Let the fun begin – W204 Estate adventure (French edition!)

[Meanmeech]

Hi all,


New member here – and what better way to start than by jumping into a cross-border automotive adventure?


I’m an English guy who’s just bought a 2013 Mercedes W204 Estate… in France. Yes, you read that right. Let the journey begin!


The purchase went surprisingly smoothly. Paid €8,000, which would definitely be on the high side for the UK, but over here on the continent, it’s about right for a clean example. The car was 700km away, hadn’t been driven much (less than 3,000 miles in the last year), and looked good overall.


Now, in true French fashion, it seems standard practice here to unplug the battery and "reset" everything before sale — so no surprise that, within 100km, just as I stopped for fuel, check engine light came on and the car dropped into limp mode (limited to 3,000rpm).


Did I panic? Maybe a little.
Did I carry on driving anyway? Absolutely.


Next fuel stop, about 400km later — after a quick coffee and a cheeky smoke — started the car up again and voilà! Full power returned. I’m guessing old diesel + DPF reading upset the ECU just enough to trigger limp mode.


Made it home with no further drama, but the check engine light is still on, so...

---

The Plan:​

• Fuel system service (better safe than sorry)
• Not to be unfair, but I wouldn’t trust a Frenchman with an empty crisp packet, so while I was shown receipts for oil/filter changes... let’s just say I’ll be redoing those myself!
• Going a bit overkill: planning to flush the coolant, change engine and gearbox oil, and possibly even replace the timing chain tensioner for peace of mind.
• Thinking about picking up a decent OBD2 scanner (bi-directional ideally) to read and clear codes properly.

---

If anyone’s got recommendations for a good scanner (multi-brand preferred), or any advice on what else to check or change on these OM651-powered W204s, I’m all ears!


Glad to be here — looking forward to learning and sharing the journey with fellow enthusiasts!


Cheers,

James

 

[Gollom]

Welcome! This sounds like the beginning of a great thread. Of course we need pics of the car... Bonne chance!

 

[Meanmeech]

@Gollom

Images

 

[Meanmeech]

One thing I was shocked with - 4.9L/100km - That's better than a 2021 1.2 Swift Hybrid (The Hybrid is a joke!!) - 5.1/100km. Oh and for the imperial amongst you (the Force is strong here hehe) - 58.85MPG (UK gallon!)

 

[W1ghty]

Icarsoft do multi brand scanners .

 

[W1ghty]

I’m guessing the engine light being on is why the last owner sold the car .
Good luck buddy .

 

[DesireeE]

Hi all,


New member here – and what better way to start than by jumping into a cross-border automotive adventure?


I’m an English guy who’s just bought a 2013 Mercedes W204 Estate… in France. Yes, you read that right. Let the journey begin!


The purchase went surprisingly smoothly. Paid €8,000, which would definitely be on the high side for the UK, but over here on the continent, it’s about right for a clean example. The car was 700km away, hadn’t been driven much (less than 3,000 miles in the last year), and looked good overall.


Now, in true French fashion, it seems standard practice here to unplug the battery and "reset" everything before sale — so no surprise that, within 100km, just as I stopped for fuel, check engine light came on and the car dropped into limp mode (limited to 3,000rpm).


Did I panic? Maybe a little.
Did I carry on driving anyway? Absolutely.


Next fuel stop, about 400km later — after a quick coffee and a cheeky smoke — started the car up again and voilà! Full power returned. I’m guessing old diesel + DPF reading upset the ECU just enough to trigger limp mode.


Made it home with no further drama, but the check engine light is still on, so...

---

The Plan:​

• Fuel system service (better safe than sorry)
• Not to be unfair, but I wouldn’t trust a Frenchman with an empty crisp packet, so while I was shown receipts for oil/filter changes... let’s just say I’ll be redoing those myself!
• Going a bit overkill: planning to flush the coolant, change engine and gearbox oil, and possibly even replace the timing chain tensioner for peace of mind.
• Thinking about picking up a decent OBD2 scanner (bi-directional ideally) to read and clear codes properly.

---

If anyone’s got recommendations for a good scanner (multi-brand preferred), or any advice on what else to check or change on these OM651-powered W204s, I’m all ears!


Glad to be here — looking forward to learning and sharing the journey with fellow enthusiasts!


Cheers,

James

Hello there James and welcome to the forum, great to have you on board.

Cracking introduction you put up there and that is one stonking MB with a lovely colour combo - great find

 

[markjay]

Welcome.


Lovely motor. And nice double sunroof.


If you have COMAND, then you may want to get an Integrated Automotive unit to add Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

If you have Audio20, you can replace the Becker Map Pilot navigation processor with a unit that will add Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

(From the photo is looks like COMAND, but difficult to be sure).


Oh, and you've won the lottery! Your car is pre-EU6/AdBlue

 

[philnewmerc]

One thing I was shocked with - 4.9L/100km - That's better than a 2021 1.2 Swift Hybrid (The Hybrid is a joke!!) - 5.1/100km. Oh and for the imperial amongst you (the Force is strong here hehe) - 58.85MPG (UK gallon!)

What a lovely spec, perfect! iCarsoft are very good code reader for MB.
Don't wish to p*ss on your baguette but if that car does a real (checked by doing a brim to brim test) 58 mpg I'll set fire to my own, like an angry French farmer.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Hello and welcome.

