S280

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steak

New Member
Joined
May 27, 2003
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3
Hi everyone;

I'm new to the forum and I am considering buying an S-Class (280) of '93-'96 vintage. I would appreciate all advice from current owners with regard to any problems or specifics I should consider.

It is my dream to own such a car and intend to buy in September. I'll use the time till then to research my purchase. Are there any resources I can use?

All responses would be greatly appreciated.

Sid Murphy (steak)
 
The only thing ill say is to make yourself aware of the cost of the spare parts before you buy it. I would advise sitting down .....
 
Just check the prices and compare outputs and mpg of the 280 against the 320 or 320 CDI, as you could be disappointed with performance and mpg of 280 against the rest mate.

I had an E280 1999 and it was excellent but in retrospect I should have bought the E320 CDI then.
 
Please be aware that dispite the S class being the biggest and most luxurious model the lower engine capacity models tend to be similarly specified - ie they come with less stuff! The S280 was the cheapest S-class from new and I suppose this may be reflected in the equipment level, the kind of person who could just afford to buy an s-class over say an e-class may not have had the budget for all the options, whereas an S500 from the same year may only be £1k or more to buy second hand, it may come with a much longer list of options (worth tens of thousands in the showroom). Believe it or not there are some manual W140 s-classes with cloth interiors knocking around! :eek: . Of course you may also find well specified S280s around as well...
 
If that S280 has the M104 engine, you should make sure the engine wiring harness has been replaced and look for oil leaks around the head gasket.

Regards,

Don
 
Hi

We have a W140 S280, its a great car but when fully loaded can feel quite slow. I would say its certaintly worth considering the S320.
 
Hi everyone;

Thanks for the responses so far. Tan, what about running costs: servicing etc. What are your experiences?

steak
 
We have had ours for about a year and a half and have not had any problems, our car uses service assyst. The A service are around £200 and B for around £450ish from the main dealer.
 
W140 S280s are too slow ... the engine isnt able to cope with the weight of the car !

S320 better option but the best has to be the stonking 500 V8 ! How do I know ? Cos I have a 1996 S500 myself... pure heaven when accelerating (very) hard... But watch out - they can be expensive to maintain - electronic control units are approx £700 each on average to replace and a typcial W140 has 40 of these units in them ! Work that sum out !
 

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