MelbMerc

Ok, so here it goes...

I've had my c class for 5 years. Previously I've had a c180, brief stint in a c36 and briefer stint in an ml430 and my housedragon absolutely loves her a150.

I have no interest in any of the current shape mercs with the exception of the E class coupe, but I have no interest in the repayments that come with them.
Infact i'm not interested in repayments at all.

When I bought my c200k I almost bought an e430 Avantgarde in white with limo tint an 19" Dronells, but, I couldnt help but think $38k was abit much for an older Merc.

Ever since though, all I have wanted is an e430 Avantgarde. common sense says i need a dual cab ute like a Hilux or Nivara, but, the only car i like is an E430. At the moment they go for between $13-20, depending on condition, and the odd update model asking high $20's.
The w210 55's are hovering around the mid-high $30's still.

So, I can either sell my c class for the balloon payout figure owing and finance a ute, or, pay it out and keep it, better the devil you know, OR, follow my dream and sell it and for the same amount of money buy an E430 avantgarde and keep the car untill it stops, hopefully not for 10 years.

My question is, is the e430 all i really want or am I going to be dissapointed with it?

I have googled E430 comparisons etc, and checked this forum, but nothing is that recent.
My plan is to buy one and fit the e55 hammers, colour co-ordinate the sills and the bottom of the bumper bars, and maybe an exhaust to hear the engine. I'm not interested in anything else, dont want to bodge the car up with different suspension, 20" wheels, superchargers or anything of the sort, I regret the day i ever lowered my c class, and i'm over all that.
what i'm looking for out of a car is a solid, quick, and comfortable car that i can do 300,000 kays in without major problems.

I figure this is the best place to ask as i realise cars are dirt cheap in the US compared to here in Australia, as such, I'm sure i can have a better insight into an older car.

Anyone that could shed some light here would be appreciated, I would like to hear why you love the car, and why you hate it; why you would never sell it, or why you couldnt sell it fast enough..

thanks

Phil

saintz

Had to look up house dragon.

Can you import? You could get a W210 E55 for $10k in the states. Even if it costs $10k to ship and do the paper work and taxes, you're still coming out ahead, based on your rates. The USD to AUD exchange rate is pretty close to 1:1, so it's not just a currency issue, they really are expensive.

BenzboyW210

'Had to look up house dragon' - X2. LMAO. Kinda like this?

Anyway, Phil -

I owned a 1998 E430 for several years before upgrading to the E550. Some observations in no particular order, just as I remember them...

1 - stock suspension is horrid. 'Wallows like a whale' was how one member put it and I agree. Mine had a sport suspension installed and it was lowered which helped tremendously though the rear tires had some negative camber. This can be corrected with a camber bolt package.

2 - Perch springs. Many W210's were notorious for having the perch spring fail (front suspension) and your car would make a horrid noise and one side would drop and the coil spring would fall out or dangle inside the wheel well while you lurched to the curb. There was a bulletin in Canada that required a dealer inspection. The mastik around the perch, if not properly installed, can let moisture in and it rusts and eventually fails. Absolutely something to be wary of/have inspected.

3 - Ensure the engine has had full synthetic since Day 1. These being the early FSS cars, many dealers in NA hadn't caught on to the MB oil specs and many had semi-synthetic or even conventional oil used in conjunction with the extended FSS intervals. This caused sludge build-up and oil consumption in many of the M112/M113 engines. I'd demand full documentation in this regard and take a good luck down the oil filler cap. The cams and valvetrain should be clean and free from varnish/sludge.

4 - Catalytic converters were garbage. Many would fail at or around the 80-100K Km mark. Rattling soundling like a can of marbles was the clue. Expensive to replace, some success with aftermarket ones but can mess up the ECU/trigger CEL's.

5 - Crap chassis. I think the W210 had the worst body metal every used in a Mercedes. Probably came from recycled Lada's, though I shouldn't slight Lada's as they would likely out-last a W210 in the rust department. Depending where you are and the local conditions this can be a BIG factor in older W210's. Here in Eastern Canada, you rarely see any of them as they have all rusted to pieces, literally. Check the door frame sills, trunk lid, trunk lock, wheel arches and engine compartment. If you find a good one, get it rust-treated. I had mine treated at Krown every year and it was doing ok when I sold it. Took a LOT of diligence to keep it looking good though. I even coated the inner wheel arches with POR15 to help prevent rust there.

6 - Interior is meh. Though I find the term somewhat juvenile, it describes it well. Just 'meh'. The dashboard is famous for cracking around the edges and seams. Steering stalk comes loose. Dash storage tray door eventually breaks. Overall fitment is not up to Mercedes' previous and current standards.

7 - Lifetime transmission fluid fill. Mercedes was hitting the Kool-Aid pretty hard at this point it would seem. Change fluid and filter every 50,000 Km (using only the correct specified MB fluid) and ensure that the car you buy has had the tranny serviced if the mileage is over 75,000 Km. If not, change it asap.

So that's the main negative stuff I remember. On the plus side, it drives well once stiffened a bit. Power is decent, though newer cars have really upped the ante in that regard. That said, it provides plenty of passing power when you need it. Mileage is decent. Tranny is the 722.6 and it has held up well over time. Mine had the factory xenons, which were an early application of the technology by MB and while they are better than the standard halogens, they are nothing like newer bi-xenon projector setups.

In terms of long-term suitability, I think that if you can find a relatively rust-free specimen, it can provide years of faithful service. The engine and tranny will go forever if cared for well. We've had two W210s in the family and one is still going strong at close to 300,000 Km. Original engine (M104) and tranny. I sold mine around 200,000 Km I think and the engine and transmission were working perfectly.

