I'm thinking of switching to a diesel E class

[dale555]

Hello all.

I am thinking of switching to a diesel E class.

I had a 95 E220 petrol previously (couldn't bear to sell her when the time came, thankfully my brother gave her a good home); currently I have a 96 E230 elegance which has given me 80k of happy motorway gliding.

But now I fancy a diesel.

After toying with the idea of picking up a cheap, early edition S320CDi and taking a chance (thought better of this after I sobered up) I took a few E300TDs and E320CDis out for test drives. The 300s I have seen so far had worrisome traces of rust showing. The 320s were nice and smooth to drive although some disturbing pre-rust blebs were lurking on the boot lids.

I am scared of the newer E Classes given the dodgy reports coming through wrt reliability. Anyhow, I prefer the older tanks.


Question: E300TD or E320CDi, what do you reckon?

Thanks for having a look,

Dale.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Hello all.

I am thinking of switching to a diesel E class.

I had a 95 E220 petrol previously (couldn't bear to sell her when the time came, thankfully my brother gave her a good home); currently I have a 96 E230 elegance which has given me 80k of happy motorway gliding.

But now I fancy a diesel.

After toying with the idea of picking up a cheap, early edition S320CDi and taking a chance (thought better of this after I sobered up) I took a few E300TDs and E320CDis out for test drives. The 300s I have seen so far had worrisome traces of rust showing. The 320s were nice and smooth to drive although some disturbing pre-rust blebs were lurking on the boot lids.

I am scared of the newer E Classes given the dodgy reports coming through wrt reliability. Anyhow, I prefer the older tanks.


Question: E300TD or E320CDi, what do you reckon?

Thanks for having a look,

Dale.

Welcome

You were correct with your first choice - my S320L is soooooooooooooooo smoooooooooooooth for motorway cruising. Effortless.

 

[robs-mbz]

Surely it depends how much you have to spend, a 320cdi is going to cost you considerably more than a 300tdi

 

[stumpy]

320 is a better engine, and the 300s do seem to have bad rust issues. But, top end 300 money is bottom end 320 money so you ought to try both and see what you prefer. If money allows, I'd plump for a 320.

 

[joem]

I'm not sure about the criteria here. My W210 E220CDi is hovercraft smooth, handles OK after I serviced the suspension (ARB bushes and drop links - total £175 I think)

Mine is 1999 V facelift with 133k now - has a bit of rust on the boot lid lock but otherwise has been repainted by MB under warranty and is great - super smooth and gives almost 50mpg on a run so long as I keep out of town. Not bad for an auto I think.

I have had it checked for other body problems like front cross member and suspension towers and it is fine.

E220 is cheaper to maintain as only 4 of everything not 6. (Injectors - spark plugs etc.)

I have done 6000 miles in it and it is lovely, I would worry about the size of an S320Cdi as I feel the E class W210 is probably the biggest thing I have ever driven - including LR Discoveries and RR's and when it comes to parking.....

 

[hawk20]

If you want to avoid rust you should try to get an E class built in 2003 onwards as then they are fully galvanised -all steel panels.

And reliability was a lot better by 2003 too.

The next big breakthrough on reliabilty came with the facelift when over 2000 changes were made and huge attempts to get reliabilty into the highest levels. Judging from reports both here and in the USA this really has worked.

 

[hawk20]

On galvanising see:
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=23630

On reliability and the facelifted E class see: -
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=19952

 

[jberks]

The 320cdi comes in the facelift 210, the 300 in the pre-facelift. The 300 is a simpler engine capable of coping with veg oil etc whereas the 320cdi was the a brilliantly capable engine and one of the best of it's time. If you're looking at a post '97 car and I assume will struggle to get a post 2003 E (211) then rust will be your biggest problem, whether a 300 or a 320. That said, don't believe they are all rust buckets. Far from it, many are excellent. They all do rust to some extent but many are fine so look around carefully and choose the nicest you can afford.

