S430 Buying

[chris1d]

Hi guys, I'm new so please be gentle.

I have read up quite a bit on the S Class and potential issues surrounding a number of things but have a few unanswered questions..

I have today been to look at a 1999 S430 L. Its in ok condition for its ages but is suffering with the rust on rear arches, under rear doors etc. I'm prepared to accept this as I think if I'm right it can be rectified by a decent bodyshop.

There are gadgets galore on this car..heated and cooled seats front and back, massageing ones up front, rear blind, comand, etc etc. On the dash above the Comand unit there are a series of switches, ESP for one. There was one which appears to be 4 wheels with a long line down the middle. What is is and what does it do? Also, another button with what appears to be the rear of the car with a arrow up and down. When clicked some lights came on on the button but I didn't notice anything different?*Is there a guide to buttons and functionality anywhere?

Finally, it has voice recognition, which I tried to use but couldn't get it to work, it just said, pardon? or excuse me? Can't remember which. Then it thought I said someones name and tried to dial it from a phonebook..but when I hit phone on Comand, there was no phone present...not sure how this works so again anything to help me understand would be great. The BOSE sound system sounded excellent though!Anything else that I should look out for?

Everything I tried appeared to work, apart from the confusion above.I know its old, but I drive a Kia Cee'd as my daily driver, and this is just because I want something a bit different for a bit of fun now and again. I'm happy to spend some money getting it right, but not if its going to cost me ££££££££.

I don't remember noticing any kind of trip computer in the dash. Speedo, Revs, Fuel etc all working, warning lights seemed to be ok, coming on and then off, but no mileage etc. Must be there somewhere as the advert specifies the mileage but where should it have been. Is this the instrument cluster failure people have been mentioning?

Hope someone can help.

Chris

 

[steve333]

Hi guys,I'm new so please be gentle.

*I have read up quite a bit on the S Class and potential issues surrounding a number of things but have a few unanswered questions..

.I have today been to look at a 1999 S430 L. Its in ok condition for its ages but is suffering with the rust on rear arches, under rear doors etc. I'm prepared to accept this as I think if I'm right it can be rectified by a decent*bodyshop.

There are gadgets galore on this car..heated and cooled seats front and back, massageing ones up front, rear blind, comand, etc etc. On the dash above the Comand unit there are a series of switches, ESP for one. There was one which appears to be 4 wheels with a long line down the middle. What is is and what does it do? Also, another button with what appears to be the rear of the car with a arrow up and down. When clicked some lights came on on the button but I didn't notice anything different?*Is there a guide to buttons and functionality anywhere?

Finally, it has voice recognition, which I tried to use but couldn't get it to work, it just said, pardon? or excuse me? Can't remember which. Then it thought I said someones name and tried to dial it from a phonebook..but when I hit phone on Comand, there was no phone present...not sure how this works so again anything to help me understand would be great. The BOSE sound system sounded excellent though!Anything else that I should look out for?

Everything I tried appeared to work, apart from the confusion above.I know its old, but I drive a*Kia*Cee'd*as my daily driver, and this is just because I want something a bit different for a bit of fun now and again. I'm happy to spend some money getting it right, but not if its going to cost me ££££££££.

I don't remember noticing any kind of trip computer in the dash. Speedo, Revs, Fuel etc all working, warning lights seemed to be ok, coming on and then off, but no mileage etc. Must be there somewhere as the advert specifies the mileage but where should it have been. Is this the instrument cluster failure people have been mentioning?

Hope someone can help.

Chris

Hi,welcome to the forum,can't help you with your questions but i'm sure some other forum members can & will soon

 

[chris1d]

Anyone got any advice?

 

[Troon]

I don't know about the W220, but my general advice for the first-time MB buyer would be: learn everything about the car first. That is, have an encyclopædic knowledge of the car, the changes through its life, the engines, what all the switches do, etc, etc. Don't just buy the first one that seems to be OK, and be aware of the surprisingly low market value of these cars versus the running costs for a car that was very expensive new - there's a lot to go wrong on them!

Shop around, and learn to distinguish the peach from the shed, which isn't correlated to how much tyre black the seller has applied.

