£4000 reliable mercedes?

[JHS]

Must be the later version of the one I googled!

Mine is a HONDA

 

[Teego]

Wasn't aware that the CLS had SBC?

Brake hold was available without needing SBC, my facelift E-Class had brake hold but not SBC.

The SBC on my CLS55 went. The other systems then shut down like HAL in 2001. Only £2600 to fix it.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

The SBC on my CLS55 went. The other systems then shut down like HAL in 2001. Only £2600 to fix it.

OMFG

 

[DSM10000]

The SBC on my CLS55 went. The other systems then shut down like HAL in 2001. Only £2600 to fix it.

Presumably a MK 1 pre-facelift model?
With such a complex and important component it really should have been made available at cost price plus fitting. I doubt even then that it would have been a comfortable price!

 

[Pontoneer]

Due to a change in circumstances I'm going to be doing about 25,000 pa for a while. I need to put the AMG in storage (I only do about 7,000 pa at the moment) and buy something reasonably fuel efficient and reliable. I need something comfy, ok on fuel (eg 30 MPG min), and not a ticking reliability time bomb. Is this completely impossible? Been looking at w211 and w203 variants, both petrol and diesel. Any suggestions of engines to avoid would be much appreciated. (Yes, I know I really should just buy a Toyota/Honda, and I still might )

W124 or 190E all day long .

I paid £4000 for this just about two years ago , and only now have done about 25K trouble free miles in it . And nope , it isn't for sale ., although if it was I'd expect to get every penny of my four grand back for it , or more . These cars are incredibly sought after now in good condition , and will only go up in value .

I've just replaced the front discs and pads ; new set of tyres , and exhaust back box , which was rotten just replaced with a stainless steel one ( rest of exhaust is sound ) ; oh I put in a new battery when I bought the car for peace of mind , and I've just fitted a towbar for my trailer and the cycle carrier .

 

[philnewmerc]

W124 or 190E all day long .

I paid £4000 for this just about two years ago , and only now have done about 25K trouble free miles in it . And nope , it isn't for sale ., although if it was I'd expect to get every penny of my four grand back for it , or more . These cars are incredibly sought after now in good condition , and will only go up in value .

I've just replaced the front discs and pads ; new set of tyres , and exhaust back box , which was rotten just replaced with a stainless steel one ( rest of exhaust is sound ) ; oh I put in a new battery when I bought the car for peace of mind , and I've just fitted a towbar for my trailer and the cycle carrier .

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Beautiful, but the mpg would barely be better than a v8 and the speed is too lethargic for my needs. Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot, but when you charge 45p /mile you want to keep as much as possible!

 

[philnewmerc]

First mpg result from a full tank: average speed 35 mph, average mpg 57 Can't argue with that

 

[ChipChop]

Beautiful, but the mpg would barely be better than a v8 and the speed is too lethargic for my needs. Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot, but when you charge 45p /mile you want to keep as much as possible!

The pre CDI Mercedes diesels are actually pretty good economy wise. 45+ mpg on a run from my 33 year old 190d 2.5 for example.

Mercedes even had the speed requirement covered by the late 90's thanks to the OM605 and OM606 lumps. Unfortunately those turbo diesel engines only came in the rust prone w202 & w210 body shells so you are unlikely to find a good one in 2024.

 

[Pontoneer]

Beautiful, but the mpg would barely be better than a v8 and the speed is too lethargic for my needs. Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot, but when you charge 45p /mile you want to keep as much as possible!

A £70 odds fill up takes me between 450 and 500 miles , depending how hard I drive it .

Yes , it is ‘only ‘ an E220 with 150 bop , but cruises effortlessly at 70mph and gets there quickly enough . Unlike the compression ignition variants , it wafts along in near silence , and around town , if you have the window open the loudest noise is from the tyres on the tarmac .

Not as quick as my six cylinder ones , but I bought this at the start of the energy crisis and this car for £70 worth of petrol takes me just as far as my W140 S320 did for double the amount of fuel , and that is twice as far as my W126 500SEL would go on a £130 tankful as well ( it would cover roughly 250 miles for 100L ) .

 

[philnewmerc]

A £70 odds fill up takes me between 450 and 500 miles , depending how hard I drive it .

