A W211 estate at last!!!

[greggster]

A small round of applause please for me lasting about 4 weeks before i took the plunge and finally found one i like. A one owner 53 plate with 130k miles 320cdi avantgarde, silver, black leather, phone etc etc.

One very weird feature it has, which i presume is an extra, is fan ventilated front seats - talking to the owner it appears it avoids Betty Swollox in the summer??!! Anyone tried and tested this?

A little picture of it below. The strange thing was that i must have seen about 8 W211's before this one, all of them 100% original i.e. un-fettled, and all turned out to be either trashed or having bad paint repairs. Then i saw this one and instantly thought "no" because it had aftermarket AMG alloys. However i did bother to see it and very glad i did as it has a mature owner and appears to be very straight (alot more than i can say for some i went to view).

Opinions on whether to keep the fake AMG's on it or not?

I will at last be able to get a good nights sleep tonight!

 

[evdok]

Sleeping in the car tonight then?

Congrats on the new toy.

 

[ringway]

Post some pics when you can Greg.

 

[greggster]

yes will do, i need to work out how to edit the number plates, oh and polish it relentlessly!

 

[hawk20]

Well done. Enjoy. The ride is best on 16 inch wheels.

 

[greggster]

If anyone wants to know what a 130k mile W211 feels like, my first impressions;

80 mile trip home from the seller, probably just me but always a bit nervous driving a car that i have just bought in case it falls to bits in 10 minutes and you have to face the embarrassment! BUT it was gorgeous - like a limo with grunt (320 cdi thanks to good advice from members here). I know its a cliche, but it genuinely feels like a car with 20k miles on it, amazing. The roads home were national speed limit with lots of roundabouts and towns and the computer told me i averaged 36 mpg. The only negative was that i'm not used to so many toys - not the sort of car you can jump and and know what everything does. It is a very different drive - feels amazingly solid but not nimble - however this is not a bad thing - so much torque means you can keep up with traffic and more, but the size of it means you tend to drive sedately, which is very nice - i can't imagine getting road rage in this car. I was a very happy chap when i got it home on Wednesday night.

Toys - its an avantgarde and the level of kit is just ridiculous (in a good way). Electric compartments, secret cubbys, electric everything, the list is endless.

Friday morning i took it to a local MB indie, TM Motors in West Molesey (great guys, recommended), and they spent 1.5 hours on it (3 of them!) for next to nothing to give me the verdict. Bare in mind that this car has 130k miles with a full MBSH until 90k miles, then 2 indie services in the last 6 months and 40k miles (used as a AA exec sales vehicle by one of their head office guys). Verdict - fantastic - it needs one ball joint at next service and it has a buckled wheel probably from a pot hole - nothing else at all! I was intending to change the alloy wheels anyway so i ordered a set of pattern MB diamond cut original style wheels and tyres today.

I get the wheels on Wednesday so photos after that!

I finished work early today and spent 3 hours cleaning it inside. Nothing major wrong with it, again the interior shows minimal wear only (only give away is a slightly shiny steering wheel). After 3 hours it is like new. I took everything apart and hoovered to within an inch of my life! I took little carpet stains out where needed, got rid of all dust in cracks and crevices, cleaned all plastics, and cleaned the engine bay aswell! Discovered 2 chips on the windscreen which i hadn't seen so i plan to get a new one put in asap.

Tomorrow i am borrowing a friends lock up to give it a paint clean, clay and detail, polish and carnuba wax, so hopefully it will be A1, ready for its original wheels.

List to do;
new original wheels
replace windscreen
Wheels in Motion geo set up (after service and ball joint in 4k miles)
rear sunblinds
touch up stone chips to bonnet and roof lip (due to high m-way mileage)
rear bumper re-spray due to 2 parking dents and loading scratches

Photos soon when i'm proud of it, thanks for listening to me!

 

[Howard]

I've got a nice set of 17 inch wheels for sale and i'm local to you ...

Advert in the classifieds ....

Nice car ...

 

[greggster]

thanks Howard, already ordered and i was a bit fussy as i wanted the original ones for the carm thanks though!

 

[evdok]

It will impress you even more the more you drive it, nothing like the drive home in a newly purchased car.

 

[greggster]

these are the wheels i ordered;




forgot, i also need to get a boot liner for the dog;

 

[Howard]

That Bushy Park ?

 

[greggster]

yep! february this year

 

[Howard]

Right near my place that is ...

My gardens back onto the paddocks.

 

[greggster]

is that the hampton court side then?

 

[Howard]

Yep , not far from the open air pool.

 

[greggster]

great, am in thames ditton if you ever need anything

 

[Howard]

My wife works in TD , at SHL

 

[greggster]

mine at NCMT at Ferry Works

 

[nordic]

Damit, i had my eyes on that one..
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2003&vehicleRegLetter=53

 

[hawk20]

Greggster, you sound like the kind of owner every MB dreams of having.

Good luck with your new purchase.