Mercedes w210 E430 (no titivating allowed)
Discussion
Henry888 said:
Would you trust Kwik Fit to do a brake fluid change on the W210? MB Newcastle quoted me £137 for the job...
I missed this, I am sorry. I probably would trust Kwik Fit but I would develop a relationship with Baister if I were you. This evening I did a bit of titivating. I cleaned up the fogged headlamp lenses. Rather than buy a kit, I just used my rotary polisher with some 3M Fast Cut Plus compound. This took about 60 seconds per side. I then coated them with Jet Seal. It took much longer getting the extension lead out the garage and sticking some masking tape around the lenses. I am quite pleased with the results.
Before:
During:
After:
And the products shot:
I must say I am impressed by the 3M products. They just work and they are not at all expensive. There is a lot of w
k in the world of car detailing products, if you'll pardon the expression. It is hard to go past 3M and Autoglym.It has been a while but the car continues to delight. I serviced it myself the other day which was painless and unremarkable. More recently the air con packed in. A re-gas only lasted a few days so I knew there was a leak. MB Newcastle diagnosed a leaking compressor; they wanted £547 for a genuine MB item but money is not in over-abundant supply at Rodger Towers today so I picked up a Denso item at Euro Car Parts for £345. According to Denso, they design and manufacture compressors for MB. But this car is not money-no-object, so it will have to do. MB Newcastle graciously are fitting it for me. I recommend that garage, on the whole.
MB Newcastle did an 'A' service, fitted new rear discs and pads, fitted the air con compressor and gassed up the system for £490. Not a cheap week. However, it is indeed good to be in a cool car. The diagnostic function in the air con control unit tells me that the evaporator temperature is running as low as 2 deg C. The refrigerant pressure is generally in double figures, too.
Here it is in their workshop. It has also been well washed and vacuumed, saving me a job.
Here it is in their workshop. It has also been well washed and vacuumed, saving me a job.
It was all going so well. Ten minutes before setting out for Bath, I noticed this oddity on the offside rear disc (through the wheel spokes). It appeared that the pad was not in full contact with the disc.
I jacked the car up and took the wheel off. The outboard pad was not secured in the calliper by the retaining pins. It was rather under the retaining pins. Pretty shocking basic safety. It only took five minutes to fix but without flattering myself, I suspect 99% of motorists would not have noticed and 99.9% would not have been able to fix it.
I've dropped them a line with pictures and they were straight back. What can you do? All's well that ends well and all that but that is a schoolboy error that even I wouldn't make and brake safety is a boot as important as it gets.
I jacked the car up and took the wheel off. The outboard pad was not secured in the calliper by the retaining pins. It was rather under the retaining pins. Pretty shocking basic safety. It only took five minutes to fix but without flattering myself, I suspect 99% of motorists would not have noticed and 99.9% would not have been able to fix it.
I've dropped them a line with pictures and they were straight back. What can you do? All's well that ends well and all that but that is a schoolboy error that even I wouldn't make and brake safety is a boot as important as it gets.
The 210 in Bath! Unfortunately I noticed the driver's side side light had packed in. That can wait until we get home. This afternoon I drove us up from Bath to Stoke-on-Trent (where I had to get out to do some work here tomorrow). The traffic is insane and part of the M6 was closed. We rejoined an empty motorway after the closure; confident that all police cars would be at the cause of the closure, I was able to "make up time". It is a great long distance car. My wife is presently driving car and boys back to Northumberland; I quite envy her the high speed run through the Lune Valley to Tebay services.
xeny said:
r129sl said:
, the missing-in-action outside temperature gauge.
Excuse my potential ignorance, but isn't this typically fed by an engine management sensor, so if the sensor isn't reporting the engine management will run with sub optimal limp mode values?Air con is playing up again. The main dealer reckons it is a bad pressure sensor: replacement scheduled for tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
I put a set of Michelin CrossClimates on it a couple of weeks ago. £460. They feel pretty good but make a hissing noise when leaning on them in corners. Also, I managed to stand on the sat nav disc while taking pictures out of the sun roof. I bought two copy discs (£20 each) which did not work before giving up and buying a pukka one for £70. Worked straight away. A lesson to us.
I put a set of Michelin CrossClimates on it a couple of weeks ago. £460. They feel pretty good but make a hissing noise when leaning on them in corners. Also, I managed to stand on the sat nav disc while taking pictures out of the sun roof. I bought two copy discs (£20 each) which did not work before giving up and buying a pukka one for £70. Worked straight away. A lesson to us.
harrycovert said:
Do you have a link for the £70 disc [presume its UK?]
https://www.navmapstore.com/product/1242/TeleAtlas_Maps_2013_2014_UK_and_Ireland_for_Blaupunkt_TravelPilot_DXI've bought Germany and Benelux from these people last year and they delivered in about 3 days. There is a chap on German eBay selling a complete set of MB discs, also 2013/14, for £120.
