I am interested in picking one up but not sure of the usual gremlins and stay away items surrounding this car.

I have driven many of the krompressor and later V6 models, but for some reason I preferred that supercharged 4 cylinder motor - am I crazy to do so?

Which year and drive train are the most desirable throughout the entire production range?

Thanks!

 

The w209 had a facelift in 2005-2006. The engines installed before the facelift were the 200k (s4 supercharged), 240 (v6), 270 CDI (s5 turbodiesel), 320 (v6), 500 (5.0 v8) and 55 AMG (5.5 v8). With the facelift arrived the new 280 (v6) instead the 240, the 320 CDI (V6 turbodiesel) instead the 270 CDI, the 350 (v6) instead the 320, the 500 -aka 550 in the USA- with a 5.5 block instead the previous 5.0 engine and the 63 AMG (6.2 v8) instead the 55 amg. It also arrived the 7G-Tronic gearbox.
IMHO, you should go for a facelift unit because the interior has a much better and modern design with new tech features, and the engines and gearbox are very very improved. The 320 for example had some problems with the gearbox cooler, and the 240 was too slow for its fuel consumption. The best choice, not considering AMG models, is the 5.5 500 or the 350