LSPinoy

My dad has always wanted to own a Mercedes Benz ever since he retired from the military in ‘86(23 years of service). I even tried persuading him to get a japanese car or even a BMW. But he insists that he wants an MB. haha anyways I took it upon myself to try and help him out by doing some research on 1997+ S class and E class models. Unfortunately, I have stumbled across more problematic and dissatisfied customer threads, even owners with brand new MB’s, than good reviews.

Here are a few examples:

http://www.mercedes-benz-usa.com/
-This site is mostly about dissatisfied customers
-some of the owners share a common problem. Around 50,000 miles they start having trouble with the transmission.
-There is one guy going as far as saying he spent 70,000 on a brand new MB yet the car sits in the service garage more than it does his driveway

http://www.mercedes-benz-usa.com/
-this site also talks about the transmission problems at 50,000 miles

I’ve been trying to find out this question, but is Mercedes Benz American owned now? If so, then when did they take over?

Does this play a major factor of the problems people are having with the newer models?

What years was it “German” made?

I am not trying to put down Mercedes Benz by any means. I just used to always think that these were quality made automobiles. I mean the cars look so sexy with AMG and Brabus features, but what good is all that when the mechanical aesthetics doesn’t match its appearance? so yah if anyone would like to throw in their good/bad opinions or objective views please feel free to chime in. any information would be much appreciated. Thanks


-alex

NighthawkSI

All Mercedes Benz's are made in Germany except the M-Class SUV. As far as being owned by an American company, thats not true...although Daimler-Benz changed to Daimler-Chrysler when they bought out Dodge. From my experiences with MB, the older more boxy models, from say the mid 80s to mid 90s, were the best Mercedes ever built as far as overall quality and dependability. However, the new Benz's are also of very high quality and are in my mind the safest cars on the road. As with any other car maker there are the "lemons" of the bunch, and those are probably the people who are complaining about their transmissions so much. I havent heard many complaints where i work about transmission problems. Most of the problems I hear about deal with all of the high tech gadgets that are on the cars, like the air suspension and keyless go. But honestly, the 97+ S and E models are great cars...service on them is pretty pricey, but when you buy a MB you should be able to afford the costs that come with it IMO. Anyways, I hope I helped you out but if you have anymore questions I can try and answer them for you.

PS: if you do go for a pre-owned Benz, make sure it is Star-Marked.

sprack

yea mercedes have tons of issues...which is exactly why im going into their program

NighthawkSI

more money for you haha

Iceman1

we have a 1999 E320 in the garage... bought it brand new.. no major problems at all...(80000 miles now) the merc. and bmw automatic tranny's are solid... i have a BMW 330Ci as well... there might be some bad apples..but all in all the powertrain is solid... the problems you might see are from supporting components, electrical components, window regulators, a/c displays and a host of uber-tech shit theyre throwing on these days...(i recommend getting an extended warranty, cause even small parts and labor are expensive) theyre not the same cars they were 10 years ago... but your dad is making the right decision... mercedes is a worldclass symbol of success... not to mention one of the safest cars on the road... refinement, luxury, prestige... and a bunch of things JD Power cant put a # on...

DaimlerChrysler is the German company that makes Mercedes... the US market sedans are all built in Germany, ever since Karl Benz made the first patented automobile on earth in 1885 (it had 3 wheels)

Jesus

the older benz are better

Jesus

you can get a amg c36 for about 19000 or a normal c280

NastyNate

MB in general is a solid car, but expensive to fix. Being an advisor for a MB/BMW/Audi etc shop I can tell you your gonna be spending some money. Maintenance is expensive, around 250-300 w/ synthetic for an "A" service, and 450-500+ for a "B" service. Those are general maintenance set-ups, then there is additional pieces of maintenace that are up sold from there on over top of an A or B service. A front brake job runs about $600 for pads rotors and sensor, and a rear brake job is close behind at around $550 or so. Check engine lights are very common to come on with the newer MB's, sometimes an easy fix and sometimes not. The diagnosis process for some of the problems is legnthy and expensive at some points...but thats a given for owning a high end car. In a nut shell they are good cars, but just as a BMW and Audi is you will spend alot of money on up-keep and repairs yearly. In my personal opinion, I would buy a BMW over a Mercedes any day of the week. Easier to work on, seem to have less problems, and are alot more fun. Good luck with the search, PM me if you want more details or have any specific questions, and Ill see if I can answer then for you.

jdmhonda

My dad has a 1998 E430 he has had forever..its his daily driver, and not it has about 155k miles. It needs regular maintenance, but other then that its a great car. The only major problem it ever came across was the spark plugs needing to be replaced. Other then that the biggest issue with them is the lights. For some reason, the lights on that car (headlights, taillights, foglights) go out quickly and they need to be replaced quite regularly. Other than that its great.
Also to the guy that posted above, I do not agree about the BMW's having less problems. I have always heard of more issues with BMWs over Mercedes. The electrical systems in a BMW are notorious. My friend has a 2004 325xi and none of the windows worked the last time I was in it.

NastyNate

Well jdmhonda, everyone has their own opinions. Being one that has worked on them before I can say from experience. Yeah BMW does have electrical issues, but Mercedes far exceeds the issues BMW has. The bottom line is to maintain the car and preform the scheduled maintenance, and alot of problems are dodged in the first place. Oh and BTW, for your light bulb issue, make sure ur using silver based bulbs rather than copper like most people do , these cars are sensitive to that.