300D, which one for easy maintenance.

[Motorwaymick]

Thinking of buying a 300D Auto, budget up to about 2k, I do 50 M way miles a day and imagine this will be a nice car in which to do it. Now i'm not a lover of sensors etc and would prefer something reliable and easy to work on, would a W124 be a better option or W210 ? both seem to be within my budget. Is the 210 better on fuel ? and does anyone know roughly how many rpm the car will be doing at 70. Thanks in advance for any info.

[r129sl]

There are four or five contenders here, in chronological order:

w124 300 D
w124 E300 diesel
w210 E300 diesel
w210 E300 turbodiesel
w210 E320 CDI

I'd rule out the latter if you want mechanical simplicity. The others are all very simple, the w124s and w210 E300 diesel especially so. They are extremely easy and quick to maintain: I have just serviced my w124 diesel and I suspect your Stuttgart taxi driver would be back on the rank within 15minutes of starting a service. The w124s are slightly more simple, because there are fewer complex systems on the car than the w210. Of the four, I'd take the car in best overall condition (which is likely to be a w124 but you never know).

[anonymous-user]

r129sl said:

There are four or five contenders here, in chronological order:

w124 300 D
w124 E300 diesel
w210 E300 diesel
w210 E300 turbodiesel
w210 E320 CDI

I'd rule out the latter if you want mechanical simplicity. The others are all very simple, the w124s and w210 E300 diesel especially so. They are extremely easy and quick to maintain: I have just serviced my w124 diesel and I suspect your Stuttgart taxi driver would be back on the rank within 15minutes of starting a service. The w124s are slightly more simple, because there are fewer complex systems on the car than the w210. Of the four, I'd take the car in best overall condition (which is likely to be a w124 but you never know).

I wonder what the difference cost wise long term would be between a 124 and a 210 cdi diesel taking into account the fact that the cdi engines can squeeze more miles out of a gallon of derv. My 220 will get an easy 55 to the gallon on a run which is important for me as I do 18 to 20 thousand miles a year. Over the 6 years of my ownership I've got away with just 2 injector seal failures and having to replace things such as starter motors and alternators, which, lets face it, will need changing on a 11 year old car anyway.

Now it's getting to the stage now where some of the electrical systems are starting to play up. There is also the rust problem to consider although mine is only flaking a bit round the edges and could be remedied if I got my finger out before it's too late.
The trouble is, despite it's slightly ragged appearance, it's such a lovely thing to smoke around in. Comfy, quiet, and I love the interior as well,black cow and birds eye maple. I suppose when a black box finally does go bang it will be uneconomic to repair and and then the dilemma will begin, another 210 or a 124 of some sort.

[Motorwaymick]

Thanks for the replies, food for thought.

[Motorwaymick]

Finally bought a 210 300TD, and not even rusty £750 inc 6 months Road Tax http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-MERCEDES-E300-ELEGA...

[Posk]

I've been running a '91 w124 300d for a few years now, great car, solid as a rock. They really don't make 'em like this anymore. I'm slowly restoring it, I'm not a mechanic by any stretch but I've not found anything that's flummoxed me too much. Really easy to work on and plenty of experts in the forums. Gonna keep it 'till one of us dies.