1998 E300 D
 

Are the 98's good? I.E. any across the board problems engine wise, tranny wise or anything like that? I'm looking to buy one as my primary ride, 100 Miles perday commute. I have an 83 300D that I've been flogging but it water leaks, the A/C's broke and it's uglier than a duck's butt. I'll be keeping it but need a nice comfortable, reliable ride for the summer. Any advise as to what to watch out for is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Search please. Lots of W210 discussion has taken place since last November. We've covered all of that.

rmmagow,

I have had one for just about 18 months now. I bought it with 41,000 miles and have added another 21,000 or so. I have not seen any problems with the engine, no oil usage, no starting problems and no reliability events. I like it and would buy it again, which is saying something.

I have noted on others on this site have reported the glow plugs are hell to change and like much on this car, servicing requires removal of the intake manifold. I have yet to do it (remove the intake manifold), but once my Starmark warranty is up, I will be learning.

Also, apparently the glow plug relay on some models can go awry and cause electrical and structural failures of the glow plugs themselves, which means you end up drilling them out, which means the head comes off. I have not experienced this and hopefully never will, but it does seem to be an issue, possibly more freqently associated with the non-turbo's of 1996 and 1997.

The car gets great mileage, is very comfortable, quiet, and quite nice to look at, unlike a duck's butt. I am not fully at ease with how much more electronic this vehicle is than my W124, W201 and W123 machines are, but so far it has been pretty good.

I would much prefer a manual transmission, I don't think electric seats are a good use of my funds (I am not much for fiddling with seat position once I settle into a comfortable arrangement and can't see the point of having that stuff just sitting there all the time); same with the sunroof, and the automatic climate controls. I never objected to turning the temperature knobs when I wanted more or less heating or cooling effect and I really object to having to pay to fix these "conveniences" to restore basic functionality of the vehicle systems. Seems the most assuredly automatic feature of these is that you will automatically be sorry they are part of your car when they fail.

I would like to end this on a positive note since I really like the car, and would recommend one to anyone in the market. Used they are even a potential "bargain." Good luck and take your time, have a compression check done before buying. Jim

Use the search function, we've had lots of discussion about this model. Here's my view of the long and short of it - they're either very good, or very bad. Doesn't seem to be many in the middle.

One of our more vocal members (you out there John?) purchased one, then turned around and sold it after ~6 months. I think it spent about half that time in the shop.

I've had mine for almost five years and nearly 50K miles. It's been in the shop quite a bit over that time - about 7 weeks total. (This is only counting repairs, I'm not including routine maintenance nor wear items.) I just paid to have the cylinder head removed to extract a stuck glow plug; a $2500 tab which I'm not too happy about. Anyways, you can read of my travails elsewhere in this forum.

I agree with all of what JimSmith has posted. This is a really wonderful car, a very impressive combination of performance, comfort, economy, and torque! Mine's just broken too much.

One drawback is that not many of these were sold in the U.S. Hence finding a skilled & knowledgable mechanic is a bit more of a challenge, and parts availability for the diesel can be a bit slower.

In terms of problems, just make sure all the glow plugs work. Be sure both the glow plug and check engine light come on before starting, and then go out when started. Be sure the car starts and immediately idles smoothly from a cold start. Changing the plugs on this car runs ~$500 (the plugs themselves are more expensive, and the manifold had to be removed), plus I know of three or four cases in which a glow plug sheared off in the head - enough to worry about.

I'm about to put mine up for sale - I've tired of riding my bicycle to work.

- JimY

Rather dis-heartening to say the least. Seems my money'd be better spent looking for a super nice 83~85 W123 which is exactly what I'm going to do. Mine's not so great looking due to poor paint, bad interior, lots of water leaks etc. At 178000, virtually nothing has gone wrong otherwise. I'll put some time into the current 123 to see if I can stop the leaks. I already boight some wood and will put that in to have it look better. I'll probably have a cheap re-spray done or use this as my "learn to paint" car. I'll spend my efforts on finding the elusive perfect 123 and let it go at that. At least they are easy to work on and basically don't break. Thanks for the advise, the search did show a lot of info for the W210 and there just seems to be too many problems for a car that I'd probably have to drop 15K for. Hell, 15K would buy me 3 pretty nice 123's !

