newbia - e320 avantgarde estate what to look for?

[mpimlott]

Hi

I am considering going for an E320 CDi on a '51 plate. Estate with 7 seats and quite a few extras from what I can gather. Question. I have seen a number of posts about things to look for. Can anyone give me any guidance on this?

the car is 122K miles. not sure about the service history.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don't fancy shelling 10K on a piece of junk. Also, at what point does the E320CdDi become high mileage an start to cost significant money?

 

[Johnny G Pipe]

I am competely inexperienced, and know nothing, but I think it is important to put in as well as receive, when at all possible!

My early impressions of searching for the very same car are that, FSH is vital (but, when isn't it?) - but FMBSH and Full independent-who-uses-OEM-parts history are probably similar in practice, if not in value.

Mileage with these cars from an engine point of view seems of relatively little importance. A motorway car may well be less worn than a school-run car with half the miles, of course. The 6 cyl diesel is apparently truck-tough.

I might be wrong, but there could even be an expensive phase after 60k miles, where teething troubles may emerge, like electrical gremlins and front suspension bushes (and rusty spring perches?), which then has all been sorted by 100k miles+.

Advice I have had off the forum is mainly about rust. I don't understand, for example, why MB didn't use front wheelarch liners. Instead you have salty damp mud sitting against your bare (stone-chipped) inner wings, just like the bad old days.

I just looked at a 55k miler 320 5 door, and it was pretty ratty, and I'm sure there are pristine 155k milers out there.

 

[television]

MB do use arch liners, but the fit is not that good, and allows mud to get trapped brtween the liner and the wing arch, if this is washed out and waxoiled they would not rust so bad. ON my V70R the liners are sealed

Malcolm