Mercedes has just announced that next year's
C63
will be powered by a twin-turbo 4.0 V8. Naturally, the news has prompted an outpouring of press banter lamenting the loss of M-B's normally-aspirated AMG lumps, accompanied by a rash of sidebar pieces on 'character' and a selection of 'cheap' used Merc V8s filched from the classifieds.
Not a great pic for rust inspection
Nothing wrong with any of that. Most right-thinking folk with a soul and a working set of earholes will agree about the sensory superiority of the dirty old N-A bangers, and Shed himself is more than partial to a spot of filching on the weekend and some evenings.
But it's no good telling him about 'bargain' E55s at £13K. That's £12K too much. Especially when there are 4.3-litre V8 Mercs like this one here available for three-figure sums.
The 275hp E430 was the fastest non-AMG model in the W210 series E-Class range that ran from 1995 to 2002. This particular one is from the first year of E430 production. All right, the engine won't have been personally built and signed by Helmut Kohl, or anyone come to that, but it will still be a high-output German V8 from one of the world's premier automotive manufacturers.
On the grounds that if you don't know about the dubious material quality of late 90s/early Noughties Benzes, you probably won't be reading this in the first place, let's not trouble ourselves with the boring details other than to say that the notorious rust affecting W210s at the turn of the century is most obvious on cosmetic exterior surfaces such as the wings and bootlid but can also seriously affect load-bearing members such as the front suspension top mounts and jacking points. The pics of this dark blue car don't reveal much so, annoyingly, we can't see the wheels. As a pre-2000 model it should have 16-inchers. Nor can we see any bubbling in and around the wheelarches or door tops. At this money, Shed would be surprised to find no corrosion affecting the suspension. This is a Shed, when all's said and done.
Nope, this one's not any better
Nonetheless, the presence of paperwork to show that the auto gearbox's oil and filter have been renewed at regular intervals would be a bonus. This 722.6 box is the same as the one found in the C43, and is well thought of, but early 430s didn't get a magnet in the oil pan to collect any swarf. Later ones did. Read into that what you will.
The M113 engine is an unstressed peach, but it's a 16-plug design that rewards a degree of maintenance care. Engine mounts can fail and it's not immune to the harmonic balancer problem that brought an early end to many contemporary M112 V6s. This big rubber/metal disc on the end of the crank is designed to dampen vibrations. When it breaks up, that's pandemonium time. Luckily, a visual condition check is quite easy, and you'll also hear a metallic din if it's on the way out. Not so luckily, replacement requires the crank to be locked, demanding access to the back of the engine.
This specimen is being sold by Trojan Cars, Portsmouth's oldest garage. That doesn't necessarily mean anything in itself, but the fact that they're still there selling cars after 30 years does at least indicate a pleasing shortage of outraged customers looking to firebomb the place. Trojan's ad for this Merc is short and to the point, but still manages to be rich not only in excitement (four exclamation marks!) and intrigue (it's a 'future classic!'), but also danger, as signified by the oft-used selling term 'to clear'.
Does the can of pop come included?
Why is that phrase oft-used? For Shed, 'clearing' is what happens to the stuff at the very back of the garage, the crapola that hasn't been seen let alone used for several years. Applied to a car, 'to clear' is surely right up there with 'sold as seen' in the list of phrases a buyer would prefer not to see in an ad.
Scientific research into the workings of a motor dealer's mind is yet to produce much in the way of meaningful data, but the assumption must be that dealers see 'to clear' as a synonym for 'bargain' (or, indeed, 'bargin') and it is therefore classed a a positive sales term.
Maybe this E430 really is a bargin. If all is well, your reward for purchase will be a smooth, characterful, rather rare and genuinely fast (six-second 0-60) executive five-seater. Even if it doesn't manage to hop over the MoT in January, always assuming the shocks aren't actually poking out through the bonnet, you'll have enjoyed four months' of Germanic loveliness and will have worked out whether another, more solid example of a big old Merc V8 is where you want to be next. Think of it as a £250-a-month lease car.
Here's the ad.
Blue. Mercedes E430 4.3 Avantgarde Auto! The BEAST! Top of the line! Lots of history, MOT- Jan, 2 owners, future classic! To clear at just £995