Beeing a Taxi driver in Berlin, Germany i got to drive a lot of E- Classes. This series is my favourite by far and the only E Class i would opt to buy for myself. you can sit in them for hours without getting uncomfortable unlike the later e- classes and this particular build series is very, very reliable. Not as reliable as the mid 80'ties to mid nienties mercedeses but the best since then and the best since anything that came after that. The ancient, wizard mechanic at our company who has seen any type of merc ever built used to say this as well. He was always complaining about the later series beeing difficult to work on and having troubles of all sorts early on. Not with this one. This is a very solid vehicle indeed. I would recommend it and I'm not even that much of a mercedes guy. This is also the last series with seats that aren't rock hard. You could wear your wallet in the ass- pocket of your jeans without feeling every single coin in there. I believe this series might become collectible or sought after at least to some extent in the future - not like crazy but like an old, solid , classic mercedes if you know what I mean.
@@idokoaruna8121 Okay cool but make sure you buy one of the later models 2009 or later as you can see/ hear in Bill's review here the earlier models did actually have some issues. Good luck for you!
3. AMG sport on non-AMG Mercedes-Benz models, the rest of the AMG line up don't need to have sport at the end (i.e. 36, 43, 45, 53, 55, 63 and 65 models).
I own the w211 2007 320 CDI Sport. What a car! Highway mile muncher with comfort! .... and to think I nearly never bought this car for the horror stories on RU-vid about the W211 being very unreliable. Best car I've ever owned.... Loved the 320 CDI that much, I went and bought myself an E55 AMG to have a bit of fun at the weekends .... Top motors both cars!!.... No issues after 14 months of ownership!
Knowing that this vehicle is equipped with a road-kill armadillo hanger in the trunk, was the clincher that has inspired me to add one of these beautiful yet practical cars to my fleet very soon, thanks to this reassuring review.
2006 E350 here - love it. 98% identical to this model. Most of the early problems were gone by the time my W211 came out. Got the intake manifold problem corrected last year, and MBZ paid to replace the defective SBC pump. I think you have to wait until 2017 to get a better looking E, BUT that dinky 2.0 liter engine?? No way!
Wow this E class is so beautiful and every time I see it, it’s still very expensive especially this AMG sport package it still retails for at least 9 grand and up I drove one with a coffee colored interior it was loaded with panoramic roof sweet and smooth car
I don't know why Doug Demuro was so hard on this car we had said "It did age well as it's competitor the 5 series" and when this e class first debut back in 2003, it was definitely ahead of it's time and NOTHING didn't even come close to it.
I really enjoyed your video...and the running commentary, haha. I have a 2002 W211 E270 Elegance and its very comforting to know that its not too different from the 2009 model. Fenders, skirts lights and wheels are a little different, and i have everything in the cockpit the same apart from heated seats, memory seats, rear sunshade and head unit, (and paddle shift of course). Its 17yrs old and still looks and drives like a 4 year old car. I love it, although after seeing this, i'm very interested in this year and model.
Thanks for an informative, entertaining overview! BTW, the pre update W211 has SBC (Sensotronic Brake Control). I personally love the braking-by-wire my 2005 E350 first-gen delivers. Historically, like so many E Class features, you'll find 'em on the E before they diffuse into 'gen-pop' :-) Also, SBC has nothing to do with steering-by-wire--it's a braking technology. Our W211s also enjoy throttle by wire--awesome precision with that pedal... so much improved over my 1970s Alfas where (as a teenager) I was frequently trying to find a perfect lube for the jerky manual throttle cable. No car is perfect but the W211 has loads of fun character... if you care for it frequently it ain't gonna cost you too much, but expect the cost of ownership to be moderate if you intend enjoying this clever, beautifully sculpted machine and reliability too...
That's had a new rear bumper as the panel gaps aren't tight & it's a slightly different shade to the rest of the car. Had a W211 with the straight-6 turbodiesel engine about 10 years ago, still the best car I've ever owned. Thinking about getting a V8 one now.
I hear an awful lot of bashing of the 2003-2006 pre-facelift cars without much actual hard data or facts. Yes the ‘03-‘06 has SBC but the warranty on those has been extended out to 25 years. What else is there?
In my '03 s class it feels like a wall (like when you walk in to a store) between driver and passenger when there is a difference in temp set, obv ppl saying it doesn't work have never tested the system.
