So, I was told by my mechanic that the emissions issue on my 1998 Mercedes e320 wagon was grandfathered in Feb. 2013. Ergo I did not need to get it fixed. He also got a sticker from the gas station across the street. Anybody ever hear of this? I’m in Massachusetts. Not sure what the issue is but he said it would have cost a lot of moola to fix (gee,something new)… I want to sell this car but the engine light is still on. No, it’s not anything else… If there is such a thing as emissions being gathered, I need some documention or I have to get my mechanic to fess up!
States that have emissions testing have various exclusions to their tests, including the age of the vehicle. You can check with the Mass Beaureau of Motor Vehicles as to what that is and whether your vehicle is exempt, as well as whether it needs to pass emissions to be sold.
Usually the limit’s 25 years, so I’m puzzled by a '98 being ‘grandfathered’…
I would too, since it’s an OBDII vehicle.
But the Mass BMV are the promulgaters of the Mass rules. They’re the ones to ask. I don’t know why people are more inclined to ask an internet forum about a motor vehicle regulation than they are to go to the authorities themselves. That always puzzled me.
Why would I ask this forum? Because it’s THE best place to start! Thanks - I’ll contact the BMV and hope for some good news.
Thanks you for the compliment.
Sincere best.
Before you can ask any questions about exclusions, you need to be able to express what this “emission issue” is, specifically. You could do that here and there may be people who can answer your question. The specific codes would be best but a detailed description of the problem might suffice…
FWIW- the light being on will scare off most buyers anyway, regardless of you having successfully gotten once. The fact your mechanic was able to get a sticker does not necessarily mean that you, or anyone else for that matter, will have similar success in the future. The new owner has 7 days to get a sticker. It might pass and there will be no issue. But the light being on will haunt this car and any subsequent owners for the rest of its life as they will be concerned about passing.
I was a Benz tech at a dealer for several years. I’m still pretty familiar with your car and your engine.
If you give us any fault codes and tell us what’s going on, I or one of the other guys might be able to help you.
Here in Calif if the car was manufactured before a certain date – I think it is 1975, but not certain on this detail – then it doesn’t need to be emission tested. And I don’t think that cutoff date changes, so it isn’t that the car is over a certain age, just if the model year is more than a 75. So getting to the point of your question – no, it isn’t surprising that your car has been grandfathered in and doesn’t need to pass emissions (or maybe gets a waiver on certain aspects of the test) there in Massachussettes.
It took about 2 minutes to find out via googling Mass emissions testing to find out that gasoline passenger cars in Mass 1999 or newer must be obd tested. I don’t know if the year rolls forward each year.
Old timer-
Should have spent 30 seconds more 
This is just below the obd test requirement on the official site describing what tests are required:
The following types of motor vehicles are exempt from the emissions inspection:
Cars, trucks and SUVs manufactured before model year 1998 no longer receive tailpipe emissions tests but fail their safety inspections if they produce visible smoke
Looks to me like 1998 is still required to pass tailpipe sniff test…
Fixing the emissions problem will boost the selling price.
It might be an inexpensive fix.
Another reason to get the trouble codes and post them here.