944j

Friends just bought this car from a MB dealer and there seem to be some things they didn't notice yesterday.

How does one check the options on a MB? I know on a Porsche there is an option sticker with a printed code that can be entered into a web site that will display all the options. Does CarFax list ALL the options on this car or just the options that were available (but might not have been purchased originally?)

The Carfax says it has "leather insert upholstery" but it appears to be vinyl to me and our mechanic says its called "MB Tex". Did these cars come with leather? QUESTION: How do we determine if the car originally came with leather?

I wasn't with them when they bought it and now we are all noticing "overspray" on turn lights and on the bumper and inside the door wells. QUESTION: should the bolts for the rear doors that bolt the hinge to the frame be covered in paint? (The bolts on the front door hinges are not covered in paint.)

The car has 72k miles on it but our mechanic says it needs new shocks. Is this normal?

The dash as a crack in it that they didn't notice when buying it yesterday. Is it normal for these dashes to crack? Do we have to do anything to this crack so it doesn't get bigger?

My personal experience having bought sold, painted, body work, and engine work on about 6 cars in the last 6 years is that there is more to this car than my friends were led to believe. There are at least 50 tiny paint dings in the area around the grill that have been touched up and the silver grill has been hit and dented by "something". The mechanic today said the front bumper had been replaced (and we can see the overspray on it and the back one too.) I'm more into other types of cars so I'm asking for some info on these cars, how to tell the original options, is it easy to fake the digital odometer? (It's only got 2 service records on the CarFax since 1999.)

What's a good price in Southern California for a good 1999 E300TD W210 with 72k miles?

Thanks and looking forward to the responses. Maybe someone cold open their back door and take a picture of the door hinge bolts for me.

Rich's 97 E420

Here are a couple pictures of my rear door hinges. and yes the dash will crack, not sure about the seats?

944j

thanks, your hinges don't look like the ones on this car, our hinges have two bolts that go into the body of the car... I just called a different MB dealer and they said they can't look up the options because the car is so old they have recycled the VIN#, so does this mean they can just make up the car's history and original options because no one can determine how the car started it's life and what options it had?

Plutoe

If you have buyers remorse--take the car back---remember you have a fourteen year old car that will take a specialized mechanic to even understand the car(diesel) let alone fix the car.

Plus they ain't cheap to replace simple parts!!

All the options are listed on what MB calls the "datacard" ask the dealer for a copy. If he say he does not know what a datacard is----well you learned your first used car lesson!!

Rich's 97 E420

here is another angle.

944j

Thanks!

Is that the back door? Are the bolts covered in paint or are they black bare metal? Are they different than the bolts on the front door hinges or the same? I can't tell because it's a dark paint color.

944j

I wasn't included in this purchase. I called the dealer themselves and they didn't know how to lookup the options and sent me the options for the wrong car and said that Mercedes had recycled VIN numbers.

944j

See mine? Looks like the painted over the hinge bolts. Or is that how its done in all the cars from the factory?

RichM

Click the link below, and plug in the VIN. The info is usually pretty accurate. If the interior color number is in the 100s you have MB Tex. 200s leather. Another way to tell, if the door inserts have flat, and not gathered material it is MB Tex. it is not unusual to find MBTex in wagons as many came equipped this way. More so than sedans. Durability issues I would guess. Bought a wagon not to long ago with MBTex, and it looked as fresh as the day it rolled out of the factory.

http://www.neoriginal.ru/cat/mb/

944j

INTERIOR COLOR: 205A

However the car we bought has MB Tex so I guess someone switched out the seats. One thing that tells me this is that passenger electric seat won't go backwards as far as the drivers seat and the electric junction box under the seat towards the front isn't covered or in a box, just bare to the plugs and wires. Makes me think they switched in new vinyl seats before selling. I think they call this a "refresh" and it's definitely what I would expect from a used car sales lot but definitely a little unethical not to tell people exactly what was done ahead of time.



