tommerc49
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2017
- Messages
- 62
- Location
- Peterborough
- Car
- B200 CDI Sport (W245) / A200 Turbo Manual (W169)
So I thought I'd take a few minutes to post a thread sharing my Mercedes journey so far...
Initially I was looking at purchasing an A class for the Mrs (W169), thinking along the lines of an A150 or similar... something small and sensible. Although being honest I did keep looking at an A200 Turbo that was on Pistonheads at the time but was put off by insurance and tax/ running costs.
However given I would most likely end up driving the car the majority of the time, we ended up buying something a bit better (and bigger)...
A compromise which pleased both the Mrs and myself - a 59 plate W245 B200 CDI Sport with full dealer history and just 49k miles on the clock.
A few months passed the B class really grew on me - it was roomy, quite quick (it's the only Diesel I've ever owned or driven), fantastic on fuel, and in excellent condition both inside and out.
As an ex-detailing business owner this kept me happy when it came to the upkeep of it.
Time passed however and I became bored of its performance so I opted to have the EGR blanked off, the DPF removed and of course a remap.
The performance improved considerably, as did fuel consumption - but just a month later the clutch went, and with this it was sent off to have a new clutch kit and flywheel fitted.
The dealership quotes over £3k and a local 'chain' quoted £1500 so we went with the later.
Hindsight of course is a wonderful thing, but not wanting to get into a flaming war here I'll cut a long story short...
We ended up getting the car back with almost £5k's worth of damage (due to the engine and sub-frame being dropped/ removed in order to have the clutch and DMF fitted), and it's therefore currently sitting at my local dealership whilst we go through a legal battle with the garage who caused the damage.
Once all this has blown over and the car's been brought back to its former glory by the Mercedes dealership it will regrettably be going up for sale because...
In the meantime we needed another set of wheels due to hire cars costing us far too much, and given we're not yet sure how long the B will be out of action for, buying another car seemed like the wise choice.
Of course I looked at cheaper W245's and W169's.. sensible stuff to see us through.
Without looking specifically for one *cough* I came across a nice little W169 A200 Turbo (manual 6 speed) on a 55 plate. It had just 64k miles on the clock with full dealer history. It hadn't been serviced for 4 years however due to the last owner being on tour in the forces. Because of this it had been dry-stored and only covered 6 miles or so since its last service.
It had a ton of paperwork with it, all from Mercedes of which amounts to several thousand pounds of work being carried out on it over the years.
After taking it for a test drive, despite it only running at about 50% power (over 2.5k revs) I fell in love with it and was certain it wouldn't be anything major was wrong with it.
It was a lot more nimble to drive, as well as being more responsive on the throttle and offering more raw power.
It's of a very similar spec to the B200 CDI Sport, with the same interior etc - but it also has ELECTRIC front seats, which is a huge plus.
Anyway... we couldn't help but let the A class in to the family.
So here she is...
From online searches I believe these little cars are quite rare, particularly the manual versions? (I wasn't keen on the CVT's after reading about gearbox problems and to be honest I'm just not sure I'd enjoy driving an auto). At least not of the older variety of Mercs...
Anyway, I purchased a £15 diagnostic tool from eBay the day after we purchased the car, plugged it in and read the fault codes. There were two of them - one for the crankshaft position sensor (which explained the slightly erratic idle) - this was a £15 fix. The other code was related to the 'divert air switchover valve', which seemingly was jammed closed - hence the lack of power. This cost me under £20 to replace. I assume the old one had seized closed due to the car having been sitting still for so long.
I've also done filter and fluid changes with good quality parts/ oil. I'll likely get it in to Mercedes shortly to keep the history intact, but the time being a self-service will suffice.
The car now runs and performs flawlessly, and I could not be happier with it.
Given it's not quite as 'manly-looking' at the B, it seems to surprise more people on the roads when it's asked to go.
I do miss the bigger boot space of the B but the A is a lot nicer to drive and the suspension is a LOT more forgiving than the standard sport suspension on the B.
Cornering isn't fantastic (though it's not bad either), but I'll no doubt throw a Bilstein B12 Pro kit on it in due course anyway. It's just a shame the kit that I purchased (and never got chance to fit) to the B won't fit the A.
The standard stereo in the A is seemingly an older version of the one in the B, and instead of having built in Bluetooth it has a bluetooth adaptor in the center console. There's also a disk changer in the glovebox which is great... if you use CD's...
Despite this however the phone connectivity in the A seems better - as soon as I get in the car my phone auto connects itself, whereas in the B there was more to it (a lot of tinkering to get a connection!).
I doubt the standard stereo system will be staying anyway but for now I'm quite content with it.
In the coming months I'll no doubt start to tinker with the A a little more, but I'm not planning anything major. Suspension, upgraded security, in car entertainment, some exterior paint repairs to bring it up to my standard, a full machine polish, and a full dealer service.
I've already fitted some German-pressed plates, some 55w Stealth HID's, and silvertec indicator bulbs, and upgraded the exterior and interior bulbs to LED's, fitted some M-Tech Grooved and drilled disks and added some Greenstuff pads - this has transformed the braking performance considerably. I've also fitted some decent Falcon rubber which don't look as "meaty" but are somewhat quieter than the Toyo Proxes I usually opt for - though at the same time offer handling which is easily on the same level.
