Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon (2002 - 2008) E320 CDI Avantgarde 4d Auto Owner Review

My husband bought this car without my knowledge (GASP) and I wasn't very happy about it as it's not a very economical choice!! However there was nothing I could do so off we went.... Here we are a couple of years later, and about £4k of bills. This car was seriously immaculate when he got it and had only done 66000. The rear and passenger seats were as new, car was (still is) immaculate in and out. 66k is NOTHING for a 3.2 straight six. Should get half a million miles out of this engine! So far, and we travel a LOT, there has been only one time where nothing's gone wrong on a trip. We have had the turbo go (£900) all the wheel sensors, both electric mirrors, endless wheel alignment, ball joints, parking brake issues, but the worst thing is of course the dreaded SBC fault. Also regularly the sensor warning comes up which knocks out the ABS, cruise control, speedtronic, ESP and power steering. FUN. Seems to be run on dodgy electrics. I'm furious with the guy who sold it to us. The SBC warning flashed up when hubby took it for a test run, and the seller said it was a seat belt thing and nothing important - in fact it was a warning that the biggest problem ever to hit this car was present, and may cost thousands to correct. We have since had the SBC pump re-set and hope it will be another 100k miles before it goes again, but the stress has been awful. Had to go on 5 week honeymoon with a weird banging noise, 4 garages couldn't work it out, eventually it went away months later after lots of parts changed - bearings, backing plates, brake discs etc. Still unsure what it was. Good points - it does have some - it's lovely on the motorway. Great leg room, and very safe and comfortable. Tows effortlessly (we have a 2 berth caravan). Having said that, it sometimes goes into weird limp mode when towing, up to once per hour, involving pulling over, switching off and starting up again. Not fun on the M6 outside Birmingham!! Nobody can work out why! Bad points - NO CUP HOLDERS in the front! What the heck? Also it's very low. Scrapes the ground on bends sometimes. Hopeless on icy hills due to being rear wheel drive. MPG pretty awful. 30-35 generally, drops to mid 20s when towing. Tax and insurance also horrendous. I've got 22 years' clean license and it was going to be £300 to add me as a named driver, so we didn't bother and I'm just 3rd party, covered by my fabulous Skoda. Servicing essential every five minutes (or so it feels) at great cost even at non Mercedes garages. Seems to have been in and out of the garage a hundred times in 2 years! As for the electric mirrors.... bloody awful, and very expensive to replace. At the moment we are looking for a passenger one and just now I have to lean out and shove it out, and every now and then, if a gust of wind catches it, it comes flapping back in. AAARGH! Hubby also had it re-mapped (again without me knowing) which has done precisely nothing. He's banned from ever buying another car without doing his research and has no idea I'm submitting this review, mwahahahahahaha Save your money and your sanity and get something sensible! Unless you're lucky and have a good one! Currently waiting for it to DIE so I can get my revenge and replace it with a Yeti!