E320cdi Woes

[steve333]

Its depreciated by £9k and I've had a good use out of it. No-one can say its not fit for purpose with me doing 38k miles in it in 20 months, going round Europe on a tour with it and all the trips/holidays with the car.

The onus is on me to sell it, or PX it for something else, which I would have done, but don't quite have the money for another car saved yet.

Fair comment(the depreciation hurts,my cls has lost £8k in 16mths & 8k miles),when you are in a position part ex(less hassle/no comebacks) & hopefully you get a peach of a new car

 

[rascalmaster]

yeah hang in there, mate and don't beat yourself up... save up and then change it for a nice merc ;-)

i bought a e280cdi pre facelift from MB dealership and was only when i removed the bumper to install parking sensors found that the car had been in an accident and badly patched up...
was all over the stealers like a bad rash. (helped me get a good price on my current one as i refused to keep that one)
its a shame one can't take people's word for stuff anymore...

 

[Dichtung]

Be grateful that you don`t have a missus who shakes her head and tut tuts before driving off in her Jap import which never ever bl**dy well breaks down and looks as good as the day it was made!

 

[splitpin]

Sadly, there is no question, you have got a Friday Car, as others already stated above.

As you may possibly recall, I have a similar car, same age, mileage & bought at the same as yours. Therefore I can intimately understand your position.

If it happens to me, I have the following contingency plan.

I will sell it promptly. Buy a cheap, older M-B of known provenance & run it until I have accrued enough money to purchase a more satisfactory modern example.

This would allow me to retain my interest in MB cars, which over the years has developed into a hobby.

I am confident that I would gain adequate advice from forum members to assist in the search for a cheap replacement.

Splitpin

 

[LTD]

Steve

It's not had a smash has it ?

It might explain the flaking paint if was not the best respray.

 

[steve333]

Steve

It's not had a smash has it ?

It might explain the flaking paint if was not the best respray.

If it has then mb Hull would be in hot water assuming it was sold hpi clear & no accident damage(which is what approved used are supposed to be guaranteed as?)

 

[Harrythedog]

Steve I have a car the same model and age as yours. I bought it when it was just under 2 years old from MB main dealers. 16k on the clock with full MB service. I only do about 5k miles a year and it's always fully serviced but I too have suffered with an inlet port motor and have had the manifold replaced so don't beat yourself up about an impulse buy. The history on mine was impeccable but you can't foresee the future

 

[davidjpowell]

Its depreciated by £9k and I've had a good use out of it. No-one can say its not fit for purpose with me doing 38k miles in it in 20 months, going round Europe on a tour with it and all the trips/holidays with the car.

The onus is on me to sell it, or PX it for something else, which I would have done, but don't quite have the money for another car saved yet.

It's strange that you mention depreciation.

The only cars that I ever had really painful depreciation on are Mercs. It may be just bad timing, but other marques have not cost me nearly as much.

 

[rascalmaster]

hopefully, if you aren't using it a lot ; not a lot else should go wrong with it!

(I'm sure you leave it on a trickle charge with a cteq charger or such like from time to time...)

 

[st4]

If it has then mb Hull would be in hot water assuming it was sold hpi clear & no accident damage(which is what approved used are supposed to be guaranteed as?)

Looking at the first MOD its had a knock that appears to be like Tim Kemps one with damage to suspension and steering and wheel and no body damage.

However, dieselman PTG'd the car and its an even thickness throughout, one layer on top of the other all over. In the event of a knock you have to blend it so you'd see maybe a section at the core of the accident 500microns thick then this would deminish down the panel. My last car had that on one side and a slightly mismatching panel gap on the light indicating a new wing. I maintain that MB Hull resprayed the whole car on the cheap, as there was paint chipping off the side of the doors. I had to clear coat that over myself otherwise I'd have had a rusty door potentially.

I've since, at my own expense fixed one side of the car as I have the name of a decent coach builder in paisley, not that reg vardy outfit that MB Glasgow use. The other side was done by a top end repairer used by Axa underwriting due to the other party pulling into me. A five month legal battle has seen this resolved in my favour however a PTG test will show the signs of a minor accident.

 

[st4]

It's strange that you mention depreciation.

