C320 - Right choice ?

[GSM1]

Hi everyone, new member, I have just bought a 2001 C320 avantgarde, collect it on thursday. I had a c200 elegance 1999 before my current BMW 318ci. Can any owners give me some feed back regarding the C320.
many thanks and look forward to being part of the forum.
Gary.

 

[robbo]

Welcome to the forum.

Its a bit late to be asking for feedback now If you had asked beforehand, my advice would have been to buy a later model as the quality of the early C class models is poor. I should know, I own one.

Common problems :-

Front suspension problems, knocking, clonking etc. The anti roll bar bushes dont last long (30K miles), anti roll bar drop links need repacing every 40K miles, thrust arm bushings also go after a few years. Rear suspension, watch out for broken springs.

Electrics are very unreliabe, watch out for electric window problems (failed motors), door control modules often go wrong. Electric seats fail due to wiring fault, easy to fix. BAS/ESP problems are common, wiring loom fault. Rear heated windows often are dodgy too. I have also heard of the front seat control modules failing, leading to continuous battery draw hence flat batteries.

emission control purge valve is often noisy with ticking noise audible from inside cabin.

You should have no problems with the engine, provided fully synth oil has been used, but if mineral oil has been used the engine can sludge up and you can have very high oil consumption/engine failure. Watch out for the Auto transmission ECU plug, this often leaks ATF and the oil can travel up the wiring loom and kill the transmission ECU which is £££ to fix.

Check underbody and sub frame for rust, rust protection is very poor on all mercedes cars from this era. If there is some corrosion, give the underbody a full waxoyl treatment and you should be OK.

Now, many of these issues may already have been seen to and the car may be OK, but I'd still be wary.

Sorry, but you did ask

 

[GSM1]

Thanks for your reply Robbo, firstly I didn't ask if I should buy the car, I make my own mind up on what I buy, so your comment on " your a bit late in asking for feedback now " is not needed.
Sounds like you had a bad one, but what shocks me more is that you still have it
I simply wanted to know owners feelings on the C320, my father in-law has a 51 plate C180, I liked his but wanted more power.
I know you said I did ask and I can't argue and I thank you for your reply, I will let you know how my one is, lucky I get a warranty that covers me for the entire period I decide to keep it.
many thanks.
Gary

 

[television]

The down side of this forum, is that most join it when they have problems, there are hundreds of thousands of MB's driving around, most with no problems. Buying the car that you wanted is fine, because one person has problems, that does not mean that you will have. Enjoy your car, and welcome to the forum.

Malcolm

 

[GSM1]

As you said Malcolm most join when they have a problem, I'm not a novice when it comes to merc faults, my C200 had many - wiper linkage, water pump, abs sensor, to name a few. I worked in motor trade for a few years as a partsman so I like to think I know more than the average joe.
Forums tend to breed a type of person who takes pleasure in informing you that you have made a big mistake. I know that my C320 won't be all bad,I'm sure I'll love many things about it and hate a few others.
thanks for reply

 

[television]

Just to add, as you well know, one person gets nothing but problems with whatever they have bought, it may be cars or something else, I have taken these things in part exchange, and sold them on, and they never went wrong again.That's something in my 55 years of trading that I have never worked out. A C320 is avery nice car.

Malcolm

 

[robbo]

Hold on there a minute folks,

I never said that I have suffered all of the problems mentioned (although I have had quite a few of them) A simple search of the forums (not just this one but others) will tell you that the problems I mentioned are very common and most early C class cars suffer from them. Talk to your dealer if you dont believe me. Why do you think the customer satisfaction surveys for these cars has been so bad? Thats why I would always recommend people buy a 2002 or later when they had a mini revision to correct many of the persistent issues.

I also didnt mention that the C320 is a very nice car to drive and the engine is a peach. This is probably why I have kept hold of it despite all the niggles.

one person gets nothing but problems with whatever they have bought

Well sorry, but I am not one of those people, and I resent your implication. I was merely trying to alert GSM as to some of the common problems on the Early C class. As I said before, I still think he would have been better off buying a later model, but there you go. Whether you like it or not, the early versions of this car was not one of MBs finest efforts. Later cars are much better.

