My 59k mile W202 C200 classic (auto)

[Wigglesworth]

Hi any and all that are going to be interested in my W202!
I decided to buy this wonderful car earlier this week as, in my view, it was a bargain!

The car has little evidence of history with it from the previous owners. What is there backs up a totally genuine 59860 miles! Original factory check sheet is present along with brochures, Blaupunkt radio papers + unused window stickers and owners books.

It's fairly basic specification. There is a 5 speed standard (none tiptronic) automatic gearbox, cruise control, glass electric sunroof, electric front windows/door mirrors and manual air conditioning.
The car is Imperial Red with a mushroom interior and is like getting into a very nearly new car!

These pictures are from the advert that I purchased the car from...












One of the only fixes that had to be done was the badly functioning mono wiper unit! The wiper on intermittent or speed 1 would only park in the centre of the screen and speed 2 (flat out) didn't work at all. This speed on the stalk serves only to park the wiper!!
I decided to spend a few hours on the internet and get some research in on the issue.
Confident in my new found information being reliable I set about fixing the problem. Unfortunately in the past somebody has removed the leaf covers and smashed the large harder to remove part that fits below them. Then proceeded to fix* the problem by doing this....


Why on gods green earth you wouldn't just reset the mono wiper park position is totally beyond my comprehension.
If your interested, this is the rear of the unit when removed from the car and resetting is simple enough as there is loads of information on the web!



Needless to say the wiper motor wiring is now repaired properly, everything is re greased and it now both parks and functions on all settings.


I am unfortunately aware of the bit of rust now and waiting for a price on a new screen as this one is delaminating.

Today I have visited my local MB dealer to get some of the service items dealt with. Last owner was running it on 0w40 which MB tells me is wrong so MB oil, filter, sump plug and washer, genuine wiper blade and some complimentary screenwash were collected. I didn't think it was bad for around £80 in all honesty.

The oil that came out was last changed about 6k ago along with the filter. I'm so glad that I changed it all as this was the none genuine filter and old oil...









Prices for the wiper blade and oil,filter, sump plug and washer from the main dealer are as shown.... part numbers can be provided if needed. Oil capacity is only 5.5 litres not anywhere near 7 litres. But I now have 1.5 litres in case of top ups being required before next change is due.



Old and new sump plug/washer side by side ....



I have only a couple of little niggles to sort out now and then I will be completely happy with the car.
I have what I think is a noisy pulley (tensioner?) next to the power steering pump. There is a very slightly warped front brake disk and I have a noise like a rustling plastic wrapper in the passenger front footwell while driving!

I will through the course of 2017 be getting all of the jobs needed sorted out. MOT and major services are going to be done by myself or MB only. I will also be saving for some front wings and a respray to get it back up to perfect!

I will add to this post as and when things get done,thanks for reading my monster first post on the site!!

 

[190]

Nice car.

Curious to know what MB thought was wrong with running it on 0W40. It would have been perfectly fine on oil of that viscosity.

 

[Darrell]

I love these cars and would have one like a shot again.

Also love these threads. Did I miss the price?

 

[Wigglesworth]

Nice car.

Curious to know what MB thought was wrong with running it on 0W40. It would have been perfectly fine on oil of that viscosity.

While it would be perfectly fine running on 0w40 (and has been for a long time). The temperature range isn't as broad as it is on what's in now.
It does run a little quieter on the oil that's been put in it now too which is a bonus and I'm a bit of a swine for putting in the best that I can afford (in this case MB supplied and recommended).

I'm not sure if it makes any difference at all (I guess it doesn't) if you buy the MB bottled stuff or the Fuchs branded as its supposed to be the same stuff according to the MB dealer!

 

[Wigglesworth]

I love these cars and would have one like a shot again.

Also love these threads. Did I miss the price?

I forgot to mention it was picked up at £750 (most likely over paid but I needed this car in my life).
Only 2 owners... first older gentleman, who apparently passed away in his 90's. Then his son (who was a mature owner) for the later part of it's life. And now I am 3rd owner in 19 years.

I never realised they were commanding such high prices for low mileage ones now. I can't actually recall when I last saw one on the road before I purchased this car.

