211 Values in the tank

[Allgonquin]

Some of you may have seen this on peachparts. Tyler there is a dealer and flips a lot of cars. He just posted this list of recent wholesale auction prices for E500's of the 211 variety. Quite sobering! To me this is emblematic of a couple of things - the quality and reputation cars themselves, and the "fear" and complexity of expensive repairs.

Chris

[TABLE="class: tborder, width: 100%, align: center"][TR][TD="class: alt1, bgcolor: #F5F5FF"]These are all the 2003 E500 recent sales nationally.
Sale Day Location Seller type Price Miles Cond. Details
05/29/14 SO CAL Regular $4,400 100,515 Avg GRAY 8G
05/29/14 CHICAGO Regular $5,000 133,703 Avg BLACK
06/03/14 NASHVILL Regular $4,000 193,321 Avg ALB WHT
06/03/14 GEORGIA Lease $3,600 144,080 Avg SILVER
06/03/14 BALTWASH Lease $3,700 189,545 Avg GRAY 8G
06/04/14 MILWAUKE Regular $4,400 160,369 Avg WHITE
06/05/14 NYMETSKY Regular $6,700 79,361 Above BLACK
06/11/14 SF BAY Regular $4,700 134,975 Avg BLACK
06/11/14 SF BAY Regular $2,600 161,390 Below SILVE
06/11/14 NJ Regular $8,700 72,672 Above
06/11/14 CEN FLA Regular $3,600 202,783 Avg BLACK
06/13/14 PA Regular $7,300 88,204 Above
06/17/14 NYMETSKY Regular $4,600 185,110 Avg GRAY 8G
06/17/14 NYMETSKY Regular $4,400 94,690 Avg BLACK
06/17/14 HOUSTON Lease $7,600 42,943 Above SILVE
06/17/14 HOUSTON Lease $6,000 82,507 Above BLUE
06/17/14 ARENA IL Regular $4,200 173,278 Avg BLACK
06/18/14 FT MYERS Regular $6,500 112,773 Above
06/18/14 DALLAS Regular $5,100 114,603 Avg BLACK
06/18/14 CALIFORN Lease $4,200 125,920 Avg GRAY 8G
06/18/14 CALIFORN Regular $4,000 196,639 Avg WHITE
06/19/14 TX HOBBY Lease $2,800 112,749 Below GOLD
06/19/14 RIVRSIDE Regular $5,500 156,111 Avg GRAY 8G
06/19/14 PHOENIX Regular $5,600 120,297 Avg BLUE 8G
06/19/14 FRDKBURG Regular $5,400 167,679 Avg SILVER
06/19/14 ATLANTA Regular $3,900 167,799 Avg BLACK
06/25/14 SF BAY Regular $3,700 165,981 Avg SILVER
06/25/14 SF BAY Regular $2,200 192,471 Below BLACK
06/25/14 NJ Regular $5,600 118,784 Avg BLUE
06/25/14 ATLANTA Lease $5,500 121,971 Avg SILVER
06/26/14 NEVADA Lease $4,550 96,569 Avg GOLD 8G
06/26/14 CHICAGO Regular $4,900 122,003 Avg BLACK
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

 

[126v8]

How have the mighty fallen.Remember the values for the 123 and 124 held for a long time?Those days if you owned a one of them you would have paid some good many for a model in good condition.I sold cars in Ghana and we LOVE mercedes.It got such that sometimes we had to devise ways to bring the cars into the country 'surreptously'

 

[jhodg5ck]

IMHO, 211's are a hell of a deal right now. You get a LOT of car for the $$ and it leaves you some $$ to take care of what ever issues.

If they are maintained well I dare say they hold up as well or better then any other MB from that period of time!

jono

 

[036]

Gimme 5 500´s for 3 grant...damn...we have here 210 for this money...

 

[Trae]

How does the E500 compare to the E55 (W211s)?

 

[alabbasi]

Happens to all cars right? Looking at the miles on those cars I'm not surprised, the only people buying will be tote the note dealers.

 

[500AMM]

The 211 is good looking and a well balanced car to drive.

BUT - during the 2 years having the S211 as DD putting only 23.000km on it (now on 177' km), I've used more money in repairs than on both my 036s for 7 years + our previous DD for 6 years + an older DD I fixed prior to sell.

