E Class Buying Advice

[vindaloot]

Hi there. I would greatly appreciate your advise.

I have my heart set on an E-Class Diesel saloon. My budget is £7k. I'd like to go for a E320 CDi or E270 CDi becasue of the more power and I expect these models to be have a better spec than the E220 CDi.

Becasue of my budget I'm expecting the car to have done around 100k...is there any common problems for the E-class if its done this much mileage and what should I watch out for?

Can you please help me in choosing a model (I will mostly be doing motorway driving) and advise on what is the major diffrence between a Classic, Elegance and Avantgarde models.

Much appreciated.

 

[st4]

£7k will get you a leggy 211 diesel, probably an early model which may have more electical gremlins ranging from minor to moderately serious.

The main issue is the valeo radiator, which leaks coolant into the gearbox ruining it. This would essentially write off a car worth £7k. The 03 and previous cars aren't galvanised so rust may be an issue. A fella on the other forum had this failure and the repair was upwards of £4k, his 3rd party warranty picked up a large chunk of the tab, but its a serious weakness with the 211 E class.

Check the car has had its radiator changed to a Behr one as this is a serious issue, or that a separate oil cooler is fitted so that the radiator isn't involved with the cooling of the gear box oil.

Personally I'd go for as new a car as possible, and maybe consider a 54 petrol car, think E240 or E320. I saw a 54 E320 petrol with 40k on the clock for £9k @ MB of Ayr. A leggier example of the same age could be had within budget with some haggling.

 

[gizze]

But apart from that you can't go wrong!!

 

[Blobcat]

Considering the price differntial between U/L & Diesel juice at the moment depending upon the amount of mileage you do I would look at a large petrol engined version. They also tend to have more toys as they were not bought for economy in the first place. Classic is the base spec, Elegance is the comfier version and Avantgarde is the "sportier" one.

 

[carabind]

....and go for the anvant garde as a general rule. The specs are available across all engines, by the way .
IMHO,you'd struggle to sell on a classic compared to a A/G which has all the bits and the A/G is probably the most common out there,anyway.

The classic (new) was approx £1200 over the classic and the a/g another £800. when you're spending £26k+, what was another £2k to get the highest spec inc xenons (Great) , LED lites, nicer birds eye male trim (back, rather than the plasticy wood in thd elegance) and a firmer/lower ride. There are plenty around, leather is a must also. I have had both elegance and a/g and the a/g is worth hanging on for, unless any elegnaces you find are absolute bargains (compared to the rest). FSH shows its been cared for, might command a premium but worth it for peace of mind. Good hunting, plenty out there

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I agree all of the above. The chief discriminant, IMHO, is Xenon lights (standard in AG but may have been an extra on others) - they do turn night into day, and we have a lot of dark or dull months in the UK.

IIRC there was a "run out" model of the W210 which had tasty extras and no extra cost - so the last of the 210s might be particularly attractive for that reason and would avoid the early 211 problems. Having said that, corrosion on the 210s might become a more significant issue, but if you found a rust free, good spec late 210 it could fit your budget.

As others have said, diesels are great for performance and economy, but if you are not doing big miles a petrol car might well be a way of getting the other things within budget.

Good luck - we look forward to hearing of how you get on.

 

[vindaloot]

Thanks for your responses. Im going to take my time to look around for a good model so will let you know how I get on.

Can you tell me which year/reg plate did the 210s finish and the 211s were introduced.

 

[Blobcat]

Thanks for your responses. Im going to take my time to look around for a good model so will let you know how I get on.

Can you tell me which year/reg plate did the 210s finish and the 211s were introduced.

02 plates are about the last of the saloon W210's they had upgraded alloys and quite a few other toys, I think leather became standard although I'm not sure if they had Comand fitted as well. I recently saw an 02 E240 in North Wales with pretty much every option available on it. Leather, Comand, Heated Memory Seats, Parktronic & nice Alloys.

 

[jberks]

I have my heart set on an E-Class Diesel saloon. My budget is £7k. I'd like to go for a E320 CDi or E270 CDi becasue of the more power and I expect these models to be have a better spec than the E220 CDi.

Becasue of my budget I'm expecting the car to have done around 100k...is there any common problems for the E-class if its done this much mileage and what should I watch out for?
.

I'd agree with the above. Valeo radiator is the dangerous item. Also ensure the gbox oil and filters have been changed. Electrical Gremlins can be a pain too so any warning lights, flat batteries etc and run away.
For that budget you may be better off with a loved top spec late 210 E320cdi rather than an early 211.
Watch for rust on both models though.
I used to say a 320 was a lot smoother than the 270 but over 60k now and my 270 seems to have lost it's tractor tendancies and gone all silky. So higher mileage 270s are nicer than lower mile ones.
Ag is the only one with xenons as standard. 17" wheels look nice and handle well but the ride does suffer a bit so consider 16" wheeled ones. As with all cars, specs are wildly adjusted by the buyers so a friend bought an elegance with all the niceties of a ag.

 

[Ashley H]

Hi Vindaloot

A wild thought - and I would see what others think! - but here goes...

Rust is a major problem with late (all?) 210s and early 211s - I could take some photos to prove it of my rust-bucket! However - it might be possible to find an otherwise good car which qualifies for the rust warranty without the owner realising. That might get you a lower mileage, high-spec car that you could run for 6 months (I think that's the minimum ownership to quallify) and then have tarted-up by MB at their expense under warranty.

I suspect that's a rather optimistic proposition but what the heck - it might stimulate debate among those who know far better than I do (i.e. anybody else on the forum!)

Whatever, and despite my own issues with a specific E320 CDi, they are fundamentally great cars and a good one will give you great motoring satisfaction. Good luck!

 

[nine468]

Just reading about this radiator problem.
My dad has a E320 CDi AG..I think its an 04 plate...
How does one tell if we have a Valeo rad or Behr.???

 

[stumpy]

Should be a label on the top