Search on this forum and the other main one, and you'll find lots of accumulated knowledge on these cars.

Good luck - look forward to the first pics and review!

 

[V12]

Buttons on the dash are for :

ESP off, airmatic lift, airmatic sport dampening, rear headrest flip down, hazards, central locking, disable tilt sensors for towing, parktronic disable, electric rear blind.

Linguatronic requires specific pre set commands to be spoken. Here is a list to learn :Linguatronic commands - The complete list (long) - MBWorld.org Forums

Trip computer is accessed by using the buttons on the steering wheel.

The failure usually involves the speedo illumination giving up or just no power at the cluster at all.

 

[chris1d]

Thanks. I have been and had another look today. Took it for a drive. Everything seems ok but the display in the dash is lit but no text. Tried pressing buttons but nothing happens. More worrying is that when I pulled away you could see the lighting go red and a beep. With no text its impossible to know what it is

The car ran fine...pulled strongly etc. I took the vin number. If I ring/email a mercedes dealer, will they be able to tell me if this car is covered under the recall for the faulty clusters and also if it has been serviced at any mercedes dealer etc?

 

[Scott_F]

I'm not a W220 expert but a 13 year-old S430 with possible electrical gremlins should be very cheap indeed. Most people buying one on a budget will be looking at a diesel model rather than an 18 mpg gas guzzler.

I wouldn't expect anything to be covered under recall on such an old car and it is doubtful whether it is worth spending money on repairing rusty bodywork on an old W220.

I think you may be better off looking for a better car and spending a little bit more in order to avoid some of the issues that you've highlighted.

 

[MicB]

1999?.....W220?.....we need a picture......last of the 140s?

re-read......must be a 215?

Mic

 

[Benzowner]

1999?.....W220?.....we need a picture......last of the 140s?

re-read......must be a 215?

Mic

My S320 was a 1999 model, but yes we need a picture to make sure. It was about the time when the model changed.

 

[Peter DLM]

I wouldn't go anywhere near a car like that. IMHO of course.

 

[chris1d]

Yeah its a 1999 T plate. Its on Auto Trader and it is very cheap. £1995. Its had one owner from new (a doctor) who has emigrated to Canada. The garage has taken an RX8, BMW 745 and this to sell. Family friends apparently.

 

[Scott_F]

Yeah its a 1999 T plate. Its on Auto Trader and it is very cheap. £1995. Its had one owner from new (a doctor) who has emigrated to Canada. The garage has taken an RX8, BMW 745 and this to sell. Family friends apparently.

£1995 for a rusty 13 year-old petrol W220 with electrical gremlins is by no means cheap.

 

[V12]

Never made a 430 in a 140. So no fear about that.

Red warning when pulling away could be handbrake switch, bonnet switch or airmatic warning.

I would keep looking. £3000 can get you a very nice example.

 

[Will]

Have to say, as much as I'm an MB fan and enthusiast, I wouldn't bother with a very early/tatty/cheap W220.

For £2k you'd be better off with a Lexus LS

 

[chris1d]

Overall its not that bad. Everything worked as it should...apart from the cluster and the beep/red light. Bit of a shame as my budget was 2k as I only want it as a bit of a toy.

 

[V12]

There is plenty of choice for £2k. Does it have to be a V8?

 

[Scott_F]

Overall its not that bad. Everything worked as it should...apart from the cluster and the beep/red light. Bit of a shame as my budget was 2k as I only want it as a bit of a toy.

I think you've done yourself a favour - the car wasn't cheap and sounded like a potential money pit that you would have soon regretted buying.

If you want a Mercedes toy with a luxo-barge feel for £2k then maybe you should consider a W126 or even a W140 (if you can live with the slab looks !).

 

[horatio]

A fair bit of BS in the advert but this looks quite good for the money.

MERCEDES S320 AUTO 2000 BLUE/SILVER PROBABLY THE FINEST ONE AVAILABLE ! | eBay

Quite fancy picking up one of these myself, the 320 petrol is the one I would go for just because I've got to know these engines pretty well.

 

[V12]

Mercedes-Benz S Class S500L 4DR AUTO 5.0 2001