Newbie Advice 97 C230 Sport

[Steviegee]

Hello All I am new to this forum so hello to everyone, and I am new to Mercedes ownership having had a BMW (sorry for swearing) for 3 years. I dont own some super car just an old P reg C230 Sport Kompressor. I would like some advice that may have already been asked but I have not found the answer yet. I have 3 questions if any of you knowlegable people can help. 1st The little button on the auto box, W & S I know one is sport and one is winter but can the button be switched whist moving or is there a method to this as sometimes it is a smoother drive in W.
2nd The heater/cooler fans (i dont have aircon) they seem very low as in not a lot of air coming out of the vents in any combination of settings especially the windscreen. Does this mean i have a blockage as i can clearly hear the blower working, also when the recirculatory button is pressed it gets louder below dashboard is this normal.
3rd and last the multi function indicator lights/ windscreen wiper stalk, seems to have a malfunction in that if i use it to flash headlights the intermitent wiper also activates i can even get the intermitant wiper to work if i just tap the stalk lightly do it twice and i get full wipe!!! tap it again and it stops. Annoying if you need to flash another driver.
If anyone can offer advice i would be very gratefull. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[television]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

On the gearbox the S is a first gear start and higher change points, where as W is a second gear start, and in W the car cannot roll back on a hill. Yes you can switch at any time even with the car moving.

Your stalk is faulty and a common fault, though they do clean up I think that yours is too far gone, quite easy to do but a steering wheel off job and the stalk cost about £75

Are all of the speed settings working on the heater fan

 

[Steviegee]

Thanks for the info re the stalk and gearbox. Re the heater yes all the settings are working, well it gets faster and louder put it that way! Just seems to not be a lot of air coming out.

 

[Steviegee]

Turns out the heater was a pollen filter blocked. Lovely powerful air now.

 

[philharve]

C230k

Hi Steviegee

How are you liking the C230K, faults aside?

REGARDS

Phil

 

[Steviegee]

Hi Phil sorry not been on forum for a while so forgot to check. I have had a few bits done and I am actually really enjoying the 230. Having driven a 5 series BMW (albeit a 518) for 3 years it was a "differant" experiance. Had gearbox serviced and now drives a lot smoother, quite a quick car, very impressed with the acceleration not so impressed with fuel economy when you do put your foot down and the turbocharger kicks in. Considering her age and mileage she starts and drives brilliantly and the ride is very comfortable, might have to invest in a leather interiour at some point though. Hate the checked cloth. Anyway thanks for asking.

 

[philharve]

C230k

Hi Phil sorry not been on forum for a while so forgot to check. I have had a few bits done and I am actually really enjoying the 230. Having driven a 5 series BMW (albeit a 518) for 3 years it was a "differant" experiance. Had gearbox serviced and now drives a lot smoother, quite a quick car, very impressed with the acceleration not so impressed with fuel economy when you do put your foot down and the turbocharger kicks in. Considering her age and mileage she starts and drives brilliantly and the ride is very comfortable, might have to invest in a leather interiour at some point though. Hate the checked cloth. Anyway thanks for asking.

Hi Steviegee

If I had not encountered the C230K when I did, I would have been looking for a 5 series BMW, a 528i probably. I was under pressure at the time to buy another car quickly because I needed one for work and I came across my C230K sitting at the back of a garage forecourt. The rest is history.

I have for a long time hankered after a supercharged car (not a turbocharger) and that was another influential factor in my buying decision. I had heard that superchargers seldom if ever give trouble and need next to no maintenance. And so this has proved to be, for my C230K at least.

My supercharger installation is the permanently engaged type: I don't have the magnetic clutch which can suffer electrical gremlins. I am thankful for that. A 'full time' supercharged car is rather nice to drive and suits the C230K.

When I was working driving 20 miles each way to/from work, I was regularly seeing 30 - 32 miles per gallon. Now that I am semi-retired my typical journey is of the order of 10-12 miles and my fuel consumption has dropped to 25-26 miles per gallon. I recently undertook a 135 miles journey and the fuel economy jumped to over 35 miles per gallon. As you rightly point out, the fuel economy is largely dictated by the right foot. However, my indie says that you need to travel at least 60 miles before the engine is properly warmed up and only then will you experience the best economy that this engine will give. He may be right but I rarely undertake journeys of this length. I can live with 25mpg because I don't do the mileage any longer. Servicing is relatively cheap too.

I have only encountered two niggles with my C230K: one was the single windscreen wiper; the other was rust. The windscreen wiper issue occurred early on in my ownership. It started to drag then, one day, finally stalled. If it were not for my indie I could have faced a bill of almost GBP1,000 for the repair of the wiper mechanism. All it needs is regular greasing to keep it happy. Rust ... this is not a C230K but a problem with virtually all Mercedes models manufactured around the Millennium period. There are numerous threads within this forum that discusses the problem. My C class is not entirely free of rust even now and remedial action will soon be required to sort out some rust spots on two of the four doors. However, you may be one of the lucky ones if you have no body rust on your 97 example.