Yes , it is ‘only ‘ an E220 with 150 bop , but cruises effortlessly at 70mph and gets there quickly enough . Unlike the compression ignition variants , it wafts along in near silence , and around town , if you have the window open the loudest noise is from the tyres on the tarmac .

Not as quick as my six cylinder ones , but I bought this at the start of the energy crisis and this car for £70 worth of petrol takes me just as far as my W140 S320 did for double the amount of fuel , and that is twice as far as my W126 500SEL would go on a £130 tankful as well ( it would cover roughly 250 miles for 100L ) .

Those numbers make your E220 a 47 mpg car. I've no idea how you achieve that. And your 500SEL is an 11 mpg car, which seems as low as your 47 mpg seems high. For comparison, on a gentle run my CLK 500 could get 30 mpg and my CLS55 about 26 mpg, but running average for both was about 24 and 21 respectively. My 1.6 diesel does 55-60 without trying, which over the year is well over 3000 quid to put into the savings pot (for a big Jag diesel i think )

 

[Pontoneer]

Those numbers make your E220 a 47 mpg car. I've no idea how you achieve that. And your 500SEL is an 11 mpg car, which seems as low as your 47 mpg seems high. For comparison, on a gentle run my CLK 500 could get 30 mpg and my CLS55 about 26 mpg, but running average for both was about 24 and 21 respectively. My 1.6 diesel does 55-60 without trying, which over the year is well over 3000 quid to put into the savings pot (for a big Jag diesel i think )

I just drive sensibly and keep to the speed limits ( mostly ) ; I remember also , many years ago , winning an economy run in my 5 speed manual W114 280E , achieving 45mpg ( but I was trying hard ) and consumption was measured brim to brim by the scrutineers . The 500 was indeed a thirsty beast and I could fill it two or three times a week , but it never missed a beat in my five years with it ( I could also be a bit lead-footed in that car , which didn't help , besides I used it as a towcar quite a lot , either with the caravan , or transporting other cars on trailers ) ; my various M110 engined 280 models ( I had every variant apart from 280SL and 280GE ) were all circa or sub 20 mpg cars . Both my R129 and my W140 ( 300SL-24 and S320 ) would comfortably return 400+ miles across a tankful ( both had 100L tanks but I always filled up as soon as the warning light came on , so more like 90L , typically around £130 to fill up ) , both these cars were 5 speed autos , whereas the various W123s , W124s , W201s and W126s were all 4 speeders and my W116 was a 3 speeder , as was my mum's 350SL ( which was quickly got rid of because of its thirst , besides the smaller V-8s actually being slower than many of the sixes ; I remember trying a R107 380SL and being shocked to find it was positively s-l-o-w compared to the 300TE I was running at the time ! ) . The W201 190E , which started out as a 1.8 but I modified it by dropping in the M102 2.3L from a W124 230CE , and mating it to the taller diff from a 190E 2.6 ( for which I needed to source the shorter propshaft from germany and a pair of 2.6 driveshafts from a guy down in England , as well as upgrading the brakes to the correct spec for the 2.3 engine ) was also surprisingly economical as well as being very torquey and pulled well in any gear - alas , despite my intending to keep it , a friend pestered me and pestered me until I sold him it ; he still has it ; the 2.3 was never offered in the UK but was popular on the continent where it was claimed to be a 45mpg car , without the taller 2.6 diff , so mine was probably better . Some of the much older cars we had : Pontons , Fintails and W108 were positively awful on fuel , with my dad commenting that some of them used more fuel than the trucks in his haulage fleet !

I have been surprised and delighted with the economy of the E220 , and with working from home plus only using the car 2 or 3 times a week , rather than every day , I tend now to only fill up a couple of times a month , hence my monthly fuel bills have gone down from the high hundreds ( used to sometimes go into four figures , but then I'd claim it back from work ) to these days something like £150 a month , which is mostly my own mileage , and I don't bother claiming the odd work journeys which seem insignificant . A few years back I bought my ex a late , Indian assembled W124 W250D with 5 speed manual and 5 cyl multivalve , but normally aspirated engine . That thing was also very good on fuel , returning 45-50mpg all day long . I later had a W203 C270CDI , which has been my one and only Diesel - most unreliable car I ever owned , with the possible exception of the Austin Allegro my dad bought me when I was a student , but at least with that one it was all covered under the warranty , for the six months we kept it from new , before trading it for an Audi 100 , which was a paragon of reliability .

