320 CDI Elegance Auto Coupe

Nice car let down by poor build quality

Although I like this car in many ways, it has a number of faults. First the good points. It looks great both inside and out, and turns heads, although not in a negative way as it is still fairly understated. When there are no mechanical issues, it drives superbly. The 3 litre v6 engine is beautifully smooth, and combines performance and economy very well; much better than my previous e-class, which had the straight six 3.2 cdi engine. This is one of the few cars I have owned that delivers mpg as good as the manufacturers figures. On a hot sunny day, the combination of pillarless design and sunroof gives it almost a convertible feel. Plus, once you have overcome the challenge of getting into the back seats, there is actually a fair amount of room. Size is also a good compromise, as it is large enough to be comfy but small enough to feel agile.

Now the bad points. Build quality is nowhere near what I would expect for a car of this price. There are a lot of creaks and rattles from the interior trim, and there seems to be an excessive amount of engine noise transmitted via the dashboard when the engine idles. That is an ongoing issue which annoys me.

Reliability has not been good. The car has done 52k, and needed parts replacing which I would have expected to last well over 100k. The worst example has been the turbo charger, which is evidently not uncommon on this engine, but also various components of the suspension.

This is my 6th Merc. The first two were marvellous, the next two were mechanically flawless but complete rust-buckets, and the last two have not had any rust problems, but both been pretty unreliable. Much as I like the way they drive, the problems I have encountered would stop me recommending this manufacturer to anyone else.

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