aquinob

Title says it all. I've looked around a bit on this and one or two other boards and was a longtime member over at the volvo forum Brickboard when I had my 97 S90. I'm currently driving a Tundra, nice truck, ultra reliable but I want to get something that isnt as big, parks easier and will give me a bit better gas mileage and is comfortable and classy. Hence I'm looking for an older benz (did I say I wanted to keep it on the cheap side too?).

I kept the S90 running till it was in the upper 190K mile range. Did most of my own maintenance on it after the warranty ran out. So I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty if necessary and keep up with the maintenance. I've done timing belts and shocks and whatever I can do in about a day. If I cant do it, I'll find a good shop to take by business to.

I'm down in VA, near the NC border, about 3 hours north of the research triangle and about the same distance south of DC. What this means is that there are quite a few older MB's up for sale at varying price points within 200 miles. And I'm looking for a southern car ideally, so I can avoid one that lived in salt filled winters. What I'm thinking of finding is a car that ideally will sell for less than 5g with maybe around 100-125K on the clock so I can hopefully get it up to 200k or more. I've heard that the E class cars in the 2000 and up years had issues with rust and electrical to name a few, though they have some nice features and are very pretty. The older E class sedans may be more of what I'm looking for, though I haven't yet figured that out for sure. I'll even consider one of the c class cars, but not the real small ones, I want something with some size and weight to it, but nothing too big. I don't think I'll go with an S class, I think that is pushing it in regards to complexity and cost of parts. I'm not opposed to a diesel either, but don't really have much background on them compared to gas engines.

So with all that said, what would be the best models to look at somewhere in the neighborhood of 1993 up to 2005? Are the 4 matics more problematic? Any conservative estimate on gas mileage with the 3.2 engines (or the smaller 6's in the C class?)? What years were the wiring harness insulation problems prevalent? Appreciate any advice in advance. May start actively looking around in a couple of weeks.

Thanks,
Bob

Figuero

From you post I would recommend you look at the facelift E320 without 4Matic. You are very wise to target sunbelt cars as rust plagues all W210s regardless of year.

If you are even going to be sniffing snow I'd recommend the 4Matic, but if you are ok with a rwd volvo you should be fine with the MB.

aquinob

Thanks for the reply. I'm fine with with RWD, its just that some of the cars I see are 4matic and unless its a trouble prone system (like the early version on the volvo s60) then I would either not worry about it or avoid it. I think rwd is more diy friendly, you can generally get to most of the parts on the motor since it's not all crammed in sideways along with the tranny. After 1998 volvo went exclusively FWD, so the older reliable "bricks" are becoming far and few between and very long in the tooth.

OldMBGuy

The 4matic on the w210 (1996-2002) is reliable, the one on the w124 (US available 1990-1993) is not.
Other than that the w124 (1986-1995) cars are more reliable, easier to work on, and IMO more fun to drive, but the w210 cars have more modern safety and convenience systems, are significantly larger, have a more luxurious ride, are faster and more fuel efficient. I love them both, but I think that the 1990-1995 w124 cars were some of the best cars that MB has ever made and is one of the best cars ever made period. The w210 doesn't rise to that standard, but it's pretty good. I like my 1998 4-matic plenty, with 179k now, it's been a solid car.

aquinob

Thanks for all the responses so far. From my understanding, the older e series were straight engines vs. the v6 in the later (96 up?). From my perusing the boards here, I gather there were some problems with the straight sixes and head gaskets at about 100K. Is that pretty much a given that sooner or later you will have to do a head gasket job on that motor? What years did they have the wiring harness issue (apparently volvo had a similar problem as well back in the early 90's) How do they compare gas mileage wise compared to the 3.2 V6? I really appreciate you guys helping me to get up to speed before I go start kicking tires.

OldMBGuy

Yep, straight six is smoother and v6 (from 1997 on) gets better gas mileage (hard to say exactly because the w210 is so much bigger than the w124, but I regularly get 27-30 on the highway at speed, and never got close to that in my w124s (thinking maybe 25-26 area at the top end but it's been a while.)

Head gasket does need to be done occasionally, but as I recall it's not that big a deal. I remember the bigger deal is the wiring harness, but that was a 1994 & 1995 problem.

aquinob

Ended picking up a '98 C230 with only 68K miles on the clock. Good overall condition though it needs some tlc. Engine runs fine, tranny shifts fine, body in good shape with original paint and no rust. New tires and battery. Downside is the interior, headliner was shot, carpets very dirty and little nicks in doors in back. AC not blowing cold, tail lights not all there, probably issues related to overwattage bulbs. Some other niggly problems but so far nothing out of the realm of my fixing it. Poor maintenance by the original owner. Link over in the w202 section here:

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...-new-post.html

MercBimmerman

I have both 1st and 2nd generations 4MATICs at home.
And they are completely different animals.

Explains it here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4Matic

Although my 91 300TE has 227k miles with everything still working well
it probably one of a few (from what I've read) that does.

Being a re-active system it's RWD until AWD is needed, so you're pushing another 300lbs of the 4MATIC weight around which hurts fuel economy. (Plus the 4 speed with 3.29 dif ratio doesn't help either)
Though it's still a W124 chassis, which IMHO is the best Benz ever built (but not the best 4MATIC system built).

The 2nd gen (pro-active) system is all time AWD and very fuel efficient with great AWD acceleration and possibly another 8 mpg better. (V6, 18v, 2 s-plugs per cylinder, with no fan clutch @ 221 HP)

I've driven in a couple snow storms going 45-50 mph on M+S rated Michelin all season tires and it handles beautifully. At 115k miles now the only issues it has had is replacing a front axle seal and some dead pixels on the clock display.





next generation C class are very good cars

had the 6 cylinder version myself (96 C280)



The previous owner dropped the "0" and added the "AMG" (wishful thinking).



Later I removed it (had an expensive Lorinser exhaust as well)
few changes, CLK rims, trunk spoiler, and post "face lift" model rear bumper




Still had the "AMG" emblem so I mounted it on a custom buggy I had (GS750 engine installed)