Have I made a mistake?

[jsl]

Having been a MB owner, since I could afford them, I have just said a sad farewell to my 1990 W126 300 S class which gave me 200k+ miles and 18 years of faithfull service.

Ok, It was not an "all singing dancing" machine but it was a good honest Merc which during 18 years, with the exception of "normal renewables", received only 3 batteries, 2 alternators front discs and a radiator.

I have just bought, via a dealer friend in France, and direct from the MB factory, a 2005 W211 E280 cdi Avantgarde with 12000kms on the clock. Cubanite silver, 5 speed, black leather interior, comand APS, satnav, 6 changer, rear parking sensors, electric seats, Thermotronic aircon and all manner of other "so called goodies" - half of which I have not yet found or even consider to understand.

On reading this excellant forum in an attempt to undersatnd the beast that now resides with me ( All books are in French) I am starting to wonder what I have taken on with regards to reliability as opposed to my old bombproof S class with just the "turn a key and go" technology.

Any re-assurance and comments on this car and what to watch out for would be appreciated. Drives good though

 

[Diesel Benz]

The on-line manual would mostly apply to your car too:
http://www4.mercedes-benz.com/manual-cars/ba/cars/w211/en/index.html

Are you sure it only has parking sensors at the rear? Factory Parktronic would have front sensors too.

18 years with modern cars may not be as realistic as with your previous W126 but I'm sure you will have no problems for quite a few years and certainly less than you would have had with the W126 from now on.

Just have it serviced properly, I don't know which warranty options you have, I'll leave that for others (myself I've never had any extended warranty with MBs).

 

[grober]

You will never get the life from your W211 that you got from your W126. The limiting factor with all modern cars is their heavy dependency on digital electronic systems. These haven't been round long enough to get an accurate picture of their longevity v repair/replacement costs in the long term . If they parallel the redundancy of the life of a personal computer the signs are not good! This reservation applies to all manufacturers and one of Mercedes' saving graces in the past has been the continuing supply of parts for obsolete models, so hopefully you have made a good choice.
On that theme if I was asked the one thing I would certainly pay more attention to/ care more about in your new car is the core of the vehicles electrical system- viz the battery/ies -generator.
Look after that system above all- take all necessary precautions when interacting with it- disconnecting/jump starting/ charging etc. Make sure you have a battery in tip top condition by appropriate replacement intervals. A good intelligent trickle charger for the garage would be a wise investment. I hope you enjoy your new set of wheels.

 

[bigstuff]

the w211 is a very good car & will serve you well but the w126 was a great car & sadly they dont build great cars now

 

[Diesel Benz]

You will never get the life from your W211 that you got from your W126. The limiting factor with all modern cars is their heavy dependency on digital electronic systems. These haven't been round long enough to get an accurate picture of their longevity v repair/replacement costs in the long term . If they parallel the redundancy of the life of a personal computer the signs are not good! This reservation applies to all manufacturers and one of Mercedes' saving graces in the past has been the continuing supply of parts for obsolete models, so hopefully you have made a good choice.
On that theme if I was asked the one thing I would certainly pay more attention to/ care more about in your new car is the core of the vehicles electrical system- viz the battery/ies -generator.
Look after that system above all- take all necessary precautions when interacting with it- disconnecting/jump starting/ charging etc. Make sure you have a battery in tip top condition by appropriate replacement intervals. A good intelligent trickle charger for the garage would be a wise investment. I hope you enjoy your new set of wheels.

I don't think it is fair to compare to personal computers. How many of those have actually failed? It is more that their performance becomes outdated pretty soon and that is not the case for car computers.

Longevity of electronics basically outperforms that of any mechanical part easily. The failure of electronic devices most often is mechanical, water and corrosion, wires broken causing short circuits and connector corrosion/contact issues. Even soldering is less of an issue these days.

But I agree that it is likely difficult to find a replacement part after 20 years, at least if compared to the service options for mechanical parts.

The batteries and alternators are not that different these days, more like the alternators being more stressed (if not by computers but devices like defroster, not to mention electric heaters on diesels with close to 2 kW power consumption).

 

[jsl]

The on-line manual would mostly apply to your car too:
http://www4.mercedes-benz.com/manual-cars/ba/cars/w211/en/index.html

Are you sure it only has parking sensors at the rear? Factory Parktronic would have front sensors too.

18 years with modern cars may not be as realistic as with your previous W126 but I'm sure you will have no problems for quite a few years and certainly less than you would have had with the W126 from now on.

Just have it serviced properly, I don't know which warranty options you have, I'll leave that for others (myself I've never had any extended warranty with MBs).

Thank you for the site details. You dont miss a thing do you Quite right - the rear parking sensors were not original to the car spec they were retro fitted when I told Martine my wife may drive it Had a tow bar on the W126 - was a good wall nudger for her LOL. Originally a MB director car in France then it was sent back to MB factory for revamp and then on to me. Warranty is 1 year engine and transmission.

 

[BlackC55]

You will never get the life from your W211 that you got from your W126. The limiting factor with all modern cars is their heavy dependency on digital electronic systems. These haven't been round long enough to get an accurate picture of their longevity v repair/replacement costs in the long term . If they parallel the redundancy of the life of a personal computer the signs are not good! This reservation applies to all manufacturers and one of Mercedes' saving graces in the past has been the continuing supply of parts for obsolete models, so hopefully you have made a good choice.
On that theme if I was asked the one thing I would certainly pay more attention to/ care more about in your new car is the core of the vehicles electrical system- viz the battery/ies -generator.
Look after that system above all- take all necessary precautions when interacting with it- disconnecting/jump starting/ charging etc. Make sure you have a battery in tip top condition by appropriate replacement intervals. A good intelligent trickle charger for the garage would be a wise investment. I hope you enjoy your new set of wheels.

I look after a 54plate 211. It is a 270CDI and it has 200,000 miles on it.

The ONLY component I have replaced ( I have always looked after it) is the water pump.

Everything still works.

The engine and box are 100% perfect.

I also look after another 211. It is a 52 plate and has 480,000 miles on it. The only thing to go wrong so far is the gearbox needed a re-build at 300k. It is tired and worn but still runs well.

It just proves with proper maintenence they can last for many miles.

 

[glojo]

The 211 can be a car full of electronic toys and I would strongly recommend you buy a manual, yes there are on-line ones that you can read but you really need to have that manual on your lap and read it. (I'm sure our car came with a DVD manual)

Just to highlight how important the manual can be, do you use SBC Hold? This is a great feature and worth playing with to see if you like it.

Reliability
Log onto the electronic section and see how many folks are complaining about unreliability issues! The most common place for reading about unreliability are places like so called Honest John

Look after the car and it will look after you.

Happy motoring
Regards
John

 

[donruffd]

I look after a 54plate 211. It is a 270CDI and it has 200,000 miles on it.

The ONLY component I have replaced ( I have always looked after it) is the water pump.

Everything still works.

The engine and box are 100% perfect.

I also look after another 211. It is a 52 plate and has 480,000 miles on it. The only thing to go wrong so far is the gearbox needed a re-build at 300k. It is tired and worn but still runs well.

It just proves with proper maintenence they can last for many miles.

now thats some serious milage, 480k on a 54, didnt know time would permit such miles

 

[donruffd]

i think you wont get the great engineering you would from your w126. but from the sounds of it your 211 will make you feel great about driving, the comfort, beauty will all bring a smile to your face everytime you drive it. plus those cdi engines are like suped up tanks, they hold the road well yet are very quick. im pretty sure the neighbours will be very happy or jealoius of you now aswell!!