Wanted interesting S202/W202 - where have they all gone ? Discuss !

[poormansporsche]

Alright good people.

I know the answer, they have all been scrapped due to rust. But I've noticed in the last 6 months the amount available has gone down substantially and there is literally bugger all out there.

Anyway if anyone is considering selling, preferably a nice wagon or at a push a saloon let me know. After minimal rust and a decent size engine, either a 6 pot or "k". Would prefer a interesting colour as well. Wheel, bumper and interior condition not important as will all be replaced. Budget up to 2 grand.

Regards

Brett

 

[219]

I thought it was mainly electronic failure that was the reason they got scrapped ?

A lot of the ones I see in breakers don't look at all rusty . As an example - a friend had until recently a tidy looking S202 , can't remember model , but when I saw him recently with a Passat estate I asked why he'd changed . Turned out his wife had opened a can of juice which had fizzed up and gone into the auto gear selector . This caused the car to go into second gear and no higher - problem was they were in Fort William where it happened and had to drive back in 2nd gear . No amount of drying out would help and our respected Indy informed them it was a known problem if moisture got in , usual cause leaving sunroof open when it rains , and the only answer was a new selector unit from Mercedes as used ones can't be re-coded to the car - the part is £1300 !
Given that they'd just paid a bill somewhere north of £2K for a turbo repair on their W203 C320CDI , and the low value of the 202 , this was the end of it .

A lot of the 202s I see in breakers have no crash damage or obvious rust , unlike W210s and increasingly W220s , but often instrument clusters and other electronic bits seem to have been removed .

I'm now watching for one with a nice mushroom leather interior as I hear they transplant nicely into 190's , and 190 ones are now like hens teeth .

 

[grober]

The electronics in W202's went through phases. Early smaller engined cars had the dreaded PMS injection system with the irrepairable ECU's but were otherwise relatively simple [ very similar to their 190/124 predecessors] I believe it was after the face lift in 1997-ish that they went "all can bus" and their electronic trickery took a noticeable increase.

 

[poormansporsche]

Thanks. The front seats from a 202 are dead easy to fit into a 190, 3 of the 4 bolt holes line up and the 4th just needs drilling out 1 inch to the side. The angle of the bolt holes on the rear needs changing a bit on the 202 seats but also easy to do, pretty obvious when in position. I've never tried the rear seats though as I managed to sort a rear 190 bench on its own

 

[219]

Thanks for that . If I get a set I might see if I can fit the 190 runners to the 202 seat bases , swap the cushions over or just the covers , rather than drill holes in my floor ...

 

[poormansporsche]

You don't need to drill a hole in the floor as such, just through the rectangular plinth thingy that the front of the seats sits on, all the adapting is to the 202 seats. I couldn't work a way out to swap the runners over but someone else !!!

 

[219]

Ah , ok , that isn't so bad then

 

[tron]

My venerable S202 TD was up at Old Sarum last weekend while I was scaring angels and the people running the classic car gathering asked me if I would join the line. I was surprised but had to decline as I was due at my home airstrip to get the machine out for its pre season check and even Woman Belong Me wasn't going to stop that from happening! Frightening to think of it as a classic; it seems very modern to me!

 

[Tuercas viejas]

This is not a happy car!
The car and some of the other MB product lines were cheapened down to compete with what they regarded as upstart Lexus products that came into the market place to compete head on with MB..
Electrical issues were their biggest problem (apart from rust) and tracing such faults often made for big repair bills.

In these circumstances you make more enemies than friends as a repair shop!
Almost gone now--Don't miss 'em!
Tuercas Viejas

 

[tron]

No, Sir; you are gravely mistaken. Mine has been comfortable, reliable, attracted favourable comment wherever it has gone and will be in my hands for as long as possible.
It will be VERY fondly remembered, as will many others.

 

[poormansporsche]

Well 202 (and alikes 208) have been my dailies for the last 6 years off and on with no major problems whatsoever.

So anyone got a goody the want to part with ????

 

[SamW]

PM'd

 

[poormansporsche]

Thanks, only just down the road as well

 

[gr1nch]

Didn't know the S202/W202 model numbers so just looked them up - they look more like more modern E-classes then C-classes!

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

 

[grober]

If I recall the early ones didn't do too well in the Euro Ncap tests [ by Mercedes standards]
Following the tests later [post 97] cars had small detailed body re-inforcing added to improve their ratings.

Euro NCAP : crash test results - The AA

 

[ss201]

There is a very tidy looking, 1995 W202 C200 Elegance saloon for sale in the latest Gazette classifieds. One owner, 118k miles, fsh, leather etc. IAM member in Glos. £1250 ono. Sounds like a good cheap car for someone. Don't know the owner, but if anyone's interested, PM me and I'll forward the seller's contact details.