1987 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Reviews

Nothing has gone wrong with this car so far, only some minor things.

Had to change my glow plugs at 350000km, and a bushing in the steering rack.

This is probably one of the most reliable cars you can buy; build quality is excellent. This car is 20 years old and is very comfortable.

The handling is not really the strong side of this car, but with the Sportline pack the handling is a bit better.

The 2.5 liter normally aspirated diesel is very slow, maybe a bit dangerous when overtaking other cars. It requires thorough and full planning.

The interior is top notch, well almost. The seats are very soft and remind me of a sofa; they wear out very fast too (textile).

Maintenance on these cars is easy, I run Castrol magnatec 5-40W and I change oil and filter every 8000km. This is the most important about these old Benz engines; quality oil and it will run forever.

Too bad Benz build quality is fading...

Normal wear and tear, mostly under the car as expected for mileage and age. Always serviced by a specialist european cars mechanics who are very dedicated in Wellington, New Zealand called Page European (2003) Ltd.

Highly recommended as they service BMW's, Audis, Mercedes and Volvos (I used to take my BMW there too)

Wheel bearings, brake pads/disk, tyres.

Shaft drive rubber coupling, rear and front.

Power steering (2) hoses (leaked).

Very extremely reliable car as it still drives like a new vehicle, considering it's 20 years old.

The engine and transmission has never been reconditioned and still runs extremely well. Very roomy for luggage.

My one has the lovely burgundy leather seats/interior, and I fitted the later model wooden trims from another 300E on the doors and dashboard, as mine missed out on them as being the earlier model looks great too, and also fitted the clear front indicators and chrome fender trim around the guards.

I'm very impressed with this station wagon Mercedes.

What had NOT gone wrong?

By the time I purchased the car with 107k miles, the following was already in need of repair or broke while in my possession...

- The stereo stopped working.

- The driver-side rear power window didn't work.

- The cruise control didn't work.

- Far too many of the interior switches didn't work, or worked intermittently.

- A transmission mount failed.

- The motor mounts failed.

- The pull tab for the hood release broke.

- The seatbelt warning lights flashed non-stop while the car was on.

- The bulb failure warning light illuminated many times even though all exterior lights worked properly.

- Oil pressure gauge stopped working.

- Oil warning light illuminated randomly for no reason. Checked oil each time and it was fine.

- A/C never worked while in my possession.

- Front passenger power headrest didn't work.

- Transmission started slipping badly and needed a rebuilt at 108k miles.

I bought this car thinking it would be a solid, reliable car that I could put at least another 100k miles on if properly maintained. This car was very well maintained and looked brand new inside and out when I bought it. The paint was glossy and looked excellent. The interior was spotless. The leather looked like new and the carpets were spotless.

I was decieved by the implied reputation of Mercedes. I come from a family of very satisfied Volvo owners. I bought this car thinking it would be just as good of a car. Boy was I wrong! You saw the list of things that went bad with the car within 108k miles. It's pretty pathetic for any car to have a list of problems like that within this kind of mileage. But for a car of the world like Mercedes, I was horrendously disgusted with this car. I paid a premium for it because of the great condition and the fact that you have to pay more for the name.

Never again will I pay for the name. It's a joke! I've had more reliable American cars! This Mercedes was very high maintenance and very temperamental.

It was good looking, roomy, well built, and had a smooth powertrain. That's about all the good I can say about this car though. It rode very harshly. The seats were pretty hard and stiff. The steering was too vague for my liking.

The car had NO guts to speak of, even though it had the larger, premium gas guzzling 3.0L 177hp V6. The transmission, as mentioned above, only lasted 108k miles. That's pretty pathetic for such a high-end car.

The electrical systems seem to be complete crap on these cars. Volvos have their own fair share of electrical bugs, but this Mercedes was far worse, affecting cruise control, stereo, MANY interior switches, and warning lights on the dash.

It's a beautiful, fun to sit in, lawn ornament and that's about it. Maybe other Mercedes models aren't such crap, but this one definitely was.