S210 - The Golden Dragon
Discussion
In autumn last year, my E55 was being particularly annoying and amongst other things, the gearbox was being rather unhelpful.
I was also doing more tip runs than usual and we'd got to the point where the kids bikes wouldn't fit in the boot anymore, so I really needed a car with a tow bar...the E55 can't have one
And so I bought the cheapest and probably crapest S210 out there. But it ran and it had 10 months MOT on it, and it only cost me £580. In finest tradition, it was bought after viewing some rubbish pictures on gumtree and a chat with the vendor. And then a single train ticket was purchased.
This car was easily the worst car I've ever driven. The rear suspension was totally shot, so everytime you sent over a speed bump it was almost painful. The engine was in some sort of limp mode....so it ran fine but once it was up to temperature, the turbo wouldn't engage/spool/whatever they do.
But it was so comfy and despite the performance limitations, ran faultlessly for several months.
I got my The Man to look over it and his report was almost comically long, and in summary was "it's a nail".
Oh and it lived up to the billing of being a total rust bucket.
At the start of July this year, I started looking for it's replacement.
Despite the first one (kids called it Poppy) being a bit rubbish. It's size/interior space and boot were all perfect for our requirements. I missed out on a couple and an impending holiday to Devon meant I had to buy diverting quick.
A car came up on the W210 FB group page, and seemed to be the sort of thing I was looking for. I'd decided I'd buy anything as long as it wasn't silver. This one isn't, and as we all know, what is better than silver....gold of course!
They only slight issue was that the new car was in Ipswich and I live hundreds of miles away from there. Again, it was bought just with some pics and a chat to the vendor.
This time though, I didn't have to get the train, as the vendor and I did a deal. He's got some barns where he keeps old cars, so he'd take my old car as scrap value and use it as a breaker for some other 210's he has and we'd knock that amount off his song price. Plus it saved me having to buy a £90 train ticket and several hours on some trains.
The old car had a cracking last run.
I was also doing more tip runs than usual and we'd got to the point where the kids bikes wouldn't fit in the boot anymore, so I really needed a car with a tow bar...the E55 can't have one
And so I bought the cheapest and probably crapest S210 out there. But it ran and it had 10 months MOT on it, and it only cost me £580. In finest tradition, it was bought after viewing some rubbish pictures on gumtree and a chat with the vendor. And then a single train ticket was purchased.
This car was easily the worst car I've ever driven. The rear suspension was totally shot, so everytime you sent over a speed bump it was almost painful. The engine was in some sort of limp mode....so it ran fine but once it was up to temperature, the turbo wouldn't engage/spool/whatever they do.
But it was so comfy and despite the performance limitations, ran faultlessly for several months.
I got my The Man to look over it and his report was almost comically long, and in summary was "it's a nail".
Oh and it lived up to the billing of being a total rust bucket.
At the start of July this year, I started looking for it's replacement.
Despite the first one (kids called it Poppy) being a bit rubbish. It's size/interior space and boot were all perfect for our requirements. I missed out on a couple and an impending holiday to Devon meant I had to buy diverting quick.
A car came up on the W210 FB group page, and seemed to be the sort of thing I was looking for. I'd decided I'd buy anything as long as it wasn't silver. This one isn't, and as we all know, what is better than silver....gold of course!
They only slight issue was that the new car was in Ipswich and I live hundreds of miles away from there. Again, it was bought just with some pics and a chat to the vendor.
This time though, I didn't have to get the train, as the vendor and I did a deal. He's got some barns where he keeps old cars, so he'd take my old car as scrap value and use it as a breaker for some other 210's he has and we'd knock that amount off his song price. Plus it saved me having to buy a £90 train ticket and several hours on some trains.
The old car had a cracking last run.
The second looks to be a much better car. I have a soft spot for them; I had a 320CDi but I blew it up at 150 showing (temporarily) a Focus ST a clean pair of heels. They are sprightly things. A strange balance of refinement in the cabin with a guttural sound emanating from the other side of the bulkhead.
Red calipers?
Red calipers?
MrC986 said:
If you closely at the nearside foglight on the red car, you can see stuff hanging out. On that car I was very strict....no matter how knackered it was, I wasn't spending a penny on it.
One of the only things that did work perfectly on it was the digital parts of the instrument cluster, and it doesn't on the new (er) one.
mwstewart said:
The second looks to be a much better car. I have a soft spot for them; I had a 320CDi but I blew it up at 150 showing (temporarily) a Focus ST a clean pair of heels. They are sprightly things. A strange balance of refinement in the cabin with a guttural sound emanating from the other side of the bulkhead.
Red calipers?
A perfect summary of the pace and sound. It feels a bit like a Discovery I think, in the way it can gain pace.... there's almost an elasticity to the way it accelerates. As in you give the throttle a prod, it makes some noise and then it sort of gathers itself up and goes.Red calipers?
I know what I mean anyway!
And yes, red calipers....an unexpected 'bonus"
Edited by mondayo on Thursday 16th September 11:05
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/uWpbHRDH.jpg[/img]</a>] <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/FB1Cqz25" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/FB1Cqz25.jpg)
mondayo said:
That's very similar to my interior on mine.... although that's significantly nicer and cleaner. Yours looks like it was very well specified too!?
It was. Sat Nav, Full climate, heated and ventilated seats, sunroof and orthopedic drivers seat. Incidentally the IO delivered modern functionality to the car beautifully.
Edited by surveyor on Thursday 16th September 21:39
austinsmirk said:
I truly hope it goes well. I say this because when I went from Yorkshire to Devon and back in June for a holiday, I saw multiple versions of these broken down on the motorway. It was bizarre. And sad.
I'd had mine two weeks when it did the Yorkshire to Devon run.
I think the bike rack, roof bars and box are worth more than the car!
We stopped off near Gloucester on the way down, and a pretty decent run. Here's a rather awful photo of the first part of the run.
On the way home we had a very good run. We averaged over 60mph and over 40mpg and were well loaded up too.
They are superb mile munchers. That's what mine did, week in week out.
Once I replaced the thermostat, high 40's and mid 50's easily achievable, although without the roofbox obviously. I know where mine is. It's off the road because it's down on power. I think that it's a hose popped off. Must resist!
Once I replaced the thermostat, high 40's and mid 50's easily achievable, although without the roofbox obviously. I know where mine is. It's off the road because it's down on power. I think that it's a hose popped off. Must resist!
mwstewart said:
Do you have some photos of the interior?
Not any great ones.
It wasn't advertised as a 7 seater but the kids were delighted that it was...they're always asking to go in the boot now.
In terms of spec, it came with quite a few things I want expecting....over and above the delicious interior.
It has the Bose sound, which whilst not amazing, it is a significant improvement on the standard.
It has a driver's memory seat.
And it has a (intermittently) working sunroof and air con that doesn't "just need a re-gas".
It's all very grubby, but it's obviously been cleaned recently but the seatbelt and steering wheel in particular, are a long way gone.
mondayo said:
Interior pics...
That's my favourite. The seats etc. should clean up with a mix of APC diluted with water at 50/50. Don't buy the branded stuff from detailing companies but from a supermarket - it's all the same but the supermarket stuff is around £1 for a spray bottle.Gratuitous pics of mine.
I'd happily own another.
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