W210 into 2020

[TheXUDfiles]

I've been on this forum under another name, and after a year or so decided to give it another go. 

A few months ago my 405 estate packed up. It was shared between me and the Mrs, but after it was confirmed dead, I was given a green light to "get whatever I want."

As we know this time of year is open season for buying old barges, so eBay was my sweet shop.

A fairly clean looking, pre facelift E280 was found in Central London, at silly, silly low money, with no other bids. 

Like a sad sod I watched the clock tick down all day, and acted like I'd won the lottery when the fabled/dreaded "you have won this item!" screen flashed up.

If this was a W124 I doubt I'd get much change from £4000. It has the kind of history file which would inspire mouth foaming on Car and Classic, and the "right kind of people" owning it. Prior to me it was owned by a company director who had it from 2000. He was having to chuck it thanks to the ULEZ.

This has been untouched by weed/pets/children/fast food/christmas tree air fresheners like so many of these have, so it still feels like a prestige car behind the wheel.

It's survived well outside because it was resprayed a few years ago, retaining the original Mercedes Green Black colour. 

Personally I rate these over the W124 master race - they drive better and are better packaged, in my view. This being the M104 six which was carried over from the W124 means it feels more like a trad Merc, so you get the best of both worlds. 

This one hasn't been eaten by rust, amazingly.

Enjoy the pez station shot, and photos of in its natural habitat: which it drove through with ease. This old tanks are great for city driving, sealing the grit and noise outside like a proper Merc should.

After getting it home I polished up lights, and cut and waxed the paintwork so it looks a little more loved now. I'll upload those another time.

It's given me a few teething problems, which I'll post about next time I'm on here for any length of time. 

Thanks for reading!

[lesapandre]

Lovely. I have a W124 which is excellent. But these W210's are still criminally cheap if you can find a good one... like what you have. Look forward to hearing a bit about it as the story develops.

On mine the heater is blowing coldish and it keeps blowing fan fuses. A faff...but a commonish problem. Investing.

Yours was probably eyewateringly expensive new.  I think my 260E was about £25,000 with all its options in 1990. The price of a house.

[Spiny Norman]

I loved the E320 I had a few years ago, the earlier ones seem to be a bit more rust resistant than the later ones, mine was pretty much grot free. They're wonderful things to waft around in and are far better than their reputation suggests.
I cleaned my headlamps with toothpaste, didn't completely recover them but they looked a bit better.

[Jim Bell]

Welcome back whomever whence you were. Car looks mega. Good buying. No interior shots?

[HMC]

Great purchase! I’ve had loads (probably 10 of each ) of 124s and 210s

Not sure which is my fave. 210s drive better hands down and avoid the OTT eulogising / pricing of the 124. THIS IS THE LAST PROPER AND MOST AMAZING MERCEDES AND IF YOU ASK NICELY I MAY SELL IT TO YOU style e bay ads galore. In my experience and given how old they are now, 124s can also rot for fun but it’s not the first thing people say when taking about them, unlike the 210. For the money I’ll have a 210. Go on then make it an E430 (brilliant car and overlooked because of the E55 ) such good value at the mo. I Aesthetically like the facelift 210s best as they cleaned up the bonnet/grille/bumper styling and lowered the nose slightly.

 

That was an e320, the extra infill piece between the bonnet and boot and the wingline is higher.

That was an e240 estate. It’s subtle but every panel you can see is different. Theres less pressings and seams and it’s all a fraction lower and more raked  (plus the repeaters have migrated to the wing mirrors) 

#i have no life

[Peter C]

I’ve got a W123 230E garage queen, which I’ve owned for over ten years, which I would never sell. I also have a W124 200E, which is also garaged but has seen some rain. 

A few years ago I had a W124 E220, which was my daily for four years. I didn’t have a single problem with it. Foolishly, I sold it and bought a W219 CLS, which I ended up px’ing for a leased Hyundai Tucson. The lease on the Korean SUV comes to an end in 12 months time and mid summer I will start looking for a replacement.

I need a petrol car with an engine bigger than two litres to qualify for a (much) higher rate of mileage repayment and I’m considering another W124 but preferably with an M103 engine or a tidy W210, perhaps a V6 240 or 320 sedan. Time will tell what I end up with.

I look forward to reading your updates.

[Cooper1]

My Dad had a W210 E230. was a lovely car. 

 

Rotted for fun though

 

P reg.

[TheXUDfiles]

On 12/29/2019 at 6:22 PM, Peter C said:

I’ve got a W123 230E garage queen, which I’ve owned for over ten years, which I would never sell. I also have a W124 200E, which is also garaged but has seen some rain. 

A few years ago I had a W124 E220, which was my daily for four years. I didn’t have a single problem with it. Foolishly, I sold it and bought a W219 CLS, which I ended up px’ing for a leased Hyundai Tucson. The lease on the Korean SUV comes to an end in 12 months time and mid summer I will start looking for a replacement.

I need a petrol car with an engine bigger than two litres to qualify for a (much) higher rate of mileage repayment and I’m considering another W124 but preferably with an M103 engine or a tidy W210, perhaps a V6 240 or 320 sedan. Time will tell what I end up with.

I look forward to reading your updates.

If I do decide to move it on, I'll probably be posting it on here.

It's in the garage today to (hopefully) get a misfire fixed, which is all that's really holding this one back.

[Schaefft]

Nice save indeed, these are generally unloved so every example that doesnt get run into the ground is a win to me. They have their downsides (especially compared to the competition) but they are still a relatively modern Mercedes, which makes them great cars I'm sure.

[bramz7]

I really like W210s. Even the broken one I had was nice in ways other cars aren't. 

[TheXUDfiles]

On 1/10/2020 at 5:45 PM, Schaefft said:

 They have their downsides (especially compared to the competition) but they are still a relatively modern Mercedes, which makes them great cars I'm sure.

Yes, I think  that's one of the reasons why their image has suffered. Much of the competition, BMW, Audi Jaguar and even to a lesser extent Ford, with it's Scorpio were at their pinnacle when the W210 was current, in terms of build and driving experience. 

The build quality of my X300 wasn't far behind this, and that's not really good enough.

[TheXUDfiles]

Anyway, I've been making some progress with this thing. The poor running has been a process of elimination. My local Merc man reset the throttle position sensor, which was causing the poor idling - you may need to do this after taking the battery off.  It wasn't speaking to the Mercedes Star System (their satellite based diagnostics thingamy) Mine had a new one shortly before I bought, which explains that.

The misfiring turned into backfiring over Christmas. As amusing as this was, I had to get it sorted. A separate garage plugged it into what they called a "heritage port" diagnosis machine - faulty oxygen sensor was apparently the problem.

The fault code was cleared and it hasn't returned (touches faux wood). I'm quite happy with how this car is turning out.

So I've bought another Merc in distress and I'm selling this one now. 

It is on Ebay, but I don't know how admin feel about Ebay links in threads, so I'll leave it for now. 

If there's enough interest on here, I'll do a dedicated sale thread.

Anyway, here it is as of yesterday after some touching in and polishing.