1997 MBZ E420

Have owned my 97 E-420 for close to 3 years. It was purchased pre-owned after 8 months use by 1st owner. The car came with every option available with the exception of the sport package.

We bought the car because of its styling and performance, with the goal of having someting very nice that would have minimum maintenance cost that we could keep for around 7 years without feeling that we were driving a "heap" in the last few years.

The options included the headlight washers, rear shade, phone, CD changer, Gas discharge headlights, pneumatic adjustable seats and sunroof.

I love the solid feel and strong acceleration as well as breaking and cornering performance. The interior and exterior quality are great overall. It is a really enjoyable car to drive as well as nice to look at.

Rear seating is ok for 2 adults and the front seat comfort is great. Especially with the optional front seats. Note that I found that the thigh support was inadequate for me with the standard seats. Leather has held up great.

To date we have only had a few maintenance problems.
Transmission acted up after 6 months. Would not engage in reverse sometimes. This was fixed under warranty with no problem.
Two window actuators have gone bad. One after two years old - covered under warranty. One recently - $420.
Quality of the door handle materials is sub-standard. Material is brittle and is easy to gouge with finger nails etc. "Not great with Kids".

Our paint color is the Black Opal. This is a great color when the car is clean and freshly polished. We have found that paint maintenance is rather difficult. The paint seems to be soft and develops noticeable swirls very quickly dispite being careful with how we wash and dry. A couple hours with clear coat swirl remover and a coat of wax fixes it for another couple months.

For the price and value retention there are very few cars that will give you more for your money.