New addition to the fleet - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dieseldiehard · #1 06-28-2019, 04:12 PM

I am back from a trip, or a couple of trips back to back.
Arrived in Napa on second end of a trip and the car was at 407miles on the trip odometer and my friend said I was risking it with an unknown car, raise a few "what ifs" like what if the car suddenly runs out of fuel in the boondocks? that would be a bad thing I agreed especially without a manual primer.
Anyhow around 415 miles the reserve fuel lamp came on and I eventually found a gas station with diesel at the nice low price of $3.959 (I know, folks not living in the state of CA will find that a high price but where I live its $4.30 and up/gal).

I hadn't filled the car up to the filler neck as I do when I am trying to get an accurate mileage figure but using the amount I put in at this fill-up was 15.3 gals, that gives fuel mileage of 27.3 MPG.
This was over about 30% city and 70% freeway at 70-80MPH. With AC.
The factory specs for the fuel tank are 21.1 gals, so if I were to drive until I ran out of fuel, using this MPG, I could theoretically drive another 156 miles or something like 570 miles.
DDH
I'll be off on a short trip again tomorrow then I need to get with the brake renewal program, I'm waiting for the Porterfield pads to arrive .

dieseldiehard · #2 06-30-2019, 12:31 AM

as I was headed along on a trip I was doing a steady 60MPH in the left lane and a car slowly passed me and as it did the driver leaned out of his open window and waived a big THUMBS UP

not once but twice!

My wife asked me what all that was about and I said he must appreciate a 20 year old car with less than 50K miles on it and he probably liked the like new appearance.
Every now and then I get a few middle digit salutes especially driving my blue bomb when I cut some idiot off but never have I received such a show of affection over my car.
it made me feel really good! Maybe I should wax it and see kind of attention I can get

vwnate1 · #3 06-30-2019, 12:49 AM

Yes, you have a beautiful automobile there .

I also think you should wax it as that really helps to maintain the paint .

Back when he used to wash it, my brother's two W126's often got waves, thumbs up and people asking how me managed to have such a new car as "everyone knows" a new Mercedes is so expen$ive.....

.

dieseldiehard · #4 06-30-2019, 01:07 AM

thanks for the comment vwnate1 !
I've already ordered some HP Care Care OCTANE wax, my old can of carnuba wax is probably dried up, is been years since I bought it.
New stuff is a nano wax the latest method of making ultra small crystals. Will report on how it goes on.
But first I have a brake project to do before any cosmetics. I'm sure the pads in it are from the factory. I'm going to shotgun the rotors and pads, one rotor is a little warped and I can't stand anything less than perfect, quiet braking!

Father Of Giants · #5 07-14-2019, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

as I was headed along on a trip I was doing a steady 60MPH in the left lane and a car slowly passed me and as it did the driver leaned out of his open window and waived a big THUMBS UP

not once but twice!

My wife asked me what all that was about and I said he must appreciate a 20 year old car with less than 50K miles on it and he probably liked the like new appearance.
Every now and then I get a few middle digit salutes especially driving my blue bomb when I cut some idiot off but never have I received such a show of affection over my car.
it made me feel really good! Maybe I should wax it and see kind of attention I can get

Immaculately clean W210's are seriously nice looking. It's a rare sight.

dieseldiehard · #6 07-26-2019, 11:35 AM

Father Of Giants (is that a DNA trait?) said "Immaculately clean W210's are seriously nice looking. It's a rare sight."
there are lots of W210's around here, there aren't many rusty ones like back East in the rust belt. Many of them look pretty nice from a distance but show peeling clear coat up close and there are always dents that people get.

A common issue I see is yellowed headlight lens. After the W124 chassis with its glass covered headlights MB went to plastic covers and I've had to replace them on my old '99 E300D. I also had the wiring defect that seems to be a common issue on the 210's. I've spent several hours working on darned 210 headlights but never had an issue with 124 headlights.
Speaking of headlights, this car has Halogens, my older one was updated to Xenon D2S. I prefer Halogens because of two reasons: first the Xenons take a while to get to full brightness so you can't use them to flash another car. Second is the cost to replace Xenons. I had one ballast go out and have replaced bulbs once. The cost of a Halogen is nothing compared to Xenon bulbs and their light output is consistent over time.

