nlinesk8s

I've a 2003 coupe I bought for peanuts, due to a) a misaligned exhaust cam when they did the head/timing, and b) a blown front SAM. I've been slowly doing all the deferred maintenance and bringing it back up to spec to be a daily driver. Latest was a heater core. I still have some work to do on a pesky oil leak, and I have my doubts I'll ever have a working antenna or door locks from the fob, but it's pretty much there.

C230 Sport Coup

Looks like an 05 from headlights and grill, but
then you say 04 and as we all know, parts can be swapped,
Nice hardtop, clean!

MBS E53

I still have my 2002. White w/black interior. 6 Speed. About 65 - 70K miles (not exactly sure, my wife drives it now). Has been bulletproof since I bought it in July 2002. Nothing but routine maintenance needed.
Took it to my MB mechanic a few months ago, told him to keep it a few days.week, whatever, take it home/commute to see what problems he could find with it, gave him Carte Blanche to fix whatever was needed.
All he could find was fluids change, replace passenger side mirror glass, trunk struts. I did tell him to leave the pano roof alone, though.
Was thinking about selling it, but its not worth anything on the market.
MBS

S70Houston

Keep it, especially with these low miles.

cantaffordturbo

Recently purchased a 2003 c320 coupe in magma red. 6 speed manual with 200k km on it. In the shop because the detent is getting replaced. Still waiting to get it back.

doctorpen

New 2002 C200K Coupe owner and forum user here! Bought mine as my first car a month or two ago (got it pretty cheap) at 160,000kms and am loving it so far. It's running/idling rough now but I think I know how to fix it so it should work out alright hopefully. Good to see plenty of fellow CL203 owners in the forums still

C-house

I still have my White 03 C230 coupe. I don't want to sell it for quite a while their value has basically bottomed out here in South Africa so I should not lose much if I sell it now or in a few years.
I just love mine it suits my needs well. A friend of mine got an 04 Silver coupe a few months ago and we still want to do a road trip together with our coupes.

Koru_Kinshi

I miss mine. :/

​I'm actually looking for an '02 C230 or '03-'05 C320 in a 6-speed to buy and own again. If anyone in here feel the urge to sell, please drop me a line. It's hard to find a decent one of these with a stick shift or somewhat cared for. M111 or M112 all the way.

TheRotaryFox

A bit late, but I've kept my dad's 02 C230K alive. He upgraded to a 2018 Tesla Model 3 and wanted to scrap the coupe, but I stopped him and saved it from a horrible fate. It sat for a while but now I have it up and running. I did an oil change with my friends which was a fun experience, but it needs more love. I need to get some fresh rubber, and brakes, repair the headlights, replace some bulbs, and maybe do some interior mods to make it a bit more modern. Otherwise, it's a fun little car, especially with the 6-speed manual (which I should probably get looked at by a local German shop). I've also seen a thread discussing a supercharger oil change which I'm on the fence about. There also seems to be a problem where if the battery dies the odometer rolls back a little, for example, last year the car said it had 138k miles but now it says 136k. Other than those little nitpicks, I love the car and its capabilities. M111 FTW!

C230 Sport Coup

All easy stuff. How many miles? Supercharger oil change typically requires removing the supercharger.
I've now done it a bunch of times. You need some socket universals to get around the bends to the bolts, but otherwise not a problem. I picked up a "new" to me supercharger recently from car-parts.com recently.
I searched for the least expensive one closest to me on c230 and 01-04 SLK and found one with 80K miles for ~$250 shipped. I thought it had seized but actually it was the alternator. It was much easier replacing the alternator with the SC out. I was all set to do a head gasket recently but I'm having trouble with m knee and can't stand for extended period. Arrgh. M111 tends to leak coolant from #4 cylinder but mostly outside. Been topping it up for 100K miles
Just passed 251K miles! New front AMG brakes, new tires and much more. As far as updating the look, clear headlights, fog lights, and 2005 tail lights helps a lot.

TheRotaryFox

It has roughly 137k miles on it.
Updating the looks is something I really want to do, but that takes a backseat while I get the maintenance sorted out.
The poor thing sat outside for almost a year while the nice and shiny new cars stayed in the garage. Otherwise, it sat in the garage for almost 3 years.
One thing that did happen a year ago was my dad took it out for a quick drive and parked it on the driveway. He went to start it up to make a minor adjustment to his parking, but the car just lost all electric power. It ran fine before, but there was no sign of life. We had to push it into the garage and it sat for a while before I tried to fix it. In the end, putting in a little oil helped somehow. Is this an issue that I should be more wary of or was it a one-time thing?
Thanks for informing me about the cyl 4 leak issue, I'll make sure to check the coolant level more often.