And I talk about repair cost only, excluding regular maintenance. Additionally comes all frustration from all the shit of endless non-working issues and partly stall. We're also forced to keep our previous DD which was ment to sell, as a back-up.

The 211 is nothing else than a HUGE moneypit - period!

 

[Klink]

The 211 is good looking and a well balanced car to drive.

BUT - during the 2 years having the S211 as DD putting only 23.000km on it (now on 177' km), I've used more money in repairs than on both my 036s for 7 years + our previous DD for 6 years + an older DD I fixed prior to sell.

And I talk about repair cost only, excluding regular maintenance. Additionally comes all frustration from all the shit of endless non-working issues and partly stall. We're also forced to keep our previous DD which was ment to sell, as a back-up.

The 211 is nothing else than a HUGE moneypit - period!

Obviously we don't get all the versions that you get in Europe so you may see many problems that we don't. The only significant expense issues we see here that are 211 specific are related of course to the air suspension and the odd occasional SBC hydraulic unit, and even then SBC hydraulic unit repairs are usually free to the original owner. Any kind of active or semi active suspension simply has to be considered an extremely expensive wear item, simply because that's precisely what it is. That bothers me conceptually a lot less that bothers a lot of people because I consider a sophisticated suspension system one of the primary things that justifies Mercedes-Benz's existence in the first place.

The dream DIY enthusiast MB's are the 210's, obviously and most especially the V8's. Fairly bulletproof, and with dirt cheap upkeep by MB standards, yet they are so cheap to buy there are almost free...

The weird thing is, it seems that most people would rather have $1000 a month car payment for five years then have no car payment and occasional $2000 repair bills. That has boggled my mind forever, then again I work at a car dealer so I should simply just rejoice in that reality...

 

[Jelmer]

The 211 is nothing else than a HUGE moneypit - period!

So far I disagree - my W211 E200 is an absolute pleasure to drive. With the 166000km on the clock EVERYTHING still feels like new. One repair was a steering wheel position thingie (which was indeed expensive) and the radiator due to old age. No rust, no codes, no squeeks.

 

[alabbasi]

The dream DIY enthusiast MB's are the 210's, obviously and most especially the V8's. Fairly bulletproof, and with dirt cheap upkeep by MB standards, yet they are so cheap to buy there are almost free...

Precisely why I opted for a W210 E55 vs the W211 E55 (even though I sometimes wish I bought a W211). Just regular old springs, shocks and fairly simple electronics that my scanner can read quite easily.

 

[500AMM]

Yes, I know the experience varies a lot with the 211, that is also a part of the frustration. While some has good experience, others has constantly failing cars. It also appears to be a difference in quality on pre-facelift and facelift models introduced in 2007. Additionally it is a lot of diesel driven cars in Europe, maybe the majority? And a major part of the problems is related to the emission cleaning system on diesel cars.

My S211 220Cdi had only 153.000 km when the particle filter start failing. However, the diagnoses couldn't tell exactly that it WAS the particle filter, but optional faults on parts related to the functionally of the emission cleaning system were suspect too. So besides the particle filter unit itself - several sensors has to checked - the EGR has to be checked - the exhaust system - the turbo charging - oil consumption - correct engine oil for particle filter equipped cars, and so on... Next is components more distant to the emission cleaning like the ECU - different temp.sensors - air flow meter - air filter etc...

On my car it was several partly failing functions at the same time; turbo boost control partly failing, air flow meter partly failing, one sensor maybe failing, particle filter failing? no idea...but ripped out, EGR failing? no idea..but replaced. This was confusing for the mechanic of course, so where shall a mechanic start on such a problem solving? And for the owner, when does the cost start adding up? Additionally I did a lot of the work myself, dismantling the turbocharger, particle filter delete..
http://mbentusiastklubb.no/smf/index.php?topic=63422.msg374416#msg374416

Then comes the bad parts quality generally on the 211;
- cracked piston leading to engine overhaul at 70' km, why?
- blown turbo hose, why?
- rain sensor goes nuts sometime
- the electric luggage cover works randomly
- the Webasto works randomly
- RH mirror heating not working
- the distance sensors front/rear are not waterproof
- the control unit for the Xenon are sensitive for water intrution
- the cabin fan are squeeking
- cables/mats to the cluster are burning
- airmatic sagging increases
- rear exhaust support/hanger broke off

All this is on a car with 153' km, never driven hard, cared for like baby and visually in mint condition.

