W203 C220 Diesel - Is The Engine OK?

Eric Price

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I briefly owned a W203 1.8 Kompressor which unfortunately recently suffered from an engine fire.

I think I would like another W203 as I loved the car (apart from the fire problem) but I am thinking the diesel engine would be better as the 1.8 didn’t give very good economy.

Is there anything I need to look for with the diesel engine?
 

alexanderfoti

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The diesels around that age are all very reliable, only issues are ancillaries like EGR's, etc.

They go high mileage without major things, compared to the 651 they are the pinnacle of reliability :)

Check for things like "black death" around the injectors, leaking O-rings on the low pressure side which can cause hard starting, or starting then cutting out.
 

umblecumbuz

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Second the above.

I did not suffer from leaking injectors (hate the term 'black death' - it isn't a terminal problem), but that may have been because I checked the tightness of each injector clamp and gave an extra tweak to each stretch bolt. Some on here will say 'shock horror - you must never retighten stretch bolts', but it worked fine for me.

The O-rings on the fuel delivery lines I also replaced, as after 180k miles they had hardened and began to let in air. Other than that, and dropping the geaarbox sump to replace a conductor plate which began playing up (5g box, which the 203 class was fitted with), giving it a service at the same time, I had no real problems.

Front suspension tends to wear due to the heavy load it carries, but this happens with any car. A cracking motor - I had three of them, both hit high mileages before I sold them on, and even now would love to have another.

As for economy, it hovered around the 42-55mpg depending on use, and I was quite happy with that.
 

JBell

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Buy a 2004 onwards car, they don't suffer from rust as much
 

Chrishazle

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In the original road tests when the 203 first came out, the journos reckoned the C220 was a bit gutless and the best engine was the c270Cdi. My first ever MB was a 2001 S203 (estate) C270 Elegance, it had paint bubbling along the bottom of the offside doors and MB weren't interested despite the car having full MB service history. Was a good car, which I would have kept had temptation in the form of an S204 C220Cdi Elegance come my way!

Personal opinion - Classic trim is too basic, Avantgarde has too many electrical toys that will be expensive if/when they play up, and has firmer suspension, Elegance spec is nice.
 

alexanderfoti

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I recently dropped a customer car off (C250 CDI W204 Pre facelift) and had a colleague following in the C270 CDI Courtesy car (pre facelift W203).

The 203 did 54mpg
The 204 did 49mpg, on identical runs.

The 203 is mapped though, but closer than I thought!
 

peternutkins

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I have a W203 220 Cdi estate, its my first Merc and I am generally very pleased with it I paid very little money for it as it has done 220k+ miles but it drives very well in spite of the fact that there is a fault limiting the turbo boost to 2000 rpm, its a 6 speed manual and will do 70 mph in 6th at around 2000 rpm so I don't really need much more, very steep hills will slow it down a bit though.

I think the lack of boost is down to a partially blocked cat, I will get round to sorting it one day. I did a journey to west wales just over a week ago and it averaged 64 mpg according to the readout which is better by about 5 mpg than the 406's I have been driving. I don't drive fast though, rarely over 60 mph or 2000rpm.

I checked the timing chain which seems to be in very good condition, I suspect it may have been changed, I also fitted new injector seals as the others were a bit leaky.

They are as mentioned a very reliable and economical engine and also relatively simple, no DPF or DMF on the early ones.

Peter
 
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Eric Price

Eric Price

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Thanks to everybody for the advice so far. All in all they sound like pretty good motors.

The C180 was an Avantgarde and while I am not too fussed beyond the basics I have decided I would like the SE spec. The wife's Volvo S40 is the 'kitchen sink' model and I want something at least comparable to hers.

There are few 2.1 and a 2.7 model on Autotrader locally at the moment but I don't want to use my savings for it so I will wait to see what happens with the insurance regarding the C180 and then make my decision.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201903025455106

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201801263123773
 

Rory

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I recently dropped a customer car off (C250 CDI W204 Pre facelift) and had a colleague following in the C270 CDI Courtesy car (pre facelift W203).

The 203 did 54mpg
The 204 did 49mpg, on identical runs.

The 203 is mapped though, but closer than I thought!

I thought you couldn't rely (not that they're very accurate anyway) the MPG readout if the car's been mapped?


They're good figures though - it must have been a pretty steady run? I can get mine to show mid-50's on long runs, but local use (rolling semi-rural, not lots of stop/start) will have it at mid 30's. Bear in mind, from stone-cold, you're into the teens of miles before the car is completely warmed up.
 
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umblecumbuz

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Those Autotrader prices are very much on the high side.
Careful shopping will knock 1k off those. Patience will get you a good one at a good price.
 

alexanderfoti

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I thought you couldn't rely (not that they're very accurate anyway) the MPG readout if the car's been mapped?


They're good figures though - it must have been a pretty steady run? I can get mine to show mid-50's on long runs, but local use (rolling semi-rural, not lots of stop/start) will have it at mid 30's. Bear in mind, from stone-cold, you're into the teens of miles before the car is completely warmed up.

No, you can't rely on them if a tuning box is fitted. A remap doesnt affect OBC values (on mb at least).

Yeah it was 5 miles of town driving, motorway for the rest of the way, @65 mph.

Some are super accurate, most AMGs I have owned long term, are accurate to 1%.

I have had one out by 15% though.
 

peternutkins

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Ebay. I paid 490 pounds for mine, needed a few jobs but I have done most of those myself.

They are prone to rust round the rear wheel arches although its doesn't affect the MOT. The early ones up to about 05 don't have a DPF or DMF which also improves reliability. If you want to pay more money than I did you should get a rust free one.

Peter
 
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Eric Price

Eric Price

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Rory

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Blimey - that car has a remarkably clean MOT history! There's an oddity with the mileage though - looks like it was recorded wrongly one year.

My car just had an intermittant ESP fault too - indie changed one of the reluctor rings and its sensor. It stops cruise control working which was a nuisance for me as I only use the car for long trips.

The values are interesting - I think of my car as being essentially worthless.
 

sonic

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I have a E350CDI does 48MPG over the year, very little town work.
My wife has a SLK200K does 33MGP over the year.
Before this I had I CLK270CDI did 50MPG over the year. Before that I had a CLK200K did 30MPG over the year.
So a big saving on diesel particularly for me as I do 3K miles in Europe each year, where diesel is cheaper than petrol.
 

Babyblue

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Any good places to look?

Ebay is quite good to look for auto's also autotrader but prices can be hefty I found on some models and prices on ebay can get silly at times. Looking at gumtree mercs for sale i find checking the reg number for the past mot and previous MOT's is good but again you ahve to careful with gumtree as i asked many "so called traders" questions about the car they advertsied and many would not reply back or say "Don't know"! I had one seller redcently say to me its a second hand car for £6k what do you wabnty for that money whejn i politely asked him for more indepth details on the car like gearbox, engine, seat bolsters, any rips in the artico leather etc..
Some are advertised so cheap that you suspect a cut and shut on some for sure! So you have to be careful as in all cases as the old saying goes.."Buyer Beware".
 

alexanderfoti

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I must say, buying a car on the older side can be very frustrating, with many dealers acting like they are doing you a favour!

I know of more than one that does little more than go to auction, wash the car and then wack it up for sale.....

(please note, I am not tarring them all with the same brush)
 
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