C230 Sport Coup

MFD on dash, will tell you when you're low on coolant,
or it may erroneously say washer fluid.
137k miles is nothing! I'm at 251k miles. But you will need alternator, and starter soon if not done already.
If starter sticks get a piece of pipe from hardware store and bang on the starter, will likely start.
Keep it with you till you can replace starter.
Water pump and fuel pump lasted till 200K for me. Power steering pump and ac compressor still original.
Flush tranny, ATF134, change diff oil etc. Clean the MAF. Hard to get a good quality new one these days.
I had so many problems due to MAF and finally found NOS one from 2002 on Ebay, and runs perfect again!
When adding coolant use 50 50 with distilled water.
Use G05 coolant or Mercedes branded.
Keep it out of the rain if you can or as much as you can, water plays havoc with the electronics (and seems to get in no matter what you do)
but most problems seem to resolve themselves after drying out. Leave it out in heavy rain for days on end, and you may find it won't turn over,
or fan running constantly or, no light on dash and headlights on by themselves. But a few days in the sun, with windows cracked, and
just seems to fix itself. So leaving it parked then driving into garage, moving water around might
kill it. Water gets in Canbus wiring, SAMS and wiring under trunk panel. Once I could not get the dash panel to come back to life, but took it to
Palo Alto speedometer,. they tested it, and their test jig just miraculously brought it back from the dead,
Which is good since replacement (aside from the part) requires some involvement from a dealer or a place like Palo Alto speedometer
and hundreds of dollars maybe more. Old battery can cause weird problems too even if it starts.
Test for CCA and IMHO if it gets below 400CCA time to replace before trouble ensues.
Don't put too many keys or weight on your keyring. Be gentle with the key fob, and replace the batteries once a year.
it cots $1000 to replace ignition switch /EIS.
Knock on wood.
DONT PUT TINT REAR WINDOW ON WITH HATCH UP. Water will kill antenna amp.
Which means no remote key or radio.
Lastly check to see if radiator is Behr or Valeo. Valeo will leak and kill your tranny.
Lots of info! Once you have it running take to the dealer and ask them to do something
basic like a simple oil change and ask them to perform any service bulletin items that it may be due for,
for FREE. Make sure you brakes and tires are good before you go, or they may refuse to give it back, without it being towed.
Which I've never seen happen but read about someone who had it happen.
I mean sure fine have AAA pick it up and drop off wherever it they pull that crap.

TheRotaryFox

Thank you for all this info!
I have a few questions about some of the things you mentioned.
How do I know if I have a Behr or Valeo radiator?
What is CCA?

We replaced the battery maybe 1 - 2 years ago, and I keep it on a trickle charger most of the time due to the lack of use.
My dad never changed the key fob batteries, but I recently did and have had no problem with either one.

I also had the machine gun lock issue but fixed it with a paper clip and some packaging tape. Would this work for the long term or should I get it officially repaired by a shop?

The only 2 main things that bother me about the car right now are that the shifter shakes a little bit whenever I drive it (probably shifter bearings) and the MFD is barely visible 90% of the time.

slammer111

^ The most obvious way is that Valeo and Behr radiators physically look different, in terms of the way the metal is crimped. Then there is also the method via finding the brand label. But I can't remember where the stickers are. All I remember is that mine is a Behr and the sticker wasn't at the top, and that I needed a flashlight. It's either along the sides, or the bottom. Valeo updated their radiators not long after the problem was discovered, so any new radiator you buy today will be fine, if you stick to the dealer or a reputable site.

CCA is cold crank amps, which is how much juice the battery can provide when cranking. The battery will have a sticker and a rating, but you will need a specialized tool to test this. Your local indie will probably have this tool. Basically it's a commercial grade fancy ammeter with some extra bells and whistles.

The door lock machine gun issue is caused by a broken spring inside the module. See here for more details. Not sure why one of the posts has a link to a sketchy site that throws a browser malware warning, but thought I should mention. Your options are to either buy new door modules (expensive, and totally not worth it), or simply buy replacement springs online and open up the modules and replace them. This job is much more difficult for a coupe than a sedan unfortunately, so I feel your pain. Looks like the site where I bought my springs doesn't exist anymore, so eBay is your friend. I'd recommend buying in pairs, since this thing is basically a ticking time bomb on every door.

