Used W124 or W210

[SilverSaloon]

My problem is that i can afford to buy one BUT the problem comes when something goes wrong. The odd oil change here/there isn't a problem but something big costing many £100's or even into four figures would cause my wife to chop of vital parts of my body....

i just don't know if i can take that chance.....

In one way would you be better off with a cheap one and take a chance - if something horrendous happens and that isnt likely if you buy with caution, you can sell it on and get another.

OR you could take the risk and buy a top end one that hopefully wont go 'as wrong'.

I would go for the top end one, look for history - not necessarily FSH i mean whats been replaced/repaired out of normal servicing stuff, ie bearings, steering stuff, etc etc.

It will probably be fine - the good thing is whatever goes wrong you can always get 2nd hand replacements so nothing should really run into four figures..... you can get a whole car as a rotter with engine and gearbox perfectly good for under a grand and transfer the stuff over if the worse did happen. I doubt that would be needed though as there are plenty of breakers out there.

 

[bigyin1]

silversaloon - thanks for that. I'm having an ongoing chat with w124.co.uk so i'm waiting for feedback from them on a 1994 160k 300D without the 7 seat option though. All being well i should be in a position to buy something next week otherwise i'll be stuck without a car!!!

oh ref earlier question: I have a 2year old, 5 year old and 10 year old boys who live with me and a 8 year old daughter (lives with ex) who we visit twice a year 350miles away, so 7 seats is important but not immediately essential.

my head is getting sore from thinking on this i'm going to have to decide one way or another otherwise i'll start dribbling and rocking......

 

[Smiley]

If you want utter broing reliability, avoid any unexpected bills and keep all your body parts intact maybe you should buy a Toyota Corolla Verso 7 seater?

 

[mattc]

Tongue in cheek but it is a 124 and will seat everyone

LINK

 

[SilverSaloon]

E300D multivalve - very nice choice - athough I'm biast!!

I'd say go for it! You could very easily retrofit the extra seats. I think there is someone selling the set on ebay at the moment but its a chequered cloth... but you could get it retrimmed.... i believe Nick offers the retrofit service himself anyway from reading his website?

Mine has just rolled to 190,000 and (once the rear wheel bearing is sorted) drives as good as any new-ish car i've owned.

One thing to bear in mind also, is that the centre seat only has a lapbelt in a 124. the 210 has 3-point belt. I believe these can also be fitted but more specialised work needed to fit the mounts etc. Something I will probably consider one of these days.

Your 2 and 5 year olds will love the rear seats! Mine love to sit in the rear facing seats pulling facings (or waving) at the motorist behind!!

You can slo run it on veg oil like i do for 84p a litre

If its the red one on his website then i'd say it looks very clean. He also mentions he can add the additional seats.............

Derek

silversaloon - thanks for that. I'm having an ongoing chat with w124.co.uk so i'm waiting for feedback from them on a 1994 160k 300D without the 7 seat option though. All being well i should be in a position to buy something next week otherwise i'll be stuck without a car!!!

oh ref earlier question: I have a 2year old, 5 year old and 10 year old boys who live with me and a 8 year old daughter (lives with ex) who we visit twice a year 350miles away, so 7 seats is important but not immediately essential.

my head is getting sore from thinking on this i'm going to have to decide one way or another otherwise i'll start dribbling and rocking......

 

[SilverSaloon]

If you want utter broing reliability, avoid any unexpected bills and keep all your body parts intact maybe you should buy a Toyota Corolla Verso 7 seater?

you jest surely!?

 

[Ade B]

re the cold noise - is it the serpentine belt tensioner assembly wearing out? Mine sounded like a bag of nails eventually and got progressivley and slowly worse until I figured out what it was - I thought I had internal engine wear and kind of accepted it @ 150k miles - but with the new tensioner assy almost back to "as new".

I did think this, it had a new one just after I bought it in Jan 07 on 51k. Its now on 67k, I would have hoped that it would last a bit longer.... It doesn't sound bad compared with a knackered engine, its just not MB silent anymore..

its not bad enough to warrant spending money yet (I hope)


Ade

 

[blondebier]

Get a W124!

I've recently bought a baby estate (230TE). It's brilliant and the novelty of driving it still hasn't worn off.

 

[Smiley]

you jest surely!?

Well Ok I was a bit - but having owned a Toyota and a Lexus then if your objective is never to have an unexpected bill (and in the case of the OP he seemed to be at risk of losing body parts if this happened) then this is maybe the way to go - I never spent one penny on repairs on either car other than servicing and consumables like brakes (oops tell a lie I had to change one tail light bulb)- and in the case of the Toyota that was over 3 years and >40k miles (and I bought it @ 95k miles). Having said that neither car drove as well as the MB and neither car is a big roomy diesel estate. Fact is I still have the E300D after 10 years and the Toyota and Lexus are long gone.

