W169 A class opinions?

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I’ve reserched a bit while I was still looking for W168/W169 and found that lower engine running temperature on A150 is usually caused by temperature sensor which is located in the fan housing making a fan to run at higher speeds at all times but worth trying first with thermostat as a cheeper option. It is doable without taking the engine out.
I haven't noticed the fan running. The symptoms are exactly those of thermostat though: when in traffic or working hard the temp goes up a bit, when cruising steadily it goes down
 
My wife ran a 2003 W168 A190 LWB avant-garde automatic for 10 years, until some idiot turned it into a banana. Personally, I absolutely loved it, far more than I was expecting. A friend had an A140 for a few months, and around here in hilly Devon, it was seriously underpowered. Depending on your budget, I would happily look at an older w168, rather than go for a w169, but I would certainly try to find a low owner, low mileage, well cared for example. As for insurance, she started driving it in her mid 30s, with just two years driving experience, and, therefore, NCB, and never paid more than around £200. For a top of the range 190, I reckon that was pretty good going.
 
New thermostat arrived, was surprisingly easy to change it. Test run up the mountain and back, it gets up to proper temperature and didn't drop quite so low on the long downhill with the heater on. Yet to determine if the economy improves: it seemed a bit thirstier than I'd expected - but then was mostly running at about 50-60°C according to the gauge, so I doubt was fuelling properly. I'll take it for a more normal sort of run later or tomorrow.
 
Showed 38-odd mpg on about 50 miles of mostly-urban (although not much stop-start) so I guess that's not bad, at that. Will report on a longer run when I do one :)
Better go look at the door window thing, seeing as it's not raining out.
 
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Got the driver's side window lift fixed. I get the distinct impression that Merc never intended it to be taken apart, mind. The way the inner panel is held onto the door is such that I can't see it reliably working more than once, and someone had already been in it before me. Still, got it back together minus some loose broken bits of plastic which I think came from a casing around the door lock, probably an anti-theft thing as the door lock still works.

Don't suppose anyone has a good passenger side door mirror going begging/cheap? I reckon this one has been hit on something, it doesn't work credibly and the mirror itself comes loose quite easily (hinges around the front edge) whereas the driver's side one seems quite rigid. Are they meant to fold? They're not electric fold (no switches for it) but would've though they would fold manually.
 
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Just a quick comment on the last point - Mercedes, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make the non-power fold mirrors for 169 and 245 completely rigid, so no manual fold, even though the 168 mirrors were folding, without power fold feature.

The only way these (non-power fold mirrors) will "fold" is when hit - i.e. the collision safety feature - however once that happen, they never quite go back , so require replacement.

The fixed mirrors are not too expensive from eBay and breakers, but must be checked that, they locked fully, as many come damaged as above, or even forced folded by someone unaware of their peculiarity. The folding type is often listed used for more, than it cost brand new from MB.

Non-folding mirrors will have 7 wires, folding - 9 wires (and often a dark beige plug, rather than a black one).

The door cards, and especially the inner part, held by a myriad of rivets, are indeed a mare to take apart, and certainly not designed with that in view.
 
Non folding mirrors!!!..:eek:

... Should have bought a W168!
;):D
 
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Ha ha - it was a surprise, I must say ...

I'm half way into retrofitting facelift power-fold mirrors: the switch, wiring and door modules are ready, now just need to find £500 for a pair of new mirrors o_O
 
Ha ha - it was a surprise, I must say ...

I'm half way into retrofitting facelift power-fold mirrors: the switch, wiring and door modules are ready, now just need to find £500 for a pair of new mirrors o_O
:eek::eek::eek:
Scary price.
Can't you modify the ones you have?
 
:eek::eek::eek:
Scary price.
Can't you modify the ones you have?
Indeed. That's for a pair of brand new ones from MB, colour matched.
Some used ones on eBay are listed for £260-£280 :eek: each!

I suppose it might be possible to modify the existing ones, but that would require two sets of innards from a folding pair, so won't be that much cheaper, plus I like the larger, square facelift type ... :rolleyes:
 
I'm happy enough with the ones it has, but having the passenger side one working properly would be nice. Also, would like mirror heat to work, which apparently doesn't on mine.
 
Is it the glass that comes loose easily? The support spring can be adjusted to give a tighter lock, also the locking lugs might have been broken / snapped.
The glass with plastic back and lugs / spring can be purchased separately.

There should be two wires connected to the back of the glass assembly - that's your heating element wiring.

Here's a couple of files - should be useful.
 

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Ha ha - it was a surprise, I must say ...

I'm half way into retrofitting facelift power-fold mirrors: the switch, wiring and door modules are ready, now just need to find £500 for a pair of new mirrors o_O


That is abit too much given the age of the W169 (and hence increased availability of facelift parts on ebay). See this thread which I managed to upgrade for significantly less a few years ago for significantly less (including one folding mirror which was brand new from a Merc dealer selling online).

Good luck with your upgrade - don't forget to get the door modules coded using Star once you have upgraded them to your car.

Folding Mirror Retrofit on Classic W169
 
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That is abit too much given the age of the W169 (and hence increased availability of facelift parts on ebay).
Yes it is, but it's for a pair of new mirrors.
Haven't looked for a few months, but there were mostly non-folding ones, or erroneously (or misleadingly) listed as folding (like the one you linked above), when in fact they are not.
As you know, there's no such thing as 'manually folding' 169 mirror, unfortunately.
Only few sellers clearly mention 7 (or 9) wires - the rest just trying to chance it, I think.

Yeah, I have your thread saved, long time ago, with all the pics and part numbers ;)

Thanks, of course: I'm aware that, a STAR coding will be required, once fitted.
 
My wife has managed to clip both mirrors on her169 and arrived home with them hanging by the wires flapping against the doors, no problem on both occasions.Clip them back in and all in order, not a crack or mark in sight. Built like the proverbial brick ---ithouse.
 
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Interesting - I take it the entire bodies of each mirror assembly were unclipped from the car, leaving the bare metal exposed? I know for a fact that, when the base is still attached, and the mirror forced folded in, it doesn't fully folds out again, leaving a small gap (3-5mm) between the plastic base and the mirror itself, at least in majority of cases - based on what I read, and have seen on parts from breakers / eBay, etc. Maybe some later years facelifts had improved design ...
 
It’s an August 2011 model, A180 Avantgarde.
 
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