C230 Sport Coup

2 other things I didn't mention and don't have time to go into detail.
Make sure you have pigtail connectors on cam magnets or
oil may enter the wiring harness and oh....not fun.
I think it's a service bulletin and dealer might fix for free. Not certain.
Maybe call and ask if you still able to get stuff updated for free and have them
run your vin to see if anything is needed.
Also, lastly trans oil getting past orings on transmission connector can again wick into wiring harness
on automatic, so you need to replace 2035400253 when u do the transmission filter and fluid.
No issue on manual.

jonesymj

I just put my "Fun Merc" back on the road yesterday... 2003 automatic with 224,000km's on it. Picked it up 2 1/2 years ago at an auction for $1750. Needed a vacuum pump, and the water hose underneath it was rotting due to oil seepage so it went for cheap. Sunroof doesn't work right (surprise surprise) and I think I'm due for lower control arms, but it's a fun little run about in spite of its issues.

C230 Sport Coup

Regarding MFD. Buy a new screen. Easy to replace. I got one years ago through the forum, but I think you should be able to find one. Takes about 15 minutes, no screws involved at all! I'll keep my eyes peeled if you need help removing the instrument panel or locating new screen.

C230 Sport Coup

What color is that? Paint looks perfect!

judithana

One more. 2003 C230 kompressor. Bought in 2005. Currently at 86,000. Everything is stock. The only repairs are my O2 sensor went out and it was determined that a fuel ejector was leaking.

Todwick

My SportCoupe has been relegated to my daily winter driver, which winter wheels of course. I believe I am close to 250k miles. The downside currently is that some of the actuators gears for defrost have broken, so I have to leave the heat on auto and run the vehicle for 10 minutes to clear the windshield. I’d have to pull out the entire dash to get at those to replace them. This might be its last winter… we’ll see.

slammer111

^ The HVAC stepper motor issue is common, and can be DIYed. I assume you've seen the sticky.

Why throw away a car just because of a single failed component?

With that said, be sure to check and fix anything that's remotely broken while you have everything apart. Your car has 10 motors, 9 of which are accessible once the upper dash is off.

C230 Sport Coup

My floor is open constantly so air never blows that good from the dash.
I recently recharged the AC for the exact reason you mentioned.
All the windows were fogging up, especially at night when it got really cold.
I wonder if you are experiencing a similar issue? And yes, I didn't need it to cool the car, just defrost.
Works great now. Windows clear up in a minute.
Before you tear everything apart be sure to do the flap reset which is accomplished by holding 2 of the buttons
on the climate control panel...I forget, but I'm sure if you search you will find it.
Also my iCarsoft tells me that I have an obstruction in a flap and which one.
Yeah, thats a PIA repair. I've lived with it for years now.
I did see a mechanic doing it once...oh man. What a job, but doable.

TheRotaryFox

Wanted to give an update as the car nears 22 years of life.
I have been having a blast with this little rocket!
I have done a coolant flush, replaced the engine air filter, and swapped out the pads and rotors.
I also refreshed the headlights which changed the entire car.
The car hit 138k a week ago.
Sadly, there seems to be a large coolant leak which will put my fun on hold, but it shouldn't be a big problem (knock on wood).
Also, the front left turn signal socket seems to have melted, which I have been a bit lazy to fix.




M111 FTW!

C230 Sport Coup

Coolant leak might be #4 cylinder head gasket leak. Notorious on M111. I've been topping it up for the last 100k miles. Don't see the point in fixing it now at 255k miles. Likely the chain will fail at some point. Maybe do an engine swap at that point or just break down and get a different car. Original owner for 22 years with the same car, crazy! I still love driving it. I wrapped the cabin filter in plastic wrap, and only run the air on recirc to avoid breathing antifreeze vapors. Other than that pesky leak, running great though not without some effort. Lots of new parts lately and had steering wheel refinished. Unfortunately my iCarsoft scanner won't clear the SRS error from removing and installing.

TheRotaryFox

The coolant leak seems to be a failed water pump and/or water pump gasket. Somehow my M111 doesn't leak coolant from the head gasket yet, and hopefully, it stays that way.
I don't use the AC much so I should be fine until summertime.
I'm debating taking it to a local trusted Euro garage to have the clutch, water pump, and all the fluids changed. The cost would be high, but the peace of mind would be nice.