THAT ANNOYING COLD AIR SPOT ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE WINDSHIELD DRIVES ME CRAZYYYYYY lol. Mine does that regardless of the mode setting for the air vents
Hiding spots for shivs and mack 10's. I love it. I'm looking at a black 09 E350 sport with chrome wheels. Seems like these are the best value in used cars and many people don't know about them. Also they look very nice and people that don't know Mercedes will still think it's a brand new car.
I have to say I have always been impressed with the W211 panel alignment however this Mercedes seems to have the most impeccable gap alignment I have ever seen. Close to the Rolls quality on this one I am very impressed
@@shawna7813 Funny you say that because I have both a Lexus and MB of this vintage and the MB interiors wear worse (unless it's an IS). I have detailed the interiors religiously and kept them conditioned. No cracks on any seats on the 2000 GS400.
Milwaukee in a Sebring. Lol. I just dreamt I flew a plane with Augusta National chair Billy Payne on board and my 11 yr old son changed our planes alternator while in flight. Billy was so impressed he gave me Masters Badges for life! Man what a dream. But I do love sebrings in Oshkosh
My 2008 E-350 sport gave me transmission shifting headaches. Until I learned how to reprogram it for my driving style. It has a lot of get up and go for a six. Just had the intake manifold replaced $2,500. I keep it because it has timeless classic styling and I'm not looking to spend another $60k on another one.
Thinking of grabbing one 2009 , one owner , no accidents! 73000 miles they want $9300 . Little pricey , what would u feel is a good price ? I’m thinking 7800
I have this exact same car down to color, sports pack, and rims. . I got it from mercedes dealership last October. My first service is happening now. 2 rear tires, an alignment, rear brakes and rotors, and service A. Suppose to pick it up one day this week. My service cost is running around $1,800 bucks. Only had $47,000 miles when I got it from dealership.
I own a '09 E350 4matic AMG sports pkg. A work of art. This car is beautiful. Beware the 2010 version of this car - MB did a face lift for the 2010 and not pretty.
he pretty much just made up that sensotronic thing as no W211 has that, maybe he had it mixed up with the servotronic steering from the same era BMW E60s
@@aomar9449 Never heard of the bmw 5 series e60 having steer by wire . You could order new at the time with an option that I think was called active steering which just speed up the steering at low speeds for parking etc but when on a run it would slow up and become less twitchy but a lot of people in the UK that Iam aware of didn't like the system as car journalist where reporting and the public that it killed nearly all the feed back and that the standard rack had much better feedback
@@diyguy928 Im referring to the servotronic steering that would change the ratio based on the speed. Steer by wire wasn't used until recently in the current gen Infiniti Q50S
My 2003 e500 had 186k miles on it before it got totalled in an accident. I now drive a 2007 e550 with 130k miles and had no issues yet in the 2k miles I've put on it(knock on wood)
How are you liking the e550? We had a 2008 and had to sell it 9 yrs ago when we had twins. It’s still my husbands all time favorite car! He still talks about it every so often.
@@Wasabi9111 Absolutely love it. I bought it for 8 grand and the thing hauls ass. Great value for your money if you don’t want to spend the extra cash for an e55 or e63. It now has 147k miles and has been very reliable. Has every option too. The previous owner tinted the windows and put on silver wheels, the car is blacked out otherwise and turns heads everywhere I go. The V8 roars, especially since I got a new exhaust
i have an 03 W211, the steering is heavy as shit and then lightens up randomly and the transmission likes to JERK VIOLENTLY at slow speeds. I need to get rid of it ASAP
SMOG thx genius mechanic guy, the car is actually a CPO car with full service history and regular maintenance not just "routine" but also preventative and always taken to MB dealers for all of it. i've owned 5 Mercedes and i understand how to maintain them. i did a full power steering fluid flush and replaced it with the factory Mb fluid specific to this model and the problem is still there....Fact of the matter is, Mercedes made some shitty cars and early w211's are part of them.
@@redriver15262 - I have an 06 E350 with the same jerky transmission when cold. It's a common issue with the earlier 722.6 trans and if you scan the transmission with diagnostic equipment it will pass with flying colors so Mercedes or an indy will refuse to remedy it. It's a very durable and robust transmission but who likes jerky shifting? Mercedes solved this issue when they rolled out the 07-09 versions....
@@shawna7813 You do realize that the 722.6 has been made since the 1991 model year... I have one made in 1999 and it has never had an issue. Fluid was changed at 65k the first time and clearly prevented issues.