12 months in with a 2007 Mercedes E280 CDI

[Wack]

Picked this up a couple of weeks ago ,one owner, 64,000 miles FSH, surprisingly passed over by a number of members of the forum because ,resale silver with black interior , not advertised off the forum or I'm 100% sure it'd have sold in 30 minutes.

By a stroke of luck the mini I had was bought by a breaker almost in the same town so easy enough to drive down in one and drive back in this, It was over 32 degrees going down in a car with no AC , coming back I felt like a king rather than a sweaty pig

Not much to report, everything works , 2 weeks in I love it more that that cool drive home , it's so easy to drive and I keep finding things I didn't know it had, like front parking sensors, headlight washers , auto folding rear headrests.

Gearbox changes are barely noticeable , it came with a service bill for £780 just over 1000 miles ago so I assume that included a gearbox oil change

It's quick enough rather than being sporty and great on diesel , I don't know if it's lower than standard as the tyres seem to be well into the wheel arches , boot is massive

After the mini my wife said she wanted something bigger with 4 doors, as I reversed it on the drive I think she was regretting that.

I have built up a picture of the previous owner , I've found a whistler laser detector, driving gloves and the car is de badged

 

[SteersWithThrottle]

It was owned by The Transporter?  ?

[Wack]

Only one disappointment , on another forum a guy asked if I'd found the secret electric CD player access, touch the silver button and you get Bentley style electric access to the 6 disc CD player

 

 

Not on the peasant edition you don't , you get a box to hide your pound coins in

 

[Jazoli]

If I'd have seen it on here I'd have been very interested but I never saw the for sale post, nice cars and definitely on my next car list.

[Wack]

You missed a bargain

It’s been a long time since I felt such a good fit with a car , I really do think this one is a keeper, it must look a lot more money than it cost because I have seen people notice it , it’s modern German cars , from this era onwards they all look pretty much the same to me, other than the plate I can’t tell if it’s 5 years old or 15 years old 

[rainagain]

It’s a gorgeous car, if I had the money I would have snapped it as well. I hope you enjoy it. 

[timolloyd]

These always seem very popular with the IAM / HPC crowd.

Nice buy!

[garbaldy]

In 2016 I sold the wallet raping black weekend merc e320cdi for  £1500 Quid, even after all the grief that thing caused I do still fancy another one as it was a nice drive and a great tow car.

It had the gutsy v6 engine what engine is in the 280 then?

[Tetleysmooth]

I can recommend the W202. Best car I've had for a good while.

[Andy F]

One of these in estate form was on  my shortlist for my last car purchase. I could never quite decide between pre 2007 with SBC brake failure and more electrical gremlins or post 2007 with these problems ironed out but the potential for 7G tronic issues.

Before 2007 E270 was a 5 cylinder, E320 was V6

After 2007 E280 and E320 are both the same straight 6 but with different states of tune. They can both be tuned up to the same amount but forget what that is now.

 

They are a timeless design, I just need to be brave and buy one!

[Wack]

Just looking at some pictures online, seems I fit their client profile , that was my haircut until earlier this week , can't see that zimmer being far away either, horse shoes not so much

 

[garbaldy]

Looks much better in silver.

This was on another hectic collection mission and the 3.2 v6 had endless torque.

[Peter C]

Being a facelift car, does the audio system have an aux-in socket?

[Peter C]

On 7/10/2020 at 11:20 AM, Andy F said:

 I could never quite decide between pre 2007 with SBC brake failure and more electrical gremlins or post 2007 with these problems ironed out but the potential for 7G tronic issues.

This!

[Wack]

No aux in 

Not really sure what it is , it was registered in 2007 as a demo car so I'd assume it was the face-lift but it's not a straight 6

 

[Peter C]

It is a post 2006 facelift car, the shape of the front fog lights and the chrome strip on the boot lid give it away.

No aux-in ?

I’m considering buying a 6 pot pez W211 but the SBC brakes and 7G are putting me off.

[Peter C]

Can you post a photo of the ICE head unit please.

[Wack]

Just did a VIN decode  turns out it was delivered in 2006 but not registered until jan 07

Delivery date: 29 06 2006

 CONVERTER WITH DEV. CHARACTERISTIC

   OWNERS MANUAL AND SERVICE RECORD

- ENGLISH   SPEED-SENSITIVE POWER STEERING/VARIO STEERING

   PARKTRONIC SYSTEM (PTS)

   SIGN COOLANT/REFUELING

- ENGLISH   INSIDE AND OUTSIDE MIRROR AUTOMATIC DIMMING

   MOBILO LIFE/EUROPE SERVICE PACKAGE

   LEATHER STEERING WHEEL AND LEATHER GEAR SHIFT KNOB 

  AIRBAGLABLE

- ENGLISH   ANTENNA FOR TELEPHONE D/E-NET   MOBILE PRE.-INSTALLATION (MTUS)

   AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 7-SPEED

   INSTRUMENT WITH MILES IND. AND ENGLISH LEGEND

   TIRE PRESSURE LOSS WARNER

   SPORTS SUSPENSION  

 OUTSIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR LH AND RH FOLDING

   RADIO AUDIO 20   GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND

   SUN VISOR WITH MAKE-UP MIRROR L. AND R.

