So, I just bought my 1st Mercedes today 98' E320. I needed the extra cash and had to sell my Land Cruiser which sucked cause I loved it. Best SUV ever made in my opinion. So, after lurking around on websites and this forum I decided a well kept E320 was my best bet. Carfax shows the meticulous records on it always taken care of at the same dealership for it 200K mile life. New brakes and rotors a couple times, new belts a few times, and a new tranny at 120K by the dealership. This thing is cherry and I picked it up for $3600 and she was asking 4500. Anyways, thanks to this forum I felt better about 200K miles.

So, what kind of general maintenance should I be ready for? Can I get the oil changed anywhere or is it more complicated than my toyota? I saw a thing about disconnecting the battery but still needing power to the car so as not to loose some programing...?

One thing which I could care less about is the sunroof opens only a couple inches then stops...Have any of you had this problem. If its a big fix then I wont worry about it.

Headlights have the typical fading...Can I just clean them like on my wifes scion with one of those kits or should I buy new ones? If new what brand is the best?

Any help or direction from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the group. Nice buy. Treat her well and she will serve you well.
Okay...
Oil changes.... not recommended at Jiffy Lube etc.... Those animals will jack it up for sure. If you are not comfortable doing them yourself (plenty of detailed instructions available on this forum) find an independent MB auto mechanic that you trust. Synthetic oil on your year 320 is not mandatory. Your call. Find an oil and a maintenance schedule and stick to it. The FSS system which is the computer on your dash that tells you if your oil is due is NOT trustworthy. Find the instructions on this forum that tell you how to reset it to 10000 miles when it starts telling you that you need maintenance. The FSS system for this year was so bad there are lawsuits out there for guys that have jacked up engines due to following it's signals. Anyway...
Headlights.... Plenty of posts on how to brighten those up. Should be cheap. Give it a whirl. It makes a world of difference. Or you could attempt to take off the lenses yourself and replace them like I did. Only $1000 later did I have new headlights. NOT RECOMMENDED. Oh well, you live and you learn.
Get a dealership printout... for free.... to see what preventative maintenance was done. Maybe a trans fluid change is in order???
Sunroof.... bummer... not sure what to say. Check out this forum and Benzworld.org for posts on that subject.
Lots of fun stuff on this site and Benzworld. Check it out. Oh... driving fast on the interstate from time to time is fun too!
Good luck.
Scuddog

 

Thx Scuddog, I found benzworld after posting here and yeah I found a lot of great info. Thanks for the tips. So, are you saying oil is only due every 10K or just reset the computer to that so it doesnt bug you? If so, do you change the oil every 3K, 5K? Appreciate it!

 

Cochise,
You will find MANY arguments about what oil to use and when to change it. The debate is as old as time itself. Everyone has their own opinion. What I'm telling you is that the FSS system is not much more than a simple mileage countdown timer. Check out the posts on the FSS on this blog and on others. MB did dial it in about in year 2000 but the 98 and 99 models on the W210 chassis were not good. Reset it and ignore it. My personal taste is to change the oil at about 7000 to 8000 miles. I use Synthetic oil. My oil weight is 5W-30. (For this statement I will get crucified... just watch.) Recommended weight is 0W-40. You can use non synthetic oil just fine but if you do, I'd change it at no more than about 4500 miles. Use your judgement. Changing your oil at 3000 miles is a waste in my opinion. Of course it is not bad for your motor, but why drain out oil that has many thousands of miles of life left in it? Read the endless posts on this subject on this forum and on Benzworld.org. Good luck and good motoring!