anonymousmoose

The W203 is a car in my price range. I'm considering a 320i BMW or a W203 C-Class. I read and heard from owners that the earlier models were riddled with reliability issues but was wondering if the later ones in the series, 04-06, have the bugs been fixed?

The issues I read about are mostly electrical and some engine problems. Like the chain going etc. Register today for free or log in if already registered to remove this ad!
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Regards

AM

Glyn M Ruck

Cars are pretty much sorted from 2003 onwards. 2004/2006 you are safe. From what you are driving I presume you are in Aus. SA supplied Aus so I can guarantee 2003 cars onward as good. SA built cars never gave the level of trouble that US cars did. Once Benz realised that they had some problems with their computer simulated endurance testing they did on-road endurance testing here & Namibia. Thus problems got sorted in production the minute they showed themselves on SA built cars. A lot of "nice to haves" were deleted from newer cars to make them less complex & keep the sticker price down. Moreso on US configured models which were offered with packages rather than a lot of standard stuff followed by tick the box of options thereafter. e.g very few US cars had full leather, Parktronic & BiX standard & had stupid things like 1 brake pad wear sensor instead of 4. However US cars were quite a bit cheaper than we are used to so we deserve something for our money.

Suggest you look for an Elegance or Avantgarde - The Classic models were a bit basic.

My car has had in 7 years.

2 X Castor bushes - a known problem & redesigned - replaced under warranty $18 each.
1 X 5 cent transmission drain plug washer due to a minor fluid weep - replaced under warranty.
1 X RHS stop lamp - own cost

Otherwise standard servicing, brake pads & tyres.

anonymousmoose

Yes I'm in Perth Australia.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware the US ones were not make in S.A.

A friends family owned a C180, I'm guessing it was an earlier model because it wasn't a kompressor. I was told that it spent more time in the workshop then on the road and cost a fortune to keep running.

I've been looking at BMW but as a kid I've always loved Mercedes. There are less reports of the 3 series E90 going wrong and lots of the W203. But maybe getting a later model W203, say 2006 would be ok.

What about an 05 E200 Kompressor? They go for a little more then the C200 but a bigger car. I know its the same engine but I have also read keep away from the E-Class of these years.

Glyn M Ruck

The E Class was more troublesome than the C in the early 2000's. Forget an E200. It's a gutless wonder. Too big for the little 4 cylinder M111 or M271 engines. Fine in places like Singapore where it's flat & you can't travel fast anyway.

A 2006 would be great in the C Class & I would try & get a V6. Really tough engines.

It's funny how different markets have different experience but the 3 series E90 was/is not considered a robust car in SA. In fact BMW's in general don't hold resale value well here because they don't make old bones well whereas Benz are considered some of the longest life expectancy cars on the market. Our company has Benz cars (C's & E's) in taxi service to the airport etc. at well over 600,000Km and still running well with no major repairs. No BMW would ever do that kind of mileage in this environment. A friend of mine has a C240 in Malaysia that has 780,000Km on the clock with no major repairs.

SA made the W203 for Africa, UK & Australasia. It now builds the W204 for the US. The US was supplied with the W203 from Brazil & Germany.

The pre Kompressor W203's were the worst of the worst. Mainly built in 2000.

sure1

Hi Glyn,
I'm a newbie and posted earlier under that thread. I was concerned to read of the many problems associated with the W203. You have allayed my fears.

Yesterday, I took deliver of my 2007 C230, it had 36202 km on the odometer.
I check the car when at home and found a full sized spare tyre was on a steel rim as against the 16" alloys on all fours. Strangely, the spare tyre was a Bridgestone made in France whereas the orginal four on the road was Michelins, made in Germany. I know the first owner well but they are not so tech savvy but said the spare was as what came with the car when new.

I suppose if the car was supplied to Australia from SA they could be supplied/made to a spec to meet a price to suit our market.

Can you comment. Thanks

Glyn M Ruck

The steel spare is standard & you will find a set of shorter bolts in the trunk to use it. Do not use the longer alloy bolts on the back with a steel spare or you will ruin the parking brake mechanism. The steel wheel should have come with the same tyre fitted to the alloys originally. The doorjam sticker will tell you country of build. 2007 could have been either Germany or SA. SA stopped building 203's for Aus to get ready to build W204 for the US.

Enjoy - Really nice car!

C280 Sport

I dont know if it occures on all of the W203's but almost all the W203's 05-07 I have ever been in have a weird feel when it comes to the speedo area and the A/C Heat vents. They creek like crazy. The plastic rim inside the speedo moves easy and creeks. A 07 C230 I looked at did that. My 05 does it sometimes. My cousins 07 C280 and my friends 06 C230 V6 all do that. But I know people with early W203's who dont have these weird little issues

laneshift

Hah! Mine did that!!

ao125

Nice place - though my ex wife is from there. I'll try not to hold it against you

Anyway - no complaints from my 2005 except an odd issue with the Harman Kardon radio. From time to time it will go completely to static, or error out and be silent for a few hours. Usually only happens during the summer.

I also had a leak coming from an electrical connector on the transmission.

Other than that, it's a pleasure to drive.

Glyn M Ruck

That was fixed in 2002. South Africa produced an anti rattle, squeak, creek kit for Benz that was supposed to fix all that. Our cars are dead quiet. You cannot purchase the kit of fixes - It was a production fix.

You can usually tell if it was fitted if your seat upholstery has fabric side panels stiched in to them to stop the leather/MBTex from squeaking against the plastic seat side covers. That was just one of about 150 fixes.

sure1

Wow! Glyn, You are a walking encyclopedia. After you mentioned above, I checked the seats and yes, mine had the fabric stitched to the lower part of the seats. BTW, I checked the plate and found my car was manufactured in Indonesia. I do not know if this is good or otherwise. All this time I thought it would have been from SA. Would they have "assembled" from CKD or actually manufactured the car from local components?

Going back to those "problematic" CPS/TPS, is there a replacement maintenance schedule? or is this replaced when they breakdown? What are the usual odometer reading when they start to give trouble? Are there any particular driving actions which cause early wear of such components?

Cheeze! I asked many questions. Hope you and all your other forum members do not mind sharing such knowledge with a "newbie".

Best Regards & with thanks.

Glyn M Ruck

Indonesian & Vietnamese cars are assembled from CKD kits - no local content. I can't talk for Indonesia - I have little experience of cars built there. Vietnamese built cars are superb. They really take it seriously. I would be very happy with a Vietnamese built car. Toyota's Indonesian plant does a pretty good job.

CPS & TPS failures are completely unpredictable. No service requirement. No kind of operation accelerates their failure. It is luck of the draw with CPS failure being mainly due to long exposure to high temperature.

Don't worry about them. Just look out for the telltale signs of imminent failure.

sure1

Hi Glyn,

Thanks for that. Now I can enjoy my car with the knowledge I've gain from you and this forum.

Cheers