NorfolkNWeigh

Yes that’s 100% accurate ,Your Honour

This is not my first rodeo- it was not owned by either of us. Also previous owner still had it on cover and gave his permission to drive ‘ his’ car.

No, not yet. Nowhere to go!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=mercedes sbc reset tool&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-154085-016263-8&mkcid=2&keyword=mercedes sbc reset tool&crlp=414035743175_&MT_ID=584576&geo_id=32251&rlsatarget=kwd-312326279426&adpos=&device=c&mktype=&loc=1006933&poi=&abcId=1140066&cmpgn=1541539424&sitelnk=&adgroupid=58250013585&network=g&matchtype=b&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIifGMit3t6QIVCbrtCh0oqwwHEAMYASAAEgLLDPD_BwE These things appear to be diy resets but Merc specialists can’t do it for about £100 using some update on Star, I think. I remember more than one magazine hailing the528i and then 530i as the best car in the real world. Although consistentcy is not a strongpoint...

I’d say at the moment the best value would seem to be a W211, although I have no experience of petrol engined versions , they seem to age better than the e39 has. Ive owned 2 examples of each and even at 5 years old my last 525d was showing surface rust on the doors and boot lid, with the leading edge of the roof having a few scabby stone chips, in contrast neither Mercedes had a spec of rust, the last one at 8 years old and with a similar 250,000 miles. To drive, I loved the e39, but unless you’re at 9/10ths on every corner there’s not that much difference . I actually found the ride of my 2003 SE spec 525d on 16” rims better than any car I’ve ever had before or since. Although the e430 W210 I bought this week is pretty smooth, even on 18””s. Theres a green W210 320 V6 petrol Classic on steels and trims on eBay at the moment that doesn’t look too rusty in the pics, that would be interesting . No need to worry about the SBC these days it can be cheaply reset. Id say don’t restrict yourself, they’ve all got pros and cons but they’re all some of the best cars ever made too. Just wait for a particularly good example of any to come up.

I suppose I should do a thread on this, as it was on the EBay Tat thread before I bought it, although I’d seen the ad on Car andClassic minutes before @The Vicar posted it. Turns out we both saw it about an hour after it was posted on C&C, I phoned an hour later and the seller informed me two people were coming the next day but I was welcome to view that evening. I convinced MrsN to go with me and raided what little was left of my ‘ Secret car money’ which since not having any work since lockdown was going from a Mk2 Granada/SD1 fund to a Mk3 Mondeo/ R45 fund. When he texted the address, I realised it was in a very posh part of London, which is always a good sign. After isolating for months I was surprised how much traffic there was, nowhere near normal levels but it was far from 28 Days Later stuff. My E Class felt a bit stiff at first, holding onto gears a bit longer than it should and flat spotted tyres, although it seemed to be OK by the time we left the motorway and headed into Fulham. The address was a mansion block in the shadow of Putney Bridge right next to The Hurlingham Club and the car was parked in the street. The seller came down and a viewing was carried out with us observing the 2m rule and both wearing masks. For the test drive he jumped in the back and I gave it a quick spin around the block, already knowing I was going to buy it. I tried a bid of a £1000, he just smiled and pointed out he’d had about 8 calls, some of them wanting to transfer the money before even viewing- we both knew he’d underpriced it and that I was going to buy it! Turned out he also had a 944 Turbo and an old Mercedes 230SL , he bought this off the guy who was doing some work on his SL because he’d just retired lost his company car and needed a runabout. After 2 years he’d relented to pressure from his wife to buy a Tesla , which needed the garage space to charge, the 430 had to go. The journey home was frustrating for me because MrsN drove it as she has other car cover on her ML insurance and I don’t ! No petrol station shot because it had half a tank. Cruised at 80 the 65 miles home and still above 1/4 on the guage, maybe it’s an economy special. I spent a lot of time yesterday going through service history , doing research etc as there was no mention in the ad and the seller didn’t mention anything apart from a tyre last MOT (November) and a battery last week. Turns out it has main dealer history up until March 2018 And 130,000 miles- it’s on 136k now. It was registered at Mercedes Benz UK ( about 2 miles from my house) on 31st December 1997 ! WTF? Why do that? It wasn’t PDI’d until the 20th January whereupon it went to the PR and Marketing dept. So it might have been a road test car, I haven’t found anything yet, but a 430 estate a few numbers away from this was tested by Men and Motors. Cant find any magazine tests of e430 s in the first 6 months online , but if anyone remembers one , let me know. By June it was sold through Mercedes Guildford, It’s stopped raining now, so going out to fiddle and polish.

Has the rear prop been removed for economy reasons?

Yes , the wheels might even pay for the car, although there are an awful lot of them advertised on eBay, so not sure they’re really worth the £1000- £1500 people are trying to get . I’ve actually got some 17” AMGs that I was going to put on it, but it seems they might be worth a couple of quid too. So maybe I’ll just find some standard w210 Elegance rims in 16”.

0 Funnily enough the seller of this one needed the garage space to plug in his Tesla.

Yes, it was a no-brainier when I looked on eBay at what 18” AMG Monoblocks are going for. See what you mean about being quick but undramatic.

I’ve just come here to post that, seems immaculate. Not much detail about respray though. I keep going on about now being the time to buy aW210, maybe I should put my money where my mouth is.

I think I speak for every single person on this forum when I say that we knew as soon as we saw the picture , where this was going to end up. Hell, even the blokes at Leyland ST , when they made this knew that you would be born, grow up , buy a Princess and buy this. In fact this is probably the only one ever made.

That Jag is weird looking thing, at first I thought it might be armoured from the stance, but I think it’s just those silver sills and possibly slightly too large tyres. The mascot and tints suggest US spec, but no rear marker lights cancel that out. Knowing the sort of stufff your neighbours have in , possibly Middle Eastern, but then unlikely in black. It’s an odd one.

Why would you use such a crappy photograph of filthy cars on a magazine cover?