I had an independent dealer/shop tell me that the Mercedes antifreeze was a problem with head gasket leaks. He told me to replace ASAP the factory antifreeze for a domestic brand. Has anyone heard this before? While the E320's have had problems with head gaskets I have need heard that the factory antifreeze could be the problem.

 

depends on the year. 96 and newer have no problems with the 112 engines. if you have a straight 6 cylinder 95 and later E320 then yes they do have headgasket issues.

 

I am looking at a 1995. So is the factory coolant a problem and should it be replaced?

 

I never heard of such a thing . But yeah your 95 will have the inline 6 and they usually have headgasket leak at the back of the engine ....passenger side and the front lipseal..

 

Bad engine wire harness too.

 

I have not heard that either. I have a 91 300E and have replaced the head gasket for the oil leak in spot you mentioned. Need to do it again. Seems it only lasted about 50,000 miles.
Looking at a low mile 320 and planning that down the road the gasket and engine wiring harness will need replacing. Anything else that is problematic for the 95's?

 

a great car actually. some stupid stuff with vacuum and slight rough idle and hesitations from a stop but a great car and engine otherwise.

 

Thanks for your comments. At least this car is old enough that I can still do some of the maintenance and repairs. The newer cars are out of my league with all the electronics, etc. My BMW is a "do not touch me" vehicle.