Scabby Wagon - What to do?!

[Johnniek]

Much as I love our E320 CDI estate for all its virtues (space, pace, comfort etc...) I'm in two minds what to do with it. Mechanically it's in fine fettle and only 96k miles. However the tin worm is making its presence felt around the edges and usual places. Also some of the interior finishes are of a far poorer quality than the Alfa 166 I owned previously, pretty disappointing.

Not sure if its better to ditch before it gets worse and get a BMW 530d Touring or deal with the scabs, treat then with POR15 or similar, look at cheap resprays every 15-18 months?

I see so many w210 being run into the ground it's disheartening!

Anyone else in a similar predicament or have found that proper rust treatment actually stops the disintegration or is it inevitable?

 

[John]

From the state of some of the W210s I've seen, you maybe fighting a losing battle.

Personally, I would put up with it and make safe any rusty bits that aren't.

If you can't bear the look, then a cheap fill and re-spray to tide it over.

If you have a car of that age in fine mechanical order, it would be a shame to change for a 530d that might give you endless grief, and could still rust albeit they aren't as bad. Saying that, the older E39 vintage 3.0d aren't without grief in the E39 or E46.

 

[Buffers]

I owned a W210 estate and battled for years to stop the rust but gave up in the end. Great car but enough was enough!!

 

[duncanh]

Don't bother using POR-15. I tried it on my W203, it is worse than useless. Rust returned within a year.

 

[Johnniek]

Thanks all for your advice. It does sound like getting out now might be the best idea if I'm going to be previous about appearances! Will investigate alternatives, given the newer w211 also rusts and is more complex electronically I might have to leave the brand. A pity Benz lost their way. Long live the oldies and will fondly remember my w124. The new ones all look like Toyotas - mind you so do most current cars - legislation for you!

 

[Adam230K]

The E39 530d is a better car than the E-class however and if you take preventative maintenance measures for the swirlflaps you are left with a very durable engine and an aluminium body which won't rust.

Its a tough call, but you also have to think that if you were to have an accident the car would get written off immediately. Might be more financially economical to chop it in for an old 530d/525d.

 

[Johnniek]

Duplicated post!

 

[renault12ts]

The E39 530d is a better car than the E-class however and if you take preventative maintenance measures for the swirlflaps you are left with a very durable engine and an aluminium body which won't rust.

Its a tough call, but you also have to think that if you were to have an accident the car would get written off immediately. Might be more financially economical to chop it in for an old 530d/525d.

Does depend on what you need...if it's class winning space...the E Class wins hands down.

 

[Johnniek]

Indeed the E wagon is massive and has been immensely useful. Will have to check out an e39 Touring to compare. As we all know its a sad situation given how universal and competent it is at what it was built for, just wished they'd built it a bit better!
Out of interest has anyone has success at treating and stopping the rot at all with Dintrol etc? Or it really is a foregone conclusion?

 

[renault12ts]

Where is the rust?

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

only sure way of removing rust is to cut it out.

 

[W2--]

Running it to the ground is what I'm going to do on mine.

Unless its an AMG model, is not worth saving it (well at the moment).

 

[Johnniek]

Rust is in the usual places, tailgate under window, tops of door frames & front wings. All minimal right now but needs attention and hence expense. That's why I'm considering options. It's at the cusp of if left for another winter it's going to start to look shabby.

 

[bolide]

I went W124 -> E39 and have no regrets. It's odd how easy the transition is - many of the controls are exactly where you expect them to be

The 525 and 530 Diesels are great things, quick & economical. If you buy an auto the swirl flaps will cost < £200 to remove. I did mine myself so it can't be that hard!

You'll need to budget for a few suspension bushes to get one 100% but mine has not been at all expensive to run over four years.

The drawback with spending money on a W210 is that you'll never see that money again and it will continue to rust

Nick Froome

 

[Johnniek]

Out of interest i just found this...

3-year anti-rust test results | Classics Monthly

Must try and get a copy

Thanks all, will go take a proper at the e39 wagons and given we only do 5k miles approx per year will check out the petrol engines too as that is a viable option....