I am amazed that my "new" W210 has no (that is ZERO) defects in the windshield! no stars, no chips, no cracks - it really looks like it just rolled off the factory floor.
A close look and I note its the OE W/S unless the PO had it changed at the dealer (very unlikely).
I just got a nice Daimler Benz decal to make it complete

A 004 584 73 38

todieselornot · #7 06-30-2019, 01:31 PM

It's a rainy Sunday morning for me, so I thought I'd go through all the invoices that I've paid to keep my '98 E300 - just in case you need any help justifying your beautiful new addition to the family. I've owned my car for a little over 15 years - let's call it 182 months. Amortizing what I've spent so far over 182 months, excluding fuel, the car has cost me $274.48 per month. I gather you do most of your own maintenance, so I would expect that figure to be much less for you.

As of this morning the car has 458,169 miles. I bought it with about 46k miles, so my cost per mile for maintenance and repairs comes to about .12/mile. I estimate my fuel costs over that time is about .10/mile as diesel seems to have averaged $3/gal over that period.

Not as cheap to operate as our RAV4, but I wouldn't hesitate to take her cross-country tomorrow. In fact, I put 1,200+ miles on last week for work.

Great looking car. Congrats!

JHZR2 · #8 07-12-2019, 11:58 PM

Wow, nice! Even in the climate you live in, I’d get some oil spray rustproofing all over that car...

vwnate1 · #9 07-13-2019, 01:27 AM

Finnigan's Waxoyl......

dieseldiehard · #10 07-13-2019, 11:49 AM

OK, thanks for the suggestions, I never thought of that.
The under carriage is clean too.
I forgot to bring my camera while it was on a lift
The only thing missing is the front cover under the engine, probably when the po had an oil change at Firestone (

)
first thing I did was put some synthetic 5W40 in it (MB 229.5)

gsxr · #11 07-13-2019, 08:17 PM

Don't forget the Italian tuneup specified by the late Marshall Booth. Full throttle to redline through at least the first few gears, to whatever legal speeds are near you. That may help a bit, and certainly doesn't hurt.

Buying a new splash shield would be $265 list, ~$200 from discount dealers. Don't forget there is a second, smaller splash shield behind that ($140 / $105), and a third one under the transmission ($360 / $270). If all 3 are missing, makes you want to find the guy who tossed them, eh?

dieseldiehard · #12 07-13-2019, 11:36 PM

Already done the Italian tune up! this car really gets up and goes!
Thanks for the illustration, Dave. I am missing item# 11
A friend believes it is the same on all W210's

I removed the belly pan on my '87 300D because frankly I can't install it since I lowered the car

I don't have any serious leaks anyhow at least not the last time I checked, I like looking at the pavement where I park. I still have the MB screws that held it on, squirreled away for the day I get the car up on a lift in order to restore it.

I just remembered I have a clean belly pan from a 300SD(L?)
The shop I used to hang at gave it to me after their customer left it or they forgot to put it back on. Its huge, compared to the ones on a 124.
I don't know what it would cost to ship but I may find out and try to sell it. Or trade for a 210 pan?
DDH

dieseldiehard · #13 07-13-2019, 11:40 PM

It just occurred to me the turbo diesel MIGHT use a different cover, since it has an intercooler up behind the lower grill / bumper?

gsxr · #14 07-14-2019, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

Already done the Italian tune up! this car really gets up and goes!
Thanks for the illustration, Dave. I am missing item# 11
A friend believes it is the same on all W210's

#11 is the small piece that goes in the middle, between the large front panel, and large rear panel. #11 also #14 attached, which is a duct to feed cooling air to an engine mount. See attached.

This panel is not the same on all 210's, the EPC indicates it fits a few other models, but not all. Seems the difference may be this particular panel only has 1 duct, while other models use 2 ducts. The other cars are the 96-97 diesels, and 96-97 E320... so it may be 1 duct for inline-6 engines, and 2 ducts for the V6/V8 engines. You can buy all 3 parts brand new for under $120 delivered from Naperville with free shipping.

BTW, do you know a source that still has Metal Master brake pads? I haven't been able to find them for years, I thought they were out of production.

t walgamuth · #15 07-14-2019, 08:17 AM

When I had an 82 wagon with my wife as primary driver I could not keep the front rotors from warping. I think she uses the brakes a lot more than I do. The wagon is heavier than a sedan too so there is that.

Great looking car! Glad you are having good luck with it.

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