E240 Avantgarde - ownership advice please

[jayb]

Hi, I'm thinking of buying an E240 Avantgarde (2000 model) any general advice or comments regarding ownership (mpg / performance etc.) A friend of mine has owned a few Mercedes and believes the 2.4 V6 engine is a little underpowered for the E class.... but I'm not sure I'd subscribe to that one!! Any comments would be appreciated

 

[jberks]

well, its no rocket. Underpowered is a bit strrong, but not too far from the truth - it won't light up the tarmac. Depends on what you want. It's a great long distance cruiser and will sit happily all day at 100+ and the engine is silky smooth so it makes a great limo but if you want to challenge people off the line, go for the 320 which has almost identicial economy but better performance.
MPG wise, I once saw 36 but that was exceptional. 31-35 on the motorway, 26 extra urban and anything from 13 up round town (only saw that once fortunately!) 20-22 ish is normal in traffic.

As with all Es of that era, the crucial thing to watch out for is rust. Lots of posts on the subject so I won't ramble on here, and if affected, MB may well sort it FOC but do your research before looking.
Aside from that, service history is king as always. Gearbox oil is often neglected so budget for that and if the clock and temp displays have pixelated (they probably will have), it's a £100-£150 fix.