W210 320CDI advice

[gorgonzola]

Hi,

I'm considering a 2000 yr model of the above. It appears to have sensible mileage and full mb service history.

What are the main and most expensive problems to look out for?
What would be a sensible price for one of the best condition ones that is well specced?

Thanks

 

[jberks]

What is the mileage ?

 

[mattsurf]

Hi,

I'm considering a 2000 yr model of the above. It appears to have sensible mileage and full mb service history.

What are the main and most expensive problems to look out for?
What would be a sensible price for one of the best condition ones that is well specced?

Thanks

The main issue will be rust - Mercedes will repair any car under 8 years old, provided that it has a Mercedes Service History and no previous damage or paintwork to the pannels. However, as this car is now more than 8 years old Mercedes probably won't repair it if rust does appear. There are many threads on this subject for W210 Mercedes (I also have a rusty 2000 E320 CDI estate) - eve if rust is not visible it is probably there - check under the door seals, and get someone to check the front suspension turrets: there have been many stories of the front turret rusting through and the suspension going through. Also the cross member can rust badly - again check prevous posts

On the whole the cars do seem to be pretty reliable, mine has now covered over 150k miles and in the 40k miles I have owned it I have had no significant problems

Glow plugs may need replacing, however these are not too expensive (£200 ish) so long as they don't break when being extracted - I have had mine done without any problems

Springs - They do break springs (which is not as serious as it sounds) if they need doing it will be approx £100 per corner, and will transform the ride and handling - Yes mine have been done

Injectors - These can fail at any time after £50k miles, most owners will have replaced one or 2. Luckily I have not had any problem with my injectors yet, but I would expect to replace some at some time and budget accordingly

The MAF also has a limited life. I have not had mine replaced, however, my local indi suggested that it would be worth repacing at the next service - cost approx £100

The E320 engine is really great, my indi has a customer with a taxi that has done over 400k miles apparently the car has never had a major failure

Although the gearbox is supposed to be sealed for life with no need to change the oil, everyone recommend an oil change at some stage between 50 and 70k miles - this will keep the gearbox going well for much longer. If you can find no evidence that it has been changed, get it changed

They are great cars (rust asside) - I have had mine for 2 years now and it is actually one of the cheapest cars I have ever owned. The only breakdown I have suffered was a broken fan belt. Mine needs servicing every 18k - 19k miles, it costs just over £200 to service at a reputable indi (always a B service as the indicator switches to B after 17k miles)

I average just under 35mpg over 40k miles - which isn't bad for a big estate car

Tyre life has been exceptional - I am just about to change the fronts after 35k miles (they passed an MOT 2 weeks ago with an advisory, however, they are pretty poor on the snow this week). The first set of rears went for 20k miles

Over the past month, I have had to replace all 4 disks and pads (£400) - I think that I had the rear pads done when I got the car (so they did 40k miles), but I changed them as the disks needed changing.

 

[gorgonzola]

What is the mileage ?

Circa 90,000 miles

 

[television]

Thats not bad for a 2000 car and average at that.

There are many around with no rust at all and that is the most expensive thing to put right as it could be on going

 

[stuartmac]

Hi,

I've owned a 2000 estate for about 18 months and I'd echo pretty much everything Matt said, except (so far, touch wood) mine seems to have had even less problems than his.

What are the main and most expensive problems to look out for?

Aiui, rust, rust and rust. When I bought mine, it was from a (non-MB) dealer on the understanding that, if the trusted indie who was about to inspect it found any problems, I was bringing it straight back for my money back. Said indie pronounced it a good one in his experience and we've been very happy with it.

What would be a sensible price for one of the best condition ones that is well specced?

Fwiw, I recently considered selling our (then) 140,000-mile 5-seater for a 114,000-mile 7-seater advertised locally for £4,500. The general consensus on here was that was too high, especially as mine would be unlikely to better £2,500.

You don't say whether you're considering a saloon or an estate; aiui, saloons are worth considerably less than equivalent estates.

Hth.

Regards,

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Hi,
I've owned my X reg 320CDi for over 4 years now.

I have a lot of respect for the capabilities of the car re performance (another dimension compared to the previous 300TE), frugality, load carrying capability and design features.

The interior I particularly like in leather with the Avantgarde trim. Try and get the best spec you can, its worth spending some time on this although mileage of a 2000 car is top of the list.

Climate control is worth having and very effective.

As Matt says above, tyre wear is not an issue with the car. NCT5s seem to last and wear uniformly.

Reliability seems to be good with any issues well documented on the forum, the main one being injector nozzle wear which manifests itself as a bad tickover. Expect to pay a diesel specialist £125 per injector for a refurb, apart from this MAFs are cheap (£70 and a diy job) and last 60 -100K. Serpentine belt and tensioner require replacement at 50K along with front suspension drop links (all cheap to do).

The 5 speed tiptronic box will require an oil and filter change if it hasn't had one, at 90K (MB now recommend 60K) miles make this a priority and only use MB fluid for the job.

Do a search on rust on the forum and make sure when you buy that you do the checks.

Travelled 50 mile round trip tonight and just love the car,to quote Clarkson (and he got this right) "the engine is every engine you will ever want", powerful, frugal, responsive and strong.

Find the right car and you will not regret it. Service history a must, don't buy anything without the stamps or you will regret it at your cost.

Hope this helps!

 

[NIE320]

W210 E320CDI Avantguarde estate with 90K for sale if you are interested.

 

[gorgonzola]

Thanks but would want leather and dont like green cars.
Thanks to everyone who has replied. Going rate seems to be £3.5k to £5.5k depending on condition