I used the car to go to Carlisle and back today, under pressure of time in both directions, and it was a very satisfying companion, loping along the Military Road at an indecent pace. It was a really good buy this car. Not classic, not stylish, and certainly not perfect, but cheap, fast, comfortable, effective, a real delight to own. Cost per mile over 26,000miles, excluding purchase, is 32.9p. Add in the purchase price and assume it is worthless, and the cost rises to 44.5p per mile. I might get new wings and have it, er, titivated...
No real updates with this one: it just does what it is supposed to. I have just this moment stepped out of it in Caernarfon, having driven here from Monkseaton, just outside of Newcastle. 258miles, 3h25, 75mph average and 25.7mpg. I beat Google Maps by over an hour! But most of all it was as easy: no mean feat given I set off after 8pm. I did have a little run in with the law: ambling along at 100mph where the M1/A621(M)/M62 meet, an unmarked black three series bombed up behind out of nowhere, tucked in front of me, slammed on its brakes, lit up a sign in the back window reading "70MPH", then raced off, cutting across four lanes of motorway. Road safety in action.
I replaced the front anti-roll bar drop links and one of the rear ARB drop links today. To do the front, it is necessary to drop the roll bar off the car. Irritatingly, Euro Car Parts supplied the wrong ARB bushes but it is the drop links that usually need doing and so it was here. The car is much quieter and smoother up front.
Unfortunately, one of the pair of rear drop links I ordered was defective (Euro again) so I could only do one side. There is still some knocking from the other side.
Here are good clear instructions for the fronts: http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?thread... Contrary to some posters in that thread and the hilariously easy Auto Doc vid ( https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&a... ), it is not possible to remove the drop links (at least on my E430) with the bar in situ.
And here are good clear instructions for doing the rears: https://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210-e-class/1509... The only addition I would make is that it is worth loosening the rear shock bottom mount a few turns to aid removal and replacement of the drop link from the control arm. It is pinched in place otherwise.
Unfortunately, one of the pair of rear drop links I ordered was defective (Euro again) so I could only do one side. There is still some knocking from the other side.
Here are good clear instructions for the fronts: http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?thread... Contrary to some posters in that thread and the hilariously easy Auto Doc vid ( https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&a... ), it is not possible to remove the drop links (at least on my E430) with the bar in situ.
And here are good clear instructions for doing the rears: https://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210-e-class/1509... The only addition I would make is that it is worth loosening the rear shock bottom mount a few turns to aid removal and replacement of the drop link from the control arm. It is pinched in place otherwise.
I did the near side tonight. It took about ten minutes, so much easier second time round. The only downside was that on the way home I drove through a lot of mud, which fell out of the wheel arch and onto my head as I dismantled the car. The w210 is much easier to work on than the w124, I am very impressed by it. If only they didn't rust. There are very few decent ones about these days, even fewer with a big engine and high specification. Maybe Japan can supply.
I am using TRW parts, they were the best Euro could offer (see above for qualification of that statement). TRW is a ZF Group brand (like Lemförder, Sachs and Boge) so shouldn't be too bad.
When driving today, I noticed a bit of a twanging from the offside rear, a new sound. I inspected yesterday's work and could see nothing obviously wrong. The spring looked fine. The shock likewise. Neither spring nor shock had any obvious play. I wondered whether I had over-tightened things, so I backed it all off a fraction. I haven't had a chance to do a test drive yet, we will see if the new twanging and the old pattering noises have gone. Fingers crossed.
I am using TRW parts, they were the best Euro could offer (see above for qualification of that statement). TRW is a ZF Group brand (like Lemförder, Sachs and Boge) so shouldn't be too bad.
When driving today, I noticed a bit of a twanging from the offside rear, a new sound. I inspected yesterday's work and could see nothing obviously wrong. The spring looked fine. The shock likewise. Neither spring nor shock had any obvious play. I wondered whether I had over-tightened things, so I backed it all off a fraction. I haven't had a chance to do a test drive yet, we will see if the new twanging and the old pattering noises have gone. Fingers crossed.
Well, the pattering seems to be gone but the twanging is still present (and I emptied the boot of absolutely everything before my test drive). I had a very good look and feel of the offside rear spring and could identify no break in it. fk knows. Bloody cars. I think he drop links were worn, though as it feels a little better. All in the mind, I dare say.
I'm thinking about doing the shocks next. It's about £210 for all four for Sachs and they look easy enough to change.
k knows. Bloody cars. I think he drop links were worn, though as it feels a little better. All in the mind, I dare say.I'm thinking about doing the shocks next. It's about £210 for all four for Sachs and they look easy enough to change.
Edited by r129sl on Friday 28th December 21:33
I did a bit of footling around under the car just now. The offside spring looks fine:
But is the nearside spring cracked? I need to have a good feel tomorrow. I only noticed this when I reviewed the pictures just now. I certainly couldn't feel any cracks when I was under the car and it may be (unlikely) that this is just the end of the spring.
But is the nearside spring cracked? I need to have a good feel tomorrow. I only noticed this when I reviewed the pictures just now. I certainly couldn't feel any cracks when I was under the car and it may be (unlikely) that this is just the end of the spring.
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