Get underneath it and inspect the rear subframe for corrosion , not surface rust but rot from within . Google (and look on here) 'W204 rear subframe failure' .

Failure seems to be a bit it and miss , but You do not want any nasty surprises.

 

[Meanmeech]

What a lovely spec, perfect! iCarsoft are very good code reader for MB.
Don't wish to p*ss on your baguette but if that car does a real (checked by doing a brim to brim test) 58 mpg I'll set fire to my own, like an angry French farmer.

This got me thinking…


I drove from Amiens to west of Quimper — about 698 km on the trip meter.
At the next fill-up, I put in 54.92 litres, but I still had two bars of fuel when I left (set off from Amiens), and now I’m one bar above half a tank (just double-checked).


So realistically, I’ve used around 33 litres for that distance — which works out to 4.8L/100km, or for the imperials among us... 58.85 MPG (UK).


So Phil — where do you want me to post the baguette? Or shall I bring some butter too?

 

[philnewmerc]

Not so fast mon ami.

434 miles ÷ 44 litres (assuming you had 10 l left) × 4.55 = 45 mpg, which sounds much more realistic.

The only accurate way to check is to brim your tank, drive for x number of miles, then brim your tank again, then work out the MPG from how many gallons you had to fill up over how many miles you had completed it since the last fill up

 

[Meanmeech]

Not so fast mon ami.

434 miles ÷ 44 litres (assuming you had 10 l left) × 4.55 = 45 mpg, which sounds much more realistic.

The only accurate way to check is to brim your tank, drive for x number of miles, then brim your tank again, then work out the MPG from how many gallons you had to fill up over how many miles you had completed it since the last fill up

This baguette-powered beast might just defy logic (and hybrid marketing departments) a little longer.


I admit, your brim-to-brim science is strong
…but the saga continues — give me another week and I’ll return with hard data and maybe even a croissant-fuelled victory dance.


Stay tuned — same Merc time, same Merc channel!

 

[Gollom]

This baguette-powered beast might just defy logic (and hybrid marketing departments) a little longer.


I admit, your brim-to-brim science is strong
…but the saga continues — give me another week and I’ll return with hard data and maybe even a croissant-fuelled victory dance.


Stay tuned — same Merc time, same Merc channel!

That will be a real Pain.....

(You started it!)

 

[Petrol Pete]

I will repeat what I said in post #10 . concentrate on the big stuff like the rear sub frame . KM/Litre comes later.

 

[Meanmeech]

I will repeat what I said in post #10 . concentrate on the big stuff like the rear sub frame . KM/Litre comes later.

Fair point!
Bank Holiday tomorrow, so I’ll finally have time to get under the car and give it a proper look.
Rear subframe inspection incoming — update to follow!

 

[fabes]

That's a clean, semi classic Mercedes you have there. Well done on the roof as well!
It's not been near Paris I take it, given the lack of battle scars....?

You will at least have plenty of time to work on it.
Every other week in France there's a bleedin' bank holiday!

 

[Petrol Pete]

You will at least have plenty of time to work on it.
Every other week in France there's a bleedin' bank holiday!

OK , not quite every other week , but I for a long time turned down contracts in France . As a self employed contractor who (mostly) charges an hourly rate France is just not worth it for me , 8 till 5 with a 1 hour unpaid lunch break and no weekend work is fine if you are an employee.

The customers are fine with me coming back to UK Friday night and returning on Sunday night at their cost , that might work if the job was London to Paris , but they never are.

As much as we scoff at the 'lazy' attitude of our French neighbours many of them have a much better work life balance than most of us.

 

[Tonye]

Hi and welcome to the forum,. Great looking car, the only major problem i can see is the steering wheel is on the wrong side. I have a 65 plate C250d W205 wagon and i easily get that mpg on a long cruise, around town may be 40, don't know about the adblue it always reed's full Just drive it and enjoy those lovely roads.

 

[Meanmeech]

Bank Holiday update – Subframe , Sat Nav


So, had a quick crawl under the back end today (though ideally I’ll get it up on a jack later), but the rear subframe looks fine so far — no obvious rust horrors lurking… yet.
Proper check will come when I crack on with the service work (just waiting on the filters to turn up).


But here’s the kicker… the Becker Map Pilot.
Now there’s a bit of quality German engineering gone rogue.


Mine’s stuck cycling the splash screen. So off it came…

• Battery reads 4.1V but feels a bit bloated (promising start… not).
• SD card looks fine — shows up on PC, files seem accessible.

Did the sensible thing and backed it all up, ran Content Manager…
Only to find no map data showing in green or yellow — nothing at all, just a sad, empty menu.


Looks like someone’s already had a go and wiped the system, because the main folder is corrupt or missing the important bits. Classic.


So I’ve started the wild goose chase for replacement files —
Danger Spots Europe? Dead.
RapidGator Becker Map Pilot V17? Also dead.
TNA? Yeah… no luck there either.


So, if by some miracle, anyone has a copy kicking about, or knows where to get the files to stop this misery, please ping me a message and help me save this poor, confused Becker box.


Cheers all!
More updates soon…