 

[alexanderfoti]

pre facelift W212 651
People on here will scare you off any car, the internet blows issues out of proportion.

We see LOADS of these one 350k+. All taxis.

Run well when looked after. At 150k they usually need cooling system stuff, and a few injectors, and a chain change. After that good for another 150k. Just make sure it's not got a rattling chain

 

[clk320x]

We see LOADS of these one 350k+. All taxis.

Run well when looked after. At 150k they usually need cooling system stuff, and a few injectors, and a chain change. After that good for another 150k. Just make sure it's not got a rattling chain

Spot on… mine had a fuel filter housing, water pump etc.. but pretty faultless otherwise.

 

[AP211]

Spot on… mine had a fuel filter housing, water pump etc.. but pretty faultless otherwise.

Why pre facelift specifically out of curiosity?

 

[philnewmerc]

We see LOADS of these one 350k+. All taxis.

Run well when looked after. At 150k they usually need cooling system stuff, and a few injectors, and a chain change. After that good for another 150k. Just make sure it's not got a rattling chain

What about the v6 '350' OM642 diesels, are they as reliable as the 4s? Obviously though I'd consider a 3.0 BMW they are far too unreliable. Any experienceof v6 Audi diesel reliability?. Cheers!

Am just thinking ahead: thinking c250, c350, etc but I am a cylinder number snob (ie less than 5 not ideal but then again beinga 72 degree v6 rather than 60 puts me off too).

 

[sennasurgeon]

a W203 diesel

 

[Pontoneer]

a W203 diesel

My W203 C270CDI , SN03 YVL , was , by a long way , and with only the possible exception of the Austin All-aggro , WLS 422R , my father bought me in 1976 to go to University in , and during the first six months of ownership from new , everything went wrong with , the most spectacularly unreliable car I've ever owned . A number of people have commented to me that petrol W203s are quite reliable , at least in the engine department . Besides all the faults , I realised after buying the Obsidian Black car with black interior and no sunroof that the C in C-Class probably stood for claustrophobia-class , so closed in and oppressive that car was ; by contrast the 190E I got after it was literally a breath of fresh air ( no diesel fumes coming in through the air vents ) with its bright , airy interior , excellent fenestration , and a sunroof which I could open !

That C270 was just under 10 years old , and co-incidentally cost me £4000 , with just under 100,000 miles when I bought it . Within the first six months all five injectors had failed and had to be replaced at £400 each - there was half the cost of the car already ; the thermostat failed , can't recall how much but another expensive item , a spring broke in one of the solenoid operated door locks , causing it to 'machine gun' , the part alone was about £100 , and a Saturday afternoon to fit it ; then I had the same again on another door - the pneumatic central locking on all my earlier cars has always been completely reliable ( and silent in its operation ) ; the fuel cooler sprang a leak ( £200 from memory ) ; the swirl flaps failed , raising a fault code and causing the car to go into 'limp mode' , but I found a bodge to fool the ECU and was able to work around that , the rear screen wiper failed ( seized solid thanks to whoever routed the screenwasher feed through it , rather than a separate nozzle at the top of the screen like on the W123 and W124 estates ( of which I have had two and five respectively ) , an air intake pipe to the turbo split ( one of the few faults that wasn't expensive ) . The back box of the exhaust was rotten , but I accept that was just an age issue which can affect any car ; by this time , about a year into ownership , with one thing going wrong after another , and the used car place I'd bought it from having gone bust ( so no help there ) , I decided to get rid , and brokered a deal through this very forum to swap it for a R129 ( which I ended up keeping and enjoying for seven years ) the direct replacement as a daily driver was a 190E which I also enjoyed for a number of years until I gave into a friend who pestered and pesterd me to sell it to him after I'd upgraded it from the original 1.8L engine to the 2.3 , with a taller 2.6 diff to reduce revs on the open road , upgraded brakes , factory tow bar and many other things . Shortly after the C270 went away , I was speaking to the buyer asking how he was getting on and he replied that the turbo had blown and it was off the road . I looked on the DVLA site a few times - that car never went back on the road .

I will never have another CDI car , and only had one other Diesel , which was a W124 E250D , ran by my ex for a few years until she traded it for a Golf , because she said the Merc was 'too big' ; strange that she never made that complaint when she used one of my W126s for about a year ( actually she loved it ) .

