Mercedes e430 , W210 future classic?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

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.

[Matty]

Love these. Last well styled e class. Rust has always scared me off (and don't like autos) but as a thing to look at alone, absolutely spot on.

[ProgRocker]

I used to perv over Mercs in the 1990s and the E430 was a favourite of mine. 

[Spiny Norman]

I loved the E320 I had for a couple of years, and an extra 70-odd bhp is never a bad thing, right?
Wonderful old barges, every bit as good as an XJ6, but in different ways.

[HMC]

Lovely, I think under valued (good god I sound like Quentin Wilson in classic cars) because of the E55. If memory serves Standard spec on the e430 was the fully automatic climate control (a sort of massive rectangle rather than the separate knobs) I really like how these ride and drive and am a big fan. 

I didn’t even mention rust. Whoops.

[Volksy]

Looks great that. Would be sad for it to lose the Monoblocks, as they really suit these. 

[Peter C]

I'm considering a six pot W210 as my next daily. I look forward to reading your updates about this wonderful machine.

[RoadworkUK]

Proper car. Very proper indeed. Early-ish examples like that seem to be somewhat less appetising to the tinworm, too.

[Stevebrookman]

Lovely motor. Been out in it yet?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

2 hours ago, Stevebrookman said:

Lovely motor. Been out in it yet?

No, not yet. Nowhere to go!

[SiC]

9 hours ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

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 !

You wouldn't have had cover either if this is owned by you on the drive back. 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

9 minutes ago, SiC said:

You wouldn't have had cover either if this is owned by you on the drive back. 

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. 

[SiC]

6 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

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. 

Riggght.... Try explaining that to the judge. 

So you didn't exchange cash and agreed the deal until you'd driven home?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

1 minute ago, SiC said:

Riggght.... Try explaining that to the judge. 

So you didn't exchange cash and agreed the deal until you'd driven home?

Yes that’s 100% accurate ,Your Honour

[Schaefft]

Very cool car, and increasingly rare. Not a future classic, especially in the UK but cool nevertheless as they are all just getting scrapped and seeing a clean, well cared for example is a rare occasion.

[SiC]

11 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Yes that’s 100% accurate ,Your Honour

[Previous_owner] I have NFI what you're talking about. Sold the car a few hours before that accident happened. [/previous_owner]

All over a ~25 quid temporary policy.

Just sayin' like.  

[sierraman]

25 minutes ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Yes that’s 100% accurate ,Your Honour

Fuck it, it’s home now, nobody died. 

I bet this is one of those that’s not too quick off the line but seriously rapid mid range? 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Update: drove it today, properly.

It goes like a bastard, much better than 275 bhp in a barge with an old fashioned 5 speed auto has any right to. I sometimes drive modern 600+ bhp things so I’m pretty jaded and hard to impress when it comes to what’s quick.  Not that it’d trouble a modern V8 German, but then it doesn’t sound like a chavvy  AMG, Audi RS or whatever either, just smooth quiet power a bit like an old XJ12. but with a top speed limiter.

Decided it’s not going to get any use as I’m never going to go on any long motorway trips in it when I’ve got my modern E Class that uses a third as much fuel but still cruises in silence at 90 all day. It’s not a sports car and feels wrong throwing it around.

Basically it’s not a CLK 430 or 500 Cabriolet which is what I’m supposed to be buying, Mrs N has said we can’t have another CLK as well as this and the 230 cab we’ve already got so I’m going to try my luck with a borrowed gravel drive and a Doctor bullshit ad , no, not riot screens and matte olive pink wrap. That’s @TheDoctor not The Doctor. If I play my cards right I might even make some money and get to keep the wheels , we’ll see...
If this is anything to go by, a 430 CLK should be quite a laugh.

 

A millionaires drive 20 years ago, (The oil is from the ML )  Everything must go.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

This is the drive I’ll use, maybe when it’s light though!

