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1999 C43 AMG Questions
Anyone have anything to say about this car, good and bad? I'm looking at one with 100K on the clock. Could the frame be cracked or what else?
Thanks Jason
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1988 300CE 120K RIP(Midnight Blue/Parchment) 1987 300E 202K (Arctic White/Palomino) Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth. ~Song of The Open Road |
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What is the asking price? If you keep looking you may have to pay a bit more, but you should be able to find a lower mileage C43. A little over two years ago I bought a 1999 with 28K miles from a MB dealer in Atlanta. Vehicle was MB Starmarked certified with a warranty. Expensive at $25K, but it was as close to showroom new as you can get. 15K miles later, it has had minimal problems. Had the dealer change the trans fluid. The C43 is a fast and excellent handling sedan. comfortable and pleasurable to drive !!! |
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Thanks for the info. I was too slow and the one I saw went today for right around 12K. It had 18 inch top drawer rims and new tires. The springs were replaced with the purple ones. HRs? The car had been chipped and something else too, maybe just a free flow air filter. Otherwise it was stock and really mean. The wheels were set for max takeoff and it seemed like there was virtually no squat at all. Very sweet. Was not able to see what shape the trans was in. It was a local car and I checked the car against the VIN sheet. It looked good to me. I guess I'll have to keep looking. I am looking at paying more for a stock lower miles car.
What kind of miles per gallon are you getting? Hows the stock set-up holding up? Regards, jason
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1988 300CE 120K RIP(Midnight Blue/Parchment) 1987 300E 202K (Arctic White/Palomino) Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth. ~Song of The Open Road |
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Find the right C43 and you will be extremely pleased. It will become an appreciating asset. Less then 1200 C43's were made during it's three year production run (1998-2000) The 2000 is the rarest with probably only about 25 units coming to the USA. They have a paddle shift for the transmission. I believe 579 produced in 1998 and 546 in 1999. First V8 in the small sedan that was AMG sold through MB. Mileage depends on driving style. 20+ no problem on highway, high teens in city driving. C43's wind up fast and feel strong as the revs build. Great stock AMG suspension, plus AMG body kit and staggered wheels give an aggessive look. Sport seats are extremely comfortable. Great choice for an early AMG. I like it better then the new ones as it feels more like a Merc !!! Ed A. |
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Thanks Ed. I'm still looking for the right one. I might have to buy a 1999-2000 C230K or C280 with miles for right now. I'm in need of a driver. I totalled my old 300CE recently. I've been getting around in a brand new Focus and it's not a driving car at all. I can't believe they sell so many of these highly incapable autos. There are a few low miles C43s around the country right now. Most are asking high initial asking prices. I'm going to a dealer auction with my wifes uncle tomorrow. Maybe I'll see something.
Thanks very much. Jason
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1988 300CE 120K RIP(Midnight Blue/Parchment) 1987 300E 202K (Arctic White/Palomino) Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth. ~Song of The Open Road |
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Found your C43 yet?
Jason,
Just curious if you ever found a C43 to your liking. We have two 1998 C43s, black exterior over condor (grey/black) leather, with 210kmi, and white with black/black, with a bit over 100k. Paid $7500 for the first one in Florida, and $9500 for the latter in Chicagoland. I have no complaints about either one, and I have to say that we're getting better performance from the higher mileage engine, and that 200kmi car is in a bit better shape mechanically than its 100k sibling. Of course a car's case history is always more important than its odometer reading and that seems particularly well illustrated by our pair of C43s. I would encourage you, if you haven't bought yet, to look around online right now. People are seriously dumping these cars as fuel prices rise -- I called about one in Omaha that had already sold for $4500 or something ridiculous. Most of them seem to have entered car lot limbo after their second owners failed to maintain them adequately, and I think a number of sellers don't really even know what these cars are. For many out of warranty second owners they'll be too much car to maintain at the dealership, and they're too modern for a lot of indy shops to feel totally comfortable with. So the owners let the maintenance slip and eventually let the cars go when something too irritating crops up. As a result, many have minor issues: plugged EGR valves throwing codes, bumper cover cracks, climate control LCD delamination... our black C43 came into our possession with a broken piece of pine moulding shoved under its left rear window pane from whenever the regulator cable failed for the previous owner. Our white C43 sprung a massive fuel leak as we were driving it home from purchase because the rubber hangers on the fuel pump assembly fatigued and snapped under heavy acceleration, pressing the return hose against the rear half shaft with enough force to grind a hole in it. Limped it home and fixed it the next day, took 20 minutes. (That little failure point has "recall" written all over it, but never mind.) These cars can take a lot of punishment, though. Even if you get a badly neglected C43, you can plan to devote a few hours a month to remedying the previous owners' disrespect and feel good about yourself, while having a hell of a great ride along the way. One thing I would say, though: beware the tweakers. I mean no disrespect to anyone on this forum who knows what they're doing, but we've seen a few of these (and C36s) that have been sadly abused by people wanting to make them look or feel like lesser automobiles. If someone is willing to abuse the visible parts of an automobile like we've seen you can bet they haven't been a friend to the drivetrain either. Anyway, I cannot imagine wanting to lower one of these satisfyingly balanced and versatile suspensions, or sticking a spoiler on the clean lines of the 202 profile, or painting the freakin' calipers (I mean, really). A stock C43 has a brilliant understated humility and we've noticed people really like to try to race us, and the thing is, they get their hopes up like they wouldn't for obvious performance cars: the kids in the Hondas just stall out, the Porsche owners give us grins and a fair fight, and the ones in late model Bimmers just look terribly confused that their new investment was just left in the dirt by a C-Klasse. Happy hunting, anyway! Nathan Phoenix & family. 2x 1998 C43 AMG 1x 1983 300TD 0x 1983 300CD (R.I.P.) |
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1999 have the early production 722.6 Transmissions which are prone too planetary failures. I would ask if the transmission was placed or rebuilt, and any other service records for the vehicle. Plan on spending $3500 for rebuilt, if needed
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Steve Cattaneo www.mastertechtrans.com 03 SL500 02 MB AMG 87 560 SEC 87 300D 928S 83 85 928 S2 EURO |
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....wondering out loud if those paddle shifters can be retro-fitted for a W208 CLK55?? |
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Not sure they only built about 300 cars with the "tiptronic / speedshift" option and possibly only 22 reached the USA. Assume it was a variation of the stock transmission used in the 1999 C43 and continued to the W203 C32 ?
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http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...c/GOWIDE-1.jpg 1971 280SL ROADSTER 1988 300CE TWIN TURBO WIDEBODY 1994 E320 CABRIOLET 1999 C43 AMG 2005 G55K AMG 2008 CLK63 AMG BLACK SERIES |
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Ok, gotcha. Touchshift was available - not actual paddle shifters.
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Up/down shift buttons on the steering wheel like the Tip Porsche and Audi's had....... Very, very rare vehicle especially in the USA...
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http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...c/GOWIDE-1.jpg 1971 280SL ROADSTER 1988 300CE TWIN TURBO WIDEBODY 1994 E320 CABRIOLET 1999 C43 AMG 2005 G55K AMG 2008 CLK63 AMG BLACK SERIES |
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So, the MY2000 C43 was the only C43 that had this? Where do I look for pics, etc. |
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I've got a 99 C43, with a conventional console shifter that you must move up and down. I remember seeing it in a 2000 C43 Estate RHD in the UK. Definately it had the speed shift on the console shifter like the later model AMG's that moved sideways, but I swear it had buttons on the wheel. I'm searching for some pix....and will look through my UK mags... Ed A.
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http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...c/GOWIDE-1.jpg 1971 280SL ROADSTER 1988 300CE TWIN TURBO WIDEBODY 1994 E320 CABRIOLET 1999 C43 AMG 2005 G55K AMG 2008 CLK63 AMG BLACK SERIES |
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I found some pix of a 99 C43 Estate. Appears the late 99 Euro/UK C43's had the "Tiptroninc", "Manumatic", "Speedshift" or whatever !!!! Blow this up and you can see the shift quadrant is "P-R-N-D" Hard to see, but I believe buttons on each side of the wheel for shifting
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http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...c/GOWIDE-1.jpg 1971 280SL ROADSTER 1988 300CE TWIN TURBO WIDEBODY 1994 E320 CABRIOLET 1999 C43 AMG 2005 G55K AMG 2008 CLK63 AMG BLACK SERIES |
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Hmmm....can't see the buttons except the dual horn buttons
To the OP, is there a particular reason you would think the frame is cracked? That would be very unusual, short of the car having a major accident in its history that was improperly repaired. Otherwise, the '99 C43 is a great daily driver....very powerful throughout the powerband, easy in traffic with auto trans, firm ride but not too stiff, comfortable, etc etc etc. Watch out for electrical comfort items, as these break with exponential frequency when nearing 100k miles. Examples are climate control components, dash lights, fuel quantity sensor, and a couple connectors in the ABS/BAS circuit. Mechanically, mine has been bulletproof so far, with only tune-ups every 10k miles. I am about to change the spark plugs now that I am coming up on 100k, but this is about the most major bit of engine work that this car has needed (aside from motor mount replacement when it went through the CPO program prior to my purchase). Hope that helps!
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1999 C43 AMG ~~~ 744 on black, mostly stock 1991 190e 2.6 ~~~ m117 5.6 project car |
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