Newbie: W210 - possible to keep long term, or am I completely insane?

[mj2k]

Some pics at last

Now I've washed it and replaced that door it no longer looks embarrassingly bad, so time for some pics:

Looking better with a new door, but still needs those iffily painted front wings replaced:

Interior's not bad:

Dent's mostly gone:

Oh dear, look at that bumper!

 

[trapperjohn]

Thanks for the on-going story. It will pay you back handsomely I'm thinking. Once upon a time I had a 210 estate. For the headlights I just used Brasso on corrugated cardboard. It was time keeping but much cheaper than buying a kit to clean them with.

 

[a111r]

I've got a osf OEM halogen headlight for grabs. Totally clear, as made in 2010.

 

[a111r]

Oh well, never mind, the rear bumper in the right colour will definitely come in useful

This week's shaping up to be rather busy, but I'll drop you a PM next week so we can arrange collection and exchange cash / W124 bits depending on what you prefer.

My spares are from a '99 face lifted model, so the front bumper wouldn't have fitted anyway. The rear will, though.

 

[mj2k]

I've got a osf OEM halogen headlight for grabs. Totally clear, as made in 2010.

Brilliant, thanks!

Should have the time to start planning a trip to see you next week, but I've got a nice pair of wheels to see on Mon, possibly with a v6 petrol W210 saloon attached if I can get it running

Though I'll probably get sent to live in the garage in disgrace if I bring home another waif straight away.

 

[mj2k]

Thanks for the on-going story. It will pay you back handsomely I'm thinking. Once upon a time I had a 210 estate. For the headlights I just used Brasso on corrugated cardboard. It was time keeping but much cheaper than buying a kit to clean them with.

I do hope so, this car seems like a 'fighter'. When I bought it I assumed it was little more than an MOT'd engine donor - the interior looked rough, the bodywork looked terrible and none of the internal electronics worked. But it's not needed a huge amount of work so far to dramatically improve it, I've been really impressed with how well it drives and using it as a 'lugger' in place of the GTA has probably already saved me 1/3 of it's original cost in petrol, so it's well on the way to paying me back already

It still needs a lot of cosmetic work and welding, new wheels / tyres / bushes and the bodywork's never going to look great with all those battlescars, but I'll get there in the end, hopefully...

 

[mj2k]

I swapped the rear bumper last nght (thanks a111r) and whilst I was at it I removed the load bay's interior so I could assess the level of rot:

Actually not as bad as I was expecting. The only tricky bit is going to be this:

Triple curvature and in an awkward position, so I might try and see if there's some way to simplify it.

Only other tricky bit is going to be replicating the shape of the bumper mounts - they're pretty much beyond saving and shaping new ones will be v tricky so I might have to cut some off a donor if I can't find some pattern parts at a decent price.

 

[mj2k]

And now for a quick assessment of the e320 I picked up from cozy's dad - not so good by the looks of it.

The wheelarch rot extends beyond the arches so it's going to be quite a tricky repair at the rear besides needing both front arches replaced:

Also there is quite a lot of rot in the rear bumper bar where the boot lock is, which suggests there might be more rot in the box section underneath. And one of the jacking point rubber stops is missing, which suggests there may be something sinister happening beneath the sill extensions. I can't be sure until I've removed the boot trim (or bumper) and the sill extensions, but initial signs aren't so promising. Which is a shame because it holds the road a lot better than the estate and generally feels less worn out. Oh, and it's prettier

 

[219]

Shhh, don't let anyone on the Alfa or Peugeot forums know, but I think I'd sooner drive the W210 on a long journey than either of my other cars. I didn't feel fatigued at all after driving it pretty much non-stop from 11:30PM until 4AM on Fri night, and there's not many other cars you can say that about (except the W124)...

Try a W126 , or a R129 : both supremely comfortable .

 

[clk320x]

Best just use the parts from the saloon in the estate

Make one perfect

 

[mj2k]

Try a W126 , or a R129 : both supremely comfortable .

Can't beat a good W126, but somebody has to save a W210 for posterity

I gave the e320 a quick run around the car park before work, it does drive sooo nicely, though it did try to 'eat' it's expensive new key when I parked it up again so I couldn't leave it

 

[mj2k]

Whilst waiting 2 hours for someone to do a 5 minute job I've had a good read around the ignition lock issue and (hopefully) the car's not getting clingy, most likely it's a fault with the brake light switch since the gear change operates fine.

The car's recently had a new ESL (and only has one key - the new chrome-type one), so hopefully the original ESL lock (with two working keys) wasn't replaced just because of a brake switch fault...

 

[Richard1973]

Gradually doing bits on my S210 as well. I think they are great cars. It's just a shame Mercedes let the build quality go to the dogs.

Sent from my SM-T365 using Tapatalk

 

[mj2k]

Gradually doing bits on my S210 as well. I think they are great cars. It's just a shame Mercedes let the build quality go to the dogs.

Sent from my SM-T365 using Tapatalk

100% agree, good to know there are at least four of us who think these are fantastic cars

 

[Richard1973]

It helps that I hate things not working, hence ribbon cables for the dash. Air con is being re gassed this week and now the thermostat is done it runs a lot better. Body wise it can hang on a bit. It still looks presentable.

Sent from my SM-T365 using Tapatalk

 

[mj2k]

It helps that I hate things not working, hence ribbon cables for the dash. Air con is being re gassed this week and now the thermostat is done it runs a lot better. Body wise it can hang on a bit. It still looks presentable.

Sent from my SM-T365 using Tapatalk

That's a rarity in itself!

Definitely hang onto it

 

[mj2k]

Bit of a game changer

I took the bolts out of the sideskirt and lifted it up as much as I dared on the e320 last night and couldn't see / feel any rust at all. I then had a good look at the panels below the headlights with a powerful torch and a feel around the front crossmember - no holes there either.

So I then gave the angry rust patches on the rear wheelarches a bit of a poke with a screwdriver, and it looks like it's just surface rust after all. I'm sure a lump of the n/s/r inner wheelarch came off in my hand the other night

So I then took the trim out of the boot and had a look at the condition of the wheelarches, rear quarter panels and that seemingly rusty crossmember - no rust at all!

I'd better get this thing hooked up to diags as soon as I can; the surprisingly good condition of the bodywork so far suggests the e320 might last longer than the 300TD if I replace the front wings, do the cosmetics and thoroughly protect it's underside, which is a bit of a surprise to say the least...

 

[trapperjohn]

Certainly looks good in there.

 

[a111r]

P reg, isn't it?
Might have escaped the 'water based' paint debacle

 

[Richard1973]

Am I right in thinking that the cars that suffered the worst corrosion were the South African made ones and the German production was not affected?

Sent from my SM-T365 using Tapatalk