Forget any W210 - too many kwality issues - unless it's got a healthy Starmark to back it up. If he really wants a 400E, I would stick with the 1994-95 E420 instead - bigger brakes (the '92 had small brakes) and the 94-95 will have the full body updates. Not a bad car, but...
...if he really wants the ultimate ride, might I suggest a 1992-93 500E, or 1994 E500? Partially hand-built by Porsche, rare, gorgeous, and stupid fast for a 12 year old sedan. Typical prices run from $10k-$25k depending on miles, condition, accessories, etc. Lots more info can be had at 500E.com, and I also have some assorted articles on my website at this link: http://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/articles/ Now, assuming he wants a mid-size Mercedes, I would strongly recommend a W124 of some sort. Another option would be the 1993-95 cabriolet, and for fuel economy, any 1990-95 diesel. (But NOT an S-class diesel!) Yes, I'm biased, I own both a 124 diesel and an E500. I'd avoid any car with the M103 engine unless he doesn't mind being a little short on low-end torque. The M104, M119, and diesels are all generally ok in my book. ;-) -Dave M. > ------------------------------ > Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 16:06:58 -0400 > From: "andrew strasfogel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [MBZ] What E320 to purchase '99 or '00? How about an older > 400E? > > > A friend has decided to purchase his first Mercedes and asked for my > advice. He's 47, works hard and deserves to drive something nice than the > '91 Ford he currently owns. He has a budget between $12 - $18K, and his > choices boil down to a '92 400E at around $12K, a '99 green/parchment 60K > E320 for $15,900, a 2000 E320 with 74K miles for the same price ($15,900), > and a 54K immaculately maintained black/black '99 E320 from the local dealer > for $18K. Any thoughts/suggestions? All gave clean Car fax reports and are > clean, with service records and no obvious current problems. The '99 is a > real beauty but is too old for a Star Mark warranty. The 2000 is not being > sold by a dealer so no Star Mark either... Any "fatal flaws" in either of > these models for any particular model years he should know about? What > about repair costs? Any reason to own a 2000 with 20K more miles than a '99 > model E320? > > Andrew > No car younger than 21 years old
