Tips on buying an E300 diesel `98

[Ukgser]

Hi Folks,

I`m looking at changing my curent car, a E39 530i BMW, and have spotted a `98 E300 elegance turbo diesel estate with 117k miles for £5500ish.
With me being a total MB virgin I haven`t a clue at all about these cars :???: such as engine size, power, fuel consumption, spec levels, things that go wrong etc etc!

Any tips & info much appreciated!

Lee

 

[Parrot of Doom]

The main problem is rust. Open the front doors and peel the rubber back at the top, check for rust there. Also check wheel arches, boot lid around the plate, stone chips, etc. The front suspension spring perches can also rust away from the body, you can't see if this is happening unless you peel back the mastic coating - something a seller wouldn't let you do. Fortunately its not an expensive repair if necessary.

The engines are very reliable and you should get a maximum 40mpg on the motorway at 70ish mph, although the estate will get slightly less than this.

Make sure you get an automatic, make sure it has working air conditioning.

MAF sensors are prone to going, but they're about £50 to replace and a very easy DIY job. Fuel leaks are common, again a cheap and easy DIY job. Front suspension can start knocking due to worn bushings, not an expensive job.

The transmission fluid probably won't have been changed, a Merc specialist would be able to do this for you, or there is a DIY thread on here.

They're good cars, but the main problem is the rust.

0-60 should be sub 9 seconds. The engine is very powerful on the motorway, you'll never run short of oomph. The engine is a 6 cylinder model, they are well known for running to starship mileages, one member here IIRC had one at about 400,000 miles that was running with no problems.

The ride will be very different to your BMW - much more comfortable, although much less a driver's car.

 

[robs-mbz]

Have to agree with Parrot of Doom you MUST check out the front spring perches, I bought a 1997 E300 saloon about six months ago, it looked (and still does!) absolutely immaculate, with no rust on the bodywork at all. I checked out the spring perches after reading about them on this forum, I was horrified, they looked ok until I stripped off the mastic, they were rusting quite badly and holed in a couple of places, the design and the way they are spot welded to the inner wing is also very poor. I replaced mine myself, they were only £14.00 each from Mercedes. I think it could be quite an expensive job to have done at a main agent or an Indy because its a major strip down of the front suspension to gain good access, the welding was the easy bit!

As a car, however it is everything I could want, suprisingly quick and even more suprisingly economical on fuel!

Get one that is as rust free as possible and you will be delighted I'm sure.

 

[Ukgser]

Thanks for the quick replies!
I must admit I`m very surprised about the rust problem, the ad for the car says about a 30 anti corrosion warranty so I wonder if this has been a problem on this car & MB has extended the warranty?? The last car I had any rust on was a at least 10 years older than this MB. It does make me think though

 

[Blobcat]

It being a 1998 car it may only have the 8 yr warranty. October 1998 is when the 30 yr corrosion warranty came into effect, even with this if the car has not been dealer serviced and you are a new owner you may not get any support from MB. Generally you need to have the car for ~6 months before MB would look at any corrosion warranty, this is to stop rogue dealers buying cheap rusty cars at auction then taking it to MB for a free repair.

BTW are you a "Tosser"?

 

[Ukgser]

BTW are you a "Tosser"?

By chance yes!
12GS

 

[Bazzjazz]

Funny how tossers turn up in funny places Any more of us here?

I have the '99 version of what you are looking at and can thoroughly recommend it. Its a very smooth, comfortable drive, with tons of space, yet plenty of poke when you need it.I get 31-33 mpg mixed driving and haven't had it on a long spin yet but eould expect late 30's.

I have some rust on mine, around the windows and will get it seen to soon, but this is the only weak point so far. I got the car at Christmas and still look for an excuse to take the long way round!

 

[Matt_EClass]

"Tossers"?????

 

[Bazzjazz]

ukgser.com will tell you all about it (the hint is in the sigs)

 

[Steve Halliday]

Bought one of these cars and very dissapointed with it, 98 R reg estate 98k on clock fsh, just had a major service carried out and fuel consumption is the issue of the day.

27 MPG and thats driving carefully, pumped tyres up to 35psi checked brakes and leaks, even cleaned maf sensor, no difference.

Maybe I bought the lemon but look for fuel consumption threads on this site and you will find that it is an issue. The car is too heavy to give decent figures I expected over 40 but will now settle for any figure over 30!!!!!

The seats also are as hard as nails, a recent 500 mile round trip gave us all the numb bum.

Stick with the BMW.

Good luck.

 

[Ukgser]

Fuel economy is one of the few reasons to change the BM. I spotted the MB for sale at work & thought it might be a good buy but with problems of rust a `70s Escort would be ashamed of & only a couple more mpg than the BM I might go to the other cars I considered a Mk4 Golf GTTDI 130 or Audi A3 TDI 130.

 

[Blobcat]

Fuel economy is one of the few reasons to change the BM. I spotted the MB for sale at work & thought it might be a good buy but with problems of rust a `70s Escort would be ashamed of & only a couple more mpg than the BM I might go to the other cars I considered a Mk4 Golf GTTDI 130 or Audi A3 TDI 130.

Once you try it though it may like a flat twin grow on you

 

[gworilla]

E300td

I had a 1998 (S) avantgardge for 2 years and other than the rust around the boot lock and a few other blebs (that were re-painted by Mercedes Main Dealer under warranty), I had no problems with mine other than the usual servicing costs from my independant MB garage. I bought it with 111,000 miles and it was just running in, when I sold it with 137,000 miles it was still running exceptionally well. I got around 40mpg on the motorway when I wasn't flooring it, and the performance for a diesel is better than it's petrol equivalent.

When you think what you can buy these cars for on the second hand market, they are very good VFM for what you get. Mine had AMG alloys, full leather (unmarked), CD player, air-con, electric mirrors, windows, etc.

This car is an excellent cruiser, family (everyday) car etc and I would recommend them highly.

I only replaced it as I wanted something a bit more sporty and couldn't resist when my mate rang to tell me there was a CLK 430 available. The V6 engine on the E300 series is good, but the 4.3L V8 is awesome. And I'm told that the 5.5L V8 is even better, so something to aspire to........

 

[mojo7676]

I've got mixed feelings about mine - a 1998 e300td 7 seater estate. Love the ease of driving and find the engine quite, fairly responsive and as others have already said, it does have plenty of go. however, i've had lousy mpg since i bought the thing - thanks to Parrot's advice over the last month or so, i've done a fair bit of messing around with one thing and another: changed leaky poly pipes/seals, checked brakes for binding etc, serviced the engine, shoved a load of redex in the thing, checked the MAF, checked the emissions and had a diagnostic reading which showed nothing unusual or problematic. And still i'm getting about or even less than 20 mpg local and about 25 to 28ish on a cruise at between 70-80mph. mine doesn't have a digital on board running mpg meter so i've done the maths on paper - 43 quid's worth of diesel got me 170miles - all local driving, more or less. i';m thinking maybe the fuel pump's shot but because the car runs very well, i'm doubtful. Going by what others say, i figure mine's a lemon. Anyway, apart from the fuel consumption, it's an excellent car - big and roomy, fairly comfortable (though i've never been a big fan of merc seats), smooth box and well built overall.

mojo