Glyn M Ruck

South Africa has the contract to build W204 for the US market with minor top up from Germany. Most US W204's come from SA & will until 2014/15 when production of the W205 moves to Tuscaloosa USA. Then SA's production will help with Asian demand.

The East London plant in SA has just received the JD Powers top quality ward again - for producing the best quality of all Benz plants. The SA plant has frequently won this. Benz plants in Germany use cheap Turkish labour & it shows.

Early W203's that were "virtually" endurance tested by computer instead of on the road were troublesome vehicles - This was mainly 2000 & 2001 models with big improvements from mid 2002 onward. The E class of this era was also troublesome.

South African built W203's never gave the trouble that US cars from Brazil & Germany did.

Our W203 has had 2 castor bushes (a known problem that persists on the W204), One 5 cent tranny plug washer to stop an oil weep & one stoplight lamp in 7 years. Pretty good I would say. The vehicle is as new & dead silent - not one squeak or rattle & appox 47% SA content by weight.

Our South African built C350 Elegance W204 has been totally trouble free - 2008 model. Zero repairs - only standard servicing.

C300Sport

Sorry if I sounded too worked up....was just prompted to reply with the "stupid looking", "badly aged", etc. comments.

You do realize there are over 300 posts on this thread don't you??

C300Sport

Yea, the 204 is certainly not perfect. The castor bushings have been my car's only real problem area. I have had the right done once and the left twice.

Glyn M Ruck

No problem - we're cool Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder - thank god.

The W204 is a darn good car - I've never been wild about the styling but still like the car or we would not have bought one.

tijn

yep. popular topic.

The main problem I had with my w203 was the stupid vent clicking (slipping cogs) noise which I was told they never fixed in production, because they used plastic cogs when metal ones were needed? Anyway I got mine replaced under warranty with metal ones, never had a problem since. My w203 is made in South Africa.

Also the plastic grab handle broke randomly one day with my wife closing the door like every other day?

Glyn M Ruck

I presume that you are in Australia, SA or similar. The stepper motor arms were a German design mess-up & were redesigned in SA. The new ones are not metal they are plastic but strengthened & don't fail. They are now made in Germany - see part number

If your door pull broke it's still German or Brazilian. SA redesigned them too. What year is your car? Both of these were common problems on early cars.

Stepper motor arms:

Top old broken - Bottom two new design

tijn

correct, I live in Australia.

Yes sorry you are correct they made some harden plastic version, and yes your pictures are spot on, the exact part that were broken. Did they ever make the cars with the harden plastic off the production line? or was this a post production line fix? I was told it wasn't fixed till 2007?

My car is a White C200 Elegance MY2003.

Glyn M Ruck

Yes. They were replaced in production about mid 2003. Your Aus dealer is talking crap. My car came new in October 2003 with them. I was on assignment with Caltex to Asia Pacific based in Sydney & ordered my car new from Aus 3 months before I moved back to SA.

You must just have missed them.

After problems started showing up in the W203 they were endurance tested in South Africa, Namibia & Norway (for cold weather testing). Much the same as the W204 was from scratch - Benz learned their lesson with the 203. SA was given HVAC stepper arms, pull handles, the rattle & squeak kit development & a whole host of issues to fix. Germany did the rest like A/C compressor etc. The W203 was launched late into the US and never really up spec'ed like SA cars. Very few had full leather & BiX, Parktronic etc - never offered Parktronic stateside. Early cars from Brazil & Germany to the US were a nightmare. We were lucky in SA - things got fixed here very quickly.

The only thing that took a long time for Benz to get fixed was the M271 engine camshaft position sensor oil leak into the engine harness problem.

tijn

Sounds like a typical car dealer to me.

Yeah must have missed them by a few months, matters not tho, I had the new ones fitted for free under warranty anyway.

C300Kid

If you all think the W204 looks dated, what do you think about the Corolla-esque 3 series or the current A4 that looks almost the same as it's predecessor..or the buck-toothed TSX?

Like I said..MB still wins best styling in the class.

tijn

There is a reason why i don't own an Audi A4. I can't see the difference between a B7 and B8, and it still looks like a year 2000 car.

true

FrankW

good job on talking out of your ***.

what about the grille? Mercedes put the star on it because it mimics the old days where the performance "coupes" has them does it look right on a sedan? NO. it doesn't even really work for the C63 as well. what is a fender blister? I'm lost on that one. The clamshell hood is a fail. The gap it produces on the side is not that pleasing to look at especially on my white one. and what the hell is a tumblehome?

the taillight on the 204 is UGLY. plain and simple. there's no other way around it and the reason it is styled the way it is is for aerodynamic purpose.

the reason w203 had a lot of issue is because they're over-engineered and really a test bed for what made the W209 and R171 better. The W204 interior wise is pretty simple you have less trim on the door, less trim on the center console, simpler cup-holder, simpler ash tray, etc. there are less thing to go wrong. There is no rear bumper support for the rear of the W204 while there is a 3 piece bumper support for the W203. The side-marker on the US spec W203 is actually thought out and designed. The side-marker cut-out for the W204 is clearly a after thought leaving every bumper different because they're cut after the bumper is made.

