Nearly a 320CDI owner! Could someone check the ad for me?

[Johnny G Pipe]

Hello new freinds.

Already the owner of a '83 w123 280E in anthracite:grin: , and looking at a nice 320CDI elegance estate for the new family wagon. I can't believe something so big and luxurious can do late 30's mpg, 0-60 in 8.5 and 140 mph. Not at the same time, of course..

So -we'd really appreciate an experienced eye or two looking at the ad,
here:
http://www.brdwd.co.uk/cgi-bin/details.pl?v_vin=JG51BPK

Its just over the Parkers value for an independent dealer, and more than we were planning on, but it looks uncommonly clean and we love the black over pale leather, with leather wheel option. The ad doesnt specifiy, but it is FMBSH - it has just been traded in at the local main agent, and then bought by this dealer. Its 2k miles overdue an A service.

My old man has a w210 300TD which has been mechanically good but has rusted ridiculously badly. Were the 211's any better?

We're going to see it tommorrow.. quite excited, too!

TIA
Johnny

 

[mioba]

only one problem, well bit of advice, it looks a good motor,
but it has a light grey interior.
my s320 has alpaca grey interieior although is look wonderful and sets the car off amazingly, its a pain in the botton keep clean.

dirty shoes inside the car and you will be unhappy.
ps make sure it has full MB service history

 

[RFdesigner]

I bought my W210 320 CDi elegance est about 2 months ago (v.v.late 99 with 52k) for £8500. (but cloth trim)

You should have some idea of where they rust. I found a little in the deepest recesses of my door seals and a very slight pin pricking under the book lock. I'm yet to find any more, I don't think they all rust terribly.

Check the Autodimming RVM, I discovered mine didn't and it's easy to overlook, (Cover the forward facing right hand side of the mirror and shine a torch at the glass)

I notice the split rear seat in this one is slightly different to mine, On mine there's a bar that goes straight across meaning you can't fold down the wider section and leave the narrower one, so this one looks better. Try folding down rear the seats they can be very stiff, mine certainly were.

Check the fuel economy at a nice low speed on a flat road, press reset once you're up to speed and you should quickly be able to get over 40mpg. I was able to get around 42. (getting that overall in real driving is a different matter though)

I hope that's of some help, there are other owners of this model here that are much better informed than I... They are lovely cars though.. even more so at the price you can get them at.

Derek

 

[Hibbo]

If you're going to buy it, I'd get them to get the service done.

 

[Johnny G Pipe]

dirty shoes inside the car and you will be unhappy.

Tell me about it! I can't see how my kids and black dog, and that spotless pale grey load bay are going to be in any way compatible..

 

[television]

The car has 3 extra's , leather,wheels and 7 seats, Price not bad,get them to do service thats due. Milage not bad, price also depends on reg.

The dog or the kids will spoil it, can you do a PX.

Malcolm

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Looks nice!
Certainly ticks all the right boxes, mileage FSH and leather etc.

One extra not mentioned is the xenion lights, having owned the model your looking at with them, I now would not be without them. They have certainly gone towards the top of my list,

The interior colour is not so practical for family use so get the cleaning materials ready, otherwise a beautiful car.

A lot of car for the money and the engine is a revalation.

 

[Johnny G Pipe]

Thanks for the replies, folks!

Milage not bad, price also depends on reg.

The dog or the kids will spoil it, can you do a PX.

Malcolm

Mmm. Px the kids. Let me just check with my wife..

What do you mean depends on Reg.? The Reg appears to be a non-private one (listed at the end of the URL), but does happen to start with my and my wife's initials, serendipitously. I have taken it as a cosmic sign..

 

[D3Less]

Looks good to me, i have even lighter leather in my C class and although I have not had it too long my 6 and 4 yr old boys have managed to keep it clean.
My last cars 2 were Discovery 3's the first one had a cream cloth interior which was a nightmare and the second had near black which was fine but did get a watermark that I could never get rid of. I think if you can keep on top of the cleaning of leather that colour grey should be no problem.

After many recomendations I have bought gliptone leather cleaner and conditioner from ebay and will give it a go when I get a chance.

Go for it, that car looks very nice to me

 

[television]

Thanks for the replies, folks!



Mmm. Px the kids. Let me just check with my wife..

What do you mean depends on Reg.? The Reg appears to be a non-private one (listed at the end of the URL), but does happen to start with my and my wife's initials, serendipitously. I have taken it as a cosmic sign..

I meant the prefix on the number plate or the time during 2001 that it was registered, I think the one at the end of the URL is early 01, but you must have checked in parkers and valued it accordingly.
I see it does not have Xenon lights,they are nice as Malcolm210 says.

