Things to look out for on a W210, E240

[Bert_W164]

Hi,

I've just agreed to buy an E240 that im picking up later today...I've done some research and understand these suffer from rust (which the car has on its arches) but wondering what else to look out for?

This is going to be our baby-wagon, so I'm not too fussed by the rust as it passed an MOT recently, as long as it starts, stops, does more than 11mpg it's all good.

I'll post some pics once I've collected it, but is there any specific W210 stuff to watch out for?

 

[219]

Front spring perches : held in place by three spot welds , which are known to let go with catastrophic results . Many survivors will have been repaired and seam welded .

Here's a link where it is discussed at length

W210 DANGEROUS FLAW please read (crosslinked in post #1 to all on topic data) - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

My spring perch failed. This is a documented problem on the W210 cars; NHTSA has four cases they are investigating. There is another thread in tech

www.peachparts.com

and some pics

 

[ChipChop]

w210's can rust anywhere, much like any old car. I did the following when i bought mine a couple of years ago.

Take off the jacking point covers and inspect for rust. use a screwdriver.

Inspect around the rubber bungs in the floorpan near the jacking points

Front inner wings behind headlights is a rust trap.

Rear inner wings - again use a screwdriver.

Boot floor - take carpet up, remove spare wheel etc to inspect and also look at inner rear wheel arches.

Spring perches as above. Turn the front wheels to full lock to get your hand in there. (mine are perfect despite having to replace a front wing for rust)

Rear subframe may be rusty but you will only be able to access on a lift or by jacking the car & removing rear wheels.

They are, despite all of this, lovely cars to drive so if you find a good one it is well worth it.

 

[Bert_W164]

Hey guys, thanks for this.

Unfortunately the moment I put my foot down the acceleration pedal became non functional, I'm guessing it's most likely a TPS or similar. The seller said it's due to me confusing the box as I initiated kick down (intentional on my part as I was about to exit a round about, so wanted it to hold a lower gear) but I'm told that's not how these types of cars are designed, they're not designed to be floored when needed/kick down to be used.

Plus it had way more rot than the pictures showed, had it not been for the seller saying its normal and because these types of cars are not meant to be driven in this manner, I walked away. Nice and friendly chap, but telling me it runs perfectly and then when it doesn't being told it's due to me not understanding how E classes work...yeah I walked away...

The search goes on to find a baby-cruiser.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Why not a W211 Exx ?

 

[E55BOF]

Nice friendly chap as in "lying-through-his-teeth" chap, then. That sort of timewaster makes my blood boil...

He's not a lying shit of a part-time dealer masquerading as a private buyer, is he? Try Googling his mobile phone number and see whether other car ads come up...

 

[Bert_W164]

Why not a W211 Exx ?

I like the 210 retro styling and to be honest whatever I get will be a run around rather than my main car, so was looking at older models as they're cheaper.

 

[Bert_W164]

Nice friendly chap as in "lying-through-his-teeth" chap, then. That sort of timewaster makes my blood boil...

He's not a lying shit of a part-time dealer masquerading as a private buyer, is he? Try Googling his mobile phone number and see whether other car ads come up...

Never can be too sure these days, but I've found buying cars is a pain in the ass, and in my experience there's little to no difference between a trader and a private person...

As sad as it is, when money/profit is involved all sorts come out to play...

 

[E55BOF]

The difference is, you can take legal action against the trader if something goes wrong within the first six months of ownership, but I agree that there are not as many honest sellers out there as one would like.

 

[horatio]

I wouldn’t bother with a W210, even a shiny car can be rotten as a pear underneath. It’s not realistic to check everything on a viewing because the most important bits are covered with plastic cladding and road grime. It’s a shame as otherwise they are great cars.

Bangers racers seem to like them though, I saw loads of 210 bangers on trailers on the M1 yesterday. I wouldn’t have imagined them as an ideal choice!

 

[ChipChop]

I wouldn’t bother with a W210, even a shiny car can be rotten as a pear underneath. It’s not realistic to check everything on a viewing because the most important bits are covered with plastic cladding and road grime. It’s a shame as otherwise they are great cars.

Bangers racers seem to like them though, I saw loads of 210 bangers on trailers on the M1 yesterday. I wouldn’t have imagined them as an ideal choice!

W210's established a reputation for rust when they were only a few years old. Tales of Mercedes replacing front wings multiple times under warranty are not unheard of.

Now the latest 03 plated cars still on the road will be at least 17 years old so at what many would call the end of life.

But if the mot history does not tell a tale of rot then it is safe to assume there are survivors out there that are not rotten. It is worth finding these cars in my opinion. Especially a V8 petrol or straight six diesel estate. Magnificent beasts.

 

[John]

but I'm told that's not how these types of cars are designed, they're not designed to be floored when needed/kick down to be used.

Lol, "not design to be floored when needed or kick-down to be used".

Love it.

You should have asked the vendor which years was he working for the original Merecdes design team for the W210 as I am sure that's the case.

What a coffee-shaker.

I'd look at galvanised (53 plate onwards-ish) W211 E240 unless you really don't want one.

211s are great cars.

I agree with the private / smaller inde traders.

There's no difference except £800 > £1500 on top of the inde trader's prices for the early 4 digit price-range.

Same vehicles otherwise so you may as well buy private, save the extra cash in a slush fund and check it out yourself.

 

[Bert_W164]

Ha, yes I was being overly polite/diplomatic with my depiction of events...

I've heard this sort of thing many times over the years, from friends when I was younger that revving a car to its soft limit is bad, or it'll break down. This sort of car isn't meant to be driven in its full rev range, you're driving it wrong and so forth. Soft and hard limits obviously they have little knowledge of, but what's more concerning is their false sense of security.

If one is forever babying their engine and never lets it see its intended limits, it's a great way to mask weaknesses and frankly I want to hear the AMG I'm buying (for example) has been driven properly, consistently creates a healthy amount of power along with a good service record.

I did correct the chap and say actually no, any car is designed to hit its soft rev limits, its why it has them, but the guy looked genuinely shocked - at which point I just said no thanks, I'm going home. Fwiw it sounded like it was his first car, so I think he was a noob and just had no real idea about cars in general.

 

[E55BOF]

What exactly is a soft rev limit, and how does it differ from a hard rev limit? I ask because I've never heard the expression before.

 

[Bert_W164]

What exactly is a soft rev limit, and how does it differ from a hard rev limit? I ask because I've never heard the expression before.

A soft limit tends to retard ignition timing/reduce fuel in a gradual manner, where hard limits outright cuts fuel - though with that said, they're terms I'm using from the 90s jap turbo era where things probably were a bit different...And in the context of using custom ECUs which allowed increase rev ranges, but would also allow hard limits if pushed too far. These may be redundant terms by today's standards given the advances in technology/ECUs.

I suppose a use case would be in a manual car, revving to the red line a soft cut would pull back fueling, drop too many gears and instead of having the engine RPM go completely beyond and continue with combusting, hit a complete fuel cut (hard limit) to stop combusting in a bid to save the engine.