First Time

[niceone]

I am about to make my first Mercedes purchase and would appreciate some good advice. I have decided on an 1999 E200 Classic with 73K Miles, 2 Owners, FSH. I would like to know what I should be looking out for in terms of body, engine etc. Also, this car has a 5 speed manual gearbox. Should I hold on a try to get an Avantgarde with 6 speed gearbox ?

Any advice much appreciated !

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

I always drove manual gearboxes before I bought my first merc. As most mercs are built with auto boxes I found trying to find the right car (spec and colour) in manual form a problem so I joined the mainstrem merc owners and bought an auto. That was 15 years ago and now I know why mers autos are so popular. I wouldn't consider buying a manual (personel opinion) autos are refined and reliable, and with the latest 5 and 6 speed versions economical.
There appears to be 2 problems associated with merc manual gearboxes:
1) Slow changes
2) The foot operated handbrake is not ideally suited to 3 pedal cars.

In answer to your second point, choice of Avantgarde, Elegance or Classic.
I chose the Avantgarde which has a lower ride height and firmer spring settings. You do feel the firmer ride but the plus side is that the body roll is much less (much nicer to drive)
These are my personal opions and should be taken as so!
Hope this helps!

 

[Bolide]

W210 buying advice

People better equipped than me will soon chime in and say the R word. These cars rust so the most critical thing is to establish where and check for signs. To have rust repaired under warranty the car will need to meet specific criteria regarding history & servicing

I would say be picky over spec & colour as there are lots of options

Now over to the experts...


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[jberks]

Yes, the R word. - check wheel arches, boot lock, under the seals on the doors and the front cross member under the engine. If it has full MBSH then MB will probably fix it, but if not, you could be on your own. That said, some are good, some are bad, but they all rust to some extent.
If its a facelift model, check the dash displays for pixealtion. Service history is crucial. MBs are better made than say fords but I often think that better brands last longer partially because they are more expensive so generally are better looked after over a longer period. A friend has just scrapped a nissan with a blown engine. I though Jap engines went forever so I asked him when it was last serviced. I got a blank look in return.
The manual will always be harder to sell and should be considerably cheaper, same goes for classic trim. Malcolm's point is very common, people come to mercs from other makes and look for the manual as that's what they are used to. Some say they are more involving to drive. The point is that E classes are long legged sofas that you can get out of after a 300 mile drive and still be fresh enough to do 8 hours graft, so if you are looking for that racey involving drive, I would suggest looking as something beginning with a B. If you want a quiet comfortable, classy,unfussed drive that can hold its own, then you're probably in the right place. There are lots of stories like Malcolms but oddly I have never come across anyone who bought an Merc auto and missed the manual.

 

[niceone]

Thanks a million guys, I am gald I asked the question now.

 

[MerChris]

In case you're still undecided on the auto box issue, I'd chip in to say I totally agree with the guys above, I just last week changed from 15 years of driving stick to taking on an auto box. I had heard many times before that Merc manual boxes left something to be desired. I was confident in buying an auto and figured I'd just have to live with any aspects I disliked about it.

To date, one week in after acquiring my Merc, no dislikes at all. Box is smooth, reacts well to different types of driving and gives you the power on demand (my biggest fear was no response to flooring it).

So, yeah, go for the auto and don't worry about leaving manual behind

 

[Jensen]

Yeah fully agree go for auto avoid manual at all costs.
I've been driving for 19 years always manual till 1 year ago till I got the merc.
NO problems whatsoever.
Enjoy

 

[television]

Auto- Manual

Just take trafic lights for example,with modern boxes the auto is always first away,the only way that a manual can beat it is by riding the clutch. I add that I am not a boy racer.

Back in the 70's,in a survey, an MGB was driven from Victoria Station to Knightsbridge in the rush hour, the car has fitted with a counter on the clutch pedal. The presure to operate the clutch x the amount of times it was pressed showed that the driver shifted 130 tons when added together.

I have owned some 430 cars, more than half were auto's. Only had trouble with 2. On one,the brake bands was loose and I fixed that in 2 hours, on the other the aluminium casing started to disintergrate and the bits blocked up the valve block from time to time, that was a 1990 car.
Malcolm

 

[niceone]

Wow, that's conclusive enough for then ! Looks like I'm in the market for automatic then. Anyone know where I can source a reasonable mileage 1999, 2000 Merc E200, Auto, Avantgarde (prefereably with leather) ???

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Just had to make one more comment,

This time it relates to the choice of engine. The E Class is a substantial car and power to weight ratio does play an impotant part in performance (funny how most of the motoring press ignore power to weight ratios nowadays).

The 2 litre engine is an adequate power unit in compressor form, so worth a test drive, however a lot of people, me included feel that a well laden 2 litre e class will prove to be a raher sluggish prospect. It all depends on the type of use and economy you expect from a car. I would recommend that you test drive the E240 also as I feel that this combination offers the best compromise.
If your used to effortless performance the E280 and 320 are more in this league but there is a penalty to pay in fuel. If you don't mind diesel power the options are good and the CDi engines are amazing.

Hope this helps!

 

[classe]

I can't really comment on the auto v manual discussion as I have never driven an auto. In April I bought an E220 convertible 64,000 miles 1 previous owner, all the trimmings and it's manual! It is a beautiful car, certainly not quick off the mark but sooooo stylish and I have no trouble whatsover with the manual gearbox. The acceleration and smooth gearchange is easy peasy! I love it and as soon as I can work out how to get photos onto the website I will show it off!

Classe

 

[niceone]

At Last

I am going to look at an E200, 2000, Tiptronic, Classic, 80K Miles. What MPG can I expect from this car ? I am debating petrol (? MPG) or diesel (45 MPG).
BUT, I am decided on the automatic gearbox !

 

[fionanallan]

Not looking for an argument here...or even a diffrence of opinion...just throwing my tuppence worth in! We've got a C220 MANUAL CDI. Having driven the auto equivalent...I can't honestly say I notice a big diffrence. I actually prefer the manual box. But thats only my opinion! I enjoy the drive, the change of the box adds to the drive for me. Again...only my opinion. Every man to his own!