 

[robbo]

Forums tend to breed a type of person who takes pleasure in informing you that you have made a big mistake.

Well sorry if my original post came across that way, I was trying to give you a list of things to look out for.

Forums also tend to breed the type of person who are looking for validation of their purchasing decision. I must say, your post did look rather like one of those.

 

[television]

Sorry if I offended you it was not meant that way, I have spent my life in the service industry, what I tried to say was, I can never understand why something can give problems with one owner, and when it is sold to someone else, it stops giving problems.It can be anything that we own, and the owner is doing nothing wrong. This was not directed towards you, it is just one of those strange things that I do not have an answer for.

Malcolm

 

[cubicincubi]

whats the point in posting a thread asking for comments then getting arsie about the frank replies.

Forums also breed a type of person who would be suited to living under a bridge with billy goats gruff crossing over it.

 

[GSM1]

This is excactly the reason why forums don't offer the correct help, eveyone saying you said that, ends up in an argument when it's all about helping others through your own experiences.
If I had asked the question, Should I buy a C320 2001 then robbo's reply would be spot on. I didn't. I would never ask a stranger if I should spend 11k on a motor, would anyone.
Gary

 

[jberks]

A friend had a C320. Loved it. Complained that it drank like a fish, but other than that, he loved it.

 

[cubicincubi]

This is excactly the reason why forums don't offer the correct help, eveyone saying you said that, ends up in an argument when it's all about helping others through your own experiences.
If I had asked the question, Should I buy a C320 2001 then robbo's reply would be spot on. I didn't. I would never ask a stranger if I should spend 11k on a motor, would anyone.
Gary

robbo's reply was spot on, he offered his feelings on ownership.

your attitude suggests you should have stuck to BMW's :lol: :wink:

You've bought a small saloon with a big engine. its fast but not neck snappingly quick, my 15 year old jap missile would eat it for brekkie. there's a lack of room in the back. it's refined. parts and servicing will be expensive - they do go wrong and it will go wrong - just like everything else in life, and it will get fixed and it will cost money. it will drink fuel for fun. it's a nice car but not my cup of tea as its totally impractical - ok for a single fella with a chick and maybe a baby seat who likes to be seen and likes to overtake.

judging by your recent list of vehicle aqcuisitions you will absolutely love the car no matter what anyone says, you'll feel a million dollars driving it, then you'll probs sell it and get a faster coupe and really look the part before you settle down. such is life.

Welcome to the forum :wink:

Enjoy it mate, it's a quality machine.

 

[robbo]

GSM wrote :-

Can any owners give me some feed back regarding the C320.

What exactly were you asking for then? I'm confused. I thought as a new owner you'd be interested to know what to look out for regarding likely future problems.

Or did you just want a mutual appreciation society with back-slapping all round? If that's all we did then the forums really would be worthless.

 

[Laughing Gas]

For what it's worth.....My C320 is great!

GSM1, it seems like we have similar tastes and I thought you might like some reassurance.
I bought a 2001 C320 Avantgarde with LPG conversion, FMBSH and 100K on the clock for £9K last autumn and it hasn't missed a beat since. OK, so it may not have a great reputation, but this just helps to bring down the value and make them as affordable as this one was. For now, its working fine and its fun!
Enjoy.

 

[GSM1]

Thanks for reply Laughing Gas,
I don't do enough miles to justify a LPG conversion but would be interested to hear how it performs.
I'm enjoying my C320,

 

[timmy]

If you don't want to hear the answer don't ask the question!

 

[Laughing Gas]

I don't do enough miles to justify a LPG conversion but would be interested to hear how it performs.

To be honest, you really can't tell the difference between running on petrol and LPG in the C320. They say you lose 5-10% of power, but with so much power available in a small car you really don't notice. Its a good quality sequential LPG kit, fitted by the previous owner 40K miles ago, and it runs just as smoothly on either fuel.
The E230, on the other hand, has less power to weight and you notice the difference in power sometimes when overtaking. It is also slightly more "lumpy" when idling, but perhaps its just the spark plugs / leads showing their age.