Maintenance costs of facelift Mercedes 220 CDI

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diselsam

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Hi

I am in the research stage before the purchase of a facelift E220CDI from 2007. I chose that era (post 2006) as these cars are viewed now as very reliable.

I am trying to establish the maintenance costs of such a car if I do the work myself (change of fluids, filters, and brake pads/disks). For I prepared a list of things I think I will face during the ownership of this beautiful machine. I will appreciate any comment and discussion on these numbers, as well as anything related to this model. Am I missing something, am I being too optimistic?

Here are the numbers in British pounds:

Insurance 730 Annually
Tax 225 Annually
MOT 45 Annually
Brake fluid 30 Annually
Diesel 357.5 Annually for 3000 miles
Antifreeze 14 Every 2 years
Oil 45 Every 2 years or 10000 miles
Oil filter 9 Every 2 years or 10000 miles
Air filter 20 Every 30000 miles
Power steering fluid 25 Every 30000 miles
Differential oil 30 Every 30000 miles
Fuel filter 20 Every 60000 miles
Automatic transmission fluid 120 Every 60000 miles
Automatic transmission filter 9 Every 60000 miles
Automatic transmission gasket 7 Every 60000 miles
Jack and stand 80 Once
Oil extracting Pump 45 Once
Scanning device 45 Once
Tools based on work at hand, to be bought gradually
Glow plugs 30 When happens
Battery 120 When happens
Tires 250 When happens
Brake pads front 40 When happens
Brake pads rear 30 When happens
Wipers rear 3 When happens
Wipers front 30 When happens
Rear disks 60 When happens
Rear disks 80 When happens

Thank you
 
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Insurance seems steep. Tyres @ £250? Each or for four?
 
Insurance seems steep. Tyres @ £250? Each or for four?
Hi Chris

I know, the insurance is steep. £250 is for 4 tyres, either Michelin or Dunlop when I checked.

Thank you.
 
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If the car is on standard 205/55 R16 tyres, then it is a very common size, top brand will cost around £80 per corner fitted, medium brands £60-£70 per corner.
 
Thank you. I am starting to see the pattern. I guess it also takes patience for research as I just found Blizzak LM001 for a bit more than 60 per corner.
 
Mark, in your opinion is it ok to buy tyres online or it is better to do it from a shop as to deduce the tyre age? What is your experience?
 
Ash59 thanks. Do you think these prices i am listing in the OP are realistic, do they match your experience?
 
diselsam said:
Ash59 thanks. Do you think these prices i am listing in the OP are realistic, do they match your experience?

I am on a service plan with MB (£34 p/m) so I can't comment on the maintenance pricing but it seems all there, you've certainly done your research!

I've owned my car since June and so far had one service (major B) and from the visual check at the service they recommended new rear tyres and new disks/pads at the front and in short time also the rears. I'll be booking the car up for new disks and pads all round shortly but at an Indy, I refuse to pay the premium prices at the dealership- they quoted £360 for rear tyres :(

Are you planning on using your car a lot? I somewhat regret buying a diesel now, for some reason at the time I thought it best to get diesel. In fact so much that I waited months on end to find the right one in white, which only a few came up in that time whilst there was plenty of petrol models to choose from. I wish I bought a c63 instead or one of the other bigger engined petrol models.

... but I do absolutely love my car and fully intend to keep it for a while before another MB. Only bad thing is I don't use it a great deal, reading recent threads about DPF usage on diesel vehicles I'm just worried I'm slowly ruining my car etc.

You've come to the right place here though, knowledge on this website is second to none from some really friendly people. Now in MB ownership I can't see myself buying into another brand for a while :thumb:
 
You have a very beautiful car Ash59 with the right colour and engine! I am tall and feel better in the E body. The quotation from the dealer is high, I would also have gone to an indie considering the price differential.

I am going to use the car mostly over the weekends. At least at the beginning. This means not more than 3000 mile pa. From all models within the E family I felt thr 220 cdi ticks the marks for me, 170 bhp, 400 NM, diesel elasticity, maintenance costs. I am just a normal, calm driver. In fact I personally prefer diesel engines over petrol as I find them elastic and having the needed torque at low rpms. Just fit my personality better. Once I manage to find one, I plan to keep it for as long as it feels fit. I am not concerned of high mileage Mercedeses.

It is true that the Diesel cars require some motorway time to reach the right temperature to start the regeneration of the DPF. But I do not think you have to worry. I think their lives are around 200,000 miles. Plus a new one is probably around 200 pounds, at least For BmW if I am not wrong. But there is also a German product called Tunap dpf cleaner. It is confirmed as working.

I am reading now about a icaraoft 980 reader. An excellent alternative to the Star Diagnosis.

Thank you for the nice welcoming words. Mercedes and their owners are special.
 
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The thing about buying tyres is that I tend to choose the model tyre that I want, and the local tyre fitter shop might not have it in stock.

I bought tyres both online and at tyre fitters before, but when bought at a tyre fitter I pre-ordered the exact model of tyre I wanted.

As for prices, many tyre fitters will match online prices if you haggle.
 
Unless you are buying a well documented full service history car, the main issue will be the unknown servicing before you bought it. One way to deal with this is wait for issues to happen and deal with them as you go, another is to go through and service everything when you buy it. Then you are starting from a known state, downside is you are spending up front.

