PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Questions on my NEW 1988 300E 5-speed

JimSmith · #9 11-19-2001, 11:55 AM

Thanks for the input guys,

I just finished the trip home, 2,528 miles by the odometer and an average of 29.07 miles per gallon. I will retrace my path using MapQuest to check the mileage as I believe the odometer was a little low on miles compared to the highway markers. A lot better than I expected (our C230 Kompressor Sport does not get that kind of mileage) as I never drove much below 70 mph and spent quite a bit of time at 75 mph, which was about 2600 rpm or so. The tires were so bad above 85 mph that I spent the trip a little aprehensive about going much over 75 once I left Colorado.

The car has 97,800 miles on it now, and it does have a few other idiosyncracies, like an unstable idle once in a while that a blip on the throttle fixes, and a built in radar detector that probably dates back to 1988 as it is really primitive and nasty (a Bel Micro Eye Remote unit in the ashtray, which was never used for smoking, another nice feature). It has been serviced by a German car place (Clarke German Auto Service, LLC in Provo, Utah), and had the valve seals replaced, along with the timing chain, at 84,000 miles. A tune up in October which consisted of transmission fluid, differential fluid, plugs, power steering fluid and filter, air filter, and an inspection of the brakes, etc. was also performed. On the way home the car used maybe 8 ounces of oil, which was Pennzoil 40W grade. I will be switching to Mobil 1 and a new filter later today.

The exterior is white, with not a dent or a rust spot, except for the edges of the jack tube on the front passenger side. I will have that taken care of shortly, and before Winter sets in here. I am thinking of having the car Ziebarted to renew the rustproofing.

The interior is pristine. A grey leather with not a single flaw anywhere. No dash cracks, no aging of the wood, other than a slightly cloudy appearance of the wood around the area of the window switches. The right side, front window does not work, and the previous owner believes it is something in the door, not the switch, for some reason he was unable to clearly relay to me. I will dig into that today too.

Steering is tight, muffler is tight, engine runs very smoothly, almost to a fault, as it will let you lug or rev it without complaint. With the radio on, which was a standard M-B unit of the day, I had to look at the tach to figure out if I needed to shift.

Overall it is a great car. I will be exploring the SRS light issue and calling Tire Rack shortly. I will as for Luke. Thanks for the help, and a place to share my excitement over finding the car. Jim