Looking to Buy a C230K W202 Model.. Help Please

[bored_welsh_lad]

Hi guys,

This is my first post on here so i think i should start off with a little about myself. My names Dicky, I'm 26 and currently serving in the Royal Air Force. I'm originally from Swansea in South Wales and travel to and from Yorkshire to get home every weekend to my house and to see the missus. I currently own a mk3 golf which has the usual massive slam and wide wheels but I'm bored of driving a bloody go-kart up and down the motorway for 700 miles every weekend.

I suppose i should get down to the nitty gritty of it now, well im due back from Afghanistan in September and would like to pick up a Merc when i get back.. i've done a heap of searching but I'm still not answering some of the major questions i want answered, so I'm hoping you guys can help me out...

I "think" i want to buy a C230K, simply because i want a nice quickish petrol car but have this nagging thought in the back of my head that I might be better off with a diesel.. I've looked into MPG and at the moment the golf does about 300 miles to the tank which on the trip computor works out to be 30mpg..I've looked on the parkers guide and it says that the Kompressor averages 29mpg.. now.. due to me largely living on the motorway in the car.. will i be seeing about this.. are the book figures true to life or am i gonna get bent over and screwed when it comes to fuel costs?

I definatley want the W202 shape, i love it and its in my price range of 1500-2500 quid, but are there any flaws to the car? common problems on given years i should stay away from etc.. I've recently seen a cloth trimmed black C230K on ebay for 1750 with 96k on the clock.. is this your average sort of price for them??

With regards to tuning the kompressor.. is it mega money to look into chips/smaller pulleys/exhaust manifolds etc.. or are these common modifications to the kompressors...

Sorry about the long winded message and i hope you guys can help me out..

Dicky

Ps.. Heres my golf ...

 

[Adam230K]

Hi there,

C230k's are very good on a run, i covered 410miles last weekend on a single tank, and i think i could've pushed it further, but in town my miles/tank can go down to 300, lowest i've ever seen is 280miles to the tank and i was thrashing it constantly.

If you pick up a well-looked after example with good history you wont have many issues, just service it regularly and all should be ok, the engines on 230k's are very strong.

If you have any other questions ask way!

 

[wemorgan]

Hi and welcome!

The W202 is the same generation as my W208 CLK.
One of the big issues with these cars is body shell rust, especially around the wheel arches.

Good luck

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
I get 360-400 miles a tank which I think is about 35mpg and mine is all motorway work, with very little town work.
Buy as high a specced vehicle as possible, transmission wise there seems to be a bit of a downer on MB manual gearboxes, so the manual versions have a tendency to be cheaper than autos, I have had my manual C230K from 2002 and a 110,000 miles and has not given me one bit of trouble.
1997 ish the model was given a face lift and generally the cars were better equipped but this facelift led to more electronics being fitted though "generally" trouble free can be expensive to repair.
As the previous poster has says look for rust around the rear boot lock, front and rear arches, and that the boot and front carpets are dry.
Buy with as much Service history as possible.

 

[flango]

Hi

Firstly welcome can give you my 2p worth on both accounts, as I live in Yorkshire but a good few moons ago I used to work at Port Talbot, so reckon I could drive the M1/M42/M5/M50/A40/M4 route to Swansea and Port Talbot Blindfold.

I currently drive a W208 230K CLK which is the same engine you are talking about, mine has a Brabus Tuning kit on it which has smaller Kompressor pulley, bigger intercooler, remap, exhaust etc. fortunately this was already done to the car when I boought it but before I did buy it I did my homework on upgrades to the 230k engine. A pulley upgrade and remap on a C230k in your budget is going to cost more than the purchase price of the car so is not really an economic option. If you want more power then I would suggest buying a bigger engined car in the first place.

In standard spec on mainly motorway I am sure you would get better than 29mpg my W208 averages 32mpg - 34 mpg depending on my driving style.

But maybe you should consider a diesel with a commute like this? A remapped diesel with a few mods would give you the best of both worlds power and economy, worth a thought?

I would avoid cloth interiors or poverty spec cars as they are difficult to sell on, leather would be a must for me and a nice 230K sport would fit the bill nicely.

As already posted areas to watch are rusting of the shell particularly on the back arches and on the boot lid near the handle / lock.

Nice Golf by the way, anything else you need to know please ask away.

 

[vijilants]

Around London stop / start you get 22 - 26 mpg. On the long run they are much much better.

Ive owned the V6s and personally I prefer the C230k because of its aggressive torque and the other bonus is that they are cheaper to maintain.

The only thing is people tend to keep hold of these vehicles so not many turn up on the market, so getting a good one can involve a bit of hunting around.

Buy the facelift model and go for the sport model.

Unless it is a turbo diesel, you will get very poor performance out of a w202 diesel if that is what you are looking for.

 

[bored_welsh_lad]

Hi

Firstly welcome can give you my 2p worth on both accounts, as I live in Yorkshire but a good few moons ago I used to work at Port Talbot, so reckon I could drive the M1/M42/M5/M50/A40/M4 route to Swansea and Port Talbot Blindfold.

