Used E vs C Class

[mbzoo]

Many moons ago I had a 230TE estate..it was a great motor, started first time and just went in all weathers without a problem..

I am looking for possibly a cheap ( sub £2000 ) Merc C or E class. Estate would be more practical but as I may have a cheap 4x4 to hand saloon may be ok too..

My son is tall ( 6ft + ) and the other two are catching up so I wanted at least decent leg room in the back. Is there much a difference between the E and C series Estate/Saloon ?

...and before anyone says.. yes I know potentially at sub £2k I have to careful with rust, I will only be doing around 3k miles a year so a good petrol is just as attractive as an old diesel..

Any advice to save me wasting my time on autotrader would be great

 

[gIzzE]

You will be looking at S210 E Classes and W202 or W203 C classes.

The S210 is huge, the biggest E Class ever for room, and especially rear leg room.

This was my old E estate with the drivers seat in its normal position, I am 5'10" btw....

I then went to a later S211 model, and then the current S212 model.

I loved the S210 though, if I could buy a new one of those in avantgarde trim today I would, great car, massive, comfy, felt well built, and just a joy to drive, mine was an E320 V6 petrol and it would return 27 average and 35 on a run.

Mate has just bought an E320cdi and he is getting around 5mpg more than that.

I am however in a 2001 C220cdi estate.
Again really like it, love the fact I am seeing 42 round town, 49 average and nearly 60 on a run.
Much smaller, but still nice to drive, mine is an elegance.
I paid £2500 for it with 113k miles, one one from new, full service history, it was cheap because it had cloth and a couple of marks.

If I could have found another facelift (sept 2000 on) E Class estate with grey or beige interior for £3k within 2 hours of mine I would have grabbed it.
However now I have the C220 and it is costing so little to run I probably wouldn't change.

Be aware of the rust with them both, round the arches, boot lids, under door seals.

Valeo radiators on them can leak and put fluid into the gearbox, new gearbox time.

Front control arms and bushes and drop links will be gone at £2k price point if not already done.

Apart from that not much else I can think off. Both good and have their advantages.

 

[Steve C250]

Great advice from gIzze...... And loving the interior on your previous car!

 

[gIzzE]

I went from this...

To this...

Bit of a change!

 

[tor_ake]

Sorry but a 6ft son rules out the 202 and 203. No legroom in the back seat. I am ibit under 6 and cant sit comfortably behind myself. But then again, the youth is bendable.

 

[mbzoo]

Thanks everyone so far...

now bearing in mind I will do less than 5k miles a year whats the opinion on the following

E220 CDi Elegance 4dr Auto Diesel Saloon 90k miles £900
E200K AVANTGARDE 4DR TIP AUTO ,FSH, Full Mot 62k miles £1,595
E240 ELEGANCE 4DR TIP AUTO ,9mnths MOT, [2.6] FACE LIFT MODEL , £990

..and dumb question but I love the coupe.. is the room in the back any good

e.g. Mercedes-Benz CLK 200 Sport 2dr Coupe

 

[DSM10000]

The 240 is a very smooth engine and I doubt that the consumption will be much worse that the 200K.

At this price point though buy on history and condition. Any links to these potential purchases?

 

[mbzoo]

Links

Links for you

Mercedes-Benz E Class E220 CDi Elegance 4dr Auto [5] Diesel Saloon 2.2 2000


Mercedes-Benz E Class E200K AVANTGARDE 4DR TIP AUTO(62000 MILES ONLY) 2.0 2000

Mercedes-Benz E Class E240 ELEGANCE 4DR TIP AUTO [2.6] FACE LIFT MODEL 2000


Mercedes-Benz CLK 200 Sport 2dr Coupe 2.0 1999

 

[gIzzE]

If you can get a later E320 go for that, same economy as the other petrols and sweet as nut to drive.

I often found the E320 cheapish as every expects it to drink.

 

[st4]

E class if lots of leg room needed

 

[mbzoo]

E320

By e320 are you talking about even early ones. I have see some nice 96/97 e320 3.2's on auto trader for less than £1500 with fish etc

They look nice (on the web )

 

[mbzoo]

E320

Sorry.. that was FSH not FISH !

 

[developer]

Sorry.. that was FSH not FISH !

Funny

 

[gIzzE]

The later cars, from 99 plates onwards, (build not reg, so careful) are much nicer.

Lots of niggles sorted, and nicer interior with better steering wheel etc. and nicer rear lights amongst other things.

Pre facelift..

Post facelift...

 

[mbzoo]

e320

..forgot to ask if we are talking about post 99 e320 does it matter if its the petrol or diesel in terms of reliability etc.. ( remember I will only be doing around 3-5k miles a year)

 

[gIzzE]

No, but the petrol is so much nicer.

It comes with a V6 with 231bhp and is one of the most refined cars I have ever been in, after years in BMWs and lost of 6 cyl diesels I kept thinking it had stalled when sat at lights etc.
I looked for a W211 E320 or E350 petrol for 8 months when upgrading and in the end had to settle for diesel as there was none around, the diesel is great, just that the petrol is bordering on perfect.

 

[After Shock]

Condition is the big one.

Not sure about C class. But the E class can be a nightmare. So check it very carefully.

 

[mbzoo]

E320

Oh dear... I was so positive until I heard that comment, everything I have read has been quite confident....can they really be such a nightmare ?

 

[gIzzE]

They rust, and many of them are tatty, we are talking about 15 year old cars remember.

But these are things you can see, so not really an issue.

 

[horatio]

Buy on condition at this age.

I bought a V6 E320 and so far its been fantastic. I wasn't really after one but it was in such good condition- you know how it is! I changed the crankshaft pulley and tensioner (easy diy) as a precaution Google it. My pulley was original and the rubber was cracking all over the place so it didn't have long left. Also changed the gearbox oil & filter. All in all about £350 to do that little lot.

I don't think its half the car my old W124 was but those get nicked so often where I park and decent ones are hard to find these days.