[AirWind]

Originally Posted by GTO

Not a big fan of the W210, Airwind. My earlier post on this chassis:

I'd highly recommend a W124 to your friend. Three-pointed star, mechanically robust + simply while E220s going cheap!

Thanks GTO, msg relayed. They do have a W124 E250D AT in their family, probably he is better off buying another W124, may be the powerful E220 as you suggest. Thanks again.

[canonball]

W210 CDI is a good car much improved compared to earlier model 210's and at that price is a good buy. I have not come accross any 210 owners complaining about reliablity or durability when compared to W211 heard many had issues and other shad none.

Note: Would do a complete tech check as cars with problem/ill use potentially expensive to fix. If all service records are available and intervals followed she is a good buy as I said earlier. Stay away from grey import BMW which are older than 5 years.

[ACM]

As metioned by GTO go for the W124 E class for about 4-5l or the W126 class for about 6.5L both will cost less to maintain and bet better bets than a newer W210, or the 211. - that said there would be lovers of the double oval lights and there are cars that have been cared for well, but the risk of something major going wrong in the the 210 and 211 looms large and the cost are high.

[rhandle]

Has it been sold.

I am looking at E230 1999 model for around 4lacs. Max running on this would be at the most 20-30 kms in a day if I chose to drive it. Most probably it would be driven just a day or two in a week.

What are the suggestions? The low price is drawing me towards it otherwise was thinking about an 2004 Accord v6.

[ACM]

For reliabilty - 2004 Accord V6
For Class and Brand - 1995-1998 - W124 merc, the 1999 - W210 has was one of the worst Mercs that they built and it took them another 6+ years to get their act corrected and back to bulding mercs the way they should be. Skip that period.

[kisharchit]

I was just going through online car ads and stumbled into a particular interesting one:

1999 Mercedes E250D W210 with Manual gearbox done 66K kms and mentioned that all service records are present and it was serviced at authorized station, Patel Auto. The car is DL registered and will be used in Delhi only. Fitness done for the next 5 years. Its in a dark maroon color.

Now, will this car be able to sustain 80-90kms (28K kms yearly) roughly daily drive? I know this generation of the E class is not known to be most reliable but still what normally goes wrong? And cost of fixing? How much will servicing costs be each time ( i guess twice a year)? Can Independent garages handle these cars? I will use it only for max 2-2.5 years possibly if it goes well, could be more as well. How much FE would one expect from such a big car in the city driven with light foot?

Need suggestions guys.

[differential]

Mods: I could not find a thread dedicated to W210 Mercedes-Benz cars. Kindly merge or move to a more appropriate location if necessary.

Hello folks,

I have been fascinated by the propeller and the three pointed star, in the same order ever since i can remember. Childhood passed away in fascinations and dreams. Soon it was time to get my first car, a Maruti 800. It was a 10 year old car and boy was I thrilled!

Time passed and finally after a long time got myself a new 320D E90 LCI. The car has been serving me well for the past three years and now the itch to get another car has started.

This time I wanted to look at the three pointed star. Wanted to go the used car way as I cannot look to spend huge bucks on a new Merc. I have been looking for used W124 s or W210s for more than a year and have not been successful in getting a decent piece so far. Most of the cars were abused or badly cared for, others had strange paper work.

Why W124?
- I like the look
- non messy electronics as the experts would say (correct me if i am wrong)
- bullet-proof engines

Why W210?
- I like the bug-eyed look; its a love it or hate it thing
- spacious with the convenience of autos in most models
- good back seat space

I had almost given up on the old Merc thing, when I chanced upon a W210 E230. The dealer had advertised it as an E220 by mistake and I went to see it. I was not too keen on the car when I heard that there was an advert error. But having gone that far, I decided to have a look at it.

It was a white 1999 E230, single owner, Mercedes-Benz-serviced company car. It had done a true mileage of only 56,000 km.

Exterior:
Spotless, no evidence of rust, tyres need replacement (almost 10 years old), all factory spec

Interior:
Original black leather interior, everything in place, the roof lining is a bit loose and needs to be fixed

Mechanical:
The last service was at 52,000 km, but the car has been very sparingly used in the past year and a half, with no service in between, dead battery and aftermarket horns. The car has been unused for almost 2 months.

The dealer himself is a fan of old Mercs and was planning to keep it for his own use until he got this W124 recently. He has offered to get her going so that I can test drive the car.

Now to the dilemma.
1. Should I even consider this car (too low mileage, but apparently true readings from the service history)?
2. Do stationary cars have any special problems?
3. What reliability issues does the W210 face?
4. I am OK with the low kmpl of the E230 auto and the maintenance costs, but am skeptical whether it would be a parked in the garage most of the time.

Use:
It will be my 3rd / weekend car, for the occasional long drives with family.

Needs:
Safety / stability and reliability.

Is there something apart from a detailed test drive, that I can do to assess if there is something majorly wrong / needs immediate attention in the car?

I would be grateful if somebody could enlighten me on whether the E230 sold in India had a 4-speed or 5-speed auto. Apparently, the first batch of E230s produced had a 4-speed auto.

Overall, visually the car looks good. There are no door or body dings, no visible rust, no paint peeling off, no scruff / scrapes on the allot wheels. The engine bay looks clean. It needs new tyres.

Waiting for your opinions and inputs.

[1100D]

Although the W210 (Popularly referred to as the Moon-Eyed Merc in its time) does not rate too high on desirability, as far as desirability of Old Mercs are concerned. However, the W210 still ranked quite high in terms of the supreme ride quality and space.

Assuming that you have spares procurement in order. Especially since you are going to require quite a bit of it

• Firstly due to the aging Electronics, wiring, throttle body etc (Check if those have been replaced as the service history seems to be available)
  
• Secondly because in terms of usage this car has run quite low for a 16 year old car. In the past Mercedes' used to be designed keeping a longer drive cycle in mind and would reach optimum working settings (temperature/lubrication etc) after a certain distance (but when there, could go on and on)

So its a call you have to take, depending on how lucrative the asking price is.

[differential]

thanks 1100D.

the asking price is about 4. is it good value at that price?
looks like i will be spending a fair amunt to make it road legal. fingers crossed.

[Akshay1234]

From whatever I remember, the W210 was not considered very reliable due to the collaboration with Chrysler at the time. Though I am pretty certain the 230 being a petrol would be more reliable than the CDIs.

[differential]

being going through all the MB W210 forums. rust seems to be a particular problem in all 210s, followed by rear window regulators apart from the usual warning lights for the electrical problems.

tempted but cautious

[pamiboy]

If it's dealer maintained I would not hesitate too much. Also how much more it'll cost you (by dealer) to bring it road worthy. I love the classic look of Mercs ( a W211 looks much much better IMO). It'll be the best 4 lakhs you'll be spending on a car. Good luck.

[differential]

just waiting for the battery to come and once i take a spin, might take it to the dealership and get a quick check. hopefully the car dealer is not against this.

a quick question.. will the authorised MB dealer do a check on the car for a fee?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by differential

just waiting for the battery to come and once i take a spin, might take it to the dealership and get a quick check. hopefully the car dealer is not against this.

a quick question.. will the authorised MB dealer do a check on the car for a fee?

Lol they will only make bills for you for free

But find out before what they charge for a full thorough check up. And get it done, it will be helpful. On a separate note, I actually quite like the W210, its got a classy shape and looks royal when cruising down a road.

[pamiboy]

I thought that the dealer was selling this car. So it's a private sale?