GDawgC220

Just curious, wondering how all your w202's are doing...reliable? If you have also have a 2000+ MB, do you think your w202 is better quality in build? Thanks.

Rincewind

mine has been except for a weak battery and faulty air mass meter

Spooky

no problems so far

henry47

SOOOOOOOOOOO many problems. I should've gotten a bimmer

merclover

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO bimmers are even worst man!
i've heard an infinite number of unbelievable stories about flaws and bad reliability. the only bmw my parents have had and the engine blew for no reason at all when it was only 7k miles old. then, to make things spicier, the people at the dealership connected the new engine wrongly to the tranny which after a month or so died too.
my merc however has not given me any headaches so far. nothing at all. its 8 years old, and the battery is still the one which came from the factory. its got 53k miles

tpliquid

MAS died, plugs died at 40k miles plug coils are now dead i think. o2 sensor prolly dead too. antenna mast faliur, brake master cylendar broke, only front brakes work..dats abuot all the problems i had soo far

C230Kompressed

just tires for burning out soo much . and my dag nab left tail brake light keeps going out. thass it. i love my c

soldsep

Should probably get a civic. i think i will get one.

scorchie

Actually, the latest JD Powers survey on long term reliability puts Mercedes as below average, and BMW as above average. Even Chrysler/Dodge cars were above average... so much for Daimler's claim that the merger would help improve the quality and reliability of the American car brands...

-s-

MBenzNL

1993 C250Diesel with a minor 550k kilometer (which equals approx 350k miles):

* cracked rear subframe
* torn front subframe at leftside motormount
* shattered to pieces rightside motormount
* 2 airco condensors
* 1 worn (manual) transmissionbox barel (still new inside )
* diesel fuel distributor (replaced with a used one)
* vaccumpump (replaced with a used one)
* waterpump
* center silencer/muffler
* viscokupplung (for fan - however it is called in english)
* 1 xenon bulb

...and besides that: 2 leaking Koni shocks, 2 broken Sebring mufflers, 5+ cracked windshields, 3 headlight lenses, 6 or 7 AMG C36 bumperlights...but al that has nothing to do with MB quality

Overall I am pretty satisfied...sad thing is that most of the repairs were done between 505k and 545k though...(I own this car myself ever since 125k).

greetingz,

merclover

NOW IS THAT RELIABILITY OR WHAT??
500K kilometres!!!!!!!!!

BenzMan1

I think the question should have been phrased like this:

Just wondering how reliable your W202 is for those who do normal driving...

Benzmeister

I've had 2 problems with my 99 C280 a battery factory recall, the dealer replaced with a new battery and my MAS went, other then that the car is rock solid.

Benzmeister

MBenzNL

oh...ok...besides the time I give my car time to properly heat up in the morning...I beat the h@ll out of that car...german highway trips are done at redline...continously...no mater whether I only drive for 50 kilometer or 500 kilometer.

Cornering is done with the full use of Koni adjusteable shocks and Eibach springs...

greetingz,

Benzmeister

My half brother lives in the Renkum, The Netherlands! He is not a car person however, he is a minister.

vas2vas

MBenzNL :

viscokupplung= viscous coupling= called a fan clutch (in the US anyway)

merclover

the fan in my car always makes a tinny sound when on for a long time, it rattles, does the viscokupplung have anything to do with it?

davis449

After reading this thread for the first time a couple of weeks ago, I went into the garage and found the file of repair papers on the car (95 C 280) and went through them one by one to see what all had been done. The car has only been in my family for a year and a half now and we've had it since 44K (I've had had it since 57K), it now has 62K. Apparrently, this car likes to go through dash bulbs like hell and it had had numerous problems with the central locking system. I do know that the dealer here put an aftermarket remote locking system on the car that ended up shorting out the entire car to the point of not starting. So we had the system taken off and some other locking system work done and now it starts every time fine. Perhaps the most shocking revelation was that at around 30K the transmission had to be replaced in it's entirety! But, overall, since we've had the car, it's had relatively few problems.

merclover

maybe the previous owner was a complete brute driving the car. he must have done something wrong with the tranny for it to die at 30k

Benzmeister

According to the owners manual for my 99 C280, you are suppose to turn the electronic key to the start position and then let it go and the car starts, I would say that 3 out 5 times my car won't start unless I hold the electrid key for a second or two. Any thoughts about this

davis449

My mom's 740 doesn't have a "smart" key, rather a laser cut with a computer chip, or something and it starts the way your car should. I think that is the coolest, you don't have to hold the key to start it.

Benzmeister

Someone once told me to disconnect the battery for at least 10 minutes, this would set the cars computer back to default. I would have to synchro the windows, moonroof and electronic stability control. Any thoughts about doing this?

GDawgC220

All MB's from 2000 and up I believe have "touch start" now, which is pretty much the same. Twist the key once and release and the engine turns over on it's own

Benzmeister

Unfortunetly mine doesn't work all the time!

vas2vas

to: merclover
I assume you talking about the beltdriven main fan....the problem you describe sounds more like a worn out pulley rathen than a bad fan clutch, but then again that is also possible (or both).....if you planning to replace fan clutch, also change pulley (good preventive maintenance action).....