31st Jan 2005, 07:26

I've had my E240 for 4 years now and the only comment I recognise is the not going into reverse after an emergency stop. It does go after a 5 second wait and as I don't do emergency stops regularly, it's hardly a major concern. Other than that, gear changes are imperceptible unless I do something silly to upset it mid-change. The seats are great over my 1-2 hour each way daily commute and whilst it isn't the fastest ship in the world, it silently and effortlessly keeps up with the traffic. The engine is the smoothest thing I have driven since a V12. Reliability has been mixed. It has never let me down, but the odd repair has been costly. Key failures have been Air mass sensor and Oxygen sensor which left me limping home and an irritating whistling fan regulator which I felt was unreasonably expensive.

10th Jun 2005, 09:28

Mercedes Benz E240 Elegance 1999 Dublin Ireland.

I have owned an E240 1999 for the last 13 months, it had 52000 miles on it when I bought it now has 83000.

I have had annoying problems with the headlights, tail lights, climate lights, cigar lighter / light, electric back window motor replaced, new air mass meter, bushings, and steering rods.

The gearbox also has that false neutral between forward and reverse when I stop quickly (not emergency), the dealer service is abysmal, the headlight was in to get adjusted 3 times, bulb 3 times, seals twice (front and back), filled with condensation and it cost a fortune and still wasn't right for the NCT (Ireland's MOT) and then the guess what oh yes their recommendation replace all the lights, oh yeah. Brought to independent expert who sanded the contacts and all was well again. Do these MB guys know their stuff or are they there to just rip you off - very disappointing.

The paint is now fading on the back drivers side, it wasn't crashed I checked it out with an expert. This is a full MBSH car with a body warranty of 30years, think I'll be on to them.

Whatever about the parts, the labour is ridiculous in my dealers up to €120 an hour which might be acceptable if the work standard was acceptable.

Other than those problems, it's a comfortable car, gets 18 - 37 mpg avg in town 23. It uses 1lt of semi synt oil about everyone 2k miles (keep it topped up - Don't OVERFILL), get 20-25k out of a set of Conti premium contact tyres, brakes 8-10k miles, handled well and is reliable overall.

I didn't own an old one, but I heard build was better, I always wanted a Mercedes, but thought electrical probs etc were a thing of the past for me, unfortunately not.

However, still like the car and would buy another one.

4th Mar 2006, 13:58

I am on my 5th Mercedes. The current model, (New in 2003)a 270 CDI has given several problems. It has been in the the "shop" or out of action for over 6 weeks of its 3 year life.

1. About 30k miles - Turbo charger failed preceded by months of the car stopping on the road and not restarting until I had switched off, waited for 5 minutes and then try to restart.

2. Flat battery - I was not informed of a recall about an electrical problem.

3.Odometer - When the electrical problem was fixed the car was returned with the odometer reading MPH when set to metric. "Not our fault" said the dealer.

4.Keyless entry refuses to work occasionally - still not cleared up. And last, but probably not least, the gearbox: Just before the warranty was up, I had noticed a rumble in the gear box and mentioned it to the dealer. It has now been in 3 times for the same problem and it is still not resolved. End of warranty and over 3000 euro for a new gearbox has been mentioned. I had intended to buy a new S-Class but none are available until 2007. With the rate of attrition on my current model I reckoned it would be only fit for the scrap heap by then.

Bye Bye Mercedes and Hello 7 Series.

29th Mar 2006, 02:59

I bought my Mercedes E 240 Elegance 6 months ago and I have all sorts of problems with the car. One thing I have realised is that when the weather changes, the car temperature also changed.

29th Mar 2006, 11:15

To the March 5th poster:

I wouldn't recommend you buy a 7 series. They are so bad that a dealer in Los Angeles actually had a sale on recalled 7 series that fell under California's lemon law. And several quality ratings organizations here in America have said it is the most unreliable car sold on these shores.

Unless you need a huge car, go with a 5 series. Don't know about the reliability of the new ones, but my 2000 528i was flawless.

4th Feb 2010, 12:13

We purchased an E class Kompressor Mercedes Benz in 2005, and before the warranty had expired, we had noticed a whine in the back of the car. After some investigation, we were told that the differential in the back axle had gone, and it had to be replaced at a big cost to us. Was wondering if other owners of this type experienced the same problem? Would love to hear of similar experiences.

By the way, we live in Ireland.

12th Sep 2010, 11:56

I drive a 2002 E240 Elegance. Superb I'd say, but the air conditioner switch keeps failing. Compared to my 1995 300E 4matic, I am not too impressed. Some squeaks here and there. Good car, but could have been better.

25th Nov 2010, 10:21

I own a 2000 E240 Elegance estate and have driven it since it was 1 year old at 10,000 miles to now (November 2010) 91,000 miles.

It is a very nice car which has a great ride and lovely quiet and sooth engine. However, it is large and complex and you cannot run these cars on peanuts. Mine still has FSH.

Expect the rear springs to go and need replacement, expect a poor paint job requiring respray (have it done properly), expect front suspension to go, and in important things that's about it. The engine is bullet proof.

I have no intention of getting rid of it. Enjoy. I agree however that they (Mercs) are not as strong as previously, I used to drive a 1992 190e - now that WAS solid.