Your thinking about the electronic failures.

__________________
Jim

I don't own a 210 diesel either but any long trip we have taken in the past couple years it has been in the 2000 wagon and it has never let me down. I have had some small failures on it (brake switch, alternator, rotors, other stuff I can't think off without looking at my notes) but all of it has been minor and nothing I couldn't make it home with. The 98 E430 is a bit of a different story even thought the E430 has about 35k less miles than the 2000. However, the 2000 was clearly kept up better than the E430 so I really attribute it to the POs maintenance rather than the vehicle itself (FWIW, the wife picked out the E430 because it was the cheapest 210 I could find, within reason junkers excluded. I did inform her that the low cost will likely correlate to more maintenance needed and it has held true.)

__________________
2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD

I never get that lucky with the equipment. I recall a dark rainy night leaving NYC and headed back to LI. Alternator failure before I could get out of Manhattan.

WTF to do? No way to do anything at that hour.

Headlights off and flashers on...........and drive onward in the right lane. Pray for no police.

RainX is the savior.

Made it home without incident, although the last three miles in severe darkness without road lighting was no pleasure.

Heh-Heh. I agree...

__________________
Mine: 1987 MB 420 SEL - 62K (Dec 2019)
Mine:1991 MB 350SDL - 244K (Aug 2011)- Totalled 9/14/2016
Mine:1981 MB 300SD - 326K mi (July 1997)-sold
Wife's: 2008 MB C300 Sport - 92K mi (April 2009)

Interestingly enough, I discover a lot of things in the Spring and Fall when the temperature is just right for driving with the windows down. The car has so much padding and sound insulation, you just never hear anything when it's on it's way out.

Echos from retaining walls, guard rails and even simple curbs can reveal potential mechanical failures.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

The answer seems to be AAA or CAA for most here and maybe even AA for some.

Does MB Roadside assistance still help those with older cars?

__________________
Graham
85 300D,72 350SL, 98 E320, Outback 2.5

MB changed the rules a year or so ago. I think you have to spend something like $150 at a dealership over the course of a year to be eligible for the roadside assist.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

yes very reminiscent of those, yet those can be accompanied by smell of melting/ plastic and/or smoke and sparks which is a lot more pleasant and a lot less dangerous.

__________________
'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.

That is what I did. Purchased 98 E300DT with 251,000 miles on it in the place 3000 miles from home. Having Polish roots could not bypass Chicago, so the total trip was closer to 3200 miles, what I did in 72 hr.
Lucky me the car was maintained and beside getting new key I have only cosmetic worries about it.
This is 4th W210 I bought for my family and I have high confidence in those cars.
Now if anybody thinks that car with 14 years of age and hundreds of thousands miles will still run on all factory parts -he better sober up.
Lot of rubber parts need to be replaced at about 10 years marks.
Alternator brushes (regulators) are not having 200k life expectancy, so you better change them past 100k.
Driveshaft rubber components? You better check them every year on aged car as I read the story when part of driveshaft did show inside going via rear seat.

to me, this is a silly question. i have a vw for a city car, just driving around town and such. my e300 stays in the garage and only comes out when i'm driving a long distance on the freeway, road trips, vacations, etc. e300 is the best highway car i've ever owned, so roomy, so smooth, so quiet, and 30+ mpg.

what was the failure mode of the rotors? were they improperly installed? or defective castings?

or did they simply exceed their wear limit, and you failed to replace them until it was too late? no offense, but that's no different from driving until you've run out of gas (or diesel) and end up on the roadside, because you failed to stop and fill up. not quite fair to call that a failure of the car, don't you think? that's owner/operator error.

I just got back from a 1000+ mile round trip to Philly. The car performed flawlessly and returned 34.5 MPG.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Lighten up Francis. I didn't call it a "failure of the car", now did I? I said the parts failed, which obviously will happen on cars, correct?

Also, you quoted only PART of a sentence from my statement, taking me out of context (which is against the rules BTW).

I was simply listing the small amount of maintenance required on the car to make the point that only small stuff has been required and that the 210 wagon has been reliable to me. Seems like you agree, no? The rotors probably shouldn't have been mentioned in the same statement as the other stuff but it was a weird wear pattern that showed up soon after buying the car. A grove formed causing some shuddering all of a sudden a few months after buying it (the PO had it on his list of stuff he had done to the car)...I guess I'll take the blame for that? We can't all be master mechanics, now can we?

__________________
2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD

no offense intended. but you did refer to it as a "failure". i'm no master mechanic, just an amateur shade tree guy. was only trying to understand what "failure" meant in the context of that particular item. i stand by my assertion however that consumable parts do not fail unless they are defective, improperly installed, or have exceeded their service life. glad to hear the car is treating you well.

One issue we're certainly facing up here in western Canada is the declining number of good indies with experience in these cars. I am a cautious, classic shade tree mechanic who can handle the basic stuff like fluid changes and valve adjustments but relies on an indie for more complex stuff.

As a result I made a practice to take the old Benz's in annually for their "annual medical" to an indie I trusted, who would go over them, test drive them and give me a one-page list, sorted into

- should fix soon (impending doom type of stuff)
- fix when you have spare funds
- only fix if you're a collector/restoration nut

Best $100 per car I'd spend each year.

Both indies in our locality who had good skills in 80's and early 90's Benz's are now out of business. I think the issues are

- older guys simply retiring
- recession meaning people are driving their older cars until they break, reducing preventative maintenance revenues for indies
- newer cars are more affordable than they used to be as a lot of newer vehicles just need a lot less maintenance and are much more fuel efficient as well

I am now in a situation where I have to monitor my own fleet for reliability and safety issues as my local indies have no idea where to start on diagnosis of a problem on these cars. Are you guys seeing the same issue in the States?