[Shite Ron]

One of my cars  was previously sold by the doctor, I paid a lot less a few years later for it. I look forward to your essay on how  Mr. Fortescue-Smythe made the 6 mile journey to the main dealer on  June the 6th to order his dream car with all options for his retirement present to himself etc.

To be fair I’ve often fancied trying this myself but cannot be bothered with the hassle and also tend to fall in love with my cars and not want to sell them.

A well written advert with good pictures can make a huge difference, good luck.

 

[camryv6]

Please put in the advert that it was only sold so he could plug his Tesla in

[TheXUDfiles]

That looks lovely. W210s are very nice things drive and ride in, soothing and confidence inspiring - a perfect antidote/weapon/shield for today's manic roads. Those old V8 are so well mannered and oddly frugal if you have a light foot. 

This makes me really miss my rust-free W210 which I loved, right up until some utter scumbag pikey in a flatbed Tranny hit it and wrote it off.

Make sure you love it long time.

[Dan the van]

Having previously  owned  a CLK 430 I can confirm they are much to fast enough.?.And a better steer than the later CLK 500 which was based on the C class floor plan and a bit meh.

[BorniteIdentity]

Hope you make a few bob on it.  The ONLY thing I'd say is the internet has made the car market 1000% smaller, so when flipping a car I always like to be able to say "Yes - but I've done X,Y and Z".  Even if it's giving it a bloody good clean, changing the oil and some general titivating.  People are very good at spotting a flipped car these days (not that it matters)

Good luck with it mate.  I've always wanted to try a W210, but for me it'd have to be a super early taxi spec one.  This is far too competent! 

 

[camryv6]

Or when you advertise it, say change of circumstances ? 

[Six-cylinder]

I hate all this talk of MB V8s especially CLK430, I was happy with my CLK 320 knowing I had 2 more cylinders than some!

[xtriple]

I quite fancy one of these. Love V8s and love MB's in general. Keep thinking about an SLK55 but prices are high...

I shall watch out for the advert  

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I’ve put an advert on Pistonheads, not even cleaned it yet. The only problem is , as @BorniteIdentity pointed out every body sees everything these days. There’s a page of comments on the 1-5k barge thread from last week when it was £1200, I haven’t dared look today to see if someone has outed it as £2995 today!  Only put it on PH because it’s free and the only other place that’s free is where I bought it from- although he’s taken the ad down now.

[Turbowomble]

Ah, the W210...fond memories. My step-father ran one for over a decade, bought it as an ex-demonstrator in '98 and kept it until about 2010, although it was downgraded to second car status in '08 with the arrival of a brand-new A6 Avant. It was a forest green E280 Avantgarde, with an AMG badge on the boot (think it had some bodykit package, looked sharp anyway especially with the 18" monoblocks). I loved that car, and I lobbied relentlessly for first refusal when it came time to shift it. Alas, it was punted on to a family friend for buttons and I think succumbed quite badly to rot in the end a couple of years later; unsurprising, given it was peppered with little orange zits even before it left our drive.

Have always wanted another - have debated between getting some sort of big diesel version (either 300 or 320 flavours, I'm not fussy), or going the whole hog with an E55, with a 430 being a more then acceptable substitute. This one looks very clean indeed, it's stirred my loins and has sent me down an eBay/C&C/AT rabbit hole.

GLWS

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Update on this, only had one sniff from the Pistonheads ad, obviously recognised the car and keeps emailing me an offer of £1800 pointing out my potential £600 profit, thing is I don’t know if I really want to sell it !
Im now pondering getting rid of my other E Class as I can’t see my work ever coming back, if I do this the 430 will be perfect for me bumble around in locally. I’ve just got a quote for £200 insurance without any no claims, compared to my Private Hire policy renewel for £1450 . I have to relicense the e220 in a months time too £640 , just to sit on the drive doing nothing.

So, the ultimate 1st World problem/ dilemma; 

Which Merc do I sell?