decision

[sweeper]

after much thinking and browsing car showrooms, i have decided to buy another mercedes, replacing my old XJ6 and relegating our trusty C230k to second car status. I'd still like similar performance and better fuel economy and am looking at E class estates as prices on the earlier of the latest model have dropped recently, i have a few questions from those in the know, firstly, do they go rusty? is there a cure for reported electrical gremlins? do they have sump plugs so i can service without a suction pump to suck the oil out of the dipstick? what is the co figures for the 270 and 320 diesels? can i reset the service interval without special equipment? what sort of fuel economy can i expect (more interested in figures achieved on long runs, cruising at around 80-90mph) are there any other issues that may be of interest to me regarding this model, weak points, strong points etc.

Cheers

 

[sweeper]

anyone?

 

[Chattonmill]

I have an 03 E320cdi which show on the V5 as 194 g/km On a run I am getting about 35 mpg, but then I have a very heavy foot

 

[BlackC55]

'04 onwards are the best 211's and generally don't suffer with rust. The 320CDI would be ideal as are quite fast and economical.

 

[sweeper]

'04 onwards are the best 211's and generally don't suffer with rust. The 320CDI would be ideal as are quite fast and economical.

I'm not too impressed with the "generally don't suffer with rust" was hoping for a statement like "they never rust" (like an old Pug 406), not too sure if the funds will run to a later than 04 model.

 

[sweeper]

I have an 03 E320cdi which show on the V5 as 194 g/km On a run I am getting about 35 mpg, but then I have a very heavy foot

I also can have a heavy foot, get around 31mpg out of the c230k, on a steady run (steady being 80-100mph) but well loaded with a roof box, it would be nice to see 40mpg on a similar run out of a 320 (which, on paper, has similar performance to the c230k) do you think this possible (without trying too hard, i like to drive!).

 

[Chattonmill]

I live in Rural Northumberland and so have no idea what traffic is, also the roads are unencumbered by Police, if you are in the south and have Traffic and Police then I would assume that 40 MPG is very attainable!

 

[W210 Fan]

"they never rust"

Sweeper, im afraid if its made from steel it will rust at some point, your hoping for a statement which is a bit like the unsinkable titanic one, and we all know what happened to that,

 

[Brian WH]

Sweeper, im afraid if its made from steel it will rust at some point, your hoping for a statement which is a bit like the unsinkable titanic one, and we all know what happened to that,

I think the W211s are as rust-proof as any modern car. The 320CDI estate is excellent, big capacity, frugal and fast when you want it to be. If you drive reasonably and not cruise above 80mph you should achieve 40mph on a long run.

The W210s have a bad press for rust, but they are not all like it and many W210s exist without rust, if thay have been looked after.

 

[oldcro]

I shouldn't think fuel consumption will matter for to long if driving at close to 100mph normal.

 

[W210 Fan]

I think the W211s are as rust-proof as any modern car.

I agree, they had to make an effort after the 210/208 etc, but they will rust, they are made from steel, I was making a point that although modern cars are better at fighting the tin worm they will all loose the battle in the end, you just have to hope that it looses the battle after you sell it,

 

[Brian WH]

I agree, they had to make an effort after the 210/208 etc, but they will rust, they are made from steel, I was making a point that although modern cars are better at fighting the tin worm they will all loose the battle in the end, you just have to hope that it looses the battle after you sell it,

Are they ALL steel, from memory haven't they got aluminium panels too?

 

[Dieselman]

Are they ALL steel, from memory haven't they got aluminium panels too?

Bonet, front wings, boot lid. Unfortunately the boot lids are known to corrode due to water migrating into the fold.

 

[W210 Fan]

Are they ALL steel, from memory haven't they got aluminium panels too?

They may or may not have, it actually doesnt matter, I was making a point as an engineer thats its impossible to say that a piece of equipment which contains steel will not rust, it will, so its impossible to say that a W221 will never rust with reference to the `old Pug 406`. Modern cars may be better than the Pug at resisting rust, but they will still give up at some point, its not unlike the sealed for life arguement with the gearboxes, when Merc say it wont rust they mean it wont rust for a pre-defined period, which is what there anti-rust coating research has told them, after that they have deemed it to be at the end of its life and therefore out of warranty, it may still be driveable but that doesnt mean its rust proof coatings will carry on forever, it also doesnt mean it has given up the ghost,

I would imagine, and somebody with more knowledge can input the figure that cars would have an expected life of 25 years? and merc has a body warranty of 30 years? military stuff has to be coated to resist far worse attacks than road vehicles for up to 40 years, but then they are expensive and these types of coating will not end up on road vehicles so they will rust at an accelerated rate in comparison, even if you take all the care in the world of your precious car, it is just an aesthetically pleasing formed piece of steel and it will rust.

Some things like salt water will make it degrade quicker and taking care will make it last longer but it will still rust, that is assuming that the guy who takes real care of his vehicle and the guy who parks it near the sea start on a level playing field with reference to the factory, can you guarantee that every coating on your vehicle has reached into every nook and cranny and is even all over and has adhered properly and that the steel it is coating is of a uniform thickness and quality?

To summerise as thats a bit long above, and possibly contradictory, such is the nature of rust and steel quality and as I stated earlier, if its made from steel, it will rust,

 

[Diesel Benz]

They may or may not have, it actually doesnt matter, I was making a point as an engineer thats its impossible to say that a piece of equipment which contains steel will not rust, it will, so its impossible to say that a W221 will never rust with reference to the `old Pug 406`.

W221 has all the aluminium parts a W211 has an in addition all the doors are aluminium. The roof and rear wings are steel. Perhaps this makes the W221 a good candidate, also available as a diesel.

 

[W210 Fan]

W221 has all the aluminium parts a W211 has an in addition all the doors are aluminium. The roof and rear wings are steel. Perhaps this makes the W221 a good candidate, also available as a diesel.

My bad, thats a typo, I meant to say W211 as that was the vehicle in question in the OP,

my SEC had a lot of aluminium panels on it, had a lot of rust too...!

 

[Dieselman]

military stuff has to be coated to resist far worse attacks than road vehicles for up to 40 years, but then they are expensive

can you guarantee that every coating on your vehicle has reached into every nook and cranny and is even all over and has adhered properly and that the steel it is coating is of a uniform thickness and quality?

And here endeth the lesson..

I think a major difference between Mercedes and other manufacturers is that MB don't dip their cars so can't reach every nook and cranny, wheras those that do can guarentee they have. The Peugeot is a case in point.

I agree about the coatings and some are mightily impressive. A friend has an old steel boat that was coated and other than where it has been damaged there is no rust.

 

[Smiley]

Our 30 odd year old steel windows in the house that have been very poorly maintained ie not re-painted for the last 12 years - have no signs of any rust even where the paint is flaking. I assume this is because they are galvanised. there must be a reason why cant cars be the same or someone would be selling rust proof cars.

 

[Dieselman]

Two reasons; Cost and dependency. If they didn't rot people would never replace them.

 

[sweeper]

Sweeper, im afraid if its made from steel it will rust at some point, your hoping for a statement which is a bit like the unsinkable titanic one, and we all know what happened to that,

I know, never say never, but you know what i mean, with the old 406 i could take a screwdriver, scratch the deepest scratch right through all the paint, leave for two years and no rust! find rust on one of these and you can almost guarantee it has had a bad repair done.