1990 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 300E review from North America

I bought this car used from a Chevy dealer. There were several minor things wrong with the car when I bought it: Fan (serpentine) belt needed replacement; right headlight lens was cracked (replaced from wrecked 300E) ; the cruise control was intermittent; right rear window inoperative (broken wire which also took out controller) ; there were 3 different brands of tires on the car (2 Firestone on the front, a Goodyear and Bridgestone in the rear). I had a Pre-owned Inspection done at my local Mercedes dealer and they replaced 2 shock absorbers and the motor mounts.

One of the previous owners put a lot of money into the vehicle as they upgraded the air conditioning to the new R134 coolant. The interior is immaculate and the exterior has some surface scratches - absolutely no rust (I live in the Rust Belt). The original radio (cassette) has excellent sound. Other than the minor problems listed above, everything works perfectly.

This particular model starts out in 2nd gear unless you tromp the gas pedal and then it down-shifts into 1st. My mechanic told me this was because the catalytic converter used in this model heats up faster if the car starts in 2nd. There is a kit that will change this so the car will start in 1st.

The single wiper blade takes time to get used to, but works very well.

This car is very quick off the line (when kicked down into 1st) and the ride is what you would expect from Mercedes. The brakes are firm and stop the car quickly and in a straight line. Visibility is excellent.

The only drawback is the Climate Control. It works fine until the outside temperature approaches 90 F (32 C), then the cold air disappears.