 

[KarlC]

I have read its best to stay away from the 2003 -2004 years on these cars, just like most new model changes.

Go for the 2005 + years

 

[DRW]

The W210 is a terrific & bulletproof car. The W124 is better for me. Both is best

 

[Klink]

The W210 is a terrific & bulletproof car. The W124 is better for me. Both is best

That is the single best way I know of to solve the dilemma if one exists !

 

[Jelmer]

I doubt one can find a rust-free W210 here, though... ;-(

 

[vexed]

My wife had a 2007 E350 that we bought in 2010 and sold last November. It was a CPO and I bought 2 additional years of coverage which was a good investment. Just before we sold it the gas tank and related parts were replaced due to a persistent gas odor upon filling up. During the initial warranty the evaporator was replaced. The car only had about 50K miles when we sold it, I was frankly scared to own it out of warranty. Routine maintenance was DIY as were brakes etc. I liked the car, and I owned a W210 also. Personally I prefer the W211 but that's me-but only post facelift.

 

[samiam44]

Get him to post more information!!!

I'd love to know the diesel 2005-2006 prices wholesale. Also the AMG E500's 05-06.


Michael

 

[Ascension]

The 211 is good looking and a well balanced car to drive.

BUT - during the 2 years having the S211 as DD putting only 23.000km on it (now on 177' km), I've used more money in repairs than on both my 036s for 7 years + our previous DD for 6 years + an older DD I fixed prior to sell.

And I talk about repair cost only, excluding regular maintenance. Additionally comes all frustration from all the shit of endless non-working issues and partly stall. We're also forced to keep our previous DD which was ment to sell, as a back-up.

The 211 is nothing else than a HUGE moneypit - period!

Yep had a 210 in a 70K well maintained 02 E-320 I sold for my neighbor and lived with for a while. I was going to buy it for my wife but she hated driving the car. I then thought about picking it up but after living with it for a few days to get some minor issues addressed and it cleaned up found it just felt cheap and was very sloppily built. Frankly my old Volvo V-90 with a 110K more miles on it was just on another planet when you drove them back to back. Little things like trim pieces inside would come loose and little nagging stuff just had to constantly addressed. I found it just was NOT a well built car and almost turned me against MB altogether as it was my first real experience with one. I can see how the values of that entire line would be in the tank if my experience with that one was consistent with that series. Volvo went through the same thing after Ford bought them for a few years as those were during the Daimler Benz years. The 95 W-124 platform car I just bought in the E-420 on the other hand is another world in build quality.

 

[8899]

Yep had a 210 in a 70K well maintained 02 E-320 I sold for my neighbor and lived with for a while. I was going to buy it for my wife but she hated driving the car. I then thought about picking it up but after living with it for a few days to get some minor issues addressed and it cleaned up found it just felt cheap and was very sloppily built. Frankly my old Volvo V-90 with a 110K more miles on it was just on another planet when you drove them back to back. Little things like trim pieces inside would come loose and little nagging stuff just had to constantly addressed. I found it just was NOT a well built car and almost turned me against MB altogether as it was my first real experience with one. I can see how the values of that entire line would be in the tank if my experience with that one was consistent with that series. Volvo went through the same thing after Ford bought them for a few years as those were during the Daimler Benz years. The 95 W-124 platform car I just bought in the E-420 on the other hand is another world in build quality.

I've had my '03 W210 4matic wagon for three years now and am very happy with it. I find it to be exceptionally reliable, solidly built and mechanically sound. It had 70k miles on it when I bought it and now has 100k miles. Sure, it doesn't handle like my E500, but it really is a great DD when children are in the mix.

 

[gerryvz]

I think that by the 2001-2002 time period, the worst of the MB quality "troubles" had passed, and that the company was back in its way to recovery. The worst years seemed to be around 1997-2001 for all the cars. Remember the early ML models, circa 1998-1999? Oy ... bad karma !! Plus, a 2003 W210 wagon (produced a partial model year longer than the sedans) was the latest year of that chassis, so most of the bugs had been worked out.My two S124s (a black '95 and a white '95) did yeoman's duty for a good 10+ years hauling kids around and as family vehicles, all the while getting 20-23 MPG. Wouldn't have traded them for anything in terms of versatility and overall usefulness.Cheers,Gerry

 

[gsxr]

... Wouldn't have traded them for anything in terms of versatility and overall usefulness.

...until the G-class with M104 came down in price, that is.