W205/S205 thoughts

[pembssurf]

Hi all. We are currently looking at replacing our S204 2011 C180 CGI estate with a newer (perhaps year old) S205 15/16 reg sometime next year, specifically a C200 petrol model, with command and airmatic, I don't want anything that rides on bigger than 17" rims so that's all AMG lines out the window. Has anyone got any experience with this engine combo and is the new one a derivative of the M271 cam chain disaster or a completely new block? Really not interested in diesel. Our daily commute is 17 miles each way and I can see diesel becoming an issue. We do between 9000-10000 per year.

Hoping to pick a used example up for low 20k's.

All reviews seem to be very positive pointing towards a mini S-class experience.

Any advice welcome....

Adam

 

[c63chris]

Can't help with the engine but I have had two W205s and the Airmatic makes a lot of difference. Current one has it but first one did not. Handles much better.


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[pembssurf]

Can't help with the engine but I have had two W205s and the Airmatic makes a lot of difference. Current one has it but first one did not. Handles much better. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yea seems like a good optional extra at just £895. If I was buying new this would be first on my list of options.

 

[fab1975]

I have Airmatic suspensions and can confirm that they make a huge difference. The Agility selector brings them to life and allows you to change their settings according to your needs / driving style.
I'm not sure if it will be easy to find a non-AMG C200 with Airmartic though.
Good luck with your search

 

[190]

It's a new engine with the designation M274. Because they are always going to be chasing lower internal friction it still has a single row cam chain.

Hopefully it's better engineered than the M271.

 

[pembssurf]

I miss the days of my 190's Duplex chain. If I remember right the inspection interval was 250,000 miles. Mine did 225, got inspected and only had 1mm of play. Gone are those days. Looks like the C200 has had a bump in power to 184bhp as well now which is more than enough for our needs. Like you say though finding a decent spec's entry level petrol can be hard, didn't do to bad with our current one base c180 as it has command, linguitronic and a few other features... here's hoping!

 

[c63chris]

Yea seems like a good optional extra at just £895. If I was buying new this would be first on my list of options.

I bought second hand last year and couldn't find one I wanted with Airmatic so had to buy one without. Maybe there's more out there now.


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[Yugguy]

Might be worth checking if you can downsize the rims on an amg? It I'd hard these days though where everyone wants 25inch rimz.

 

[Delayed Steve]

Might be worth checking if you can downsize the rims on an amg? It I'd hard these days though where everyone wants 25inch rimz.

You can downside the wheels, I've got 17 inch winter wheels on mine with no problem.
I haven't noticed any difference in the ride quality from my summer 19 inch wheels.

 

[pembssurf]

Going to take my time searching next year. Looking at swapping out by September. Is airmatic finally reliable these days or is it something sure to go wrong out of warranty? If I'm buying a year old I want it to last several years especially at 20-25k. It will be the primary family work horse.

 

[ernie]

I guess you're looking for a C200 Sport which comes standard on 17s. Check that the car you want has Comfort seats as the early (2014) Sports didn't and I got caught out. Easily checked as has additional controls on the seat for bolster and front cushion.

The 274 engine has been around for a longish time, first seen, I think, in the A Class as a 1.6 and then in the last 204s, also as a 1.6 Turbo. Can't say I've seen many problems either on here or t'other side.

Probably near your price limit, but there are a couple of (ex demo?) 205 220d Sports with nice specs, including Comand On-Line and one with Pano Roof, on the MB website.

Tyre wear is a problem on the diesels and I saw some petrols with vibration problems, not just due to balance when I was looking. Also be careful about history: 10 - 12k miles is the cut off point for hiring companies and often have K? 65??? regs. I was advised to go for something with under 5k miles which is more likely to be ex MB Management.

We have only had a couple of problems with ours, which should have been taken care of on later cars.


Ernie

 

[c63chris]

I guess you're looking for a C200 Sport which comes standard on 17s. Check that the car you want has Comfort seats as the early (2014) Sports didn't and I got caught out. Easily checked as has additional controls on the seat for bolster and front cushion.



The 274 engine has been around for a longish time, first seen, I think, in the A Class as a 1.6 and then in the last 204s, also as a 1.6 Turbo. Can't say I've seen many problems either on here or t'other side.



Probably near your price limit, but there are a couple of (ex demo?) 205 220d Sports with nice specs, including Comand On-Line and one with Pano Roof, on the MB website.



Tyre wear is a problem on the diesels and I saw some petrols with vibration problems, not just due to balance when I was looking. Also be careful about history: 10 - 12k miles is the cut off point for hiring companies and often have K? 65??? regs. I was advised to go for something with under 5k miles which is more likely to be ex MB Management.



We have only had a couple of problems with ours, which should have been taken care of on later cars.





Ernie

Not sure tyre wear is an issue. On my 220d I got over 20k on the rears and over 30k on the rears. Best I've ever managed on a car so far.


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[ernie]

Maybe I should have said 'can be a problem'! It may be just the early ones but there have been a number of threads on one of the other forums complaining about tyre wear.

My rear tyres were pretty much shot at about 15k when I put on the winter wheels with the fronts probably limited by shoulder wear to about 18k. These are the original Continental tyres. This is probably the worst I've had out of 5 C Classes and at 74, I'm no boy racer! Having said all that, the 220 CDi has a bag of torque which doesn't help rear tyre wear.

For info, my fuel consumption has averaged just under 45 over the last year (12k miles) with mixed running that has included a couple of journeys to Kent and 3 to North Yorkshire from Grangemouth.

Ernie.

 

[RonFleet]

Mine (a diesel) came with Michelins, which I recently changed at 24k miles and they still had several thousand miles left. So I might have been lucky, but...