 

[SamW]

Congrats. Love a 202.

Keep the updates and pictures coming

 

[GP801]

Well done. Looks a great car for the money. Your insurance will probably cover the screen for the cost of the excess. There will be corrosion under the delaminated area but any decent bodyshop will sort it for you. Its a very common issue.

 

[neilrr]

That rust could extent further than you can see.

W202s are good, solid cars. Each model has it's know problems, with yours I'd start looking for a spare PMS unit now.

Low mileage is a negative in my book.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/mbclub-polls/201988-w202-worst-mb-car-ever.html

 

[Wigglesworth]

Well.... Today has been both satisfying and productive. And very annoying and disappointing (more on this bit at the end)!

First order of the day was to remove the front passenger seat. Very easy operation requiring removal of only 4 E Torx bolts and 1 small electrical connector, followed by the lower bolt for the seatbelt (the one that fixes it to the seat.
This is what I found lurking in the passenger floors...





Uuurgh... needed cleaning!
I did however find some treasure. Always a bonus I guess.



Even the centre armrest was a bit grim and there were spills down the side of it from people being not so careful + the added bonus of some sweets melted into the carpet!










This was mostly dealt with by using nothing more than a bucket of fairly hot plain water and some clean microfibre cloths.
After the worst was removed a light going over with some car carpet cleaner and getting the mats jet washed off. Things looked and smelled a thousand times better. I did my upmost to keep the carpets as dry as possible, when finished they were only slightly damp which is fine!

These were the results...













And ..... Oh god the dirt!!!



Even did a little bit of cleaning up around the centre of the dash....



Happy with the fact that the passenger side floor area is all cleaned up and that I had found treasure. I went home to chill out.
Within 30 minutes..... 30 frikin minutes! I heard an almighty thud from outside my house where the car was parked! As I got to the door the buggers were making off around the corner with my bonnet badge (grrrrr)!

This is what they left behind ....



Tw@s!
I mean what are they going to do with it???? Eat it?? They pulled the badge out so hard they separated the badge from the spring and left nothing behind but the socket, ball and spring!

Good mood ruined.... ordered a cheaper none MB unit immediately to see what the quality is like should have that by 6th of this month. If I'm not happy with it then off to the dealer for a new one

Drivers side to be cleaned during next week, followed by all the seats for good measure!

This concludes the days shenanigans.

 

[Wigglesworth]

I cheered myself up today.
Since getting the car I had noticed that the keyfob that I use all the time had virtually no range on it and when you pressed down the button the light never lit up to say that the batteries were good.
The second key that I have didn't even operate the central locking and again no sign of life if you pressed and held the button.

My suspicions of flat or very weak batteries was correct, after fitting a pair of new CR2025 to each keyfob, they both lit up when the button was pressed and held.
Excited that I had 2 keys that I could just grab and unlock with, I rushed out to the car to test them .... Both keys acted exactly as they did before but with greatly extended range on my usual key. The second key was still dead.
At this point I decided to hit the internet and do a bit of searching around on resetting the keys to the car (older Citroen cars taught me that this was a thing). Gladly there is a simple process to get the keys reset to the car so I will list it here for you guys

I would recommend changing the batteries in the none working keyfob for brand new ones (CR2025 x2 in each fob). Changing the batteries is a doddle, just put a trolley token in the space then twist... easy!

1. Get in the car.
2. Point the none working key fob at the interior mirror and press the button twice within 1 second.
3. Put the key in the ignition and turn on to position 2 (all warning lights lit) ... Do not start the engine!
4. Turn of the ignition and remove the key.
5. Point keyfob towards interior mirror and press the button several times! Chances are it will work on the first or second press of the button like mine did.

The above instructions are for this type of key...


The whole above process worked for my dead keyfob. That keyfob would start the car but wouldn't allow you to unlock the car with the button.

Anyway I hope this is handy for someone

 

[John Jones Jr]

Good work. Keep the posts coming.

 

[NDFR]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbidW4qjA9Y

 

[neilrr]

Wiggle,

By any chance are you retired?