I just won't have anything newer than W201 , W124 , R129 , W140 all of which are reliable and all of which I can fix by myself .

 

[JHS]

My W203 C270CDI , SN03 YVL , was , by a long way , and with only the possible exception of the Austin All-aggro , WLS 422R , my father bought me in 1976 to go to University in , and during the first six months of ownership from new , everything went wrong with , the most spectacularly unreliable car I've ever owned . A number of people have commented to me that petrol W203s are quite reliable , at least in the engine department . Besides all the faults , I realised after buying the Obsidian Black car with black interior and no sunroof that the C in C-Class probably stood for claustrophobia-class , so closed in and oppressive that car was ; by contrast the 190E I got after it was literally a breath of fresh air ( no diesel fumes coming in through the air vents ) with its bright , airy interior , excellent fenestration , and a sunroof which I could open !

That C270 was just under 10 years old , and co-incidentally cost me £4000 , with just under 100,000 miles when I bought it . Within the first six months all five injectors had failed and had to be replaced at £400 each - there was half the cost of the car already ; the thermostat failed , can't recall how much but another expensive item , a spring broke in one of the solenoid operated door locks , causing it to 'machine gun' , the part alone was about £100 , and a Saturday afternoon to fit it ; then I had the same again on another door - the pneumatic central locking on all my earlier cars has always been completely reliable ( and silent in its operation ) ; the fuel cooler sprang a leak ( £200 from memory ) ; the swirl flaps failed , raising a fault code and causing the car to go into 'limp mode' , but I found a bodge to fool the ECU and was able to work around that , the rear screen wiper failed ( seized solid thanks to whoever routed the screenwasher feed through it , rather than a separate nozzle at the top of the screen like on the W123 and W124 estates ( of which I have had two and five respectively ) , an air intake pipe to the turbo split ( one of the few faults that wasn't expensive ) . The back box of the exhaust was rotten , but I accept that was just an age issue which can affect any car ; by this time , about a year into ownership , with one thing going wrong after another , and the used car place I'd bought it from having gone bust ( so no help there ) , I decided to get rid , and brokered a deal through this very forum to swap it for a R129 ( which I ended up keeping and enjoying for seven years ) the direct replacement as a daily driver was a 190E which I also enjoyed for a number of years until I gave into a friend who pestered and pesterd me to sell it to him after I'd upgraded it from the original 1.8L engine to the 2.3 , with a taller 2.6 diff to reduce revs on the open road , upgraded brakes , factory tow bar and many other things . Shortly after the C270 went away , I was speaking to the buyer asking how he was getting on and he replied that the turbo had blown and it was off the road . I looked on the DVLA site a few times - that car never went back on the road .

I will never have another CDI car , and only had one other Diesel , which was a W124 E250D , ran by my ex for a few years until she traded it for a Golf , because she said the Merc was 'too big' ; strange that she never made that complaint when she used one of my W126s for about a year ( actually she loved it ) .

I just won't have anything newer than W201 , W124 , R129 , W140 all of which are reliable and all of which I can fix by myself .

I had a S205 250d. It was nice.
I now have an HRV 1.6d. It is also nice.
My wife has a FIAT Panda which is nice as well.

 

[sennasurgeon]

I may have been lucky with my w203 220CDI. But I did 40000 miles, got it to 200000 miles. it broke down when the gear selector stopped registering (£100 from ebay) and needed a high pressure fuel pump but other than that it was excellent. (really good MPG)
Sold it to a friend and he still has it 2 years on.

 

[alexanderfoti]

W124 or 190E all day long .

I paid £4000 for this just about two years ago , and only now have done about 25K trouble free miles in it . And nope , it isn't for sale ., although if it was I'd expect to get every penny of my four grand back for it , or more . These cars are incredibly sought after now in good condition , and will only go up in value .

I've just replaced the front discs and pads ; new set of tyres , and exhaust back box , which was rotten just replaced with a stainless steel one ( rest of exhaust is sound ) ; oh I put in a new battery when I bought the car for peace of mind , and I've just fitted a towbar for my trailer and the cycle carrier .

Whilst I fully agree, you will struggle to find a W124 in such nice condition as yours for 4k now IMO. Yours is very nice