W124 E200 - Underpowered ?

[eyelight]

We currently have a W124 E220 Coupe, but the rapidly approching arrival of a baby means we won't be travelling light in future, and an estate is on the cards. Baby seat is a very tight fit in the back of the coupe.
Ideally we'd keep the coupe, and get rid of my ancient 5-series.

A large percentage of the W124 estates I see online are E200's. Are these very underpowered ? Our E220 is okay performance-wise, and that would be our first choice again, although I'm sure a 6 cylinder is a lot smoother. Is the 2 litre much different ?

There's a nice looking, but older 300TE for sale locally, and we could probably deal with the fuel consumption, but there might be a move home to Ireland in the future, and with the road tax system crudely rated on engine size, a 3 litre car gets hammered. 1109 Euros per year, that's £746 !

 

[stumpy]

Congrats on the new arrival - we're expecting one too this week. Yes, the 200 is underpowered especially when loaded up. I've got a 280 which is just right I think, but bearing in mind your tax system, a 220 may be the one. Try a six if you can though, they are so smooth and relaxing.

 

[tom7035]

Depends on one's interpretation of 'underpowered'. I find my 200E quite adequate in this respect with quite enough 'poke' when required using the gearbox. The 111 16 valve engine is a strong one and much superior to the older 8 valve lump. This is of course unless you are one of those individuals who love the smell of burning rubber, or who love to invite a degree of road rage from drivers of 'lesser' machines sitting alongside them at traffic lights, etc! Certainly the six cylinder gives the smoothness, but some of these I understand suffer from a head gasket design problem, not sure right now on which particular engine though. In terms of consumption, not much in it between the 200 and 220, driven sensibly and not as above.

 

[FOZZY]

with a baby in the car a 200 or 220 is adequate he or she can see all the good in life or flash flash whort was that mam ma so good look with the baby
& HAVE FUN all the best fozzy:grin:

 

[Bigalshakespeare]

Hello Eyelight!
My machine is the 3 litre diesel. Some say snail slow. I say rubbish. When asked she will move very nicely indeed. A 2 litre petrol is more than adequate. Fully loaded for an estate is 7 people with luggage and by the sounds of it you dont have that many children...yet! 200`s will be fine, if in doubt grab a 220 for piece of mind. The 300`s really fly but the offset is the consumption.

 

[Junes]

Think about it this way
A 1990 200E has 100kW (bottom of the range)
A 2001 Astra 2.0 has 97kW (top of the range, except for turbo)

I don't think the 200E is underpowered. The 4-speed auto works just fine with the usable torque.

PS. Sorry about the kW instead of HP

 

[robbomerc]

Hi Have had both E200 and E220 I think the E200 is smoother and you won,t notice any difference in power .these 16v engines are underated and loads better on fuel than the 280/300/320 though of course no where near as quick at the top end ,but nice simple and bullet proof

 

[eyelight]

Thanks Robbomerc.
The search for good E class is still on.