C250 CDI or C220 CDI??? Quickly PLEEEEZE!

[CaptainChaos6]

I am getting rid of my 320i m-sport & p/xing it for a Mercedes ....

Should I get:

An 11 plate 250CDI (49000 miles)
OR
A 12 plate 220CDI (same ish miles).

Both automatic, diesel, full Mercedes Service history, both immaculate.

Any benefit of one of the other, other than the 250 being a bit faster?

Reliability? Anything I should check before parting with the extra money?

Cheers
Ian

Sorry - the reason for the "quick please" bit is because I want to change it all within 2 or 3 days!

[Griffithy]

I would quickly rule out a boring 4 pot and would go for a 350 CDI, if somehow in reach.
It would make it a completely different car.

[CaptainChaos6]

AND AND AND another one to add -

CLS 3.0 CLS350d CDI Grand Edition 7G-Tronic 4dr - £11000, 60,000?

The fuel aconomy seems worse than my petrol BMW hahahahaha

[buggalugs]

7 speed worth having over the 5 IMO, the 5 can be a bit slow and slushy around town compared to more modern boxes

[T5R+]

OP

The 350 (W204) is not at the same price point for age/mileage.

The CLS is NOT a five seater plus is a much bigger car and more expensive to run.

Between your 2 options - go with the 250 for more power and torque with only minimal worse fuel economy. Service and associated costs are no more.

Finally, this is the facelift era.......ensure you get the updated model.

[cerb4.5lee]

The 350 CDI would be my choice, but out of the other two it has to be the 250.

[niva441]

buggalugs said:

7 speed worth having over the 5 IMO, the 5 can be a bit slow and slushy around town compared to more modern boxes

I found the 7 speed inferior to the 5 speed. It has 2 modes slow and untrustworthy or hair trigger hyperactive with violent shifts. I can't believe Mercedes signed off the calibration on it. Somewhere between the 2 would be about right.

[CaptainChaos6]

I tell you what - there are SO many model changes between one year & the next - this is the C250 that I have test driven & got the "okay" from a Mercedes mechanic ... is this the "updated version" or the "original version" or what because some of the 2012+ models have what looks like LED strip lights under the headlights, not the round running lights like this one has got!

So bloody confusing!!!

I will be test driving a couple of 350s on Monday so I'll see what they're like before making my decision!!

[CaptainChaos6]

Thanks TinRobot - would you say that it is NOT worth getting that one, or would it still be okay (hopefully) as long as everything is mechanically fine?

[CaptainChaos6]

Did the facelift version get rid of the foot pedal handbrake?

[niva441]

The foot park brake remained, but the regular brakes gained a hold function. So when the pedal was pressed beyond a point when stationary the brakes held on until throttle was applied.

[CaptainChaos6]

Thank you ... at least I know that IF I buy the one above, it won't be horrendously out of date hahahaha

[s70rmp]

If you can get the face lifted C350

I've got one and came from a C220 coupe and the C350 is just awesome, best car I've owned.

Just had a blast around wales last week in it and it never fails to make me smile.

[gmaz]

A stage 1 remap on the 170bhp C220 will give you about 210 bhp for about £350, so similar to the C250 power.

Definitely go for the facelift version 2012 > 2015 as it has a much better dash.

[CaptainChaos6]

Thanks gmaz.

AND if I remap the C250, it'll increase THAt up to something "nicer" too hahaha

Thing is - The C250s are quite rare in the first place and my budget will only allow X amount extra to the p/x I get for mine, so sadly, I am limited a bit.

[MX-5 Lazza]

The earliest facelift W204s had a pair of lights in the air dam for DLR & front fogs. These were replaced with the LED strip about a year later. Mine is a very early facelift 2011 W204 C220 CDI BE without the LED strip.

[CaptainChaos6]

Thank you all for your advice & suggestions ....

I test drove both the C250 (pictured in earlier thread) and the CLS350.

The 350 was a great looking car, but it was a bit "rough" (alloys in pretty bad condition) and all it wanted to do was "GO! GO!! GO!!!" so I could see the mpg falling down a sinkhole, the tax a lot higher & insurance higher too, so I have bought the C250 (the VN11 one pictured earlier) - 49,000 miles, immaculate condition etc. etc. It will bumble along or overtake quickly, so that's nice!

It's simpler than the BMW I had, but that's fine by me - hopefully less to go wrong.

Fingers crossed it'll be reliable.

[cerb4.5lee]

Nice one, enjoy it.

[CaptainChaos6]

Mine's not an estate, though, so all my other people's furniture removal & taking someone else's huge dogs for a walk will have to go on hold hahahaha

[BlackFlag]

gmaz said:

A stage 1 remap on the 170bhp C220 will give you about 210 bhp for about £350, so similar to the C250 power.

Definitely go for the facelift version 2012 > 2015 as it has a much better dash.

But then you have a chocolate clutch. The early 250s all got replacement heavy-duty clutches, as they had over 500nm of tq std. and the original clutches were not up to spec. The 220 retained the weaker clutch IIRC.