eatfordshtdodge

at the risk of sounding like a complete newbie and wasting bandwidth... if theres a prior post like this please direct me to it... my search resulted in nothing



im looking to buy a 1997+ C230K or C280. ive done extensive research but i want personal opinions. in my area, there is a 2000 c230k with 85k miles for $11900 for sale and at another dealer a 2000 c280 with 88k miles for $10900. Both sport packages...

based on sheer driving experience/ performance what would you pick?

id pick the c230 since its comparable in power but has slightly better mpg

thanks for your input guys.

PJmak

performance is pretty much the same

Id go with the c280 since its cheaper

updated c280s have better gas milage then preupdated if I'm not wrong and the whole car is 25% lighter then preupdated c280s

never driven a c230k but I think it actually is a tiny bit faster in 0-60

if you watch this video below, it tells you the specs of every 202 at the end

like 0-60 and power and stuff

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GuenEmUbqmI

Untertürkheim

They are both excellent cars, is the equipment in each identical?

The C230K will require a bit more attention than the 280, but the 230K has a bit more low end power. I would choose the 280 for high speed highway, but possibly the 230K for in town driving.

SechsPackSound

I test drove a facelifted C280 V6 quite a while which came with the touchtronic gearbox, and had a considerably better acceleration time as compared to the phased out Straight Six model. The updated C280 is a quick car, with incredible lightness, when compared to the older model (which feels considerably heavier) and is suprisingly a lot smoother and has more torque at lower revs than the Straight Six, you could feel the difference if you test drove both of them. I'm not in a position to advise you on whether you should go for the C230 Kompressor or the C280 V6 as I've not driven a C230 Kompressor. But all I can say is that the C280 V6 is a great vehicle with a very smooth engine and great performance so I ended up buying it.

PJmak

my brotjher has a v6 280 and I have a straight 6 and trust me I know the difference, v6 is so much more responsive

xvvvz

The v6 is going to be smoother running. No supercharger to worry about (superchargers are usually pretty trouble-free but they are expensive to repair if you do happen to have a problem).

The 230k is going to be more peppy/agressive but not nearly as smooth. Easier to access the engine parts to work on if you like to do that stuff yourself. Gas mileage is an odd thing. Some 230ks get great gas mileage while others do not. You can see a few threads on the various forums where the cars get great highway mileage but are not very good around town. You might want to call and compare insurance rates to see if there is a difference.

Given identical condition cars and a 280 costing less, I would be very tempted to go with that if you did not plan to do your own work on the car.

Substance

2000 model year comes with 5 speed touch-shift tranny. you can drive the car like a manual (no clutch of course) nowadays this is very common on all cars.

a better antenna for the radio(exact same technology now found on the newest models) its a multipurpose antenna designed for the teleaid system and the on board car phone system which are now useless, mb wont activate the system since they are abondoning the old analog system in a few months.
however if you want to install aftermarket gps navigation , satellite radio , cell-phone kit you can use this antenna ,it will boost signal and will yield better reception than the either gps , sat radio or cellphones antenna.

Sport edition was only offered for 2000 model year i believe. it has a stiffer suspension 16 inch (instead of 15s) alloys. two-tone interior(but nothing like the one on C43s) a different steering wheel(i personaly like none-sport C230/280 steering wheel and seats better). Also the wheels on these cars are nothing special(e.g the ones on sport edition doesnt really look to sporty for me) again the standart none sport edition wheels look more mercedes to me(maybe because its big brother w140 S class had similar looking wheels)
unfortunately the sport edition is not lower than non-sport.

now lets talk about 230 vs 280(since u plan on 97+ i wont include i6 280 here only v6 280)


if you tune up the car (new plugs, fluids, filters etc..) you should be able to get at least 22 mpg in city with moderate driving. and at least 27 on highway.
i usually cruse around 80-85mph and i get 30mpg easy after new bosch iridium plugs and wires, k&n air and oil filter , mobil 1 extended performance syntetic oild. mobil fuel filter. before tune up i was getting 26-27mpg car had 60k miles. i dont know what i get for city mpg after tune-up because i havent used the car other than highway driving last 2 years.

for performance, 280 is better for highway crusing. in city i believe 230 and 280 would be neck to neck but after 60mph 280 would start to pull

mod possiblities :230 is cheaper to mod. a simple ecu will exceeds chipped 280 hp and tq figures by 10hp 10tq or more. pulleys will make the gap bigger.
i believe if ur not willing to part with around 10k for a supercharger, the most you can get out of 280 is 220hp and for 230 about 240ish.

options: 280 is equiped with more luxuary features like power front seats. digital a/c.
there are very very rare examples of these cars with factory xenons(small headlight wiper will give away this) rain-sensing windshield wiper, pnuematic (air lumbar support) seat. 6 disc CD changer, heated seats. most of these options are very costly and most of the times not possible to upgrade later on.

here is what would be my piorities:

2000 C280 none-sport edition with lowest miles and owners possible
clean carfax is a must, paper work and records are also important.
silver and black has a better resale if you also think about the future.(maybe white too)
if i can find several cars fitting these criterias i would pick the most optioned one.

