Faults:

My Cat converter broke up at 30,000 miles (1 year old), parts from which blew back into the engine, scoring all the bores and going into the oil ways.

MB agreed to fit a new engine. Having been to a number of MB dealers I find that this is not unusual on the 280 engine, they have all had a number of cars where this has happened.

Rust has also been a major issue with the car, recently MB have agreed to replace - tail gate, two wings, two doors, bonnet, repair roof and rear wheel arches.

The "command" CD player has failed, hence the Sat Navigation now doesn't work, MB dealer wants to fit a new unit for £2k. Don't think I will be investing more money on the is car.

General Comments:

I like the interior of the car, space is excellent, seats are uncomfortable, economy is average, servicing expensive. I wish I had bought a BMW or a Lexus.

Faults:

Power steering replaced at 34K miles.

I complained about my car pulling for over a year. Once the warranty ran out, they told me I needed new ball joints.

The computer dash panel went out at 28K miles.

The service center put lifters on the engine at 28K miles as the engine was rattling.

Catalytic converter was replaced at 39K.

At 43K miles the power steering needs to be replaced again.

General Comments:

I have been extremely frustrated with my first gently used vehicle purchased from Mercedes. I have been buying cars for 30 years now and I haven't experienced such problems on cars since the days of driving the Chevy, and Oldsmobile.

I switched to Nissan and then Lexus, and had no problems. Unfortunately, I didn't care for the 04 Lexus ES300 body style, and chose to buy a used Mercedes and what a mistake. It is unfortunate that little to no action is taken against Mercedes for these poor recurring quality problems. I have spoken to a lot of people who feel the same as I. This car has been dealer serviced, gently driven and cared for as all of my previous vehicles, and as soon as I can get it into the service center and get the power steering repaired once again, I will be purchasing another car. I am either going back to Lexus or purchase an Infiniti.

Faults:

Drivers side mirror repeater. Although it appears to be just the bulb, you have to replace the whole unit, which costs about £25. Needs new glow plugs, but that's expected at this mileage.

Some rust around the boot release, which I had sorted prior to purchase, but is coming through again already. Paintwork quite poor quality, and picks up scratches and chips easily.

General Comments:

I really like this car. I've driven most of the e-class variants (123, 124, 211), and this model has the best ride quality out of all of them. The engine is really powerful for a diesel, and averages about 37mpg combined cycle. Had a 211 series (later model) for 2 weeks earlier this year, and actually preferred driving the 210. Build quality not up to standard of older Mercedes, but a lot better than the c-class I used to own. With servicing at an independent Mercedes specialist, running costs are not high at all.

So far, would probably rate it as the best all-round car I have owned. My only concern is whether the rust is going to become an issue over time.