Anyway - I just thought I'd share my Mercedes journey with you and without doubt I'll be back to post about the progress with the A as the bug gets a grip of me (once again).
Initially I was looking at purchasing an A class for the Mrs (W169), thinking along the lines of an A150 or similar... something small and sensible. Although being honest I did keep looking at an A200 Turbo that was on Pistonheads at the time but was put off by insurance and tax/ running costs.
However given I would most likely end up driving the car the majority of the time, we ended up buying something a bit better (and bigger)...
A compromise which pleased both the Mrs and myself - a 59 plate W245 B200 CDI Sport with full dealer history and just 49k miles on the clock.
A few months passed the B class really grew on me - it was roomy, quite quick (it's the only Diesel I've ever owned or driven), fantastic on fuel, and in excellent condition both inside and out.
As an ex-detailing business owner this kept me happy when it came to the upkeep of it.
Time passed however and I became bored of its performance so I opted to have the EGR blanked off, the DPF removed and of course a remap.
The performance improved considerably, as did fuel consumption - but just a month later the clutch went, and with this it was sent off to have a new clutch kit and flywheel fitted.
The dealership quotes over £3k and a local 'chain' quoted £1500 so we went with the later.
Hindsight of course is a wonderful thing, but not wanting to get into a flaming war here I'll cut a long story short...
We ended up getting the car back with almost £5k's worth of damage (due to the engine and sub-frame being dropped/ removed in order to have the clutch and DMF fitted), and it's therefore currently sitting at my local dealership whilst we go through a legal battle with the garage who caused the damage.
Once all this has blown over and the car's been brought back to its former glory by the Mercedes dealership it will regrettably be going up for sale because...
In the meantime we needed another set of wheels due to hire cars costing us far too much, and given we're not yet sure how long the B will be out of action for, buying another car seemed like the wise choice.
Of course I looked at cheaper W245's and W169's.. sensible stuff to see us through.
Without looking specifically for one *cough* I came across a nice little W169 A200 Turbo (manual 6 speed) on a 55 plate. It had just 64k miles on the clock with full dealer history. It hadn't been serviced for 4 years however due to the last owner being on tour in the forces. Because of this it had been dry-stored and only covered 6 miles or so since its last service.
It had a ton of paperwork with it, all from Mercedes of which amounts to several thousand pounds of work being carried out on it over the years.
After taking it for a test drive, despite it only running at about 50% power (over 2.5k revs) I fell in love with it and was certain it wouldn't be anything major was wrong with it.
It was a lot more nimble to drive, as well as being more responsive on the throttle and offering more raw power.
It's of a very similar spec to the B200 CDI Sport, with the same interior etc - but it also has ELECTRIC front seats, which is a huge plus.
Anyway... we couldn't help but let the A class in to the family.
So here she is...
From online searches I believe these little cars are quite rare, particularly the manual versions? (I wasn't keen on the CVT's after reading about gearbox problems and to be honest I'm just not sure I'd enjoy driving an auto). At least not of the older variety of Mercs...
Anyway, I purchased a £15 diagnostic tool from eBay the day after we purchased the car, plugged it in and read the fault codes. There were two of them - one for the crankshaft position sensor (which explained the slightly erratic idle) - this was a £15 fix. The other code was related to the 'divert air switchover valve', which seemingly was jammed closed - hence the lack of power. This cost me under £20 to replace. I assume the old one had seized closed due to the car having been sitting still for so long.
I've also done filter and fluid changes with good quality parts/ oil. I'll likely get it in to Mercedes shortly to keep the history intact, but the time being a self-service will suffice.
The car now runs and performs flawlessly, and I could not be happier with it.
Given it's not quite as 'manly-looking' at the B, it seems to surprise more people on the roads when it's asked to go.
I do miss the bigger boot space of the B but the A is a lot nicer to drive and the suspension is a LOT more forgiving than the standard sport suspension on the B.
Cornering isn't fantastic (though it's not bad either), but I'll no doubt throw a Bilstein B12 Pro kit on it in due course anyway. It's just a shame the kit that I purchased (and never got chance to fit) to the B won't fit the A.
The standard stereo in the A is seemingly an older version of the one in the B, and instead of having built in Bluetooth it has a bluetooth adaptor in the center console. There's also a disk changer in the glovebox which is great... if you use CD's...
Despite this however the phone connectivity in the A seems better - as soon as I get in the car my phone auto connects itself, whereas in the B there was more to it (a lot of tinkering to get a connection!).
I doubt the standard stereo system will be staying anyway but for now I'm quite content with it.
In the coming months I'll no doubt start to tinker with the A a little more, but I'm not planning anything major. Suspension, upgraded security, in car entertainment, some exterior paint repairs to bring it up to my standard, a full machine polish, and a full dealer service.
I've already fitted some German-pressed plates, some 55w Stealth HID's, and silvertec indicator bulbs, and upgraded the exterior and interior bulbs to LED's, fitted some M-Tech Grooved and drilled disks and added some Greenstuff pads - this has transformed the braking performance considerably. I've also fitted some decent Falcon rubber which don't look as "meaty" but are somewhat quieter than the Toyo Proxes I usually opt for - though at the same time offer handling which is easily on the same level.
Anyway - I just thought I'd share my Mercedes journey with you and without doubt I'll be back to post about the progress with the A as the bug gets a grip of me (once again).