My Mercedes has suffered no electrical or mechanical problems - wiper aside - only those you might expect of a solidly built 9 year old car. It's needed very few components and proven very reliable. There is an issue with the handling/steering but I hope to resolve this soon. I hope your experience will be as enjoyable as mine.

I keep my cars a long time and I could still have this car in 10-15 years time. I have no strong reason to exchange it because it still feels tight and well screwed together at 120,000+ miles. It shouldn't feel tired for many years to come when depreciation will be negligible.

REGARDS

Phil

 

[Steviegee]

Hi again Phil well I cant comment on the mechanics of the turbo as i dont know or understand how it all works,lol. As yet i have not managed to do a MPG check as this is the first full tank i have put in, (yesterday) It seems it has a smaller tank than my BMW 518 as only took £59 to fill from middle of last quarter on gauge the BMW was £65 from roughly same place. Will check that out on next fill up. Does appear to be much talk around the net as to whether to use Unleaded or Super Unleaded. The guy I bought the car from told me the Turbo was replaced and timing chain replaced 70,000 and 100,00 but cant remember which one was changed on which mileage. Car has now done 120500. Needs new windscreen as this one has small cracks and white around the edges which i am informed is the laminate coming away, not a prob £75 with full comp insurance. Gotta get new Multi function indicator stalk as mine doing the usual wiper comes on when headlights are flashed trick. And I intend to change headlight bulbs as they seem dull, (dont help cause the BMW i still own has proper HID kit fitted.

 

[philharve]

C230k

Hi Steviegee

You probably have a 60+9L tank, like me. I pay just under GBP60.00 to fill my tank at current prices. I run my C class on V-Power, it works well with a supercharged engine.

Supercharger failure does occur, sometimes as low as 20,000 miles. Mine has reached 120,000+ miles with no problems. My mileage is almost identical to yours yours.

My windscreen has a few impact marks but nothing severe enough to affect my view of the road ahead. It passed an MOT 6 weeks ago. However, I am contemplating trying a glass repair compound to see if that improves matters.

Multifunction indicator stalk problems do occur, unfortunately. Yours must have been used a great deal.

You seem to have a few problems there, nothing serious though. How's the bodywork?

REGARDS

Phil

 

[DOLLAR]

Hi SteveGee.. I had similar trouble to you with my indicator stalk. THere was a post on this site with pics on how to clean it. This takes < 20 mins honest.. http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=38617
If you can clean it a new one is 25 pounds from dronsfields on line..


I also have the same issue with my air blower.. Where is that pollen filter?

Cheers.

 

[Steviegee]

Hi dollar Cant comment on the pollen filter as I had it done as part of the service, and as for the stalk my trusted mechanic of 12 years can get a nice shiny new one for £80 and hours labour. i prefer to replace something this far gone too nice a car to not replace a cheap item like that. Well cheap in comparison to some other bits i may or may not have to replace, LOL.
Is your car due a service anytime soon? If it is then the pollen filter should be part of it. I am sure someone else on the forum could tell you where the pollen filter is if you want to replace it yourself I dont think its expensive but makes hell of a differance when its done.

 

[Steviegee]

Hi Paul regards body work all seems ok apart from a couple of the usual tiny scuff marks there does not appear to be any rust that i have noticed, I do intend on taking it at some point for one of those valet places that also include slight scratch and marks repair for around £200. All the other problems seem to be done for now, (except the stalk thats end of the month) no doubt another one will turn up. they usually wait till pay day then arrive, normally amounting to the exact amount of money I have left over after bills. LOL.

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi SteveGee.. I had similar trouble to you with my indicator stalk. THere was a post on this site with pics on how to clean it. This takes < 20 mins honest.. http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=38617
If you can clean it a new one is 25 pounds from dronsfields on line..


I also have the same issue with my air blower.. Where is that pollen filter?

Cheers.

Hi,
As far as pollen filter removal and location follow this "HOW TO" this does have a tendency too get forgotten about at service time, but is very cheap and very easy to do 20-30 minutes to do tops, about £10-15 for the filter.
http://202tech.mkosonen.com/howto/blower.html

 

[vijilants]

Also note that it is not only the pollen filter that can cause the blower to blow erratically

There is a regulator that sits on on the fan that also causes the same problem.

Usually £140 from MB but Euromerc (www.euromerc.co.uk) sells the MB unit brand new for £75.

Easy replacement in the same area as the pollen filter.