Noob wants a W208. Questions. Answers appreciated

[JoeyBrod]

Thinking of purchasing a W208 CLK200 or CLK200K or preferrably a 230K. Not bothering with a 320 with petrol touching £1.40/l

It's got to be facelifted because I'm a fan of the multifunction display and the inidicators in the mirrorsand well its probably better

Is there anything in particular I'm to look out for interms of reliability, signs of a hard life etc.

And can anyone tell me about the following:
-Aux input to stock head-unit (think its the Audio 10)
-How many speakers are there and are they any good?
-Does it have the feature where the lights come on when unlocked in the dark? (I really like that)
-My area isn't particularly prestige car friendly so can anybody vouch for the alarm system? Or am I better off retrofitting an aftermarket one with ultrasonic sensors etc.?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer any of my questions.

 

[Miffy]

Hi Joey, welcome to the forums.

For a w208, do check arches for rust, quite a few do have severe rust issues, thankfully mine does not. (yet)

Not all options were fitted irrespective of it being a facelift or not.

If there is an aux, just check on the right hand side inside the glove box, it will be a 3.5mm stereo jack socket.

On mine (but its a CAB) I have in each door, front and rear speakers, plus a tweeter next to the mirror area, and a base speaker baffle that exits between the rear seats. The stock speakers are surprisingly very good.

Yes, when you unlock the car, the interior lights should illuminate, soft start and soft extinguish.

Most do come with the MB Alarm so you may not need to look any further.

Parking sensors, I think its hard to get a really good after market option that suits the car, and they are not the most accurate way of parking as they do have blind spots. If it comes with Parktronic, all well and good, if not, dont worry. I fitted a reversing camera to mine, and do I use it? nah, only to demonstrate that it works

Do check all electrics, oh, dont be put off from getting the 3.2, its a much smoother ride and power delivery, and its not that much worse than a 2.3 for the mpg and I think the 200 will be a bit underpowered for the size car. Once you have driven a v6, v8, you wont want to go back to a 4 pot.

If you can get the target cars VIN number, we can let you know what options it was built with.

 

[Benzman]

I agree with Miffy. I owned a w208 ( 320 engine ) some years ago and it was a good drive but I consider the 200 engine to be a waste of money and the 230 consumption is almost the same as the 320 plus the fact that the 230 is not as smooth to drive. Make sure you purchase an automatic as they are much easier to sell on eventually.

 

[ccrcom]

I have a C208 CLK200 and it's wonderful, but a little more power wouldn't hurt! I would go for the 200 Kompressor or the 230 at least.. But ideally a 430!

 

[JoeyBrod]

If there is an aux, just check on the right hand side inside the glove box, it will be a 3.5mm stereo jack socket.

The stock speakers are surprisingly very good.

Yes, when you unlock the car, the interior lights should illuminate, soft start and soft extinguish.

I fitted a reversing camera to mine, and do I use it? nah, only to demonstrate that it works

Do check all electrics, oh, dont be put off from getting the 3.2, its a much smoother ride and power delivery, and its not that much worse than a 2.3 for the mpg and I think the 200 will be a bit underpowered for the size car. Once you have driven a v6, v8, you wont want to go back to a 4 pot.

After much Google-ing can't seem to find anything about AUX except for those fitted with COMAND. I inisist on the stock head-unit (not a fan of all them flashy light alpine or sony or whatever units). Not too fussed, I'll make do with CDs then
As for the speakers, I'm liking what I read

The light I was referring too were erm, you know the newer ones have the fog lights and sidelights come on and then go out once you open either front door or something like that. My father's W211 had that, very useful in unlit dark car parks.

LOL I don't think I'd ever bother using the camera either, prefer to use my eyes and look around.

Seeing as the MPG is relatively similar, I guess I'll bite the bullet and go for a 320 seeing as there are so many around :mrgreen:

Make sure you purchase an automatic as they are much easier to sell on eventually.

There's many manuals around going cheap, I was considering but I can see hill starts being interesting with that parking brake. Is it possible to live with the manual and not want to kill myself?

I have a C208 CLK200 and it's wonderful, but a little more power wouldn't hurt! I would go for the 200 Kompressor or the 230 at least.. But ideally a 430!

LOL 430, I wish! Sadly I'm not that rich


Also, sorry, another question. Headlights
Are they good, they all seem to look like lanterns. HID kit? Yes/No?

 

[MBDevotee]

Have sent you a PM

 

[MBDevotee]

errr - actually haven't!!!

Tried to send you a PM but you've got it turned off.

All I was going to say was that the 320 uses no more fuel than a 230k in my experience.

No, you can't live with a manual and the silly Merc handbrake - I couldn't anyhow.

Also - a bit cheeky like.... I have a 320CLK that is LPG converted (25-28mpg but only 69p per litre) that sadly I will have to sell very soon (new baby's are expensive) - so if you'd like some details come back to me.