You might want to look into shipping from the US? I agree with saintz...your prices seem high, even for the inflated Canadian market. In terms of quality and overall experience I would say:

W210 < early W211 << facelifted (MY 07+) W211 and current W212

Good luck with your search!

fosmith

I would like to offer a slightly different point of view. I've had mine for almost three years and 50,000 miles and it has been the best car I've ever owned! I would qualify to say buy a "facelift" model, 2000-2002. Here are my thoughts.
1. Stock suspension. I don't think it is bad at all for a car of it's size nor does it "wallow like a whale" if you have good shocks on it. I put Bilstein HDs on and I love the ride and handling. It's no sports car but it's smooth, quiet and controlled.
2. spring perch. My understanding is that this is mostly a problem in the pre facelift cars. Also, if you get a car from an area not prone to rust, it's not a problem.
3. full synthetic oil is a must.
4. the cats were prone to premature failure and oem replacement are expensive but aftermarket cats can be welded in and they are cheap and work fine.
5. chassis - rust. Perhaps... I'm in California so rust is not a problem. Get a sunbelt car and don't worry about it.
6. Interior. My car has sat outside most of its life and the dash hasn't cracked. I think this is also more of a problem with the pre facelift cars. Although there are a few "what were they thinking" items - sun visor mirror flaps, cupholders and rear window regulators come to mind - the interior is comfortable, well designed and well made, in my opinion.
7. Transmission. The trans definitely needs to be serviced at least every 60,000 miles and MB has acknowledged that.

I would recommend an E430 to anyone looking for a luxury car at a bargain price. Classic looks, comfort, more than adequate power and, for its size, very good fuel economy.
Fred

MelbMerc

excuse my delay & thanks for the replies.

I do remember reading these came with water based paint or something of the sort causing them to rust out even before the car was out of warranty.
Having said that, down here in aussie, snow etc is no big concern, although it does remind me that the e430 I looked at years ago had a small rust bubble on the roof behind the sunroof, something I wouldnt expect to see in a (at the time) $40k car.

Thanks for all the input though, i actually very nearly went off the idea all together.... untill...
I drove my w203 for the forst real drive in 2 years.
I have had a company car for the past 2 years and i loaned my W230 to my brother who had it for about 9 months and absolutely destryoed the car, I cannot begin to explain.

Anyway, driving the car on the weekend made me realise that its not worth fixing my w203, its better off sleeping with the fish..

As stated earlier, i really dont want car finance, I too was affected by the gfc, and there has been months that $700 odd dollars could have gone elsewhere rather than on a car.
I borrowed a friends old ute the other day, probably a $4k car, my son loved it, and it was kind of old school cool, but, what a **** heap to drive!!

I am probably going to buy an E430 with eibach suspension and 18" hammers. not too keen on the eibach, then again though, as stated here they can wallow like a whale lol.
Speaking of the cats reminded me of my w202 merc, that car was a **** heap that was well built if that makes sense, as in it was worn out.
My w203 was a nice car that had no build quality, in my opinion.

The ML430 felt somewhere inbetween, the c36 was awesome but had a costly blown head issue, and the a150 seems to be a merc when you really didnt buy a merc.

MelbMerc

Also, thanks for the idea of importing, I have had a look at the idea.
The main issue is that you guys drive on the left, I can import from the UK, on the basis that i know someone there and they will keep it for 12 months, but, then we come back to the rust issue as uk cars are in snow and ice more than they are not

does make me think about a project ive had in the back of my mind for some time though, an old 450/500sl roadster with an injected amg 55 motor, and I have to say, that makes perfect sense to import the donk from the states based on the dollar conversion and how cheap these are over in your continent compared to ours

Hirnbeiss

If no one is on the roads (2 people / sq km) it really matter if you have left hand or right hand drive? The thing is that there are plenty of E430s in the States, but probably very few in RHD countries, so you'll pay a lot more.
Why don't you start a grass roots campaign to shift the country to LHD for this very reason, before the population gets too big? Start in the Northern Territory. In 100 years you'll be a hero as big as Croc Dundee.

230TErry

We've had ours three years and so far apart from changing the oil on a regular basis I have only replaced the crank position sensor.

You mentioned a ute so why not go for a wagon like mine. Mines a UK car and has a few rust spots but nothing drastic. 430s tended to be bought by people with a bit of cash so tend to be pampered, most people opt for 300/320 diesels and put astronomical ileage on them. Also the fact that fuel is £1.50 a litre tends to keep the mileage low!! Mines a 98 with 125k miles on the clock (i'll let you do the conversion).

Took me a year to find mine and I paid £3,500 that's about $6000AU!

if you can access it check out autotrader.co.uk that' where I found mine.

OldBenzLover

MelbMerc,
Check out some of the Japanese car exporter sites. I have a LHD 89 300E with only 141,000k on it.
I've had it since 2009 when it only had about 75,000k. It came to Canada from Japan with about 55,000k.
They are required to basically dump their cars after a few years...I believe you pay more taxes if you want to keep it beyond a certain time.

mzd-zohn

house dragon - a fiercely unpleasant woman who is mentally disordered and exhibiting insanity, who has lived or resided in your home long enough to suck your soul dry? Haha :P

I can help with the opinion on the car since i own a 97' E420 Avant. The car drives amazing! This is my first Merc but I have driven many economic modern cars like Accord, Camry, Sonata and so on. I've also tried a Tahoe and Envoy.. All 2010+ except envoy. My Merc is by far a better car.. better cornering, better feel. The grip and the control over the car is superb. It IS a car.. top notch no complains.

Since I reside in Saudi Arabia and people here use Japanese and American cars the most, Mercs are quite cheaper than they're worth in other countries.. i got mine for 8000$ and it has gone 125k km which is good.. My only complain is the quite high maintenance prices.. But that depends on where you live