M272 280 or the 320 cdi engine?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

James1976

Active Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
218
Location
Borough, London
Car
94 300 SL-24 in Bornite, 2010 Smart Fortwo Passion
Hi all.

I live in Amsterdam now after many Mercs in the UK (r129's and w123's plus modern ones) so have a car choice some will be unfamiliar with being lucky enough to be out the UK and have the choice of LHD GLK's.

However, engines are the same and both seem to have their issues; I'm torn between a 280 or 350 petrol lump which earlier than 2009 have the balancer shift issues... Or the 320 cdi engine which has bearing issues also from a similar time.

I'm looking at 2 cars, one a 2008 320 cdi in storage with FSH all it's life at 3k and one a 40k 2009 petrol also of course with FSH.

Genuinely concerned that the m272 will screw up at 60k or so if it's pre the hardened sprockets (although that seems no guarantee) but also the 320 will chew its bearings and die.

Both 35k UK pounds. Thank god for low taxes in the UK we're genuinely lucky re cheap cars compared to here..! Massively overpriced...

So, want do we think?

Cheers,

James
 
What sort of annual mileage will you be covering? Clearly the 272 will drink a bit more but they are silky smooth, have tons of free revving power and make a glorious sound for a V6 (in CLS application anyway), even in 30-50mph urban driving.

Hardened sprockets were around very early 2007 so a 2009 model bound to have them. If you do run into issues though the repair seems to be a lot cheaper than the fixes to the issues that crop up on the diesel. In fact, at an independent they can be repaired for not much more than the cost of 1 airmatic strut I believe, to put it into perspective.

Most of the reports of woe on the non-hardened balance shafts seem to crop up around the 120-130k miles mark but some do have issues at lower mileages as you say.
 
Mileage to be honest I don't really know yet; I guess about 10 k miles a year at the moment. I know the diesel is of course more expensive in theory but to be fair it's the diesel tax over here that's the killer - double petrol and for a GLK 180 a month.

I also think the petrol may be a better bet and it sounds as if i would have avoided the sprocket issue in which case it should be capable of pretty big mileages..

To be fair modern diesels scare me a bit with turbos, DPF's etc. and their ability to generate massive repair bills easily as they age. With some short journeys it would also rarely get properly warm and therefore wouldn't be that economical anyway...

The diesel GLK is great though in terms of low mileage effectively a new car.

What other know. problems does the diesel engine have then?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom