Mercedes w210 E430 (no titivating allowed)
Discussion
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. f
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.
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.
r129sl said:
Springs are definitely fine. I took the covers off the control arms and carefully ran my fingers round the bottom coils. There are no breaks. They seem in good order. Latest suspect is a loose heat shield. I am off to buy repair washers.
Just as a reference point, a broken rear spring twangs in exactly the same way as the restaurant doors of the Hotel de la Plage in the film Mr Hulot's Holiday. I think it’s the heat shield. The repair washers seem to have eliminated the twanging. Fingers crossed. The pattering is as bad as ever, however. I suspect shocks.
I fixed the near side air vent. The thumb wheel didn’t work. And the bulb was blown. So easy to do, this car really is beautifully made. Such a shame that they rust so badly.
I fixed the near side air vent. The thumb wheel didn’t work. And the bulb was blown. So easy to do, this car really is beautifully made. Such a shame that they rust so badly.
Barge threadists know what is coming.
Heading over to Cairnryan on a beautiful winter’s morning for the Cairnryan to Larne ferry, we struck a pothole and bust a wheel bearing. I’m posting from the recovery truck laid on by MB’s 30 year Mobilo warranty service. It is carrying us and the car up to MB of Ayr. There we will be provided with a hire car while ours is fixed. All for free (apart from the repair). We were recovered from the middle of nowhere (just outside New Galloway on the A712) within 90 minutes. It’ll be a long day but I think that’s impressive: this is an 18 year old car with 108,000 miles but still it’s manufacturer stands by it.
Heading over to Cairnryan on a beautiful winter’s morning for the Cairnryan to Larne ferry, we struck a pothole and bust a wheel bearing. I’m posting from the recovery truck laid on by MB’s 30 year Mobilo warranty service. It is carrying us and the car up to MB of Ayr. There we will be provided with a hire car while ours is fixed. All for free (apart from the repair). We were recovered from the middle of nowhere (just outside New Galloway on the A712) within 90 minutes. It’ll be a long day but I think that’s impressive: this is an 18 year old car with 108,000 miles but still it’s manufacturer stands by it.
Love this thread, what a find the W210 has turned out to be!
After some advice really, just to gauge your (and everyone else) thoughts please...
We have been running my dads old E280 Avantgarde for the past 3 years. Dark grey with unmarked black heated leather (lovely place to be). Spec list good although no heated rears in this one.
It's been a well loved car both by us and my dad before, but recently we've had several major things go on that car, that is making me ponder whether to keep it alive or not. The latest of which is a rear brake line split, so new brakes lines needed.
In addition to this, the outer bodywork is suffering from the usual w210 scabby arches / tailgate, quite a few marks on the body (e.g. shopping trolley dints), as well as clunky front arbs, tatty Merak alloys and dodgy temp & clock dash pixels.
All of the above are fixable but is it worth it? The car is showing 148k miles, I've not put much money into it at all, just the usual service things to keep it running nicely but now its starting to need much more time to sort. I personally love the car, heart says keep and fix it, head says probably the right time for it to go. Thoughts?
After some advice really, just to gauge your (and everyone else) thoughts please...
We have been running my dads old E280 Avantgarde for the past 3 years. Dark grey with unmarked black heated leather (lovely place to be). Spec list good although no heated rears in this one.
It's been a well loved car both by us and my dad before, but recently we've had several major things go on that car, that is making me ponder whether to keep it alive or not. The latest of which is a rear brake line split, so new brakes lines needed.
In addition to this, the outer bodywork is suffering from the usual w210 scabby arches / tailgate, quite a few marks on the body (e.g. shopping trolley dints), as well as clunky front arbs, tatty Merak alloys and dodgy temp & clock dash pixels.
All of the above are fixable but is it worth it? The car is showing 148k miles, I've not put much money into it at all, just the usual service things to keep it running nicely but now its starting to need much more time to sort. I personally love the car, heart says keep and fix it, head says probably the right time for it to go. Thoughts?
teleostbat said:
All of the above are fixable but is it worth it? The car is showing 148k miles, I've not put much money into it at all, just the usual service things to keep it running nicely but now its starting to need much more time to sort. I personally love the car, heart says keep and fix it, head says probably the right time for it to go. Thoughts?
Tricky one. r129sl's opinion will be worth listening-to. The general view is that the cheapest car to run is the one you already own. Objectively, your car is worth virtually nothing, but it seems to have cost you nothing so far, it presumably has a sentimental value, you like it, and the most environmentally sound thing to do is keep older cars running for as long as sensibly possible.The bodywork will always rot so that alone probably isn't worth much investment, but if it were mine I'd be inclined to invest in the mechanicals and keep it on the road. I suspect there's no right and wrong though; how much do you hanker for something different? This latter point is usually my catalyst to change, not rational logic!
The Mad Monk said:
r129sl said:
It has a simple A service at Merc once a year: enough to get the stamp in the book.
My local MB dealer has just quoted for a simple service and MOT.£400 plus £50 odd for MOT. If I wait in 'The Lounge' it will be done in an hour and a half.
£300 an hour! Not bad?
Surprised that Mercedes doesn't offer a discounted servicing option for older cars, to keep them in the dealer network.
Edited by spreadsheet monkey on Friday 1st February 09:11
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