Old Mercedes... W210 E220 CDI
Old Mercedes... W210 E220 CDI
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Discussion

Northernchimp

Original Poster:

1,282 posts

162 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Getting near decision time on an eBay auction. These are pretty bullet proof aren't they? Big Mr T chains rather than belts?

A clean one with full history should be a safe bet right?

anonymous-user

84 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Very much the wrong engine for the car, but solid no doubt.

anonymous-user

84 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Every taxi driver in Germany and most minicab drivers in the modern world can't be wrong!

andy43

13,246 posts

284 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Rust!! Potentially corroded front subframe is hidden from the MOT tester IIRC. You need to view it before bidding to be safe.

surveyor

18,701 posts

214 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Why not the E320 cdi?!

Futuramic

1,763 posts

235 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Can you weld/paint/cover holes with newspaper and body filler?

If so that's your ideal car. Seriously they rust like nothing else recent.

Northernchimp

Original Poster:

1,282 posts

162 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
quotequote all
Don't have time to view bit it looks tidy and the description says no rust anywhere.

The insurance is cheap and I've never seen cheaper winter tyres on such a big car.

andy43

13,246 posts

284 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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old PH thread said:
Only looked at one in that price range, rusty rear door tops, under the rubbers, badly done wheel arch repairs (outside of the Merc warranty, despite full MB history), rusty at the front on top of the spring hangers and squeaky a/c...

You'll end up looking at several, but a proper MB warranty repaired one, which has full MB history would be the way to go... or just buy as non rusty a one as possible, and run it until it falls apart - the drive was superbly smooth and the rear load space was great....


Trouble is, MB may have fixed the rust they can see, but every W210 ever made will still be rusting somewhere. Front subframes are known to fail through rust as well but not all will have been caught by the MB goodwill program. One of the front spring pockets simply fell off the chassis on ours. Fortunately it happened at manoeuvering speed rather than on the motorway eek

I wouldn't touch another one with a barge-pole unless it was a disposably cheap hack and I didn't mind driving a car with obvious rust. I wouldn't recommend that anybody pay more than a couple of £k for a W210.
Tread carefully. Although the floors are usually solid smile

andy43

13,246 posts

284 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Northernchimp said:
Don't have time to view bit it looks tidy and the description says no rust anywhere.

The insurance is cheap and I've never seen cheaper winter tyres on such a big car.
Actually, having looked on ebay if it's the 1999 blue one it looks spot on - mobile armchair express - Contis, original floor mats, correct radio, glowplugs done etc etc. Looks very tidy, unmessed with. Bid and then really get under it with a fine tooth comb before you pay. Good luck smile

SuperHangOn

3,486 posts

183 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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I noticed that car myself, it looks pretty good but "no rust" sounds optimistic.

If the ad asks for non-refundable deposits etc I would run a mile because there could easily be a rusty subframe (or anything) lurking under the shiny paint. That's the trouble with ebay- you can go to the hassle of viewing without a chance of actually buying or even knowing what the seller wants for it. Total waste of time.

williredale

2,866 posts

182 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Next door had one which he took from 100k to over 250k with just service items. He sold it though as the body had mostly rusted away. Mechanically sweet though.

It was a 220 CDI

Northernchimp

Original Poster:

1,282 posts

162 months

Wednesday 20th November 2013
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Thanks for the advice - it is the blue one with the good history / new tyres etc. I think it looks OK. Will roll the dice I think, if I only get a few months out of it then so be it.