210 DIESEL
 

BEING THE ONLY ONE IN MY DEALERSHIP TO WORK ON DIESEL
W210'S AND W140'S, I CAN TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THEM. THE 96'
210.020 WITH A 4 SPD AUTO IS A DOG AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED.
FIND A NICE 124.131 (E300D) INSTEAD. THE 124'S HAVE A MORE RELIABLE GLOW SYSTEM AND GET BETTER ECONOMY. I HAVE SEVERAL CLIENTS COMING UP ON 200,000 MILES WITH LITTLE PROBLEMS.
THE 606.910 MOTOR (24V 3.0L) IS PRETTY STOUT AND DURABLE IF
DRIVEN HARD AND MAINTAINED WITH GOOD OIL AND GOOD FUEL.
ALL THESE MOTORS SEAL THEMSELVES UP AND DIE IF ONLY PUTTERED AROUND AT LOW RPM. THEY NEED TO BE BLOWN OUT TO REMAIN CARBON FREE WITH OUR CRAPPY U.S. GRADE DIESEL.
THE 97' 210.020 HAD A .6 5-SPEED AUTO AND DITCHED THE LEAKY
REAR FENDER ANTENNEA. THIS TRANNY AND MOTOR WORK WELL TOGETHER AND WORK TO KEEP THE ENGINE REV'S UP FOR POWER.
THE 97' ALSO HAS THE NEWEST STYLE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROLS FOR ENGINE AND TRANS. I HAVE ONE OVER 100,000
MILES NOW AND HAS HAD NO FAILURES. THE 98'S AND 99'S ARE
THE NEWER 210.025 TURBO CARS. GOOD CARS, GREAT POWER AND TORQUE, BUT NOT EXACTLY FUEL MILEAGE CHAMPS SINCE THE FUEL TRIM IS PRETTY RICH ON THESE BABIES. DON'T EXPECT
TO SEE MUCH BETTER THAN 20 TO 25MPG IN REAL WORLD DRIVING. I HAVE HAD E320 GAS CARS SPANK DIESELS IN TOWN
ON CITY FUEL ECONOMY. THESE TURBO CARS CAN BE MORE TROUBLE PRONE WITH OIL LEAKS, BAD M.A.F. SENSORS, DEAD GLOW PLUGS, FAILED EMISSIONS, AND JUST PLAIN FAILED ENGINES. THE TURBO 210'S TEND TO USE OIL BECAUSE OF SOME
OWNERS NEGLECT AND 10,000 MI SERVICE INTERVALS.
I HAVE REBUILT OVER 20 606 ENGINES AND HAVE FOUND THE ONES THAT ARE MAINTAINED CORRECTLY AND DRIVEN AGGRESIVELY HAVE BEEN VERY RELIABLE. CHEAP FUEL AND TOO MUCH CARBON TENDS TO SIEZE GLOW PLUGS AND PRE-CHAMBERS. EGR VALVES, INTAKE MANIFOLDS, INTAKE RUNNER FLAPS, PIPES, AND MIXING HOUSINGS ALL TEND TO PLUG UP WHEN IDLED AROUND ALL THE TIME. CATALISTS ARE EXTRA FRAGILE ON THE TURBO CARS AND BREAK CLAMPS THAT CONNECT THEM TO THE TURBO OUTLETS. CATS CAN ALSO PLUG UP AND KILL
THE ENGINES. ONE THING TO WATCH FOR ON THE TURBO CARS IS HEAT FROM THE TURBO WILL WARP THE AIR BOX ALLOWING DIRT TO GET PAST THE SIDES OF THE AIR FILTER. A M.A.F. SENSOR FAILURE WILL OCCUR SOON AND BLUE SMOKE NOT MUCH LONG
AFTER.
THESE ARE GOOD CARS AND MUCH BETTER THAN A 603 TURBO DIESEL. IF DRIVEN AND MAINTAINED CORRECTLY, THESE CARS CAN
PROVIDE THOUSANDS OF MILES OF TROUBLE-FREE DRIVING.
PARTS ARE FAIRILY EXPENSIVE, GLOW PLUG AROUND $50, INJECTORS $140, AND A PUMP $2500 PLUS.
I TRY TO RECOMMEND LUBRO-MOLY DIESEL HI-TEST TO BE ADDED AT EACH FILL UP. IT REALLY HELPS WITH SMOOTHNESS AND
NAILING.
JUST WAIT UNTIL WE HAVE THE NEW E320CDI ON SALE FOR 04'.
THE NEW ERA OF COMMON RAIL DIRECT INJECTION WILL MAKE ALL OTHER OIL POWERED CARS SEEM WEAK. 30MPG IS COMMON AND POWER IS V-8 STRONG. EXPECT TO SEE DIESEL COME BACK BIG WITH MODELS IN ALL SERIES. A,C,E,S,ML, AND G. IN JUST A FEW YEARS.
AMG ALREADY MADE A C30 CDI COUPE' AND SEDAN.
HOPE THIS WAS SOME HELP.
BEST OF LUCK -
DR. D

Excellent advise, Dr. Diesel!

