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I do Solo II at a novice level but I am trying to break into a more competitive category.

 But I don't really have any great desire now to get one of the top car classes, for various reasons I won't get into.

 So I've just been thinking, I have an older 1999 MB E320. On the road it has decent pickup but poor braking and its turning is a little boat-like.

 The question is, for stock classes can the E320 be a good car to use? Are there any modifications I can legally make that would help without going into another class? I'd like to stay stock bec once you go over to the dark side of modifications it will never end.

Since nobody else is willing to reply, I'll chime in.

I don't think the E320 will be very competitive.  The soft suspension and automatic transmission will likely conspire to put you at the back of the pack.  That said, every car is fun to autocross, so why not take it to a local event and enter it in the street tire class.  As long as you have a good set of summer tires on it, you'll at least get an idea of how well it can do.
 

It probably won't be competitive in the end. I'm in a similar situation to you right now, as I just got into autocross this year in my '05 Subaru Legacy. It's a great car on the road, but it's heavy and softly sprung. However it's still great fun to drive, even if I don't have any chance of really being competitive. I had a blast at the Atlanta Nat'l Tour, and I was a good 5 seconds behind the next slowest guy! Just drive it and practice on your technique. You'll find that refining that will do far more good for your car than any amount of modification. If you really do want to modify it, it might be good to invest in some good adjustable shocks, to help with the body roll. That way you can still stay in Stock. A spare set of wheels with R-comps won't hurt either, but those can get expensive real quick!

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Aditya "Deech" Madhavan

1 HS - '05 Subaru Legacy 2.5i