Hey everyone... im new to this forum and this is my first post....so go easy on me 
I've been looking for a 300CE for a while and could do with a bit of advice about one I viewed today. The car is a 1989 model with 156k on the clock. There is partial service history but nothing recent (last stamp in book is in 1999). Its a one owner car - garage advised the previous owner had died and they were unable to locate the recent service history from his estate. Sounds plausible... but....
The car is generally really good condition - the bodywork is nigh on perfect with no rust to speak of, and the interior is pretty much spot on with everything working as it should.
I took it for a fairly lengthy test drive and it seemed to drive well (although I havent driven any other 300CEs so have nothing to compare against).
The thing that put me off was I noticed the oil pressure sat at around 2.5 bar during normal driving, and dropped to 0.5 bar at idle. The car also seemed to have quite an uneven idle, and was idling at around 500rpm which seemed low. If I revved it hard the oil pressure would reluctantly get up to 3bar at around 5500 rpm.
Now Im not all that familiar with these engines, but I know on my old 300D the oil pressure is pegged at 3 bar as soon as I touch the accelerator, and never drops below 1.5 bar at idle.
What do you think? Could it be a dodgy oil pressure sensor maybe, or is engine wear the more likely cause?
The car was priced at £1300, and had it not been for the oil pressure issues I would have bought it as it was very very tidy.
Richard
ps. I also noted the engine was warm when I first started it so did not get to test the cars starting ability from cold.
I've been looking for a 300CE for a while and could do with a bit of advice about one I viewed today. The car is a 1989 model with 156k on the clock. There is partial service history but nothing recent (last stamp in book is in 1999). Its a one owner car - garage advised the previous owner had died and they were unable to locate the recent service history from his estate. Sounds plausible... but....
The car is generally really good condition - the bodywork is nigh on perfect with no rust to speak of, and the interior is pretty much spot on with everything working as it should.
I took it for a fairly lengthy test drive and it seemed to drive well (although I havent driven any other 300CEs so have nothing to compare against).
The thing that put me off was I noticed the oil pressure sat at around 2.5 bar during normal driving, and dropped to 0.5 bar at idle. The car also seemed to have quite an uneven idle, and was idling at around 500rpm which seemed low. If I revved it hard the oil pressure would reluctantly get up to 3bar at around 5500 rpm.
Now Im not all that familiar with these engines, but I know on my old 300D the oil pressure is pegged at 3 bar as soon as I touch the accelerator, and never drops below 1.5 bar at idle.
What do you think? Could it be a dodgy oil pressure sensor maybe, or is engine wear the more likely cause?
The car was priced at £1300, and had it not been for the oil pressure issues I would have bought it as it was very very tidy.
Richard
ps. I also noted the engine was warm when I first started it so did not get to test the cars starting ability from cold.