DR. DIESEL
 

I sent you a private message. Please press the "user cp" button near the top of the page to see it.

I don't know what it is that makes technicians hang out here, but we're sure glad you do. I mean, I would not spend my off hours advising people about computers, which is what I do for a living. so this is just to say "Thanks for sharing your expertise."

newer diesels
 

Very informative posts by everyone. I wish I had seen Dr. D's post before I bought my 98 E300D, I probably would have bought the 97 E300 instead. I have owned mine since January, and now have to replace the MAS, but otherwise enjoyed the car.

One question, what do you mean by Real world driving Dr.D? Do you mean in town only? I drive 70% freeway, and get an average 27 mpg so far. Not the 30 mpg claimed by some, but not 20-25 that you quoted either.

Ive owned an e300td for over two years. I bought it used with 32k and now have over 70k on it. I usually get 27-28 miles around town(city- country). Just returned from colo. and averaged over 31mpg. and this is running with the pack. I have got as high as 36 mpg. with straight hi-way driving in the summer. I have not had any mechanical problems with the engine. I love it. Now if I could just figure out how to fix the cup holder mechanism I would be totally happy.

98 e300 turbodiesel
 

I echo Reddie-ronnie's post, almost exactly, except that I bought my car with 39K on the clock and now have 53K. Also, I consistently get 31+ in this car. I will point out though that I am unsure which size fuel tank is in my particular car based on a previous post by richhunters, so I may be off a little on my calculations.

As far as Dr. Diesel's recommendations about driving hard at high rpm, a mature benz marine diesel tech told me when I bought this car to run it in 4th gear (as opposed to "D"), which I almost always do under about 60 mph to keep the rpms up. Good idea Dr. Diesel?

From personal experience, a diesel that is driven hard is a happy diesel..

narwhal wrote: Not sure what you are referring to. But this car should have a 21.5 gallon (based on memory, don't have manual handy) tank, including a reserve of 2.6 gallon. Anyway, if you get 31 mpg using 4th gear, you'll get even more by using 5th/Drive. What is your driving secret? Wish I could get those mileage.

GOT OIL?
 

HELLO,

REAL WORLD DRIVING TO ME IS WHAT MY CUSTOMERS TEND TO DO. EVERY STOP LIGHT IS A DRAG RACE, THEIR 7 MI COMMUTE IS
PURE STOP AND GO, AND THE CARS NEVER REALLY STRECH THEIR LEGS. IF YOU MIX SOME NORMAL FREEWAY DRIVING IN, MILEAGE SHOULD BUMP UP TO AROUND 27-28. I DROVE A NEW ONE TO PORTLAND AND BACK AND GOT ABOUT 35MPG IN 5TH GEAR @70MPH OR SO.

THE CUP HOLDERS ARE DISPOSABLE, I HAVE TRIED TO FIX THEM BUT THEY USUALLY FAIL SHORTLY AFTER. THEY JUST SNAP DOWN IN THEIR LITTLE CUBBY AND ARE EASY TO REPLACE. THEY RUN AROUND 50 BUCKS OR SO. SORRY, ENGINEERING AFTERTHOUGHT.

I PERSONALY DRIVE 210 DIESELS MANUALY WITH THE SHIFTER.
BUT WHEN CRUSING ON THE OPEN ROAD ABOVE 60, I JUST LEAVE THEM IN O.D. OR 5TH. THE RPMS ARE UP HIGH ENOUGH AT THOSE SPEEDS AND YOU DON'T WANT TO OVERWORK OR OVERHEAT THE TURBO IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO.

THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS.

SORRY ABOUT THE ALL CAPS, KEYBOARD BROKEN.
ANYONE KNOW A GOOD KEYBOARD TECHNICIAN? HA HA

HAVE A GOOD DAY. DR.D

Pat,

If you could just elaborate a little more on the glow plug changing procedure I would greatly appreciate it. Taking the intake manifold off just sounds like a lot of work and I do not have ready access to a lift. Thanks, Jim