2002 Mercedes-Benz E-Class E320 from North America - Comments

I have a 2004 E320.

The steering squeaked when I put it on in the morning. I went to the dealer and they put in power steering fluid. It stopped. Otherwise I haven't had any problems and I'm at 44,000 miles.

I do wonder why the power steering fluid was bone dry when he checked it. This seems weird since I'm told that power steering fluid last forever. This is my 4th Mercedes and I have never seen this before.

All my cars were made in Germany; I don't ever want an American made Mercedes.

E320 s/w with heavy power steering problem, changed pump, still heavy at stationery, has sensor on head, computer, checked, OK can anybody help with information.

May 23, 2008 from Little Rock: I am now driving a 2000 E320 Station Wagon and it has been a superb car with a minimum of problems. For years I favored the diesels but we are seeing that as a bad decision nowadays. The 2000 E320 has about `112,000 miles, gets 20 mpg around town, about 28 mpg hwy if speed is kept below 70, preferably 65. I pay no attention to what dealership says (Example: change oil&filter 10,000 miles. intervals! This is insane and I suppose they do it to cushion the $blow for new owners unfamiliar with the care of fine cars.) I routinely change oil&filter at 3000 miles. intervals.

Guys: here's where I need sensible advice: It's the CD player. When I try to use it and play one of the 6 discs loaded into it a message comes on the display saying 'cartridge empty' and it continues to play the radio. I know someone will say, "be sure the sliding doors are securely closed on the rear unit," and both of them are securely closed. Dealer says, of course, we'll send the unit to a repair station at a cost of $300.00, but surely one of you knows of a way to deal with this problem.

I just bought a 2002 E320 4Matic which had 93,873 on the odometer. It was a one-owner car, and is in pristine condition. It drives as if brand new, and I hope to get many years of service from it. I've had it for a month and the only service I have done to it is replace the wiper blade, oil change, air filter and cabin air filters, which I have done myself.

November 1, 2008.

Hello everyone, I'm planning to buy a 2002 Mercedes E320 4Matic, with 90,000 klms (Canada here). The car is in immaculate condition but I'm just wondering if anyone had a problem with a 2002 E320. I would also like to know how expensive to repair a Mercedes compared to Japanese or American cars. Thank you. (Eric from Vancouver Canada). BTW, the asking price of the car is $13,000, so hopefully this is a good price.

I purchased a 2002 E320 Obsidian Black Mercedes 3May 2008 with 56K miles. I am in love with this car (a first for me). It's my first Benz. I found a local, honest, attention-to-detail mechanic. I follow the displayed service advice (service A and B). I purchase only Mobil One oil and genuine Mercedes parts.

The repairs have been expensive but I purchase an after-market extended warranty ($1300) that pays 90/hr for labor and about 80% of parts cost (directly to the shop). Total repair bills for rotors, brake pads, Service “A” (filters), oil change, power steering pump with rings and hose, and lower ball joints was about $2500. My out of pocket cost about $900.

I have driven over 25k miles in less than 7 months. I have owned at least 15 other cars (Japanese > Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Lexus-330 and American > Cadillac’s, Chrysler's-LHS) and none of them compare to the power, handling and exterior elegance of this car. The dealer repaired a manifold (emissions) recall that caused a lot a rattling noise. I suggest owners hearing noise should check with their local dealers about the emissions recall before getting to 100k miles. I hope to replace this care with another Mercedes. I am enjoying the difference. The digital displays need help but I can live with this malfunction. To correct this anomaly will cost about 1200 (not covered by warranty).

I have a 1998 E320 4Matic. I have a pinging noise when turning on a right hand turn. Had some repairs couplings or something. Made the noise less but still there! Mercedes dealer tells me to forget about it.

What's the deal. When in a parking lot, feel like people are like get your car fixed buddy!

Love the car! Can't open sun roof! Only goes up.

120.000 miles.

Any suggestions?

Mercedes went downhill since the days of glory (before year 2000); even in Daimler-Benz, the A, B & C class are not even considered 'Mercedes', but a mere fix and cash cow built on the back of a naive growing upper middle class, and the focus is mainly on the 'S' class, and at some extent on the higher range of the 'E' class.

The company has set a new focus on China and India, where the aspirational buyers are many and MB estimates some 60 years of increased sales before the population of these expanding economies will become more selective and openly outspoken over the abysmal services offered by the MB dealers.

The issues found in E-class are widespread at the C-class:

1. Poor auto gear boxes (and horrid manual gear boxes) with issues ranging from sensors, conductor plate and contamination from the radiator.

The symptoms are easy to recognize: the second gear hangs on and fails to change to third gear.

The issues are well-known by the dealers, which have the clear guideline to fix only the glitches and wait for the expiration of the warranty.

2. Widespread electric and electronic issues, ranging from electrical surges (bulbs) to parktronic malfunctions, radio-CD issues, side mirrors wiring, etc.

3. The post-2000 MB's have complex electronics with some 12 different processor talking to the CPU. The variety of failings or misleading (or inconsistent) error codes is way to substantial to be quoted here.

The misfortune is that the (mostly unqualified) MB personnel tends to rely solely on the diagnostic tools and there is not much know-how hanging around in the MB workshops.

I duly suggest you forge a sound relationship with an independent MB SPECIALIST, and forget the empty suited dealer clowns.

4. The steering rack in the C and E class are of poor quality with a massive fault rate (some 5%) compared to under 1/1,000 for BMW and 1/4,000 for Lexus and other Japanese makes.

Conclusion

It seems to me that Daimler-Benz re-employed the technical management that designed the Tiger Panzer (superb war machine plagued by a myriad of technical issues) :-)

My suggestion:

If you dreamed of and wished to own a Merc, buy it from new and sell it before the expiration of the warranty, else keep a strict record of the issues experienced in the warranty and ASK the MB service department to WRITE DOWN in the service sheet and engineer report the list of experienced issues and symptoms you MENTION, so that if the dealer 'finds' the remedies after the expiration of the warranty (in the form of expensive fixes - usually at a 'generous' 50/50 agreement), you have good grounds to threaten with legal action.

Good Luck!

I have had my 2002 E320 since Feb. (Fantastic valentines day gift from my man, don't you think?) Anyway, I have had no problems with it up until yesterday. I was driving down the road with my window down. The other 3 windows were up. All of a sudden, my window went up, and the other 3 came down about 6 inches. I was able to roll up both rear windows, but my passenger window is still down. I now have NO power to any of my windows, or to my mirrors. I have called the "Authorized MB Dealership" and they told me "For $108 they can plug it into the computer and see what it says." They also told me that it sounded like an electrical short somewhere, which could cost anywhere from $500 to $800 depending on where the short is. I was just wondering if anyone else has heard of this? The dealership told me that they just had the same issue with a 2000 model the other day. Anyone else with this problem??