Me and my W203 C180 Kompressor
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Newbie
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1
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From: Hanover, Germany
W220 S500 '04
Me and my W203 C180 Kompressor
Hey guys, I'm Jonas, 25 years old and an IT specialist in the making in Lübeck, Northern Germany, so please bear with any spelling or grammar mistakes I may or may not be making. Feel free to point them out via PM or so, always eager to learn.
I drive a Mercedes-Benz C180 Kompressor (W203) in cubanite silver that's got a rather simple but also sufficient configuration. So generally not the most exciting car in the world and as you will be able to see on the pictures included in this post, the exterior has been on a bit of a trip over the years. It's my first own car, before I have driven our W124 230E (MoPf 1, I don't know how commonly those German Mercedes abbreviations are used abroad, I'm already surprised by the German "Kompressor" here in the English forum
) and after we replaced it 2016 with a S211 E220 CDI (MoPf), I drove that one for a few years also while I was living with my parents. So I wasn't exactly lacking on the side on driving experience and, to be honest, I didn't even feel the immediate need for an own car. Maybe it's obvious, the C-Class basically fell into my lap. My grandfather bought the car as a one-year-old used car at a Mercedes dealership 2007 and has driven it until 2018 when he stopped driving due to becoming ill with Alzheimer's disease. As most of you know, the process with Alzheimer's is rather slow and insidious so you may not exactly notice you are getting worse at first. So understandably, the car has gotten some scratches and dents at all ends as you can see on the pictures. But the paint damage is mostly on plastic parts so not much to worry about it structure-wise and if I made a mistake at parking, it wouldn't be too bad because it would fit into the general picture. 
Additionally, the interior has not been taken care of as well as one would like in the last years and two dogs that were transported regularly inside did not help with it and they also explain some bite marks on a few things like the right rear door panel but they are not as obvious in everyday life. But due to the interior's poor state a professional interior cleaning was in order and I would think that those were the 180€ best spent for this car. The interior still has some odor in the car from the dogs but way better than before and it got back to a very acceptable visual impression. I was very pleased when I picked the car up from the cleaners.
Apart from that I replaced the worn down rubber steering wheel with the used leather one in good condition and it contributed so much to the look and feel of the interior, so I was rather pleased with it. Next step, end of February, will be the timing chain, tensioner and cam gears that are going to be replaced at now almost 190.000 km.(so about 118.000 miles). I'm not planning to keep this car indefinitely, but I'm a friend of sustainable repairs to be able to sell the car (if I'm going to) with good conscience. Therafter the engine should be good to go, it's absolutely not the strongest, especially compared to most of the cars I see here in the forum, but by European standards it's not bad either. Good for 220kph if need be and a very relaxed cruiser when just flowing with the traffic, however, of course not quite comparable with the E-Class.
I'm happy to be here and interested in the discussions here.
Cheers from Germany,
Jonas
I drive a Mercedes-Benz C180 Kompressor (W203) in cubanite silver that's got a rather simple but also sufficient configuration. So generally not the most exciting car in the world and as you will be able to see on the pictures included in this post, the exterior has been on a bit of a trip over the years. It's my first own car, before I have driven our W124 230E (MoPf 1, I don't know how commonly those German Mercedes abbreviations are used abroad, I'm already surprised by the German "Kompressor" here in the English forum
) and after we replaced it 2016 with a S211 E220 CDI (MoPf), I drove that one for a few years also while I was living with my parents. So I wasn't exactly lacking on the side on driving experience and, to be honest, I didn't even feel the immediate need for an own car. Maybe it's obvious, the C-Class basically fell into my lap. My grandfather bought the car as a one-year-old used car at a Mercedes dealership 2007 and has driven it until 2018 when he stopped driving due to becoming ill with Alzheimer's disease. As most of you know, the process with Alzheimer's is rather slow and insidious so you may not exactly notice you are getting worse at first. So understandably, the car has gotten some scratches and dents at all ends as you can see on the pictures. But the paint damage is mostly on plastic parts so not much to worry about it structure-wise and if I made a mistake at parking, it wouldn't be too bad because it would fit into the general picture. Additionally, the interior has not been taken care of as well as one would like in the last years and two dogs that were transported regularly inside did not help with it and they also explain some bite marks on a few things like the right rear door panel but they are not as obvious in everyday life. But due to the interior's poor state a professional interior cleaning was in order and I would think that those were the 180€ best spent for this car. The interior still has some odor in the car from the dogs but way better than before and it got back to a very acceptable visual impression. I was very pleased when I picked the car up from the cleaners.Apart from that I replaced the worn down rubber steering wheel with the used leather one in good condition and it contributed so much to the look and feel of the interior, so I was rather pleased with it. Next step, end of February, will be the timing chain, tensioner and cam gears that are going to be replaced at now almost 190.000 km.(so about 118.000 miles). I'm not planning to keep this car indefinitely, but I'm a friend of sustainable repairs to be able to sell the car (if I'm going to) with good conscience. Therafter the engine should be good to go, it's absolutely not the strongest, especially compared to most of the cars I see here in the forum, but by European standards it's not bad either. Good for 220kph if need be and a very relaxed cruiser when just flowing with the traffic, however, of course not quite comparable with the E-Class.
I'm happy to be here and interested in the discussions here.
Cheers from Germany,
Jonas
Last edited by ItsKiddow; Feb 6, 2020 at 05:53 AM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 3,897
Likes: 966
From: Melbourne, Australia
2013 C204 C250 Coupe
Hi Jonas and welcome to the forums, Thanks for the introduction. I love reading the stories of owners and their M-Bs. It looks great and you should be happy driving in it. There’s a W203 forum if you ever run into any problems. Thanks for sharing all the photos too. Good luck with it. (Your English is excellent!!!)