K-A

LOL.

I'm glad to see someone else agree that the Benz "Grille Star" is WAY whored out, and shouldn't be on M-B SUV's, Sedans, Minivans, Trucks, etc. etc. It is a braggart type of attraction.

However, I do think technically it fits with the front end design of the W204 fine, "appropriateness" aside. And it doesn't bug me too much, maybe it's because my attention is focused to the horrid aftermarket Star-Grille replacements people put on M-B Sedans that aren't proportioned at all to work cohesively or smoothly with one.

Funny thing is, people got so used to wanting the Star grille because it was a more rare sight or whatever, and now EVERY M-B has the Star grille but the S and E-Class. Makes the Luxury grille more unique, in regards to the newer models, lol.

FrankW

the B8 A4 S-line prestige looks a lot better than the W204 with AMG kit. option by option.

K-A

FrankW, do you have any side-by-side's of your two C's? Would love to see them next to each other.

FrankW

never liked the giant star on the grille and never will. the reason I slap on the luxury grille and painted the insert black. i did gave the 63 style grille a shot tho because i like the mesh between the slats.

FrankW

good question...side-by-side...no. similar angle shots yes. i only go out and take pics when i get new mods. LOL

the front



the rear



this is about as close to a side-by-side..LOL

K-A

Haha, nice, thanks. Both definitely have their perks.

I saw a white '06-'07-ish W203, nicely equipped it seemed, nice stocker wheels, and the white-ish interior with the dark wood accents. VERY nice, and super elegant/classy, whilst also very sporty in that classic, yet "not trying too hard" way. Mid teens it was selling for, almost wanted to buy it for my GF to drive around, just so I can have it around, lol.

Glyn M Ruck

Frank - I like your car with the Elegance grill. I'm a traditionalist & that's why we got another Elegance

Bluewater41

Personally, I really enjoyed my BMW coupe when I had it, the styling, handling, look, etc. But, when it came time to look at a sedan for family reasons, I really did not like the BMW 3-series sedans (new or old), they just lacked that sporty, aggressive style that I found with the W204 C350. Regarding the W204 vs W203, I cannot compare because I've only ever owned this one MB, but the W203's looks caught my eye before and I was interested in it, but not anywhere near as excited as the W204. As I pass the W203's on the road, I am more than happy I made the choice to purchase my W204, although the purchase was based on looks comparison alone.

C300Sport

Frank, just because I don’t agree with you and used a few terms you are not familiar with does not mean I am talking out of my ***, thanks.
I never said I am unabashedly in love with my 204, especially the grill. I have always felt the sport grill is a bit over the top and even installed a luxury grill on mine. I didn’t quite like the look so ended up painting the silver slats on the sport grill black to smooth out the look and visually shrink that big *** center star. Looks better but still a bit ostentatious.
I actually like the smaller rear taillights and the fact that they follow function over form is actually a plus to me. I prefer them over the new W212 as those seem to look like the inside of the light got cut a little shorter for no particular reason…wouldn’t call it ugly as it works well for many.
And honestly, I think every Mercedes is a bit over engineered. It works most of the time but all those little engineered bits and pieces are opportunities for problems.
And of course we all agree about those lovely side markers.

Sportstick

Fender blister is the raised sheetmetal which emanates from the wheel well opening.

Tumblehome is the degree of angle from the base of the A, B, and C pillars, essentially at the beltline, up to the roof. This is best visualized standing directly in front or behind a vehicle and noticing how the plane of the pillars is either more vertical or more angled toward the centerline from the beltline to the roof.

Glyn M Ruck

Yes - only in America where English has not been spoken for years

The terminology is completely foreign to ROW.

Sportstick

Ah, the refuge of quoting (well, paraphrasing) My Fair Lady lyrics, eh?

I learned that language from my prior colleagues in the Design Office...wonder how they work with their international colleagues...maybe that's why they had videoconferences...lots of hand gesturing!?

FrankW

you were talking out of your *** because you did not want to accept that some people thinks the 204 is not that good where they rather still have the 203 and come backed with a idiotic comment on how 203 owners are in denial because the 203 is "basically crap and an embarrassment from MB" when it fact it was one of the most successful model from MB. it wasn't because of what terminology you used.

other than the more modern design...a lot of the electronics as well as suspension design for the 204 is carried over from the face-lifted 203.

however there's one thing i do agree with what some 203 ppl said which is the 204 will not age as well because it looks like every other modern cars on the road. The car has been out for little over 2 years and we already have several changes to the car. The mirrors, the LED running lights, the now&finally active cornering lights, softer suspension for the newer models because MB buyers can't handle stiffer ride, and along with other things.