older Mercedes are much better built and have higher reliability. I've had (and still own) several older Porsches (930, 964, 993) and they are bulletproof in respect to the later 996/997s.

But that said, the creature comforts and the tech advances of newer cars are certainly very nice to have. It's a trade-off.

If you shop for a W211, I'd look for the newest one you can afford and a CPO'd car with an extended warranty through a dealer. Repair costs can be more on a W211. They have a lot of electronics that can be problematic (and expensive to diagnose and fix.)

 

I currently have a W211 having recently sold the W210.
It may be heresy but I liked the W210 better. The cabin felt roomier, the cup holder was an engineering joke but at least it left me with the 2 level glove compartment that was very handy. It had a charcoal filter option in the A/C system and the mirror and door controls seemed more rational and the windows were on the console which I liked.
The climate controls seemed more extensive and flexible too with a display window.
The W211 compartments under the seat are near useless.
Performance is different because the W211 is a CDI but in all cases the performance exceeded my needs and expectations so the differences seemed small.

 

I think W211 suffers from suspension problems. You can hear people complaining about noises. Ball joints and bushing wearing out are common. I myself have to replace the subframe mounts at only 79000km.

 

The W210 is the last of the "old time" E-class, with orange instru dials, rocker switches everywhere, etc.

Far and away better are the facelift W210, i.e. models 2000 on and far and away better are those with the newer engines, i.e. M112 and M113.

That said, the W211 is way better everywhere expect perhaps overall size (it's smaller), although the first couple years versions could be dicey. For the W211 the "facelift" wasn't so great, as it seems it was decontenting more than anything. To me, the "sweet spot" for W211 may be 2006, i.e. when the new engines (M272 and M273) became available (along with the 7-speed), although some of the earliest of those engines can self-destruct a bit. For diesels, you definitely want the V6 and that means a 2007-on facelift model.

These days, electronics seems to significantly define these cars, and the most modern versions started in 2005 for phone and perhaps 2009 for the latest/greatest COMAND entertainment functionality. W210 are hopelessly obsolete in this regard.

 

Depending on your time-frame I would confidently recommend that you look at grabbing an 09. I'm not saying that the previous years are bad, however there were supposedly some improvements made to the engineering of the cars after 07 especially regarding the airmatic. The E550 has, if memory serves, around 380 hp and 390 pounds of torque. The acceleration and ride are fantastic. Additionally the 09 has the new command system used in the w212s. We didn't get the little nob but the software is the same. Bluetooth is standard now, in addition to voice-command. The new command unit also has a Hard Drive for music a 6 disk DVD player which will supposedly play movies while in park, but who cares, I loaded it up with DVDs filled with MP3s and finally there's an SD card reader for music. I find the interface to be far more user friendly than the older command unit in several respects. I haven't driven a w210 in nearly 10 years now so I can't really remember how my car handles compared to the E430 I drove, but I'm confident in saying that you'll be happy with a w211. My understanding is that the car is rated to tow over 5k pounds. I can't speak for the 4matic very much, with the exception that I found the shifting of the 5 speed to be a little rough when I test drove one. I personally have the 7 speed RWD version. If you're worried about looks, that's really a personal thing, I'm always impressed when I see a well kept w210 on the road. IE paint is in good condition and the headlights are not dull, etc.

 

^^^^

The 2009 W211 also gets on extra thing that the W212 doesn't have: we can input info into the nav while driving. They disabled that with the W212. I'm not necessarily condoning playing with the nav while you're driving, but it's nice to be able to let the passenger be your co-pilot sometimes

 

I have 105,000 on my 1998 W210 E320. It has been a great car, and I love the styling. The round headlights and front fender swells are styling nods to the old ponton Benzes of the 1950's. The W211 is clearly evolutionary, but I think the W210 is a purer form. I test drove a few brand new W211's and did not like the 7 speed tranny. Too much searching for gears and lag time for the kick in when I floored it and wanted to hit passing gear.
Personally, I think I will leapfrog the 211 and go straight to the W212. I like its styling even less, but it is clearly superior in the interior and creature comforts.

 

I too thought that the e320 211 had a hard time getting going, especially after driving an e500 wagon. I'm not sure I gave the 320 enough of a chance, and have been shopping for a 211 350 or 500. I don't know 210s, but it seems there are a lot of technology / convenience advances in the 211 models. I like the sloped wagon roof on the 211 too. The 210 bubble-back seems so much less aggressive.