New member, c class estate

[Durham4416]

Hi everyone. Thought I'd say hello, just bought a 2009 c220cdi sport estate yesterday. I absolutely love it so far, I sold my discovery 3 last week and this is the replacement. I'm only 27 and this is about my 32nd car so I really am looking to keep it for longer than previous cars. I was looking for another bmw 330d m sport touring to replace my disco but this turned up and I really liked the look of it. Obviously it's not as quick as the bmw but I think I prefer the merc. I bought an estate version as we have 2 kids and a dog and the space comes in handy for suitcases and weekends out etc. I'm really happy with the spec, full black heated leather, electric tailgate and command satnav/DVD to name but a few.

The only things wrong with it are
Temperature gauge gets up to 80 degrees c and doesn't drop below but occasionally goes a little higher, as far up as 90 degrees c. On all other cars i'v owned the gauge never budges. Sound like a thermostat?

Second thing is the original 17" wheels are corroded quite badly but looking to replace with 18" wheels anyway.

One last thing, on the autotrader ad, the car was described as having bi xenon headlights, I'm not sure it has xenons. If you look in the headlight it has the fisheye style headlight arrangement but it's not bright white like my discovery and it has a thumb wheel adjuster next to the lights switch. I always thought xenons where self levelling?

Anyway I won't bore you anymore, I look forward to getting some advice on mercedes as i'v never owned one before and love some of be little features and I hope I can help other people along the way

 

[Giantvanman]

Nice looking car. And welcome.

 

[Markjames]

Great looking car, welcome to the club.

 

[SimonRJ]

Looks very clean and the Palladium silver is a great colour on the C Class.

 

[Durham4416]

Yeah I like the white ones aswell but happy with the palladium silver, it's almost grey. It's immaculate apart from the wheels and I'm ridicoulosly fussy. Iv got some subtle mods planned so looking forward to changing it up a bit aswell.

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

Hello and welcome to you. Nice looking car. I think the temperature is normal, as long as its not in the red zone it should be OK.

 

[Chrishazle]

Don't think a pre-facelift 204 like yours (and mine!) would have Xenons as standard. Have you got a spec sheet that shows all the fitted options? If not, there are folk on here who can locate the car's spec sheet from the VIN.

80-90C is normal, nothing wrong with your thermostat!

With children and dogs, I'd think twice about 18" wheels. It could make the ride very firm - and lead to earache from the passenger seat!!

An annoyance with the NTG4 Comand satnav is that it only accepts 5 digits of the postcode, not the full 7 - and there's very little you can do about it! The good news is that update map discs are re-useable, whereas post facelift they're effectively not, so a map update is expensive! Read up on here and t'other side about updating first!!

 

[Durham4416]

I'd like to find out the spec, how can I get a hold of one?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

If your car has headlight washers, it's got Xenons.

If it hasn't, you don't.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[developer]

I'd like to find out the spec, how can I get a hold of one?

Two options (no pun intended):

• Post the VIN on here and someone will produce the datacard, which lists the build spec
• Ask a main dealer for the Oasis report which gives the build spec, but also gives option prices and various factory build dates/shipping dates etc. which you might find interesting.

 

[Mbstarz]

Nice car ... Welcome

 

[Mbstarz]

Check your service history to see if transmission service had been done. When I got mine merc dealers said it's sealed for life on this model.. Nonsense, my independent merc mechanic did a proper service.. Looks like merc avoid doing these services for whatever reason

 

[Chrishazle]

The 37k miles transmission fluid change came in with the facelift 204 - MY2011, possibly with the 7G box in place of the 5 speed. I had this argument with MB Ashford when I bought my 2008 S204 almost 2 years ago. As far as MB are concerned, the pre-facelift box is "sealed for life" - and mine has not yet been changed (71k miles) despite the car having been supplied new by MB Ashford, who did all the servicing and took it in PX before selling it to me.

Mbstarz, do you have a slight hesitation from the box when pulling away from stationary? If so, did the ATF change improve it?

 

[Mbstarz]

The 37k miles transmission fluid change came in with the facelift 204 - MY2011, possibly with the 7G box in place of the 5 speed. I had this argument with MB Ashford when I bought my 2008 S204 almost 2 years ago. As far as MB are concerned, the pre-facelift box is "sealed for life" - and mine has not yet been changed (71k miles) despite the car having been supplied new by MB Ashford, who did all the servicing and took it in PX before selling it to me. Mbstarz, do you have a slight hesitation from the box when pulling away from stationary? If so, did the ATF change improve it?

I did my transmission change at 80k. I bought it with full merc history and there was no detail of it been done. I did abit of research beforehand. Merc contacted head office who said my model was sealed.. But my garage did the service anyway and oil came out black..

Drive wise i don't really have any hesitation pulling away, before or after the service. Generally changes gears nicely. But the service has given me peace of mind knowing it's done

 

[Durham4416]

Popped into mercedes at Preston farm, stockton today, really friendly, parts lady have me a data card and an oasis printout for my car. I then spoke to service and they double checked all the services where stored digitally which the where. She said would I like to take out a service plan, it includes transmission fluid, brake fluid etc. I wonder if she was getting confused with the 2011 models onwards with the gearbox oil change. I think I will continue the servicing at the main dealer but get the gearbox oil changed at an independent. Only thing is unless you do a mega flush on the gearbox you will leave upto 70% of the old oil in the box which then mixes with the new oil so not sure it is worth just dropping and replacing the oil or getting a megaflush carried out. Also if anyone is experiencing any odd behaviour with their autobox, jerkiness, hesitation etc, try some 'dr tranny' I kid you not it will be the best £10 you have even spent. I put some in my disco 3 after learning about it on the disco3 forum. Instantly sorted my box and many others too.

 

[Durham4416]

Also I'm pretty convinced now that it has halogen headlamps, it was just the fish eye style headlight that threw me (and the fact the autotrader ad stated headlight power wash and bi xenon headlights, apparently the spec comes up when you enter the reg, shame it's the wrong spec!)
Can I get better h7 bulbs that are brighter and also look whiter? Not bothered about hid etc? I'v heard of people using Phillips extreme etc. What are people's thoughts?

Why would they have the fish eye arrangement for one light and the normal type where you can see the bulb for the other?