Recommendations for gearbox service? C43

[Gridlock]

OK, after reading the thread about the C43 on eBay right now with the blown gearbox (£2.5K!) I'm even more paranoid about mine, especially since I've noticed a couple of rough changes at high revs in the past few weeks.

So, can anyone recommend someone in the SE (Hertfordshire-ish preferably) who knows these boxes and who can change the oil and filter (advised it was done about 6m ago but I want to be sure) and also just look at the box for signs of imminent explosion?

Are there none-gearbox issues which can cause jerky changes? I noticed someone mentioned the MAF on another thread and as I'm running K&N panel filters and others have said these can impact the MAF I'm curious.

Thanks in anticipation..

 

[rossyl]

Do a search for "Olly" or "prestige Car Services". They are based in portsmouth but seem to be worth the trip.

I'm in North london and am consdering taking my car there.

 

[momomo]

As above, give Olly a quick call

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/memb...r-service-mercedes-specialist-portsmouth.html

 

[Gridlock]

Cheers guys - will drop him a line.

Anyone know anyone this side of the M3?

 

[Will]

Cheers guys - will drop him a line.

Anyone know anyone this side of the M3?

It's only about an hour or so away from Watford

Nip round the '25 and 30-40 mins down the A3

Will

 

[jimhardie]

+1 for Olly and Jack at PCS. I'm in Surrey (admittedly, closer than Herts) but worth the trip!

 

[Gridlock]

Given my levels of paranoia around the 'box I'm probably going to make the trip, yeah.

But between the ticking time-bomb gearbox and the rusty arches I'm starting to think about bailing on my Merc, even though I love it to bits. Mercedes told me to jog on when I approached them for a second time (after 6m of ownership) about the arches, they wouldn't even give me a discount on replacement wings. Poor show - they made the thing out of melted down East German fridges, so I feel they should make some token effort to help keep this car on the road.

 

[rossyl]

Given my levels of paranoia around the 'box I'm probably going to make the trip, yeah.

But between the ticking time-bomb gearbox and the rusty arches I'm starting to think about bailing on my Merc, even though I love it to bits. Mercedes told me to jog on when I approached them for a second time (after 6m of ownership) about the arches, they wouldn't even give me a discount on replacement wings. Poor show - they made the thing out of melted down East German fridges, so I feel they should make some token effort to help keep this car on the road.

what dealer did tyou go to? Thinking about trying similar on mine.

 

[Will]

Given my levels of paranoia around the 'box I'm probably going to make the trip, yeah.

But between the ticking time-bomb gearbox and the rusty arches I'm starting to think about bailing on my Merc, even though I love it to bits. Mercedes told me to jog on when I approached them for a second time (after 6m of ownership) about the arches, they wouldn't even give me a discount on replacement wings. Poor show - they made the thing out of melted down East German fridges, so I feel they should make some token effort to help keep this car on the road.

To be honest, all modern MBs rust (well, upto 2004+ where they're galvanised?) - it's part and parcel of owning one I'm afraid

It's also part of the reason why they're so cheap to buy these days as well. When the old-school 201/124 models were 10 years old, they were worth more as a percentage of their original value. They were also pretty much mint - certainly the 190s were etc.

I guess what I'm saying is this:

I bought a ~ £60k CLK55 for less than ~ £10k recently. It was less than 8 years old and had a modest mileage (70k) with full MBSH. I knew it needed a bit of paintwork to make it mint when I bought it, so I allowed for the costs of that in the purchase price.

If you paid a fair price for the C43 then I guess it should still be viable to get the bodywork done privately? If it had rusty arches, it should have been quite cheap. A perfect example with zero rust would obviously cost more.

It's just the way I see things. I wouldn't expect to sell my CLK55 for less than I paid two months ago now that I've spent £1k on paintwork, £500 on new tyres, had the wheels fully refurbished etc etc. If you have the gearbox checked over and get the paintwork sorted out, surely your C43 will be worth more than tatty/rusty examples with faults?

C43s are quite rare cars and they'll be getting rarer as more get put off the road due to rust/crash damage/faulty gearboxes etc. I think they've bottomed out price wise so it's not entirely silly to consider spending money keeping one in good order, it could pay off in the long term. And you'll not be losing money anymore in depreciation.

I spent a few quid keeping my old 2.5-16 in good order, and it helped it maintain it's value when I sold it. I don't think there's many decent 2.3/2.5-16s left anymore.

Will

 

[lynall]

Will makes a good point as nearly every 43 that comes up for sale has several faults, so a decent one should be worth hanging on to.



Lynall

 

[C43AMG]

Mines quite good.

 

[Will]

Mines quite good.

Yes, your one is one of the nicest well cared for examples with low mileage and full MB history etc. I think it's clearly worth more than the tatty ones you see appearing on eBay etc.

Plus black on black with full spec and all the extras!

Will

 

[Gridlock]

Yeah, obviously I knew what I was buying when I bought it but anything to save a few pence

I have no idea why previous owners didn't try Merc, a couple of years ago the rust would have been starting to appear and I'm sure they'd have done it under goodwill (I have "Platinum Club Membership" for a string of Merc garages in the SW and it was Merc Bristol's demo originally so it has the service history that goodwill requires).

Mine's a strange one because it's got 138K on the clock but about 85 of this was in the first 2 years (!) when it was under a Merc leasing agreement, so it's done a lot of motorway miles but been serviced religiously and the interior/drive really doesn't reflect a car of this mileage. Good point about the 2.5/16s, there has to be a point where they really don't depreciate much more so once I have confidence in the gearbox and bodywork I should be OK.

Are the front wings different to standard W202 ones? On my options paperwork from the factory I think one of them is "bodywork modifications to accept AMG wheels" or similar - are they rolled?

There's no way I'm buying pattern parts, but really really hope Merc don't make me wince when I price up new ones...

 

[Alps]

just rolled really , you ca use standard wings and get your bodyshop to roll when painting

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
I believe the 43 wings are just standard 202 wings, i have a 230k on a P plate (15" rims from factory) and the wings are rolled already, and come like it from MB, though wether pattern wings come rolled is another matter.
I have always believed that there were only 2 wings listed for a 202, one with side repeater, one without side repeater (American spec.). Incidently Nick had some of these wings in stock for a 202.