<table><tbody><tr><td><fieldset style="padding:10px;width=450px"><legend>Данные по модели</legend>
<table><tbody><tr><td style="text-align:right">VEHICLE TYPE: </td><td style="text-align:left">Car</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">MODEL NAME: </td><td style="text-align:left">E 300 TURBODIESEL USA</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">ENGINE: </td><td style="text-align:left">606962 12 068487</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">TRANSMISSION: </td><td style="text-align:left">722608 01 574543</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">BODY: </td><td style="text-align:left">00000</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">FRONT AXLE: </td><td style="text-align:left">BE3302X1120943244353</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">ORDER NUMBER: </td><td style="text-align:left">0070552583</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">LIGHTS: </td><td style="text-align:left">HELLA</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">INTERIOR COLOR: </td><td style="text-align:left">205A</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">PAINTS: </td><td style="text-align:left">143



</td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:right">RETARDER: </td><td style="text-align:left">2 990610</td></tr></tbody></table></fieldset></td><td><fieldset style="padding:10px;width:450px"><legend>Комплекта ция</legend>
200A LEATHER

213 PARAMETER STEERING

242 FRONT SEAT RH ELECTRIC ADJUSTABLE WITH MEMORY

249 AUTOMATICALLY DIPPING INSIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR

254 RADIO MB AUDIO 30 - USA

265 LINES-NO.PLATE DISCONTINUED

275 MEMORY PACKAGE (DRIVER SEAT, STRG. COL., MIRROR)

414 ELECTRIC TILT/SLIDE SUNROOF IN GLASS VERSION

423 5-SPEED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

461 INSTRUMENT WITH MILES IND. AND ENGLISH LEGEND

494 VERSION FOR USA

524 PAINTWORK - PRESERVATION

543 SUN VISOR WITH MAKE-UP MIRROR L. AND R., BE-

551 ANTI-THEFT/ANTI-BREAK-IN WARNING SYSTEM

581 AUTOMATIC AIR CONDITIONER

611 EXIT LIGHTS FOR DRIVER DOORS

634 DELETION - FIRST AID KIT

636 DELETION - WARNING TRIANGLE

656 LIGHT ALLOY WHEELS, 10-HOLE

668 PACKAGING FOR SHIPPING VEHICLES WITH TIE-DOWN HOOK

673 HIGH-CAPACITY BATTERY

679 BASIC WHEEL AS SPARE WHEEL

809 AEJ 06/1/M/X

810 SOUND SYSTEM

910 DYNAMO WITH HIGHER CAPACITY (FFO)

915 FUEL TANK WITH LARGER CAPACITY

955 EQUIPMENT PACKAGE ELEGANCE



</fieldset></td></tr><tr><td><fieldset><legend>Модификация автомобиля</legend>
Europe BIS CODE 809

North America UP TO CODE 809

</fieldset></td></tr></tbody></table>

944j

The doors have "gathered" sides too. Also the seats are missing the trim in the inner "seat crack" between the seats and the armwrest...

Question: is it easy to switch the seats to leather front and back?

RichM

Do the seats have perforated inserts in the center back and seat? Can you post a pic of the seat?

944j

Here are some more pictures maybe you guys/gals could give some feedback on.


Are these door panels gathered or flat?

Is there supposed to be some trim on the inner side of the seat?

Is there supposed to be a box or cover over the wires under the seat?

944j

Yes, but the mechanic already said they were MB Tex. What do you think?

What I'm trying to figure out is if these are the original seats or not.

Rich's 97 E420

Sorry didn't get back to you sooner. Went out for dinner.
Looks like they sprayed over the bolts, looks like it is in the seams/nooks-cranny's of the hinge plate etc.

I think the interior looks pretty nice! You mentioned some cosmetic issues, not too many folks look under the seat. unless it is grabbing there attention while getting in. If there aren't any creases in the leather then you've been refreshed,
Still a nice clean interior.

RichM

Your mechanic is wrong. Your seats are leather. MBTex seats do not have perforated inserts, and have a different seat pattern.

944j

The salesman at the MB dealership, our mechanic who specializes in MB both said they were MBTex. I just looked at them again and they still look like vinyl (MBTex) to me. We have a 1994 E320 with leather seats and the 1999 E300TD's seats looks nothing like the leather seats in the E320.

944j

Yes its clean but my friends paid a lot for this car and I was looking to see if they are original seats or not since I've never been in another 1999 E300TD with leather I don't have any way of knowing really. They look like vinyl to me, no creases.

944j

apparently these seats are the leather ones, notice they have preforations too and are a different pattern:

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210...99-e300td.html