Sun Jan 10, 2010 From: Steve Morelen This is from mercedeslist.com (old R-E list). The author is Jim Mahaffey. He is well qualified in speaking of MBs (electronics in particular, I believe). If memory serves, he was one of the technical speakers when the MBCA annual technical meeting convened in my neighborhood a few years ago. I like his closing comment about being able to fix anything for 2K. :-) *********************** --Forwarded Message Attachment-- To: mercedesmercedeslist.com Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:29:24 -0500 Subject: Re: [MB] '97 E300 diesel quality Steve, The '97 E300 diesel is a solid machine, and it will give dependable transportation for hundreds of thousands of miles with minimal maintenance. Limitations of the previous generation of diesel engines, the extremely successful OM617s, were all addressed in the fresh design of the 6-cylinder, non-turbocharged engine. It has 4 valves per cylinder, 12 intake ports, and a tunable "organ-pipe" air-induction system. This is the last example of mechanical diesel injection that will be made by M-B. The W210 body is highly advanced over the previous generation, with notable improvements in maintenance procedures and diagnostics. BUT: 1) The wiring harness is extremely complex, fragile, poorly designed, and expensive to replace. Honestly, this car has the worst example of automobile wiring I have ever seen, and that includes a lot of British wiring. 2) The glow-plugs and the associated aluminum head were designed with the assumption that the glow-plugs would never need to be replaced. The glow-plugs burn out often. Replacement of glow-plugs will challenge the very basis of your knowledge, skills, patience, mental stability, and religious beliefs. 3) The management of fuel before it enters the fuel injection pump is astonishingly poor. Short lengths of plastic piping with delicate couplings and half-hearted O-ring seals seem to have replaced steel pipes in earlier engines. This system can't withstand a small change in fuel chemistry, aging, cold, heat, or vibration. 4) The efficiency of the A/C condenser is improved greatly in a new, flat-tube design, giving maximum surface area in a compacted space. It will fail. 5) In my neighborhood, diesel fuel is now more expensive than premium gasoline. Spark-ignition car designs have now eliminated the carburetor and the distributor, they will run for hundreds of thousands of miles, and spark-plugs last a lot longer than glow-plugs. Why do I want a diesel? Just bear in mind, nothing will happen to this car that $2K can't fix. Jim ************************************************* Sun Jan 10, 2010 From: Mike Frank The motor is probably a gem. But everything else about the W210's was awful. Here's a list of the stuff that's gone wrong for me on my '99 E320T gasser: - Sensor failures: crank position, oxygen, air mass - Catalytic converter failures, Mercedes weaseled out of the warranty. Insult to injury: the manifold nuts were so rusted up, the manifold needed threaded inserts. I had to have the dealer do these, because they have some magic trick for installing them without lifting the motor. - Wiring harness: front fog light harnesses tend to rot out. A friend of mine had his dashborad harness spontaneously combust - Rear differential failed (4 matic). - Radio sucks. This is partly due to poor speaker placement, partly due to the electronic antenna - Rapid brake wear - Rapid tire wear - Rust, even for the salty northeast, a lot of rust - Cloudy headlight lenses, apparently chronic with this model - Mysterious freon leak. It will be fine for a long time, then it will all be gone without a trace - Alternator - Weird transmission hunting, fixed by a software upgrade (does software break?) - Broken wheel bolts. If you get this car, switch to the older 124 wheel bolts. Immediately. Not as pretty, but I've had to drill out 8 of 20 of the originals. - "Bulb failure" indicator on most of the time. - If the former owner has used anything but synthetic, or has played with extending the oil changes after the change oil indication is lit, the engine may be sludged up. There was a successful class action suit against Mercedes because for a few years, they forgot to mention that the car required synthetic. - I've had a tie rod failure or two, but this actually seems better than the earlier cars. - Window regulator failure is chronic with this model - Automatic climate controls are wonky. Don't ask for a better explanation, it would take too long. Make sure you replace the cabin filters regularly - Starter failure. Replacing the starter was something only the dealer would attempt - Diagnostic software is VERY expensive. I'd have to spend more on the software than I spend to keep the 124 on the road for a year. I've never had an engine problem, so it may be that this list would compare well with an E300D. Remember that I've owned this from new. Not abused, it's barely used. It's a beautiful car. It's a pleasant drive, if not as crisp as the older cars. But it's been a heartbreaker. Mike Frank