rust and 95 s500 coupe?

[hocandr]

I'm thinking about buying an oldish s500 coupe - 1995. Do the warnings about rust problems in previous threads apply to all Mercedes of this sort of age or just the E class? I hadn't even considered rust as an issue.

Was astonished to read of the problems - did 250k miles in my SAAB 900 and it had absolutely no rust after over 10 years

 

[guydewdney]

dont buy a 95 - get a 96 or 97 if you can

in 95 they had biodegradeable wiring looms - which CAN (not lalways) be a mission to replace

95 also had dodgy aircon

also see http://www.mbnz.org/forums/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=13 and http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=953fac30fbba5b10323688ccc508caff&forumid=29
for info on these models

mine is a late 96 - teh way (easiest) to tell is that post 96 build they have side airbags and 97 500s have xenons

i have seen one rust issue on the 140 - and it wasnt followed up with any info - so no - they dont rust.

 

[CL500 Londoner]

dont buy a 95 - get a 96 or 97 if you can

in 95 they had biodegradeable wiring looms - which CAN (not lalways) be a mission to replace

Mine is a P-reg, does that mean I have the biodegradeable wiring or not?

I dont have xenons and I dont remember about door airbags as the car has been in Mercedes for 3 months.

 

[guydewdney]

CL500 - do you have parking sensors (beeping ones)?

is the plastic lower half of the door almost exactly the same colour as the top (metal) part - just slightly matt?

is it called a CL500 not a S500 on the boot badge?

yes to above = post facelift. If you have the chassis number, you can look up exactly when and where it was built (and all the options spec'd at the time - http://www.mbclub.ru/mb/vin/?lng=eng )

hth

Guy
Go and shout at the dealer - three months is taking the mickey.

 

[CL500 Londoner]

CL500 - do you have parking sensors (beeping ones)?

is the plastic lower half of the door almost exactly the same colour as the top (metal) part - just slightly matt?

is it called a CL500 not a S500 on the boot badge?

Guy
Go and shout at the dealer - three months is taking the mickey.

The answer is yes to all the above and so mine is a facelift, does that mean I am in the clear? Is that 100% certain?

 

[CL500 Londoner]

I just popped the chassis number WDB1400702A350841 into the decoder and it has a delivery date of 27.11.96. So am I definitely in the clear regarding organic wiring as it seems a reasonable explanation for a sudden multitude of electrical problems.?

 

[guydewdney]

Yes - the facelift and the organic wiring happened at the same time.

you can treble check by removing the air filter (pop off the front cover, remove the two air tubes to the grille, lift front of air filter, and pull to front) then, carefully!!! use a small sharp knife to remove some of the outer wrapped tape on some engine wiring and inspect the insulation of the wires. try bending it - does it crack? yes = organic; no = non-organic....

Mine was delivered a month after yours, and is OK.