firebrick

Hello everyone. This is my very first posting. I have owned our '98 E320 wagon for about a year now. It has near 200k on it but is still in fabulous condition (we are the second owner.) We are planing to keep this wagon for as long as possible.

Last week, I found a totaled low mileage '98 E320 (front end collision...good running engine) on local CL posting for $400...needless to say, I impulsively arranged a towing service to pick it up and now it sits on our property despite the look and a few sound words I received from my wife.

Purchasing of this wracked vehicle was mostly for preserving some parts for our wagon in the future. My question to you all is which parts I should keep for my wagon for the future. Since I haven't been around the MB world enough to know the commonly replaced and worn parts for W210s as time goes by. I have enough space to store smaller parts and the Engine perhaps, but I cannot keep the whole car around for too long unfortunately.

Any expert $0.02 would be appreciated!!

kajtek1

Those tanks run forever, so beside wearables like tires, seat covers, slim chance you will pull parts worth more than $400 and you might have no sex for long time.

ItalianJoe1

I literally laughed out loud. My wife asked what was so funny. I was a little afraid to tell the truth

I got the same reaction when she saw a title come in the mail the other day.. "you bought another car?" Yep, it's a sickness



As above though, those 210's are very solid, unless you can keep the whole car just in case, i'd be hard pressed what to say to keep that isn't a wear item.

raymond g-

speaking partly in the blind (unknown interchange match but likely) I'd pull the
duovalve, headlights, bumper lights, washer reservoir, oil filter cap,
transmission filler cap, horns (meh), wheels for resale, cup holder, burlwood
trims off the dash and doors and have matching set, door panels, door/window
modules, CD changer (sell if working), outside mirror units, inside mirror,
airbag (sell?), visors, PSE pump, fuses for spares, fuse clusters, window
regulators.... for starters. anything from the cabin which are color matches
for your wagon is a strong candidate. leather seats wear out. what do you
think may likely to be damaged due to chance opportunity vandalism or parking
lot impact...

firebrick

...Yes, I told my lady that two months old set of Yokohama alone is worth 400...I tried very hard to prevent the worst case scenario.

firebrick

What about the engine? Do you folks think it's a good idea or beneficial to keep the complete spare M112 for the future? It has 130 well maintained miles on it (a realtor owned until a teenager decided it was a good idea to crash T-bone test a Tahoe.) I am very tempted to keep this one around but then it's me with a Volkswagen head thinking. I am also tempted to keep the tranny as well BUT I know it has been towed around in town with the "N"...not worth the risk, IMO.

kajtek1

Funny you mention VW.
I had 3 VW pickups (Rabbit) in the past. One I crashed when coming back from ski resort, the 20 tons bulldozer cleaning driveway from snow backed up on the road without looking.
So having garage in my rental - I put the wreck in it and bought identical VW.
Even those were over 10 years old pickups, not that much broke on them.
So 2 years later I made quick calculation.
I lost about $2000 income on the garage. The parts I used from the wreck were worth $120 new at dealer.
Next day I called the wrecker and rented out the garage.
When life can play games all the time, statistically by the time you will need replacement engine, your car will be worth $300.
Even having "free" engine, would you put your time to replace the engine to increase the value of the car to $400?
Why not buy newer, better, cleaner for $700 ?

R2dMax

I WISH mine was proving to be the tank that you guys reference! As for the engine, it seems to be ok (CEL) just popped up after I changed the water pump, but still runs well. I had the trans fluid checked because it shifts funny, but it was the right color.

I have literally replaced every suspension part, except shocks on this car. that costs quite a bit if you have those issues and your donor has good parts. I agree, though, that you probably won't need an engine anytime soon if well cared for. HOWEVER>>>
Being that you already have it, I would seriously put it on a stand, go through it and then look into boosting or finding ways to increase power and then do a swap.

But that is the car guy in me talking

firebrick

Thank you all for your input, folks. Since I have a space in the shed, mine as well, I will keep this complete motor stored for now.

How about the Catalytic converters? Do they go bad in these vehicles, commonly? I am assuming I can just cut off the section to keep the CCs if I need to...or should I save everything, manifold and back?

Also, while I have your attention, do you know if passenger and driver seat bottom cushions are interchangeable?

kajtek1

Seat bottoms are the same size, as well as back, but passenger bottom has occupancy sensor. Not a big deal if you want to use it on driver side - just cut the cable.
Just last week I put W210 seat bottom cover on R129 roadster. The R129 has more square front corners, but the cover is stretchable enough to work.
The back cover will need some resewing, so I am putting it for later.
Cats last long time on well maintained engine, but they can go in minutes when you have misfiring engine.
Good thing to save if you have space in the shed. If not, they recycle pay some dollars for platinum scrap.

firebrick

Thank you, kajtek, for your prompt reply. Good to know about the Cats. I will cut them off and keep them for someday. I hope swapping the seat covers will go as easy/smooth as I assume it to be. Any pointers?

kajtek1

I think the best way is to pull whole seat out, flip it upside down and when pushing down the cushion, pull the locking rim.
I have been able to remove the skin from the seat in the car, since with no batteries on JY I could not move the seat for removal, but that is harder way.
The easiest way I figured out on W210 is move the sear forward, remove the 2 bolts holing the rails to the floor and the belt, then move the seat all the way back and remove front bolts. At this point you can tilt the seat back for cables removal.
For cover removal you still will need to remove the plastic covers on sides, but that is pretty easy.