 

[Smiley]

I did think this, it had a new one just after I bought it in Jan 07 on 51k. Its now on 67k, I would have hoped that it would last a bit longer.... It doesn't sound bad compared with a knackered engine, its just not MB silent anymore..

its not bad enough to warrant spending money yet (I hope)


Ade

It is probably a noisy alternator or power steering bearing rather than general engine noise I would think - doubt it is internal wear - unless you have some tappet noise? The bottom ends are unburstable if the oil has been changed.

 

[Ian B Walker]

Given the choice between a 210 and a 124?, no competition . Mind you I am biased.

 

[Dieselman]

Given the choice between a 210 and a 124?, no competition . Mind you I am biased.

Yep. W210 everytime. Is that right.?

 

[Dieselman]

I have waxoyled it several times so rust is minimal - but you are not fighting a losing battle on a w124 like you are on a w210. Maintenance is going to be cheaper and easier on the w124 - less electronics + the injectors are a lot cheaper.

Injectors and engine electrics are virtually identical between a W124 and W210 with 3.0 diesel engine, that's a 300D multivalve W124 and W210 Multivalve in either atmo or turbo format.

In the main W210 300TD are very reliable all round.

Some cars seem to suffer lots of edge rust, some don't, and one that has been repaired or rustproofed would be a good bet.
A late W124 will rust the same as a W210.

 

[Ian B Walker]

A late W124 will rust the same as a W210.

But an early one such as mine hasn't. You did the paint check on it

 

[Dieselman]

But an early one such as mine hasn't. You did the paint check on it

Ahh, but then it would be missing a multivalve diesel engine as well..

 

[bigyin1]

... Having said that neither car drove as well as the MB and neither car is a big roomy diesel estate. Fact is I still have the E300D after 10 years and the Toyota and Lexus are long gone.

This is precisely why I'm looking at a E300D.... i want a car for life, not just for christmas... fed up of spending money on a car only to sell it a few years later for 50p..

Well, i've sold my little run-a-round, putting the cheque in the bank today so this time next week i'll have money to burn. woo hoo

 

[Smiley]

Injectors and engine electrics are virtually identical between a W124 and W210 with 3.0 diesel engine, that's a 300D multivalve W124 and W210 Multivalve in either atmo or turbo format.

In the main W210 300TD are very reliable all round.

Some cars seem to suffer lots of edge rust, some don't, and one that has been repaired or rustproofed would be a good bet.
A late W124 will rust the same as a W210.

When I got the price from MB for the injectors I had a huge fright - then they told me I was lucky the later ones (with electronic control) are three times the price - I had assumed that this was all 210s - but maybe it is the later CDi engines?

re the rust - I have had several w124s and you are right they all suffer some rusting issues but most are minor cosmetic and relatively easy to deal with. I did look at a few w210 e300 estates a few years ago when I was toying with a newer one and they all had "difficult to deal with" rusting issues - bubbles in the middle of panels, crazing running under the paint, rust round door frames - and that was without taking a proper look underneath at suspension mountings etc; I would buy one of the few 210s that are apparently not afflicted but would not buy one that has been repaired - the rust will be back at some point.

 

[bigyin1]

When I got the price from MB for the injectors I had a huge fright - then they told me I was lucky the later ones (with electronic control) are three times the price - I had assumed that this was all 210s - but maybe it is the later CDi engines?

re the rust - I have had several w124s and you are right they all suffer some rusting issues but most are minor cosmetic and relatively easy to deal with. I did look at a few w210 e300 estates a few years ago when I was toying with a newer one and they all had "difficult to deal with" rusting issues - bubbles in the middle of panels, crazing running under the paint, rust round door frames - and that was without taking a proper look underneath at suspension mountings etc; I would buy one of the few 210s that are apparently not afflicted but would not buy one that has been repaired - the rust will be back at some point.

w124.co.uk said that if buying a W210 320 CDI to budget on a set of injectors, all 12 of them for £1500!!

i agree with the rust. I'm going to ring ref a tidy looking W210 300td and visit on Saturday, plus i'm waiting for w124 man to get back to me.... all systems go. Woo hoo

 

[mattc]

Can I ask why you have discounted the bigger petrol engined 124's. These are often well specced and cheap compared to the diesel equivalents and the savings (which can be considerable) can be spent on the extra fuel. Look for a evidence of wiring loom changed for the non-rotting variety and maybe a headgasket job - just a thought

 

[Smiley]

You are right - the e280 is a very strong engine and very very smooth; depends how miles you are going to do - real world I get 32 mpg (bit more on a long run but not much as it tends to be loaded to the roof then) from the e300d - I would think a 280 or 320 estate is going to be 22- 24mpg equivalent - but then petrol is 10% cheaper than diesel......
The other thing about the big petrols is that they tend to have been better specced when new so much easier to find one with leather and air con.
Remebering the OPs problem of keeping all his body parts then he would have to buy one with evidence of sorted loom and head gasket!