Mid 90s Cs and Es?

[B19GRR]

Hi all,

I know pretty much bugger all about Mercs, so I dunno what the W codes are for them, but the ones that look like these:



Anyway, I love my barge 735, but the fuel costs are starting to hurt as I'm averaging low 20s, so worrying thoughts are starting to appear about changing it. I'm pretty much tempted to just drop to a 728 as they're supposed to be noticeably better on the juice, but I thought I'd better expand my horizons and see what else might be of interest.

Like I said, I dunno much about Mercs so what's the general opinion on these two models? There seems to be a fair few engines options, are the petrols all V6s - spread between the 230 and 320 models? Is there a best compromise engine between still being able to punt it along and not too outrageous economy? I'd like to be pushing high 20s, maybe 30 for combined consumption if possible.

What are they like on the toy front? The interiors look a bit sparse - dare I say dated?! - compared to contemporary BMWs. Granted I don't want to live like a king, quite happy being a Baron or Earl So decent, comfy leather seats, good CD, air con, and cruise I guess are my main wants.

And of course, what are the gotchas? What major things are likely to have or be close to falling off and cost me an internal organ or two to replace? I'd be looking at examples with between say 75k and 125k on the clock for up to £2.5k.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Cheers,
Rob

[Wigeon Incognito]

Rust is your enemy.

The 230s were 4 cylinder, 240 and above are 6 or 8 cylinder

The C Class (W202) is a really average car IMO. The E Class (W210) is far nicer but even more rust prone.

To be honest, if it were me, I'd be much happier looking at the 190E and W124 E Class as in my opinion they're much nicer cars. £2500 would get you a lovely example of either and they're not as prone to problems as the more modern cars.

[mickyveloce]

I run a 1996 C36 w202 and it`s not as well made as the W124 estate i`ve just sold ; Mercedes accountants replaced the engineers as the strategic planners at around this stage in the company history and it shows .

Having said that , a good w202 ( and there are plenty around ) will be cheap to run and a pleasant experience . The w210 sits in no mans land at the moment , with people going for the earlier w124 or the much later cars .

[B19GRR]

Thanks guys, food for thought eh!!

Shame about the rust issues, having lost out to rust on my 240Z I can't say I'm a big fan of the stuff! Are there typical places to be looking? Most of the ads on autotrader all look pretty clean, there's the odd one or two with bubbles showing around the arches sort of thing. Is it more a case of nasty hidden rust?

Thinking about it, I'll probably discount the C class now, but do still like the looks of the E, ah well, I guess I should probably go test drive one or two at least, that might just scratch the itch quite dramatically!

Cheers,
Rob

[tricky 100]

Might be wrong , but i seem to remember the 96 onwards E class had serious rust issues on the front cross member ?
Get an earlier W124 E class , its a really nice drive .

[niva441]

I previously had a 97 C250 TD (W202) that was in excellent shape and still running well when I sold her at 217k miles. As it was so good I've just bought another, but an estate this time. Like any car there are bad examples but I think overall the W202 is a robust car.

The spec your after is sounding like either a Sport or Elegance with options. I don't think leather with heated seats ever was standard (certainly both my elegances came with cloth trim).

[silverback mike]

Another vote for the older W124's here. Mine touching 400,000 miles, never broken down, just sailed through an mot last month with no advisories, no squeaks, rattles or concern in any way. Absolutely marvellous old girl.



Oh and it will run perfectly on veg oil

[pikeyboy]

i had w210 estate 300 turbo diesel and that was still very thirsty avg 30mpg and was getting rusty round the arches under the head lamps and almost every where that there was a tiny scuff. Drove ok for a big barge but it was just that a barge...bought a 530d touring never and looked back.

[rubystone]

W202s don't have to be rot boxes you know - my C43 isn't - no rot at all on it but it is a 1998 and I think that most of the issues with the cars stemmed from the move to a new water based paint treatment in (I think) 1999.

Build quality on my car is very good - as well screwed together as my 190Es were...but I agree that it is more difficult to find a good car and that rust is the major issue.

The W203 was hardly a stellar performer either.

[Pete 55]

Forget the C,

There are plenty of V6 (240 and 280) models from the 1998-1999 era for sale on Autotrader.co.uk at the moment in your price range (2-2.5k).

Don't worry so much about mileage as opposed to rust and servicing - the V6 and V8 engines are rock solid if maintained well and will see many miles effortlessly. I sold my E240 at 150k miles, it was running perfectly with spot on emissions, and I sort of regret it TBH. Avantgarde spec is the best, so look for that (Climate, Leather, Electric options are the usual ones - you won't see them on 200 models which were more poverty spec).

I remember driving a 200 once and there really is a noticeable difference - V6 minimum in this car's size, the 4-pot will have been strained to hell lugging 1700kg around.

Edited by Pete 55 on Monday 5th May 00:08