The only cars that I ever had really painful depreciation on are Mercs. It may be just bad timing, but other marques have not cost me nearly as much.

I suffered monumental depreciation on this - as much as the shed in a 1/4 of the time

 

[Dieselman]

Repeated times turning it off and on wouldn't shift it. Left it for a bit and it was fine (15 mins as I was picking someone up). Stopped off for an hour, no light. Drove home, washed it, drove it to get grub of discs. Hopefully ok.

The ECU has to see completed engine cold to hot cycles before it will treat a warning code as stored instead of live.

 

[st4]

The ECU has to see completed engine cold to hot cycles before it will treat a warning code as stored instead of live.

So its gone for good. Once it was warm and left its gone now.

 

[Dieselman]

It's strange that you mention depreciation.

The only cars that I ever had really painful depreciation on are Mercs. It may be just bad timing, but other marques have not cost me nearly as much.

Yet, didn't that used to be a Mercedes selling point. Buy a Mercedes, it is expensive but will retain most of it's value.

 

[Dieselman]

So its gone for good. Once it was warm and left its gone now.

Yep. Just forget it, all Mercedes show loads of stored faults when checked.

 

[Harrythedog]

It's strange that you mention depreciation.

The only cars that I ever had really painful depreciation on are Mercs. It may be just bad timing, but other marques have not cost me nearly as much.

This is surely down to the old con trick of percentages. 45% depreciation on a £35k car hits you much harder in the pocket than a 75% drop in a £15k car

 

[st4]

Yep. Just forget it, all Mercedes show loads of stored faults when checked.

Its certainly smoking more and there is that different noise from the Turbo.

I'm getting it checked out as I think this fault might now be worth finding out more.

Two major jobs were done at the Ibrox specialist, a service including a coolant change and the manifold/port motor.

I have back a smoking car that's firing codes and making stupid noises.

I'm getting someone else to have a look at it, as I suspect the work being done might not be 100%. Certainly a second opinion of the car is needed as well as resolving my present issues which I suspect are a slightly reduced boost pressure giving that hiss then deeper droning when turbo is on song.

At this stage, I really cannot be ****ed anymore with this car, its just hassle after hassle, but I cannot sell it in this present state, its not right and I cannot even use it and enjoy it knowing its not working 100% right. Remember, its only a 6yo car, its not an old car. It should work fine.

 

[wemorgan]

Oh heck.......not again!

 

[A210AMG]

I guess once sorted that's up for sale?

You really have not had much luck, maybe you should have named your car something other than the shed...


Seems its having the last laugh.

 

[st4]

Oh heck.......not again!

Yep. I suspect it needs bolted back together a bit more accurately this time, hence I'd rather get it done elsewhere than the place that fixed it initially.

I suspect the route cause of this, was the manifold replacement. I knew at the time driving off it sounded different, and thought, it must be the manifold. The fact it smokes like malboro man and the EML light is now on, would perhaps make me think its not quite right.

I've been doing some sums, I really cannot afford to purchase another car thats satisfactory for another 6 to 12months. I save a set amount for a new car rather than paying out the same in a loan.

Nice little kitty going.

I know what my next won't have, and have narrowed down the list to what I need/want.

Saloon/estate/hatch, RWD or at least 4wd, economical (35mpg combined plus, I still drive 15k miles a year and would rather do it more cheaply on fuel than more expensively), space of camping gear and 3 adults in the car, automatic (but not a 7g), main dealer warranty for a year to sort out any obvious fixes, non leather seats, nice cabin, decent reliability record and reasonably fun to drive. Chances are I will go back to driving to work, I really do not like the train and to a job with later shifts, as again i prefer those. An AMG isn't sadly an option unless I get a big promotion.

The short list is either a replacement E220cdi facelift, a 204 220cdi, or a BMW E90 3 series. I've joined a few BMW forums and am learning more about the range. I don't want an E60, been in two, they aren't as nimble as the 211's IMHO and I really hate the styling. I could easily go a segment down in size from mine and be ok, but not two segments down. The 320d would certainly tick all the boxes for me, as would a C220cdi.

D18 forwarded some reviews to me, the Jag XF is out, and looking at the Audi forums and reviews, the cars are worse than the V6CDI 7g Merc I have, and too many say they are turdy to drive.