Mercedes w210 E430 (no titivating allowed)

[anonymous-user]

r129sl said:

With a somewhat heavy heart I sold this car today. Running four barges is just a stretch too far. There is no replacement in the offing. I do hope it serves the new owner well: such a lot of car for the money.

Will the new owner be making an appearance on here?

[M666 EVO]

r129sl said:

Non-functioning air con is a total bore and warrants expenditure. The Mercedes- air con system is very clever and you can readily obtain diagnostic information from the driver's seat. Doing so, it was apparent that there was a lack of gas in the system, the pressure being only 3 bar. Surprise, surprise.

I took it to Kwik Fit for a £49 re-gas. You know, I find Kwik Fit pretty superb these days. They told me that it was holding vacuum and it was also holding gas pressure but nonetheless it was not working. Accordingly, despite supplying a kilogram or more of air con gas, they refused to charge me a penny. So far, so good when it comes to fulfilling my duty.

I have a W210 estate and the air con doesn't work, how do you check diagnostic from the drivers seat??

[W140Chris]

swiveleyedgit said:

Will the new owner be making an appearance on here?

Yes, though I doubt the level of titivation will be as high as in this 'no titivation' thread! I was the proud owner of r129sl's old W140 until some idiot 17 year old spun into it at 70mph (I kid you not). It was parked at the time and fortunately no one was in it.

The E430 has just been to Kwikfit for a re-gas of the air con which had stopped working. They were initially confused as it held the gas they supplied but was not working. As they seemed intent on charging me based on the fact it was holding gas I did a quick Google search and re-set the fault codes. It kicked into life. Time will tell whether there is a small leak or not. A £59 gamble of sorts.

[r129sl]

M666 EVO said:

I have a W210 estate and the air con doesn't work, how do you check diagnostic from the drivers seat??

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=w210+climate+control+diagnos...

You google w210 climate diagnostic and follow the instructions that you find here: http://www.mercedesmedic.com/ac-air-conditioner-di...

[W140Chris]

I had reason to nip to York and back yesterday. This is a brilliant car for covering distances quickly and with a minimum of fuss. What is surprising is the fact that it seems to return about 30mpg. The screen read-out said 33.5 mpg but I tend to ignore the on-board display, assuming them to be optomistic. However, on calculating mpg exactly over the last 250 miles using the amount of litres of fuel put into the tank, it is genuinely returning 31.4 mpg! That is impressive from a 4.3 V8.

[anonymous-user]

W140Chris said:

I had reason to nip to York and back yesterday. This is a brilliant car for covering distances quickly and with a minimum of fuss. What is surprising is the fact that it seems to return about 30mpg. The screen read-out said 33.5 mpg but I tend to ignore the on-board display, assuming them to be optomistic. However, on calculating mpg exactly over the last 250 miles using the amount of litres of fuel put into the tank, it is genuinely returning 31.4 mpg! That is impressive from a 4.3 V8.

I'm always surprised at the economy these compact V8s can get. My Jaguar X350 will effortlessly get 32-34mpg on a run and I have managed 40mpg by driving like an adenoidal Prius owner. I bet a boosted 4 pot making 300bhp would do worse.

[mercedeslimos]

stickleback123 said:

I'm always surprised at the economy these compact V8s can get. My Jaguar X350 will effortlessly get 32-34mpg on a run and I have managed 40mpg by driving like an adenoidal Prius owner. I bet a boosted 4 pot making 300bhp would do worse.

I've got a Volkswagen Eos with the MK5 GTI 2.0 TFSI unit and manual 6-speed box. Lifetime average MPG for me is 32.6...

[anonymous-user]

mercedeslimos said:

I've got a Volkswagen Eos with the MK5 GTI 2.0 TFSI unit and manual 6-speed box. Lifetime average MPG for me is 32.6...

My average over 8000 miles in my 4.2 XJ8 is 29mpg. Fair mix of boring motorway runs in heavy traffic, so 50-80MPH rather than proper speeds, and a reasonable amount of stop start city work. I'm deeply impressed by it, my old 4.0 X300 averaged 21mpg under similar use and my D5 Volvo 43mpg. It's also more efficient than my Mk1 MX5!

For balance, my XJR-S was 13mpg

[bolidemichael]

On the flipside of this efficiency marvellous-ness, I made the 300ish miles from Calais to south of Tours, complete with five people, three large, two small whilst fully laden and sporting a roof box in around four hours and at 19ish MPG. V8s travel well, but drink fuel when pressed! Thankfully, we pulled into the campsite with 0 miles showing on the range and I topped up with the large red canister of fuel that I had in the boot (I know myself and my car too well!).

[r129sl]

I am envious of all these trips. My motoring life is rather dull these days.

However, I find my SL500 most economical at a steady 95mph. Running at that speed for mile after mile through France, it gave 27mpg. The best I've ever had out of it was 32mpg over 531miles.

[bolidemichael]

This is how I roll, always at the ready. Stopping for fuel burns time!

Edited by bolidemichael on Wednesday 28th August 19:19

[Rafeabrook]

Just bought a W210 E430 Elegance Wagon so following this with great interest

Guess what? - the air con needs fixing too!

Plus some brakes and suspension work.

My mechanic will be busy

Clean bodywork though!

[The sheriff]

Great thread. Shame you have sold the car.

I’ve recently purchased this e430, 41,000 miles

[bolidemichael]

From MTSV?

[Cessle]

r129sl said:

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=w210+climate+control+diagnos...

You google w210 climate diagnostic and follow the instructions that you find here: http://www.mercedesmedic.com/ac-air-conditioner-di...

Appreciate that this thread is relatively old and that you have moved on from your E430 but if you haven't seen this you might enjoy it. It combines both your admiration for the M113 4.3 and your experience with Mercedes' estates.

https://driventowrite.com/2021/02/01/mercedes-benz...

[bolidemichael]

Cessle said:

Appreciate that this thread is relatively old and that you have moved on from your E430 but if you haven't seen this you might enjoy it. It combines both your admiration for the M113 4.3 and your experience with Mercedes' estates.

https://driventowrite.com/2021/02/01/mercedes-benz...

That was a good read, thanks.

[r129sl]

Cessle said:

r129sl said:

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=w210+climate+control+diagnos...

You google w210 climate diagnostic and follow the instructions that you find here: http://www.mercedesmedic.com/ac-air-conditioner-di...

Appreciate that this thread is relatively old and that you have moved on from your E430 but if you haven't seen this you might enjoy it. It combines both your admiration for the M113 4.3 and your experience with Mercedes' estates.

https://driventowrite.com/2021/02/01/mercedes-benz...

Thanks for this, much appreciated. I agree with many of the sentiments expressed. I have often said that if the w210 did not rust, we would herald it as the finest barge of all time. But they do rust. I rather regret selling mine, I must say.

[J3JCV]

Any 430 owners left on here?

I'm keeping one going at the moment and love every minute.

I would like to slightly improve the exhaust note as I feel its just a tiny bit too refined / muffled, so would be keen to hear if anyone has found a back box improvement?