 

[Ashley H]

If it helps, I'm running a used E320 CDI (late 210 version) which I bought for £10k last August with 87,000 on the clock. I keep pretty detailed records, and the costs since 31/08/07 have been:

Operating Costs
Cost Per mile Cum/mile
Distance Driven 40,764.4 25,331.0
Fuel £3,961.99 £0.097 £0.097 £3,961.99 £0.156 £0.156
Routine Maint. £930.07 £0.023 £0.120 £930.07 £0.037 £0.193
Repairs £1,394.76 £0.034 £0.154 £1,394.76 £0.055 £0.248
Taxes £205.00 £0.005 £0.159 £205.00 £0.008 £0.256
Insurance £330.00 £0.008 £0.167 £330.00 £0.013 £0.269
Car Hire £- £- £0.167 £- £- £0.269
Sundries £167.51 £0.004 £0.171 £167.51 £0.007 £0.276
Other 3 £- £- £0.171 £- £- £0.276

 

[Ashley H]

If it helps, I'm running a used E320 CDI (late 210 version on an '02 plate) which I bought for £10k last August with 87,000 on the clock. I keep pretty detailed records, and the costs since 31/08/07 have been (all per mile, over 23,331 miles):

Fuel 15.6p
Maintenance 3.7p
Repairs 5.5p
Sundries 0.7p

Obviously you've tax & insurance on top of these. The 320 is certainly not a cheap car to maintain (I'm not mechanical at all, use an independent for servicing) - I'm on my second set of rear Michelins, went through the first set in under 17,000 miles

I get an actual consumption of 31.3 mpg - that's probably 75% motorway & fairly "spirited"driving... don't believe what the display tells you, I reckon it's about 10% optimistic.

Hope this helps - good luck!

 

[Ashley H]

Apologies for first post

I pasted a bit of Excel into my reply and ended up posting it before editing...

 

[mattsurf]

If it helps, I'm running a used E320 CDI (late 210 version on an '02 plate) which I bought for £10k last August with 87,000 on the clock. I keep pretty detailed records, and the costs since 31/08/07 have been (all per mile, over 23,331 miles):

Fuel 15.6p
Maintenance 3.7p
Repairs 5.5p
Sundries 0.7p

Obviously you've tax & insurance on top of these. The 320 is certainly not a cheap car to maintain (I'm not mechanical at all, use an independent for servicing) - I'm on my second set of rear Michelins, went through the first set in under 17,000 miles

I get an actual consumption of 31.3 mpg - that's probably 75% motorway & fairly "spirited"driving... don't believe what the display tells you, I reckon it's about 10% optimistic.

Hope this helps - good luck!

That's pretty interesting - I have the same records over 17,200 miles and get 27.8 pence per mile (my car has 130k miles now).

My fuel consumption is better at 34.4 mpg, clearly my maintenance is slightly higher - due to changing all 4 springs and fitting towbar

 

[dolmen]

Anyone got a chart they could send me, I fancy keeping some figures for our car. Thanks in advance

Cheers

 

[Blobcat]

You can see the costs for my W210 E320CDI by clicking on the link in my signature.

I would really recommend one and as long as you know where to look for rust issues you should be able to get a good one for not a great deal of £££.

As long as it is well serviced I would expect that the mechanical's are good for mega miles. Mine was running better at 130K miles than at 17K.

 

[dolmen]

Thanks, I have read that, I really wanted to see a spread sheet, I'm not to wonderful on these machines. :Oops:

Cheers

 

[johnboy615]

I know you are not looking to buy a brand new car but have you seen this months Mercedes Enthusiast magazine? There is a good article about choosing a new E Class diesel versus a 3 year old S class diesel. The S class shaved in in most categories.

 

[mattsurf]

Thanks, I have read that, I really wanted to see a spread sheet, I'm not to wonderful on these machines. :Oops:

Cheers

Mail me on matthew_spooner@tiscali.co.uk and I will send the spreadsheet - About 4 years of data in it

 

[rapide]

rusty 210

Hi , i have a 1997 210 e230 elegance. looks good and drives superbly 113k miles second owner well looked after and garaged only do 3k miles a year now but if you look under the car the rust points on brackets, exhaust mounts, shock absorber bodies, bolts/ screws etc the list goes on , nothing to fail the mot test but if you kept it outside god help you it would rust away , had 190e from new for 10 years and should have kept it! no rust at all, 210 does 30 mpg most of the time driven gently 40+ on run so i wont bother with deisel and its cost. all the best.

 

[dolmen]

Mail me on matthew_spooner@tiscali.co.uk and I will send the spreadsheet - About 4 years of data in it

Email sent, thanking you.

Cheers

 

[dale555]

Thanks all for your interesting and helpful comments - much food for thought. I think I'll go take some more test drives. I shall probably know the right one to go for when I find it.

Regards,

Dale.