E430 - 200K - mad to buy?

[E CLASS]

Would I be insane entertaining this idea?

Estate

A/garde

2 owners

£1k'ish

The box must be thinking of giving up soon - or perhaps that it hasn't mean it'll go forever....

Thoughts?

 

[DSM10000]

What is the state of the bodywork? Any MOT advisories that will cost a lot to fix in future assuming you keep the car?

See it as a disposable item, enjoy, scrap / re-cycle

 

[Howard]

That's a lot of miles , did Captain Picard trade it in ?

 

[gaz_l]

If you can afford to buy it and write the £1K off on day one I'd say go for it.

If it's been looked after well, there could be years of life left in it yet with only routine maintenance. You'll have an above-average fuel bill, but that's a decision to offset against the pleasure of having that V8 under the bonnet.

TBH, it's unlikely to have been thrashed (it's not a boy racer's car) so it's probably in better fettle than an E200 with the same mileage as the 4.3 won't have broken a sweat hauling what is quite a hefty car around.

On the other hand, it was an expensive car new (£40K?) and as I always say, cars get cheaper to buy as they get older but they never get cheaper to run. A 40K car will always have 40K running costs.. one expensive failure and your £1K car is uneconomic to fix..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[johnsco]

We bought an E430 6 months ago for £2k.
Needed a bit of work, but now it's a fully-loaded magnificent car.
£2k well-spent.
If it lasts a year, we'll have got our money's-worth.

 

[E CLASS]

If you can afford to buy it and write the £1K off on day one I'd say go for it.

If it's been looked after well, there could be years of life left in it yet with only routine maintenance. You'll have an above-average fuel bill, but that's a decision to offset against the pleasure of having that V8 under the bonnet.

TBH, it's unlikely to have been thrashed (it's not a boy racer's car) so it's probably in better fettle than an E200 with the same mileage as the 4.3 won't have broken a sweat hauling what is quite a hefty car around.

On the other hand, it was an expensive car new (£40K?) and as I always say, cars get cheaper to buy as they get older but they never get cheaper to run. A 40K car will always have 40K running costs.. one expensive failure and your £1K car is uneconomic to fix..

Cheers,

Gaz

I am such a tight git when it comes to cars (not maintaining them though) I just want a V8 estate and think it would be fun, fast and practical.

I have my eye on another thats very close to me - going to cold call it.

 

[Whitey]

What about a tatty E55 ?

 

[Adam230K]

If its been serviced regularly, and the box serviced too then there's no reason it shouldn't keep going for another 100k

It'll dissolve into a pile of rust before it gives up mechanically i reckon

 

[johnsco]

I agree.
They aren't the most-robust boxes in the world.
But - They are up to the job.
If the auto-trans is working OK when you buy it, give it an atf and filter change and it will probably last a long time.

Lovely car !!!

 

[Howard]

Really ? i've heard of C43's breaking the boxes , but never E's or CLK's ?

 

[CKLclive]

Buy it you wont regret it trust me, my best mate that I share the workshop with
has an E430 estate done 220,000 fully loaded and providing you give it tlc ie
gearbox atf change plus engine oil change it is the best !
so go for it bud

 

[Will]

Really ? i've heard of C43's breaking the boxes , but never E's or CLK's ?

Seen a few 210 E430s with dead gearboxes now. I think there's been one or two on this forum who have had them go (Lynall who used to have the 430 saloon IIRC), plus I've seen some on eBay with dead gearboxes when I was looking a couple of months back.

I think the '55 boxes are a bit tougher, from what I can gather - certainly seems that way at least

 

[CKLclive]

Seen a few 210 E430s with dead gearboxes now. I think there's been one or two on this forum who have had them go (Lynall who used to have the 430 saloon IIRC), plus I've seen some on eBay with dead gearboxes when I was looking a couple of months back.

I think the '55 boxes are a bit tougher, from what I can gather - certainly seems that way at least

Hi Will,
how are things ?

 

[Will]

Ermm - good thanks?

Back to the OP though - I think that at £1k you've got little to lose.

Check it - buy it, drive it, don't spend a lot on it (other than the essentials).

When it dies you'll not have lost much, could be lucky and get a few years of decent motoring for not a lot of £££.

Will always be worth a few quid as spares/repairs should it die catastrophically or fail an MOT etc needing too much work.

IMHO

Will

 

[BlackC55]

It's a myth that the '43 box is weak. It all depends on the way you drive and maintain it. Jacks 43(55) has 100k on the original box and gets driven like an AMG is supposed to be. No issues.

A 200k E430 would have to be cheap. £1k is too expensive. It's worth more like £500. We had a E430 at PCS that Jack bought for pennies it had 245k and was fine.

Don't pay over the odds for it.

 

[BlackC55]

Really ? i've heard of C43's breaking the boxes , but never E's or CLK's ?

They all do H. It depends on usage, type of driving and maintenance.

 

[Will]

It's a myth that the '43 box is weak.

Got to be honest, considering how rare C43s are, it does seem an awful lot of them have had failed gearboxes.

I reckon I can think of 10-20 with dead gearboxes off the top of my head - genuinely.

Can't even think of one E55 or CLK55 though on this forum/eBay etc?

Not putting the cars down at all, but they don't seem as strong as the '55 boxes even with high miles on them?

 

[Dieselman]

The C43 used a 722.631 gearbox, the E430 used 722.623 then 722.632 gearbox, all rated at 580Nm.

 

[BlackC55]

The internal part numbers of the components I am sure are the same so almost the same 'box.

In will check tomorrow. Can you PM me you full chassis Will from your CLK.

 

[Will]

The internal part numbers of the components I am sure are the same so almost the same 'box.

In will check tomorrow. Can you PM me you full chassis Will from your CLK.

Sure - will do

To reitertate - I've nothing against C43s at all, I love them

It just seems a lot of them have had gearboxes fail, considering they only sold a few hundred in total.

Can't recall any 210 E55s or 208 CLK55s on here with faulty gearboxes though - strange considering the additional power and torque of the '55 engine?