thinking of buying a E class, What faults ?

[gh3382]

I am thinking of buying a E Class 350 petrol no older than 08 plate, not decided on saloon or estate .

Someone I know who worked in sales at a Merc dealer said be careful of 2 common faults.

Suspension springs that were inferior made with chinese cheap steel had been known to break and drop the car.

Also if away for more than 7 days leave the car on trickle charge as the battery is known to discharge .

any advice on these issues as I dont fancy or expect to have to watch for any of these problems on a quality car.

gh3382

 

[mikestrivens]

Springs have been an issue for all cars due to our rubbish roads and speed bumps. Battery shouldn't discharge in 7 days, but I do tend to keep mine on a CTEK charger as they are often not used for several weeks at a time especially over winter.

 

[st4]

Front coil springs snap
M272 engine balancer shaft issues (this probably will effect the cars you look at) - can write off an engine. Big mechanical issue. Be safe and buy an 320cdi, but they have issues too with engine bearings, turbo leaking oil damaging swirl flap mechanism, blocked manifolds. Buy a nice E220cdi, thats the reliable one.
7g valvebody failure (£1000 approx to fix)
Battery will be fine, I've left my old one three weeks and its fine.
Rust, my 2005 one rusted.
Blocked drain channels - if you let leaves fall on the car and around the windscreen they can eventually block them, easy DiY fix.
SBC brakes (pre facelift ones)

Actually nice cars and I had two of them and liked driving them.

 

[Remenham]

I've never had any battery issues. No spring problems either if you buy one with Airmatic, lovely wafty ride or hard as you prefer. Expensive if it goes wrong though I am told.

 

[Frontstep]

I don't go for this cheap Chinese steel nonsense,
The same rubbish was used as an excuse for rusting cars, one of the biggest oldest and most profitable car companies in the world can't test their component quality ?
Absolute tosh and if the line is an official MB one I hope the Chinese bounce them through their Courts.

 

[whitenemesis]

What "cheap Chinese steel nonsense"?? Who mention the Chinese?

 

[Frontstep]

I am thinking of buying a E Class 350 petrol no older than 08 plate, not decided on saloon or estate .

Someone I know who worked in sales at a Merc dealer said be careful of 2 common faults.

Suspension springs that were inferior made with chinese cheap steel had been known to break and drop the car.

Also if away for more than 7 days leave the car on trickle charge as the battery is known to discharge .

any advice on these issues as I dont fancy or expect to have to watch for any of these problems on a quality car.

gh3382

In bold

 

[whitenemesis]

Thank you.. I read that post 3 times and didn't register that comment.

Must get these specs checked out... :Oops:

 

[wheelie]

I've done 30,000 miles in a little over 17 months and had the following work done alongside the services.

Rear springs corroded at the bottom of the spring so had them replaced before they break.
Front bottom ball joints and upper control arm replaced.
"Y" section on the exhaust bracket will break due to corrosion, had a new fixing plate welded on for £30.

Apart from that its been an excellent car, I figured however that a car that's this heavy and has circa 70k on the clock now would need the odd bit of work doing.

Personally I don't thinks its bad.

Hope this helps chap, I also have most of the receipts so can give you an idea of cost from an Indie.

Pete