FlatlineEF9

Hey W210 peeps. Im curious. How long has your original starter lasted on your W210? I have read that they can last 30,000 miles or 300,000 miles. My 96 is still original, *knocks on wood* so im wondering when others have had starter issues, if at all.

193,000 miles. Original starter. 1996 E320

Thanks.

Plutoe

Makes no sense and what is your point--conditions of life vary widely, number of starts, length of start, voltage bla bla

FlatlineEF9

Edit: I had a good response but decided not to feed the trolls with 9600 troll posts. If anyone has anything constructive to say, id be glad to hear it.

suicidal4life

AFAIK mine is the original. Bought the car with 30K miles and now has around 110K. The salty air of Hawaii seems like it would be tough on electronic components but I'm no mechanic so don't quote me on that.

illest

my 98 had 160k still on the original starter my 01 is 120k with no issues.

FlatlineEF9

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Eurow

Mine is at 115k and still going strong.

Starter life depends on a lot of factors. You have time of use, weather conditions, engine condition, and electrical system condition. Salty, humid climates can cause the starter components to prematurely get worn out and corrode. A neglected, sludge filled engine will put more stress on the starter to turn the assembly over. A poor battery and electrical system (corroded wires, etc) will cause unwanted strain on the starter motor. And of course, the amount of time in use is what puts wear on the internal brushes.

I wish there was a clear cut answer for you, but it's more of a, "It was fine right before it stopped working" situation. Luckily, most of the time you can hear it slow its' pace and it gives you an idea it may be soon.

FlatlineEF9

Yeah im aware of the factors, and coming from hondas where the starter life is around 50-75k for the older models, im amazed at how well our cars our built. I was just seeing if anyone on this page has had to replace theirs, and at what mileage. So far, everyone is original, so thats fantastic!

brooktre

My 2002 e320 4Matic starter just died (about 168k miles). Both starter and solenoid are still good, but the connection between the two cracked so the starter would not engage.
My 2001 e320 4Matic wagon has 198k with original starter.

The failure occurred after the car sat for about 5 weeks - no other symptoms or problems to indicate the oncoming failure. I replaced it with the starter from my parts car. Interestingly, the starter / solenoid connection on that one was much thicker wire.

kajtek1

Never had to replace whole MB starter on whole fleet of cars I bought for the family.
Some left family with about 300k miles.
The only problem was SL500 with 196k where starter gear would occasionally free-spool.
I found nice starter on JY for cheap, so replaced whole thing to not worry about dissasmbling the gear.

Rotor320

172,000 so far so good.

pgsurface

I have owned 14 new, used, and abused Mercedes-Benz's over the last three decades.

Starters replaced = 0.

Currently, I have a 99 E300 Turbodiesel.. 242,000 miles. Original starter and alternator are still kicking.

My highest milage MB to date was an 84 E300 with 536K. AFAIK, I let it go with the original starter.

I don't think you have anything to worry about...

EDIT: I thought I should add that on my E300 I have had experiences (i.e., injection pump failures, -23F cold starts, etc) where I have had to do some serious cranking.. to the point where I was kinda expecting to destroy the starter and nothing to date has phased it. Hope that helps!