97 mercedes s280 buying advice

gary2009

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Oct 22, 2009
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sandhurst berkshire
Your Mercedes
97 smoke silver s280
Hi all.
My dad is looking at buying a mercedes s280 and he has found what looks to be a nice example and i was wondering if we could told what to look out for when buying one of these fine cars.The car is a 97 R reg in a lovely gold colour with a 117,000 miles with full service history.Any advice would be greatly appreciated as i would hate for my dad to buy a lemon.
Many thanks
Gary
 

television

Always remembered RIP
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Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
Hello and welcome to the forum, just check that the body is good and no rust on the rear wheel arches and front wings,,that year is quite good for this part. ,,that engines are very good, so just do the normal checks, and test everything like electric widows if fitted and the air con. The engine has a timing chain,so no problems there
 

deejaybee

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Now - W210 E320cdi
These are nice cars; I had a '98 S320. Make sure everything electrical works and that all the warning lights come on with the ignition and then go out after start-up. The 280 and 320 use the M104 engines which have possible head gasket and wiring loom issues that are well known - look around this forum for info on this. Not always an issue so don't be put off. Ideally you want good service history, but if the car is obviously in good condition then it is less important.

Is there any particular reason why your dad is looking for a 280? These were the base model and may not have as good a spec as some others. On a practicable level the 320 is no more expensive or complicated to run and the same price to buy, but with a bit more power and torque makes a better match for this model, which after all weighs nearly 2 tonnes unladen!

Dave
 
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gary2009

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sandhurst berkshire
Your Mercedes
97 smoke silver s280
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These are nice cars; I had a '98 S320. Make sure everything electrical works and that all the warning lights come on with the ignition and then go out after start-up. The 280 and 320 use the M104 engines which have possible head gasket and wiring loom issues that are well known - look around this forum for info on this. Not always an issue so don't be put off. Ideally you want good service history, but if the car is obviously in good condition then it is less important.

Is there any particular reason why your dad is looking for a 280? These were the base model and may not have as good a spec as some others. On a practicable level the 320 is no more expensive or complicated to run and the same price to buy, but with a bit more power and torque makes a better match for this model, which after all weighs nearly 2 tonnes unladen!

Dave

Hi dave i dont think there is any reason why he is going for the 280 i think really all it is is that he has seen a gold one for sale quite local to us and he's always had a bit of a thing for gold cars and this one just happend to be a 280.I have to admit it is a nice looking car and i havent really seen any in gold.As for the head gasket issues i will check this forum so we can go armed.Many thanks
Gary
 
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