MDEnce

Hello all, I’m Matt from Carson Valley, NV. I’m new to the forum, new to MB’s. I bought a 2000 C230 Kompressor Sport last weekend in Sacramento, CA.
My wife’s brother-in-law has been driving MB’s for years, and is always trying to talk me into getting one. He’s in Redding, CA and has a friend who’s a MB mechanic though.
I was just looking for a compact car that would get better than the 13 MPG my truck got, but when the wife saw and then drove the baby Benz, she was sold. Although the miles were a little high it looked to be in good condition, and was a screaming deal, so I didn’t have it checked out by a mechanic first, just gave it my own once over. I did call the wife’s brother-in-law who called his “MB Guy” and said that it sounded like it was a good deal.

What I knew was broken/missing at purchase was:
antenna mast broken off
missing both rear door pull covers
missing center console cup holder (opens, but all the “guts” are missing)
center console ashtray stuck
volume button on radio missing cap (knob looks like a lighted white piece of plastic, with a metal rod in the center), and turning it gives the volume a mind of it’s own, sometimes doing nothing, sometimes turning down increases volume and vice versa
couple door dings
a scuff on the front corner of the drivers bumper
needs tires
no floor mats
the rear door plates are in the trunk
only one key fob, in not very good condition
it’s the “sport” edition so the interior is carbon fiber instead of wood

I get it home to Nevada and notice:
the left side of the climate controls don’t illuminate (I figure I just need to replace a bulb - but not sure how to get to it or if I can get a replacement bulb at a regular parts place)

Can’t get the car to lock - the lock button on the dash works when you are in the car, and the doors lock at speed, but when you open either front door, all 4 doors unlock, and the center console lock button no longer will re-lock them. The key fob will cause the marker lights to flash when I press unlock, but nothing happens when I push lock on the key fob (the lock button housing is cracked though). Trunk won’t lock either. I’ve replaced the batteries in the key fob with no change. I’ve read that this could either be fuse or antenna related, but can’t find a fuse schematic or antenna wiring diagram to know where to start to look for either of these.

Windshield wiper won’t work. The washer pump works, I sprayed a bug, but the wipers never came on. Then I tried to manually turn them on, and nothing at any setting. I’ve read that this could either be fuse or a wiper motor. I’ve found a cheap wiper motor, but haven’t ordered it yet as I’d like to check fuses first, but just don’t know where to start. My other vehicles all have a single fuse box, so this multiple box thing is foreign to me.

CD changer says missing magazine - haven’t even looked to see if it’s really missing or not.

I got the pop out ashtray unstuck, but the ashtray itself is a little loose in the pop out tray, and the spring at the bottom is able to push it up just high enough that it catches when you close it. I was wondering is there a trick to fixing this, apart from removing the spring altogether?

Have the mobile ding repair guy coming tomorrow to fix the door dings.

I’ve found some new tires for what seems like a good deal. They’re Kumho Ecsta 4X that I can get mounted and balanced, with new valve stems for ~$355 AR. The few reviews I’ve seen of these seem to be good, and they’re over $200 less than the BFG’s I was considering at CostCo, so I think I’ll pull the trigger.

All my other vehicles have bluetooth stereo’s in them. I’d like to just replace the stock radio with something that’s bluetooth capable, if it can use the existing CD changer, that would be great, if it had GPS, even better, but my quick browse of Crutchfield leads me to believe this may be a big problem. Has anyone out there replaced their head unit with an aftermarket ine and been pleased with the results.

So my 3 big questions are:
Where can I get schematic and wiring diagrams?
How can I diagnose and fix the locks?
What is the least expensive way to get another key fob? Is this REALLY a dealer only thing, or can I get one for less somewhere else, and just have the dealer (or someone else) “program” it.

I’m also interested in hearing from anyone who has thoughts on the tires, stereo or other issues.

Finally I'm interested in leaning where I could look for interior trim pieces (i.e. rear door pull covers, console cup holder, etc.) I’m fine with used or non-OEM