My First MB - CE buying advice sought

[gremalkin]

greetings - i am in the market for what will be my first MB. i am leaning towards the pre '97 CE coupe which i think comes as either a 4 cyl or a 6 cyl petrol.
there seems to be a few 320CE autos for sale, with mileages 100K+. far fewer 4 cylinder models for sale.

will a 95 CE with this mileage be a troublesome car that will cost me dearly in repairs and servicing? is the 6 cyl a better bet than the 4 cyl (reliability and longevity are my priorities). auto or manual? as i only manage about 10K miles a year fuel consumption isn't a big issue and i am reasonably handy when it comes to repairs - are these cars DIY friendly?

finally - where will i find the best examples for sale and what should i be looking for other than the usual accident repairs. any known weak spots?
any advice much appreciated.....
pete

 

[wiggy]

got me a 220e coupe, 94L plate and chuffed to meatballs, not mega quick but knows how to pick up the skirts and run, not too shabby on the juice too. all the toys less than 4.5k cant go wrong as long as you got HISTORY!!!!!!!

 

[jaymanek]

Ok
1) Manual a no no for later cars, there are a lot of early manuals (1990-93) but dont be tempted, its just nowhere near the same driving experience.
2) The 320 is the engine to go for. Ive had a 220 cabrio, a 220 coupe and my mum drives a 320 saloon. The 220 is powerful enough and economical, but if you do a lot of motorway cruising, the 320 does it at lower revs and so is a bit more refined and smooth. If your just using around town, then the 220 is nippy enough. But its always nice to have the nicer engine.
3) Do not buy the early 300CE's. The engines last nowhere near as long as any others. The 300 was made v quickly by MB to compete with the BMW engines at that time, they just used the basic 230 engine, made the capacity a bit bigger and quickly made a head to fit. Most of these engines dont get past 150K.
4) 100K is nothing for the 220, 230 or 320, but obviously price gets drastically reduced after about 80-90K....
5) Check for engine rattles and a full comprehensive history for high mileage cars. A 320 could have done 250K and you could never tell if the clock said 85K.
6) Beautiful cars and i love them to bits and i will probably find another cabrio for next summer.

The 220 i used to own about 1 yr ago is up for sale again by its present owner. Its a P reg with about 80 on the clock i think. It was certainly a concours car when i sold to him. If you want his details lemme know. Im at jaymanek@hotmail.com.

Thanks

Jay