 

[Wigglesworth]

Wiggle,

By any chance are you retired?

No I am not retired. I'm a 33 year old that just loves my car

 

[merc85]

Welcome to the forum, Nice to see a w202 getting some love, Cracking thread

 

[Scott_F]

No I am not retired. I'm a 33 year old that just loves my car

There is something very satisfying about buying a cheap old car that no one else seems to want, putting a bit of time and effort into it and turning it into a car that can give many more years of solid service.

And they don't usually look as nice as yours.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Got to love a W202, getting a rare slight these days.

I still miss modding mine

 

[Darrell]

There is something very satisfying about buying a cheap old car that no one else seems to want, putting a bit of time and effort into it and turning it into a car that can give many more years of solid service. And they don't usually look as nice as yours.

I am starting to feel this way with our 14 year old daily driver Jaaag. Still gets admiring looks when it's cleaned up.

 

[Wigglesworth]

Well I have an effective anti theft measure for my new hood ornament.... when parked overnight, or anywhere else for that matter, REMOVE IT! Unless someone is with the car ofc.

Now I have 2x hood ornaments. The one on the car is genuine and from the dealer! I got fed up of waiting for the fake to turn up and I'm so glad I got genuine to be honest. The difference in quality is what I would call enourmous.

This is the genuine fitted to the car...







Price from main dealer was £43.68 inclusive of V.A.T and the details I have on the receipt are as follows...

P MA210 880 01 86 BADGE 074605

Now for the hood ornament that will NEVER be fitted to the car because the quality is sooo bad...

First up is the typeface and colour of the blue* paint..

Really couldn't be more wrong to my eye!

Then we have the wonderful top quality* construction..

I really can't see that lasting the time needed, you can remove the lower section without more that a gentle twist :fail

Then we have the severe angle of the emblem in relation to the bonnet...

I bet this would be barely visible from the drivers seat and that kinda defeats the whole object really.

The finish of the star part of the emblem was good enough to pass at a glance..


There are some minor pits in the finish but I really think that doesn't matter with the poor quality of the rest of it!

Oh and it's not correctly sprung loaded like the dealer standard unit is!

So that is my scathingly bad review of the none MB hood ornaments :bannana:

 

[Wigglesworth]

Well Christmas has been rather uneventful for the car really! Everything has been working well and there haven't been any major issues except the expensive lesson that has been the brakes!
To cut a long story fairly short.... I never checked the overall condition of the brakes when I purchased the car! I just presumed that the slack brake pedal was because of it being an older automatic. I couldn't have been any more wrong!
I was finding that if I needed/wanted to stop very quickly, the abs was immediately cutting in and the car would just slide and take forever to stop. This got quite unnerving so I decided to check things out...



Oops.... they were the rear left pads (the other side were just as bad too)!

The discs all round were embarrassingly in very poor condition! I feel ashamed for not checking things much sooner and deserve a very large slap!!



And on closer inspection they were in terrible condition...



I didn't take pictures of everything else. However, the front pads had at least been changed ... these were no name ones from brakeworld so immediately went in the bin! All of the disc securing screws were free and able to be reused and the front discs were as bad as the rears

I replaced the whole lot with Pagid which is as good as original equipment (ECP own TMD friction and texstar/mintex now anyway so that also covers Pagid too).
My friend has a trade account with them and I get to use the workshop after hours, all was done within a couple of hours :bannana:
Total cost for absolutely everything was £193 ... front and rear pads (rears being single pin pads), front and rear discs, new front wear sensors and new handbrake shoes (these haven't been needed so I am keeping as spares).

In other news I had the rear seats out and cleaned them in the house with the vax to get the tobacco smell out...




Terrible pictures but aside the seats being a little faded from age (only noticeable where the seat belts sit) they are really as good as brand new!

I am currently a very happy man! And if you're W202 has a slightly slack brake pedal or the brakes are not stopping the car cleanly and promptly.... for the love of god, Check you're pads and discs!!
When we looked under the car there was no evidence at all of corrosion in the chassis/floorpans either so only really cosmetic bits around front wings and screen surround lower to worry about.

More to follow as other jobs get done