W211 Facelift Reliability..?

[timskemp]

Post facelift 320s and 280s have the 7 speed gearbox which is very tall in 6th and 7th, and very economical when you consider the car's size and performance. For best economy though get a 220

 

[Robbo Cop]

Wow that's excellent mpg..

I don't want to sound like a penny pinching miser (I'm not), just cautious.

Thanks sweetpea,

Rob

 

[jdrrco]

You know, it just feels like I'm considering an Alfa 159 rather than an MB. You don't really expect an Alfa to be very good for very long but MB's are supposed to out live tortoises..!

ahem!!

I had my W211 for 60k miles (from 30k to 90k) and have now just hit 67k in my Alfa 159 auto diesel from new.

I wish I could say that the MB was more reliable, but the truth is that it needed about £6k of repairs on top of servicing costs during that time, whereas the Alfa has only had one issue, an air-leak in the power steering reservoir which took less than 20 minutes to fix.

As Alfa is now run by the former head of BMW-Rolls Royce, standards are much higher than 10 years ago - perhaps you should be considering something Italian?!!

 

[Robbo Cop]

Hi jdrrco,

Wow, sorry to hear you had to shell out six grand on repairs, that's horrible. What year and model was you're W211 and what were the issues? I'm hoping you'll say it was a pre-facelift model...!!

I'm surprised that you, as a 'Hardcore MB Enthusiast', would recommend an Italian marque. Having said that, you have six thousand reasons to recommend any other brand...!

I do like Alfa's, love the styling but would be very wary of general reliability.

Thanks,

Rob

 

[sspeed]

Hi Robocop,
Not had my 211 facelift (E320 CDi) very long.. 2 months and nearly 3k miles but it hasnt missed a beat.
Its very, very well made and extremely comfortable on long runs..
Incidentally the sound from the standard stereo (Audio 20) is very very good indeed.
To work and back I get about 32mpg and on a run around 40 - 42mpg..
I can say that for me its the best car I have owned to date..

 

[Robbo Cop]

Thanks sspeed,

Lovely car... That's very decent MPG for a 320. Enjoy the car.

Rob

 

[blue gnome123]

It happens the other way too. A mate has just had the whole top end of his 2008 Alfa 159 2.4 tdi replaced with 50K on the clock!

 

[Robbo Cop]

True it can happen both ways. Unusual to hear a story like that at just 50k. Do you know what happened? They're generally very good engines. I have basically the same 2.4 TD engine in my Volvo S60 D5, and never an ounce of trouble, although with Alfa's application, I think they use their own heads on it. I think in fact that engine may be a Ford/Volvo love child...

Cheers,

Rob

 

[timskemp]

Robbo - I wasn't aware of any relationship between the Volvo and the Fiat diesel engines, I don't think the Volvo engine was developed in by Ford either.

 

[jdrrco]

Hi jdrrco,

Wow, sorry to hear you had to shell out six grand on repairs, that's horrible. What year and model was you're W211 and what were the issues? I'm hoping you'll say it was a pre-facelift model...!!

I'm surprised that you, as a 'Hardcore MB Enthusiast', would recommend an Italian marque. Having said that, you have six thousand reasons to recommend any other brand...!

I do like Alfa's, love the styling but would be very wary of general reliability.

Thanks,

Rob

Hi Rob

Thankfully I didn't have to pay the £6k, as I had taken out the full maintenance package (can't remember what it was called now), so I paid £98 per month and that covered all servicing, repairs etc. But they don't do that any more and it only covers cars up to 5 years old.

To be fair, mine was a pre-facelift, but the repairs were to the airmatic suspension and electronics, things which were still issues with post-facelift.

I'm not trying to put you off a W211, I loved mine and would have kept it for many more miles if I hadn't been concerned about the risk of huge bills (services averaged £850 at the dealers). I was just saying don't make assumptions about Alfa 159s. Post '08 they are exceptionally well-built and, yes, reliable, as unlikely as that may seem!

James

 

[blue gnome123]

Yep he was getting a vibration at 60-70mph on the M-way. He was just running out of warranty and took it in to the dealer just in case. It turned out a head problem and they replaced it all. He's also had gearbox problems too (he's not a car thrasher) so maybe he had a friday afternoon car. You can just never tell.

 

[jdrrco]

Fiat/Alfa JTD engine (the world's first common rail diesel btw) is not used in Volvos, but the 1.9 version is used by GM for Vauxhall/Opel and Saab.

Volvos is a Ford diesel, just happens to be 2.4 5-cylinder as well.

 

[timskemp]

Fiat/Alfa JTD engine (the world's first common rail diesel btw) is not used in Volvos, but the 1.9 version is used by GM for Vauxhall/Opel and Saab.

Volvos is a Ford diesel, just happens to be 2.4 5-cylinder as well.

Ohhhh no it's not. The Volvo diesel replaced the VW/Audi 5 cylinder in about 2000 when the S60 was launched and was well into development before ford took over in 1999 ish.

The four cylinder engines in the current cars are the Ford / PSA ones, the 5s are all developments of older Volvo fives, the sixes are a Ford development of the Volvo 6 and the V8s are the ford/yamaha beast.

 

[Robbo Cop]

Who know's what goes on behind the scenes in these companies for sure anyway. I do have to say though, the D5 engine in my Volvo is really great although starting to feel outdated by the ongoing TD/Commonrail advancements.

Cheers,

Rob

 

[jdrrco]

Ohhhh no it's not. The Volvo diesel replaced the VW/Audi 5 cylinder in about 2000 when the S60 was launched and was well into development before ford took over in 1999 ish.

The four cylinder engines in the current cars are the Ford / PSA ones, the 5s are all developments of older Volvo fives, the sixes are a Ford development of the Volvo 6 and the V8s are the ford/yamaha beast.

I stand corrected! I knew it wasn't the Alfa/Fiat one and jumped to the wrong conclusion.

 

[Robbo Cop]

jdrrco,

Were not most if not all of the electronics issues sorted in the facelift?

Rob

 

[Dryce]

Were not most if not all of the electronics issues sorted in the facelift?

No - they were sorted well before the facelift.

The major overhang that pre-facelift models have is the SBC braking system where the pump has a finite lifetime. As SBC was removed from the facelift model it's no longer an issue.

 

[Robbo Cop]

Thanks Dryce.

Good to hear that news. Do some not complain of electronics issues since the facelift? What about the ball joints and air con fans?

Cheers,

Rob

 

[Dryce]

Good to hear that news. Do some not complain of electronics issues since the facelift? What about the ball joints and air con fans?

Ball joints and air con fans aren't electronics ...

I've not heard of any air con issues.

The W211 is a heavy car made a bit lighter with some aluminium and plastics. It's vulnerable to front springs collapsing. Several reported here. The state of our current roads hammers the ball joints too.

The early 7G transmissions were a bit quirky with some complaints in the early days. But I can't recall seeing many complaints published after the first few months.

The W211 is a complicated but well engineered car - both pre and post facelift.

 

[Alexander Squire]

I've had my w211 for just over a year and put 25,000 miles on it. Not overly affluent so been servicing at Halfords etc. It's been absolutely bullet proof. My work forces me down horrendous country lanes with bumps, mud etc. Mon - Fri since I had it. No issues. Does occasionally do this lurching thing if I boot her, but only 1 in 50 kick downs. Love it. Previously had a GS300 and this is much more refined and faster. X