I purchased a 1998 E300 TD just over a year ago with 50,000 miles on it. I'am almost to 80,000 miles now, mostly highway, and am having lots of "little" but costly problems with it. Bulbs burn out constantly, a major electrical component in the engine compartment that affects the timing and the cruise control needed replacing, the seat will occassionally get stuck, bulbs in the dash have gone out making the time and mileage display go fairly dark, the light in the back interior that goes on when you open the door works differently from day to day and sometimes will work backwards, sometimes there is a delay before lights in certain parts come on when getting in the car. Whew. Not to mention a seal getting leaky for the rear differential and a few other things.
Doea anybody have more knowledge about what the situation is with this year E300 diesel? It's an amazing car but just doesn't seem to be reliable. Are these just typical burnout times for some of these components (like we have to replace tires every 60-80,000 miles) or is this symptomatic of a larger problem. I was under the impression that Mercedes were very reliable until about 2001 but am seriously questioning what year the quality started to go down.

I would really appreciate some insight, experience and knowledge, as I have to decide whether or not to sell this beautiful car before my extended warranty runs out. Thank you!