, BE-   ANTI-THEFT/ANTI-BREAK-IN WARNING SYSTEM

   CHILD SEAT MOUNTING, ISOFIX IN REAR 

  AIR CONDITIONER  

 EUROPE   HEADLAMPS - CLEANING EQUIPMENT   BI-XENON HEADLAMPS FOR LEFT-HAND TRAFFIC   CORNERING ILLUMINATION

   PRODUCT PROT.F.TRANSPORT VEH. W/O TIE-DOWN HOOKS

   HIGH-CAPACITY BATTERY

   17" LT-ALLOY 5 DBL-SPOKE DESIGN W/ WIDE BASE TIRES

   EMERGENCY SPARE TIRE (MINI SPARE)

   WOOD VERSION,BIRD'S EYE MAPLE BLACK/ANTHRACITE

   BRIGHT SILVER METALLIC CLEAR COAT PAINT

   YEAR OF MODIFICATION   AMARETTA/LEATHER/NAPPA/SEMI-ANILINE   AMARETTA/LEATHER/NAPPA/SEMI-ANILINE - BLACK/ANTH. 

  SEAT HEATER FOR LEFT AND RIGHT FRONT SEATS

   HEATED SCREEN WASH SYSTEM 

  INTERIOR SAFEGUARD

   DYNAMO WITH HIGHER CAPACITY (FFO) 

  FUEL TANK WITH LARGER CAPACITY 

  EXHAUST GAS CLEANING WITH EURO 4 TECHNOLOGY

   EQUIPMENT PACKAGE FOR AVANTGARDE VEHICLES

   COC PAPER EURO 4 TECHNOLOGY W/O REG. CERT.

PART II   IDENTIFICATION LABEL UNDER WINDSHIELD

   NEW CONVERTER GENERATION

   JOINT FLANGE, 4-ARM 120   O-SHIFT PLATE WITH VGS2 

  SERIES PRODUCTION 211   LIMOUSINE 

  TRANSMISSION CODE VERSION 02   AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 

  REAR AXLE   ADDITIONAL CODE FOR DAMPING MAT 

  ADAPTIVE STOP LIGHT FLASHING

   ENGINES WITH EXH.TURBOCHARGER WITH INTERCOOLER 

  ENGINE REDUCED PERFORMANCE

   DISPLACEMENT 3.0 LITER   V6 DIESEL ENGINE OM642O

   RIGHT-HAND STEERING

   SUMMER TIRES

   AUTOMATIC CHILD SEAT RECOGNITATION (AKSE)

   SPEED- + LOADINDEX 95W

   FRONT AXLE HALF, LEFT   FRONT AXLE HALF, RIGHT

   BRIGHT SILVER METALLIC CLEAR COAT PAINT 

  AMARETTA/LEATHER/NAPPA/SEMI-ANILINE - BLACK/ANTH. 

  V6 DIESEL ENGINE OM642

 

[Wack]

[Peter C]

That’s the same unit that I had in my CLS.

There’s a way of connecting an aux-in cable. It involves soldering a socket with two wires to a circuit board (instructions are easily found on the internet), then you’ll need a CD with a recording of silence. The idea is that your CD player is triggering the system but the source signal is coming in via the aux-in socket. 

My local audio repair man soldered the wires for me for £20. I tried doing it myself but it’s too fiddly. Once done, I had crystal clear sound and could play music and radio from my phone.

[garbaldy]

Very nice so should be same engine mine was 220 bhp makes for a great tow car.

I just ran mine through and it's mot expired in 2018 shame as it was a great car most of the time.

[Wack]

22 minutes ago, garbaldy said:

Very nice

Are you looking at me or the car, just noticed the selfie

[HMC]

Lovely! I had an 08 e220cdi estate (resale silver) which  was perfect really and had the ultimate development of that engine  but I found the engine itself frugal but dull and sold it. Lined up a 320cdi estate In obsidian black that had done 300k but the mot history showed it had had 100k shaved off it a few years ago, it was cheap but a decided against.

[Wack]

Don't know if this is a problem or not , a few times I've gone to start it ,turn the key and nothing , dash looks normal but no starter, turn it again and it fires up fine, it's never failed to start on the second turn 

Does it with both keys as it's happened to my wife as well

I'm assuming it's an immobiliser issue where it's not recognising the key straight away 

[rainagain]

What does this mean:

ENGINE REDUCED PERFORMANCE

in the build list? Does it come with the EML on from the factory  ? 

[Wack]

The E280 and E320 diesels are the same engine 190bhp 440nm for the E280 221bhp 540nm for the E320

It's an easy upgrade for a few hundred quid 

 

[Wack]

the starting problem appears to have sorted itself out , hasn't done it in a few weeks now

Nothing to report , still loving it , spent an hour with the autoglym this evening 

 

[bangernomics]

Don't know if this is a problem or not , a few times I've gone to start it ,turn the key and nothing , dash looks normal but no starter, turn it again and it fires up fine, it's never failed to start on the second turn 
Does it with both keys as it's happened to my wife as well
I'm assuming it's an immobiliser issue where it's not recognising the key straight away 

It’s the steering lock module, they’re infamous on all mercs with the modular keys. They can be rebuilt for about £150 or you can spend ££££ on a new one.

Prophet of doom it will fail and you will be stuck so best to plan the recon in now. I’ve had it on 1998 c class, 2004 e class, and 2013 e class. All the same issue.

[Wack]

Thanks 

any idea who rebuilds them , is that cobblers business , he rebuilds electronics I believe 

[bangernomics]

I’ll dig out the last invoice and drop you a line when I’m back in the uk next week.