It’s been a blast..

Gkinghorn

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Your Mercedes
E350 CDI Cabriolet - 2011
Well after just under 20 years of being a Mercedes man I no longer have one.

Tbh I’ve kind of fallen out of love with Mercedes over some of the silly things that have gone wrong with my cars over the years. Mostly involving water leaks on my cabriolet and SL’s.

The Aircap fault on my E class is just stupid and ridiculously expensive to fix when Merc know it’s a known issue with zero serviceable parts in an £800 part.

So I found myself scouring the web looking for anything but Mercedes for the past 6 months ... I think , and this is my own personal opinion , that I see none of the current Merc models styling that I like other than the SL - and I’m not going there again.

So yesterday I drove the E up to Bicester where I parted with it for a very nice Audi A5 2.0L TFSI sLine Quattro Black Edition Plus (stupidly long name for a car tbh) ..

I will leave my account here - you never know I may be back.

34037ecb7a8fc2fd601d073e262fe9d0.jpg




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sl500amgsport

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Essex
Your Mercedes
SL500 2014
Well after just under 20 years of being a Mercedes man I no longer have one.

Tbh I’ve kind of fallen out of love with Mercedes over some of the silly things that have gone wrong with my cars over the years. Mostly involving water leaks on my cabriolet and SL’s.

The Aircap fault on my E class is just stupid and ridiculously expensive to fix when Merc know it’s a known issue with zero serviceable parts in an £800 part.

So I found myself scouring the web looking for anything but Mercedes for the past 6 months ... I think , and this is my own personal opinion , that I see none of the current Merc models styling that I like other than the SL - and I’m not going there again.

So yesterday I drove the E up to Bicester where I parted with it for a very nice Audi A5 2.0L TFSI sLine Quattro Black Edition Plus (stupidly long name for a car tbh) ..

I will leave my account here - you never know I may be back.

34037ecb7a8fc2fd601d073e262fe9d0.jpg




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Sorry to hear your woes and your leaving, hope you have better luck!

If you change your mind and do decide to scratch the SL itch again the R231 has all the old woes sorted, no more leaks....

Mercedes SL500 R231
 

Frontstep

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Your Mercedes
T210 320cdi
Plenty of us have had our loyalty tested, still hearing about your new ride isn't a problem to me as most of us own or have access to other cars.
 
OP
Gkinghorn

Gkinghorn

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Your Mercedes
E350 CDI Cabriolet - 2011
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It’s an interesting comparison ..3l diesel powerhouse (the engine was a beast) to a 2l petrol all wheel drive ... flooring it doesn’t get the same jolt the E gave but it’s punchy enough ...

And yes I may be back in a Merc one day .,never say never ... SL was still the best car I ever owned albeit it drove me nuts at times ...




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Srdl

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Hampshire
Your Mercedes
GLC43 AMG 2018 (X253)
Hope you enjoy your new ride. My sister has gone the other way in the last year. After three or four Audi’s, she got so fed up with all the niggly problems that she bought a GLC.
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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Sorry to hear you’ve reluctantly thrown in the MB towel

I trod the same path as you 6 months ago and as MB didn’t have a petrol IL6 in production went with BMW (with no regrets I might add)

Good luck with VAG ironically what you’ve bought is probably the only car in their range I really like
 

LostKiwi

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Midlands / Charente-Maritime
Your Mercedes
'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
I see none of the current Merc models styling that I like other than the SL - and I’m not going there again.
Given I have your old SL (also ex Malcolm and others) I'm not feeling reassured by that comment!

Enjoy the new car Gary.
 

SH0X

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Jun 13, 2012
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Location
London UK
Your Mercedes
W204 C250D Coupe / Ex SL500 R230 - CLC V6 - Crossfire V6 - W203 C230k Coupe
lovely car there
Nice setup on the wheel design too

ALL cars have issues. Seems there is no perfect car. Just comes down to how lucky you are it seems.
If you love the car youll be able to look past some of the issues but also good to research where possible,,

cant always tell till a few years miles have passed. I thought the w204 / w212 etc were going to be smooth sailing but reading some of the threads has concerned me :|


Regarding the Audis:
Ive Heard bad things about the 2.0 oil consumption (guess thats the pre facelift engines though?) and heard window regulators on a5 are silly money as well as S tronic gearboxes playing up and pricey to fix. Scared the hell out of me ... but hopefully yours being a face lift (from what I can see) you should have skipped those issues!

Sweet motor
:)
 

LostKiwi

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'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi

Frontstep

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Your Mercedes
T210 320cdi
Yes I saw in the older ones the E-Class but its beaten by some pretty average cars so a bit like women do you want the one you fancy or the reliable one ?

Which probably explains why we are all here.
 

flowrider

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Jul 21, 2014
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Your Mercedes
SL500 (R230)
It’s an interesting comparison ..3l diesel powerhouse (the engine was a beast) to a 2l petrol all wheel drive ... flooring it doesn’t get the same jolt the E gave but it’s punchy enough ...

And yes I may be back in a Merc one day .,never say never ... SL was still the best car I ever owned albeit it drove me nuts at times ...




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Maybe the S5 would have suited you better, enjoy your new car and maybe think about a tune from the likes of APR.
 

Dean Fletcher

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Penrith, Cumbria
Your Mercedes
Mercedes E400
I came the other way I had an audi a4 2L TDI had it for 3 years all that went wrong was the alternator which got replaced for 100 nicka. Oh and when I bought the car I didn't realise it had over size tyres inc spacers and got pulled over by police and I had to change the lot. Anyhow........... I traded her in for a E coupe and I love the car but it will put me in a early grave and that's without driving it. Its cost me around £2000 in almost 3 years. I try to forget the cost but I know one day it might get the better of me and might look towards Audi again. Hopefully that day wont come anytime soon.
 

Dean Fletcher

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Mercedes E400
Yes I saw in the older ones the E-Class but its beaten by some pretty average cars so a bit like women do you want the one you fancy or the reliable one ?

Which probably explains why we are all here.
Some people have both!
 

PovertySpec

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16
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Hampshire
Your Mercedes
E220 CDi 07/57
Bugger off, turncoat! :)

Enjoy whatever you're able to ride for as long as you can G!
 

John Laidlaw

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Wirral
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Land Rover Discovery 4
Stick around, as you say you never know! Usually a change will refresh your view, enjoy the howdy meantime.....
 
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Gkinghorn

Gkinghorn

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E350 CDI Cabriolet - 2011
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Given I have your old SL (also ex Malcolm and others) I'm not feeling reassured by that comment!

Enjoy the new car Gary.
Whilst some of us have had mixed experiences with the SL .. it's still the best looking car ever imho... and i think your styling in particular is super... never say never .

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