dont forget to keep about 250-350 from your budget for the tune-up. maybe another 500 for new tires

if you can get a decent aftermarket warranty it pays off well. for example i had the mercedes cpo warranty(u cant buy this no more)for 3 years which i payed about 3500 i believe. the repairs covered by the warranty so far exceeded the price i payed number. most of the repairs were not necessary like i had the a/c digital unit replaced (1100$ at mb stealership) because of missing single dot in the read-out. the key had a small crack , they replaced it under warranty another(350$) as you can see repairs at mb dealer is very expensive. an aftermarket warranty for 2 years would be around 1700-2000 for you.

eatfordshtdodge

wow great responses. i joined benz forum and i got all of one reply. and not a good one at that.

eatfordshtdodge

yeah i like the fact that the 2000 cars have the auto/stick feature. the two c-classes i found are both silver, both two tone interior packages with the sport steering wheel etc... the c230 with the analog climate control the 280 with digital. im doing carfax on all the cars im checking out as well. id say 80k miles is pretty acceptable for a now 8 year old car.

as far as tune up... i used to work as a mechanic, and my old boss used to play with bmw's in the middle east as a kid. my brother gets parts at cost/wholesale. hopefully that helps

eatfordshtdodge

why would it require more attention?

SechsPackSound

I think its the supercharger of the C230 Kompressor that needs more attention, but I'll wait for other owners to reply just to confirm that.

Untertürkheim

Maintenance intervals are shorter on the 230K, but not by much.

Regarding some other information earlier on:

It is possible to have a 230 and 280 with identical equipment. The ONLY feature that came on the 280 (standard) and could not be ordered on the US 230 is the fully automatic climate control, the 230K instead had dual zone climate control. Some people prefer the 2 zone system, others prefer the full auto, it is a matter of taste.

All other features could be ordered on either model (which is why many people opted to get a well equipped 230K for the price of a base 280)

The Special Edition was essentially the C2 (Bose, Moonroof) package + C6 Sports Package, with 2-Tone Black/Grey interior. Wheels were S.P. wheels.

Leather was optional in both models, but I believe it was included in the sport package.

The 230K and 280 are both excellent performers, for use in the US, no real way to differentiate since they are both limited to ~135 mph. Delimited the 280 should be able to reach a slightly higher speed since I believe it has a slightly higher rear axle ratio. Again, probably immaterial.

My goal would be to find one with as many options as possible. I personally would only consider one with the sport package, the more direct steering ratio and tighter suspension are better IMO.

It all comes down to taste, a good friend of mine recently bought a very well equipped 2000 C230, and absolultely loves it.

eatfordshtdodge

sorry, i just dont understand how a supercharger requires attention. superchargers are supposed to be maintenance free.... unless something breaks of course

Untertürkheim

It is a general rule that a forced induction engine will require more strict maintenence, extracting more power per unit of volume is more taxing on the parts, which is why these engines are also reinforced to handle it.

Goldeni245

I have the 1999 C230K, i love it. Sounds like a weed whacker sometimes when the supercharger spools up though

eatfordshtdodge

ill take a 190hp weedwhacker any day.

san francisco, eh? me too

Goldeni245

haha, it is a unique noise the supercharger makes. the 230K certainly feels faster off the line due to the amount of torque that peaks, is available and holds from 1800rpms to 3000 i think. it's a very zippy car (perfect for zippin' up those hills in San Francisco haha) I'm a teenager so the roughness and noise of the inline 4 doesn't bother me too much. The c280 is smoother and more quiet.

Also, I chipped my car with an Upsolute reprogram and it also feels a little faster. Smoked C280's and c240's left and right haha.

fju2112

good info for a potential newbie. I have an E320 and want to add a C280 to teh fam...found a gem (hopefully) for sale about 100 miles away and am going to make the trip in a couple days if it's still around.

barrysuperhawk

I just made that exact same choice [280 v 230k] a couple months ago. I chose the 230K and I couldn't be happier. I am lucky enough to be one of the ones that gets FANTASTIC mileage [32-35 on the highway if I use cruise] and so far I love it. My choice was between 5 cars, all 1999 or 2000, 2 C230k's [one with 80k and one with 120k] 2 C280's [90k and 145k] and a C230K hatchback or whatever they call the coupe. I drove them all and, honestly, the coupe was the fastest feeling, but not by much. I chose the lowest mileage C230K sedan [80K] for $8000... [yeah it's nice to be in the cheap-midwest]

eatfordshtdodge

yeah, im glad with my choice. its a great car. i already want to upgrade to a bigger badder benz though

eatfordshtdodge

oh and in case i didnt mention, i bought my car last month.

2000 C230 Kompressor.
Silver with black and silver interior.
85k miles on it.
Flat MB hood emblem
AMG style grille. not sure if its real or not. probably not.
$11k

Its really a fun little car. Easy to drive. Not as fun as my brothers 330i. but still a great car. Cant beat 30-35 mpg from a supercharged luxury car!

tanktube67

wellcome to MBW