Advice for a W210 buyer and Merc newbie

[brookied]

Hi All,
I am looking at getting a 1997/1998 W210 E200 Mercedes.

Price will be about €10k-€13k
Miles will be tipping 100k
I have a few in mind and will be looking at some on the weekend. i dont mind them bwing a little tierd looking as i plan to spen a little cash on replacing interior parts like Gear Knob, steering Wheel and maybe some dash parts to convert to read only KM's and not both KM's/Miles

So anty advice, things to look for, running cost, MPG

Any thoughts you guys have will all be welcome. Also if you know of a good place on the net i can go to source replacment parts would also be welcome

Thanks:grin:

 

[Parrot of Doom]

1) Rust

Check bodywork, peel the door seals away and check there. Check engine bay, look underneath car and check chassis crossmembers and also the spring seats (for suspension).

2) Front tyre wear - if its bad on the insides, that indicates work needs doing on the suspension. Not massively expensive, but use it to haggle.

 

[Dunx]

Yup, I agree with Parrot's points. Just had to replace both bottom ball joints on the front of mine. Not particularly expensive; £30 for the parts, an hours labour and wheel alignment.

Also look out for kerbed alloys. Steering wobble at around 50mph may be more than just wheel balance. If the alloys are two piece, they could be buckled.

 

[brookied]

thanks for the heads up guys, how you you rate a E200 for running cost?

 

[jberks]

Cheaper than a V6 but more than a mondeo.
An economy car it isn't and the E230 may actually be cheaper to run as it doesn't have to work as hard. Its the same with the V6's. The 320 is no less economical than the 240 but being 6 cyl both are worse than the 4 pots.
Our C220 gets around 33mpg on a run and early to mid 20's round town so expect similar or slightly worse as the E is heavier.

 

[johnmc]

Hi,
Been running an E200 Auto for 5 years now. Gets about 26mpg around town , 40mpg on the motorway. Insurance is lower than the V6 models too. The engine is quiet, don't have the urge to run out and buy a V6! Pace is just fine, never felt I've needed extra. If buying again I'd go for an E220cdi in search of some more MPGs, but I guess we're all thinking about that these days!!


John