Malcolm.

 

[Blobcat]

Looks good, I have Orion Grey Leather in my E320, mine still looks very good after 120K miles so as long as you clean it and feed it occasionally you should not have an issue with it.

 

[Johnny G Pipe]

Thanks again. I have just shown my wife how good these forums are - she is suitably impressed with all the helpful feedback!

I haven't asked about Xenons, but I'm sure the seller would have mentioned it..(although he missed that it was fMBsh - I nearly didn't enquire because of that..). From the Porsche forums I have seen very low cost HID upgrade kits (around a hundred or under with the weak dollar) coming from China and looking pretty reliable. I'll def be considering an upgrade if it doesnt have them.

I have used gliptone on my 17 yr old 911 - cleaner and colour, and find it very good. It also has linen-coloured leather, which resists everything. Its the pale carpet that is going to suffer. I'm sure you can get pretty good loadspace protectors for these cars?

At the moment my main concern is the missing service. Perhaps it threw up some pricey work, so the previous owner decided to 'get shot of it'..

 

[television]

Your two points of concern, well one really, the car does not have Xenon lamp,as can be seen in the picture.

All sevice work is on record at the dealer, why not ask them, you will need the registration number, also if the car is honest, the dealer selling should not mind giving you the last owners name if there is nothing to hide.

Good luck. malcolm

 

[Johnny G Pipe]

Oh dearie me.

Full service history in this case meant: Owner took it to MB occasionally (when he remembered, usually at around 15k mile intervals).
Dipstick Oil like bitumen.
Dog-chewed fittings.
Dangerous eastern bloc front tyres.
..and a lovely smell of transmission oil wafting around the cabin.
Not to mention the usual patronising BS from the salesman.

So we walked away. Hurriedly..

It drove surprisingly well, but not a happy car I suspect.

Also, the missing pixels on the display were a real shame. Made the tip display illegible. How common/rectifiable is this?

Back to the drawing board..

 

[television]

Oh dearie me.




The missing pixels on the display were a real shame. Made the tip display illegible. How common rectifiable is this?

Back to the drawing board..

The missing pixel thing is easy to fix,its just poor contact on a ribbon cable. There are some nice ones out there,dont rush, it does not pay.


Malcolm

 

[Blobcat]

Oh dearie me.

Full service history in this case meant: Owner took it to MB occasionally (when he remembered, usually at around 15k mile intervals).
Dipstick Oil like bitumen.
Dog-chewed fittings.
Dangerous eastern bloc front tyres.
..and a lovely smell of transmission oil wafting around the cabin.
Not to mention the usual patronising BS from the salesman.

So we walked away. Hurriedly..

It drove surprisingly well, but not a happy car I suspect.

Also, the missing pixels on the display were a real shame. Made the tip display illegible. How common/rectifiable is this?

Back to the drawing board..

15K between services is quite normal. The ASSYST service indicator defaults to 13K between services as long as the correct oil has been used. The mileage can ramp out to ~18K between services depending upon how it is driven. The useful thing to note is written in the service book by the dealers, they write how early or late the service was in miles.
As this is a diesel the oil can look very black yet still be serviceable. The ASSYST service indicator monitors the oil and decides when it requires changing.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Sorry to hear about your disappointment.

Noticed this on ebay classifieds. might be worth a look

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mercedes-E320...07QQihZ007QQcategoryZ9855QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Has xenons but not seven seats but these are an easy retro fit.

Good hunting!

 

[Johnny G Pipe]

Ok, I am feeling very virginal here! New to diesels, new to computer service intervals..

So - This is invaluable help, folks.

I tried to get the assyst system up on the obc, but couldn't and figured it was an option - is it standard? I do remember now vaguely that diesel engine oil can be quite black and nasty..but it does make sense. I couldn't understand why someone would neglect the car like that.

Glad to hear about the pixels fix, too.

Also very glad to hear about the possibility of retro-fitting the rear seats. Has anyone more info on this?

I say this because of the car kindly linked, and also because of this well-specced (but 5 seat)beauty

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/ww...category=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200705269290059

only 350 miles away, too!

Maybe the car we saw wasn't so bad after all, but I think we could get a cleaner car and our desired spec (FMBSH,dark paint, pale leather,xenons and avant garde) for this money if we wait.

Cheers all!

 

[D3Less]

That looks very nice and a very good spec

 

[Schtum]

Too rich for my blood. £7k buys you a good E280. I could buy a lot of petrol for £5k. Infact I could gas convert it for £2.5k. Just a thought.