257k Problems
 

So my car is at 257k and I thought I would share all the issues I've had over the last 2 years. I'm the original owner and this is not so much a complaint but a heads up if you plan on keeping you car this long. Can't really complain, what do you expect after 16 years and 257k miles later:

1. Central locking system / Receiver /Antenna stopped completely working 18 months ago. Parts required are not even available from Germany so living with it. This was a 3k cost for parts if I remember correctly. To make due I had both IR receivers in the door handles replaced so I can lock/unlock the car. The new IR receivers work well as far away as 8 feet with the key pointed generally at the door.

2. Roof is leaking - I'm assuming from the sun roof seals. My 8 year old first pointed it out to me in early 2018 when he noticed dripping from the rear roof handles lol. Last month I noticed the sliding sunroof "door" upholstery was wrinkled and starting to detach from the particle board material. If I try and open this the upholstery starts to bunch up and get stuck so solution: I don't open it. At least the tilt sunroof works.

3. AC / fan switch stopped working. Basically the switch was no longer communicating with my climate control. Unfortunately with the hot weather out here these past 5 years I had no choice but to fix this or I'd be burning up this summer. $3,500 price tag.

4. The plastic back cover on the rear headrests have both broken off. I think over time the bottom activated flip down uses enough force to eventually break the tabs. This was annoying because they were both rattling like crazy. I fixed this by super gluing the back covers on. Worked pretty good.

5. Rear shade screen stopped working - it was getting stuck and eventually the screen started to tear. Leaving as is.

6. Both front seat headrest motors stopped working with the headrests in the very top positions, so they kept getting stuck on the headliner with the seats flipped forward. Not a big deal if I didn't have kids. Solution, I removed both motors and let the headrest slide all the way down. Living with this also.

Other than that the car still runs great. Although 30% of the time the car feels sluggish with lack of power. No codes, but I might have this checked out for the cat conv since I have so many miles. Also from time to time, especially in the morning when cold, the engine seems to rev up and down causing the car to jerk back and forth even with constant pressure on the accelerator. Again, no codes.

My wife keeps nagging me to get a new car, she doesn't understand why I've kept this so long. But I think we'll start looking for one this fall/winter. Looking at the E53 sedan or will consider a used E43 sedan as they pop up.

257K is pretty good mileage. Did you ever get the grille badges from MBUSA?

You got your money out of it that is for sure.

Being prepared to live with defective aspects of the vehicle that are not absolutely essential to driving the car, shows your true dedication to the C209. The leaking sunroof can be stopped with some sealant applied externally, all along the edges of the sunroof, but that will mean of course that you won't be able to open the sunroof after that fix.

The quoted price tag to get the air condition functioning again does seem unusually high, if the switch is assumed to be the culprit, so that is one repair that might be worthwhile seeking a second or third opinion from indy mechanic workshops. Still and all, as others have observed, 275K miles is a good run for your money, especially as you happen to be the original owner, again proving that the C209 is a rugged beast that was built for the long haul.

No I forgot about that...They should have offered right?!

As far as the air con:

operating level $43.50
(4) electric motors $813.12
labor $2430

It's the labor that kills since they have to take the dash apart. Reason why I only wanted the dealer to handle this.

I plan to put 200,000 miles or so on my 2009 CLK350 before getting rid of it. If it is built anything like my w203 was I should have it for almost 15 years nearly trouble tree then.

I doff my cap to ya, C280, for that formidable fleet of Mercs lined up the hangar, replete with three from the C209 family.

Thank You. Split between 2 states. NY and FL. 5 in New York. 2 in Florida.

It's super easy to fix (30 minutes), you need to re-solder connectors

I think now it's more age than miles with this generation. I have a 2004 with only 90k and currently dealing with same headrest motor issue (so far only driver side), random loss of remote locking / poor radio reception and loose plastic covers on rear headrests (both sides).

The remote lock / poor radio reception is by far the most annoying along with a slow battery drain. I love w209 but electrical gremlins are by far this car's biggest weak point, the rest of the stuff is solid aside from weirdly brittle original oem springs.

lowpost
BTW, I live not that far from you. You can bring you car to me and I'll fix your problem headrests for free :)
There is a nice place called "Pit Row" in Santa Clara :)