 

[Boogs]

There's many manuals around going cheap, I was considering but I can see hill starts being interesting with that parking brake. Is it possible to live with the manual and not want to kill myself?

Yes you can. Very rarely is it an issue at all, but it does take a few days to get used to it and a bit longer to get used to not reaching for the handbrake (but the latter is equally true of an auto).

Both my Mercs are manuals the C class has hill start assist, which removes the last vestages of potential issues. The CLK doesn't, but still isn't a problem. You get used to it.

I have often wondered, though, what would happen in a driving test.

Admittedly ideally I was after a 320 with Tip, but my wife wanted a manual. My overriding driver however was that the car had to be near mint so in the end we agreed that we would buy purely on condition. As a result we ended up with a near mint manual 230K with full AMG spec and 50K on it for something around the price of an "average" 100K plus auto. I don't regret it for a minute.

From my searching around a year ago and looking at many I came to the conclusion that as a rule the manual cars I saw were generally in much better condition. I am not suggesting anything by this and it could simply be because the best autos got snapped up immediately whereas the a good manual is still likely to be available for a while.

To be fair the short first gear is more of an issue. My advice is if you find a nice manual drive it and see. Make your own mind up it is after all personal choice, but the footbrake is not the nightmare you'd imagine.

 

[JoeyBrod]

Yes you can. Very rarely is it an issue at all, but it does take a few days to get used to it and a bit longer to get used to not reaching for the handbrake (but the latter is equally true of an auto).

Both my Mercs are manuals the C class has hill start assist, which removes the last vestages of potential issues. The CLK doesn't, but still isn't a problem. You get used to it.

I have often wondered, though, what would happen in a driving test.

Admittedly ideally I was after a 320 with Tip, but my wife wanted a manual. My overriding driver however was that the car had to be near mint so in the end we agreed that we would buy purely on condition. As a result we ended up with a near mint manual 230K with full AMG spec and 50K on it for something around the price of an "average" 100K plus auto. I don't regret it for a minute.

From my searching around a year ago and looking at many I came to the conclusion that as a rule the manual cars I saw were generally in much better condition. I am not suggesting anything by this and it could simply be because the best autos got snapped up immediately whereas the a good manual is still likely to be available for a while.

To be fair the short first gear is more of an issue. My advice is if you find a nice manual drive it and see. Make your own mind up it is after all personal choice, but the footbrake is not the nightmare you'd imagine.

I see what you're saying Boogs, I'll give them a look, but I'm not keeping it for more than a year so I suppose when it comes time to sell, an auto would be easier to get rid of.
It seems thanks to the advice of members here, a 320 tippy is what I'm after now, they're plentiful and in pretty good nick.. well most of them

Tried to send you a PM but you've got it turned off.

All I was going to say was that the 320 uses no more fuel than a 230k in my experience.

No, you can't live with a manual and the silly Merc handbrake - I couldn't anyhow.

Also - a bit cheeky like.... I have a 320CLK that is LPG converted (25-28mpg but only 69p per litre) that sadly I will have to sell very soon (new baby's are expensive) - so if you'd like some details come back to me.

I wasn't aware, I've sorted that now. I'll PM you later and hopefully you can tell me the differences you've seen between the 320 and 230K and also tell me a bit about the LPG conversion, seems tempting at £0.69p/l

 

[JoeyBrod]

I've gone and found two pretty good ones around the corner from me which I'll run down the road and look at later on.
Any thoughts on these? Which looks better to you and why?

Option 1:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201051375730453

Option 2:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201120387581674

Will be looking for rust and AUX port etc. (thanks miffy)

 

[MBDevotee]

Neither has heated seats, which for me with Leather is a total no-no - just nasty in the winter.

They both look ok though, decent cars, at ok prices.

Remember though - the 208 is growing in popularity now, and good cars, with low miles are getting harder and harder to find.

Take your time, don't buy until you find the best you can for the price you can afford.

I must have looked at 30 before I bought mine (on eBay unbelievably!) and I paid over the top for it, but it was well worth it. I have never regretted paying extra, I think I got one of the best!

 

[SQ_W211]

W208 are very nice cars but prone to rust and I have yet to see one which didnt have no rust or never been treated from one. So make sure you look out for rust around arches and also for any silly repair jobs as dealer may repair rust and try to sell.

As Miffy said, go for 320 and you will never look back as they are far smoother in power delivery than 230 and not that much more in economy. Dont go hunting for any with AUX input as IIRC the only ones which came with that option are fitted with Command (hence would be slightly higher to buy).

In my 208 i fitted an Alpine all in one solution which gave me dvd/tv/bluetooth/ipod/aux/usb etc etc for around £600 which isnt bad as it also improved the sound for factory speakers.

 

[television]

The one in the first link has had all 4 wings re painted, so how well was that done

 

[drivinggod09]

yep , seems to stand out a lot more on silver cars is it harder to match or something , plus looks like the pixles on the temp guage might be going common fault