1997-2006 Mercedes Benz Common Problems and Failures - Buyer's Guide

Hello Everyone,

In this video I will show 1997 - 2006 Mercedes common issues and Problems, it will help you inspect a car before buying.

Thanks for watching and good luck :)

[JvinDelSol]

My grandfather has a c240 wagon he owned it since 2003. The vehicle has 380, 000 kms on it. He rust proofs it every year and keeps up with the maintenance. The car still runs as if it's new. We live in Ontario Canada and the winters are very hard on cars. Food for thought

[mikemay]

Very helpful and true. I have a 2002 C240. I have known the car since 20, 000 miles. It now has 195000. No intention of replacing it. Did the conductor plate 3x’s in the transmission. OEM parts each time along with the adapter plug OEM also. Did upper and lower control arms OEM and sway bar links, OEM. Replaced the belt tensioner and pulley at 115K miles when the pulley disintegrated. LOL.. I had anticipated replacement at 100K but procrastinated. YUP! Left me stranded. Now I am way overdue on motor mounts and harmonic balancer. Vibrating at 2000-2500 RPM. So….. motor mounts, transmission mount and balancer all overdue. I strongly recommend OEM manufacturers. Yes expensive but the quality is there for the long hall. True the internal engine and transmission are great.

[ysk]

Dad kept his old 2003 e-class. Gonna get my hands on it soon when i turn 18.

[ClemsonTiger]

From an owner: I bought my 2006 SLK350 hardtop convertible in May 2009 with 20K on the odometer. It now has 90K and still runs like a dream. I have been looking to buy something different for the last 3 years, and I cannot find anything I like better. It does not have Bluetooth or a backup camera, and the NAV is the worst NAV I have ever witnessed and is unusable. However, I wired a backup camera into it and placed a monitor on the dash and that works great. I have a Garmin GPS with lifetime maps that I stick on the screen, and it has Bluetooth so I can answer my iphone and give voice commands to the GPS. It still looks like it did 11+ years ago and I get compliments on it every month as most people think it's new. I refuse to pay $40k or more to get something a little newer. If you can find one with low miles at a decent price, I suggest you snap it up and enjoy plenty of good times in it. I just wanted to comment from an old owner as most people only hear the bad about expensive cars.

[ramiroorozco]

JESUS I wish EVERY car I owned had a cheat sheet like this
ALL the problems and difficulty level to fix, AWESOME!

[alfuentes]

Own 2005 e320 with 233, 331 miles
At 70k replaced motor mount
Warranty replaced my gas tank
There was a recall
Now needs radiator
Solid engine and trans
No oil leaks and running strong

[playbackamusicloversjourne]

I've got a 99 CLK 320 which I've owned for almost 4 years. I've only put about 25k km on it (225k km total now) but it's been as dependable as a new car with very little maintenance required which I've been able to accomplish myself. The one issue many of the Mercedes 99-03s have is RUST! I live in Canada and drive it year round & mine is now developing cancer. It would cost me more to fix the rust issue than it's worth so I will look for an 04 or newer V6. Great vehicles.

[Savage]

I have a 96 Mercedes Benz e320 I bought a year ago with 107k best car I ever bought I’m a 22 year don’t let nobody tell I what u can afford and what’s wrong just take care of it and honestly when I first got it I was so excited because it was fast so I did a lil heavy driving .. but nothing ever happened

[jonathanmaza]

This was so helpful, I'm considering buying one off a guy: 2004 E320 with 96k on it. I saw some leakage happening but the guy said that it was the brake fluid coming out. Hes asking for 3, 750 for the car but after seeing this video, if I spot anything wrong I might be able to get it down more. I cant thank you enough man!

[JJ-bhgh]

Great video. I myself have a merc E280 cdi and the airsuspension also failed on me last month. It’s the tank for the compressed air in the back that fail most of the time and they are cheaper to replace. So if your w211 goes down look at the tanks first before replacing the whole airsuspension strut

Edit sorry for poor English

[michaelkennedy]

I have a 2003 C240 and have been quite happy with it . The control arm bushings went, so replaced all on both sides and the fuel pump and crank sensor . Other then those issues it’s been a great car . Bought it in 2010 for $11K with 80K kilometers on the odometer .

[derronchand]

Thank you bro! I’m buying a 2006 CLK 350 and I know what to look out for now!

[Randy-qqlr]

Anything 2005 and up to say 2008 is a pretty safe bet on the E Class. I was looking at an 2005 E320 4matic with 35K on it. good years to buy one. especially the 05-06.

[TD]

Thanks so much for this video, I'm in the market for a 2006 MB E350. The one I'm looking at has 135k miles so hopefully most of these issues have been replaced already.

[geraldinemayo]

Thank you for this information, these are the years I need🎉

[barbaraharatyk]

Man i love you! How da hell i have not found ur videos earlier! I absolutely love old Mercedes's especially all kimoressor's. Bought one recently, d mirrors going berserk while driving and apparently the car turned out to be water damaged. Dont know what to do with it now, dont want to get rid of it, mechanics want between £1500-£2000 for repairs

[jefferywilliams]

Thanks man couldn’t ask for better. Keep it up

[mikenam]

crankshaft sensor needs to be replaced every 60k to 80k miles. evap solenoids go bad at about 100k. fuel sending unit needs to be replaced if gas odor is noted after filling gas. transmission fluid needs frequent replacement as well as transaxle fluid.

[figgiefigueroa]

I got a 2004 c230 kompressor sport with dual overhead cam 1.8liter with
223, 000 miles on it.
Replacement of water pump, and now ac compresor.
I got a maintenance chart with all sensors to be replaced at 200, 000.
I love my car !!!

[ItsyaboyR.B]

I bought a 2004 e320 from the auction for 1500 with little body damage. I have to replace both bumpers, drivers fender and passenger side view mirror. It has 102k. It drives and sounds good.