Haha.. yeah we are a bit further north on the A1 and now because of the roadworks on the m1 and the a42/m42 we go down the a38 and then the a446 to counter this haha. Im down on j47 in Gorseinon..

I currently drive a W208 230K CLK which is the same engine you are talking about, mine has a Brabus Tuning kit on it which has smaller Kompressor pulley, bigger intercooler, remap, exhaust etc. fortunately this was already done to the car when I boought it but before I did buy it I did my homework on upgrades to the 230k engine. A pulley upgrade and remap on a C230k in your budget is going to cost more than the purchase price of the car so is not really an economic option. If you want more power then I would suggest buying a bigger engined car in the first place.

id love to buy a bigger engine as standard but i gotta count my pennies with the current economic climate lol.. i think i will look into the possibility of a remap/chip further down the line maybe

In standard spec on mainly motorway I am sure you would get better than 29mpg my W208 averages 32mpg - 34 mpg depending on my driving style.

But maybe you should consider a diesel with a commute like this? A remapped diesel with a few mods would give you the best of both worlds power and economy, worth a thought?

but then its.. a ... diesel.. lol.. i really dont like them haha.. and for the mpg quoted in this thread id be happy to run the charged' lump

Cheers for all the advice people.. any ideas on the best place to search apart from autotrader and ebay???

Also with regards lowering.. whats the deal with the SLS and the #'s people quote i.e. #4 with koni springs etc...

I was looking at something like this...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-MERCEDES-C230-KOMPRESSOR-SPORT-BLACK_W0QQitemZ330312597415QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobiles_UK?hash=item330312597415&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

but with leather and no broken parts haha..

 

[Howard]

Good advice from everyone , just want to say that i love the wheels on the Vee Dub ...

Borbets ?

 

[bored_welsh_lad]

yeah mate, 9x16 on the rear with a 205/40/16 toyo proxes t1r and 7.5 x 16 on the front with 195/40/16 toyos for a bit of stretch..

they are the 5x100 stud pattern which i couldn't find in the uk so i bought them from germany last year.. i wish i could have got hold of the flat caps but i wasn't going to pay 100 quid extra for them..

Im slowly taking the parts off her to return her back to standard, ready to sell her

Thanks for all the comments so far and making me feel welcome

 

[gina2201]

Love the dub, big fan of VW's too.

I've had 2 x C230k's. Go for a facelift, and with leather, sport trim is preferred I would say, I bought mine for a bargain price off ebay and it's a stunning car, looks wise and to drive. have done 3 long motorway trips in it so far in the 3 weeks of owning it and
it has been superb. At least 30mpg and that's not being conservative and sensible Put it on cruise and it's a floaty little thing.

Get one, you will not regret it.

 

[Dieselman]

Looking at the drive Is your Golf a bit low..??

Don't discount a 250TurboDiesel until you've tried one, much sweeter engine than a 230k and will give 40-45mpg easily on cruises.

 

[Big_Jon]

Mine is going to be up for sale shortly once photos are done.

 

[Adam230K]

Yes but in town Dieselman the 250TD will struggle to return 30mpg

 

[Will]

But the OP is looking for a car to cover a 700 mile motorway commute every weekend?

I'd take a turbodiesel for certain with that criteria

Will

 

[flango]

But the OP is looking for a car to cover a 700 mile motorway commute every weekend?

I'd take a turbodiesel for certain with that criteria

Will

Until very recently I would have contested that as I love my W208, but now I have this Volvo turbo diesel as well I would have to agree with you. So far I have been to Cornwall, South Wales, Scotland and next week off to Belgium in it and it's saving me an absolute fortune.

 

[Dieselman]

Yes but in town Dieselman the 250TD will struggle to return 30mpg

Only if it's caned to death..

C250TD are pretty economical beasts, even an E300TD Auto can tease 30mpg with only town work.

If I was the O/p I'd even think about a C220Cdi. Not as refined, quick or reliable as a 250, but more economical.

 

[Dieselman]

Until very recently I would have contested that as

Glad to hear you've gone through 'the change'...

 

[bored_welsh_lad]

Looking at the drive Is your Golf a bit low..??

Don't discount a 250TurboDiesel until you've tried one, much sweeter engine than a 230k and will give 40-45mpg easily on cruises.

LOL i was a lot lower than that.. the car always catches on the drive, even when it was standard haha.. i have to mount the drive at a 45 degree angle to get on it now..

Mine is going to be up for sale shortly once photos are done.

Got any pics of it mate??

Cant believe how well this thread is being taken.. cheers lads n ladies you have helped me out loads.. only thing now is i've began to look at Kompressor mods like changing pulleys etc and it seems to get expensive.. the yank forums say there's only a company called ACP producing pulleys and they come as a kit for $1200 with colder plugs, the belt etc.. I've also read that due to the electronic clutch in the Eaton pulley you cant run a BOV etc.. is that true??

or yeah.. can someone tell me what the deal is with the SLS and #'s and also how hard are they to lower??

 

[BlackC55]

My 202 is for sale. Look in the for sale section.

 

[bored_welsh_lad]

mint looking car mate.. hope you sell her very soon but i can't afford her just now.. i have a wee bit more saving to do...

I cant get over how complex the electronics seem to be in these mercs'... haha theres a button for everything