As you are buying a ~9 year old car you should also check items like belts, hoses etc for condition and replace as necessary. If it has air con, budget for a re-gas and use it regularly. As you are just using it for a weekend car, a trickle charger is a good investment, especially if you end up buying a new battery.

cheers, Steve
 
Steve, thank you for the valuable advices. I do not understand well the thing about the documented history of the car. Mercedes for example has this policy to not change the ATF. I guess this means that any way the car needs to have all oils, fluids and filters replaced, because the history will be patchy anyway. I mean, I am not sure if much thought is given to the differential oil, but I might be totally wrong in my assumption.

What is the normal practice about this? If I am buying from a dealer, is it normal to ask the dealer to replace the fluids and filters as some are overdue or it is something that I do? What if I do not like the condition of the tyres or brakes pads/disks? Can I expect/ask politely the dealer/seller to replace these? By asking this I am trying to understand what is the normal process when buying from a dealer? If my research is correct it should be around £300 to replace all fluids and filters.

I think that up to a limited point I can deduce the general condition of the car by test driving and poking around it. But this is a complex machine and I am thinking to get it inspected by an independent indie with the Star diagnosis. Do dealers agree for the vehicle to be pre-inspected by an indie?

In my list I did not put the thing about engine drive belts which have to be done every 15,000 – 30,000 or 60,000 depending on the type of belt. I also did not put the servicing of the coolant and fuel hoses, which have to be done each 120,000 – 150,000. Including a good check on the condition of the radiator and thermostat.

If you compare a diesel Mercedes from the late 90s with those newer ones from 2006 on, do the newer ones have more draw on the battery? I would guess so but I am not sure. The thing about the trickle charger is excellent. I think those from Deltran are fine, but I do not have a direct power source in my carport and I am not sure my neighbours would like to see a cable hanging out from my window and running on the ground.  There are also solar powered trickle chargers, but I do not know much about it. Realistically how bad it is on the battery if you are firing up and driving the car once/twice weekly?

What is your experience with the purchasing of oils, fluids and filers? I am coming to the conclusion that I should get access to the EPC to be properly identifying part numbers. Then getting some of the parts directly from Mercedes and others from online shops.
 
In fact I personally prefer diesel engines over petrol as I find them elastic and having the needed torque at low rpms.

You might prefer diesel power, but for the low miles you will be doing a petrol version would be preferable as the diesel fuel consumption will not be great except on long journeys and warm up times will be around 20 minutes.
 
I know it is subjective. My trips will be longer than 20 minutes for sure, a total of 60 to 100 miles both ways...
 
Regarding the diesel vs gasoline thing. E220cdi is taxed at £225 and has average consumption of 6.7 l/100 km. E280 is taxed at £290 and consumes on average 9.4 l/100km. If you take 3000 miles pa as a measuring equator, this means £262 in favour of the E220cdi.

For 60 to 100 miles both ways I will definitely prefer the E220 cdi plus I like diesels more, both technically but also from economic point of view. But again, this is all subjective, it is my taste and understanding, and I do not want to generalize.
 
Unlikely that the diff oil will have been changed during dealer service as it's considered a lifetime fill. If you are in it for the long term it's got to be worth doing once for the cost of the oil.

For what it's worth I DIY maintained a 190e for most of the 21 years I had it. It was incredibly cheap to run because nothing ever went wrong. There's great satisfaction in getting to know a car inside out. I even used to replace my own exhaust systems. If I'd fitted the previous one with anti size on the joints I could have the middle a rear sections off the car in 10 mins flat. Overall I'd expect your estimated costs to be a little high and some things will last longer than you expect. For example my first replacement battery lasted 12 years and the next replacement was still good when I sold the car. I still have the service records so I also know that I only went through one set of front brake discs, two sets of front pads and only one set of pads on the back.
 
Hi 190

Exactly what I also think regarding the maintenance of the car. I hope the 220cdi will treat me, once I manage to find one, in the same way as your 190 did with you. Thank you
 
Good luck with the 220cdi. I replaced the 190e with a C180k earlier this year with the hope of repeating the 190e experience. Something tells me it won't be quite so easy.

Incidentally I didn't buy the 190e with the intention of keeping it 21 years. The original target was 10 years but it just kept going year after year never failing an MOT or requiring anything but routine maintenance. So I kept it as it seemed by comparison that everyone I knew with modern cars had tales of woe with unreliability and costly repairs. And even MB's went through the rusty phase during that interval.
 
Good morning 190

The 190e is a wonderful car. The brand underwent through its “dark period” from the later 90s to 2006. I think that with your vast experience you will not have problems with the new C180. And even if you have, it will be rectified with ease.

One thing I am noticing though is that the newer cars are not as DIY friendly as they used to be in the past. For instance, you have to have the right diagnostic tool (not necessarily the Star diagnosis) in order to read but then also to remove error codes.
In a way it is a petty that we do not have the GLK model here.

As to the E 220cdi I think all the right circumstances are present: reliable 5g auto, proven engine used in the sprinter too, galvanised body so no more rusty issues, no SBC breaks, over 2000 replaced parts. Any car can be a lemon, but it is a matter of proper research, common sense, and luck.
 

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