Hi, just dropping by, gonna try and gather some more information on these sweet MB cars.

My name's Rod, I'm a mechanic from Jacksonville, FL. I've been into cars since I was able to drive. I've done a few engine swaps on a few FWD compacts, including my own Escort Wagon, which is a sleeper, and does okay for what it is. But, obviously, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't looking to move up.

Long story short, I may be coming into posession of a 95 C280 within the next month or so, clean title, for a price well below bluebook. I'd just like alittle background on these cars, since I know next to nothing about them. Maybe factory power specs, relevant details, and especially any aftermarket information.

Anyway, I will be hanging around, 'sponging' for alittle while. So I guess I'll see you guys around.

This car's engine is a DOHC straight 6. It is a 2.8 liter version of the 3.2 liter engine that was used in 1993-1997 E320's, and 1993-1999 S320's.

It is a very proven and reliable engine that will probably last longer than you'll ever keep the car. The bottom ends of these engines never wear out, and they do not suffer from valve guide / valve stem wear like the earlier 3.0 liter SOHC engine in the earlier 300E's.

The weak points are:

1. engine wiring harness - all engine wiring harnesses from 1993-1995 in Mercedes cars suffer from defective wiring insulation, and it will need to be replaced. The insulation cracks and flakes off, causes random shorts, engine fault codes, misfiring, etc. The harness costs about $450, and will take you 2-3 hours to replace.

2. Head gasket - the original head gaskets on these 2.8 liter and 3.2 liter straight six engines were poorly designed, and they eventually leak oil at the right rear corner (passenger side) of the head gasket. It starts out as a slight weepage, turning into a slow leak, eventually getting so bad that you'll have to replace it. The new gaskets are redesigned with metal inserts that index the gasket in the block, keeping it from moving around.

If you are forced to do the head gasket and the wiring harness is original, then you will surely have to do the harness at the same time. Moving the harness out of the way to remove the head disrupts the harness, causing it to fail.

Other that the above two items, these C class cars are extremely well-sorted out, reliable, and durable. They have a great reputation. They don't overheat, and the a/c is reliable.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Cool. I couldn't ever remember hearing about problems with the engines in these cars.

The whole deal behind the car was it was towed in, and the owner authorized the transmission be replaced. One of the easiest transmissions I've ever done. Since the car's been done, the customer has been pretty much unreachable when we try to call him. But he's stopped by a few times over the last few weeks since. He's been avoiding payment, making excuses and such. Now he says he doesn't even own the car anymore, and he's 'trying to get the money from the people who bought it.' My boss will be filing a lein here in the next 2 weeks or so, and I will be paying him $1583.89 + $200 profit for him, plus a $375 lein-office fee. The car could definitely use a good detailing, and it has been keyed all over(probably nothing a good compound & buff, or touchup wouldn't fix), has a broken left front corner lamp, and needs tires. It's a steel blue color w/tan leather(almost pristine, but as I said, needs to be detailed), and has 120k on the clock.

Next question: Aftermarket support...anything at all, in the way of forced induction, or at the very least a start with boltons?

And thanks again, definitely much appreciated.

Have you driven the car? Why mess with the smooth idle, quiet running, and neat acceleration sound from that straight 6? Keep the car reliable - no need for loud exposed air filters that really do a horrible job of filtering air (Think about it - smaller air filter that flows more air - the holes in it are bigger, allowing more crap into your cylinders). My C280 has a tube that pics up air from the lower grill area. The stock air filter has lots of area.

Put your money into springs, shocks, sway bar, larger brakes, all similar to a C36. You'll enjoy the car alot more. Add a low profile 17" tire/wheel combination for even better cornering. 19" is too harsh of a ride, I think. 17" is a nice compromise.

Now, if you want twin turbos, or a supercharger, that an entirely different story....

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Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport

If you do buy new tires, I'd like to make a suggestion. I just bought 4 Goodyear Eagle 1 GS/D3 tires for my SD at TireRack, with a great sale price, something like $70 off per tire. These things are great! Quiet, sticky, look cool. I think they are quieter than any other tire I've used - Michelins, Pirellis, Sunitomos, Potenzas. Only have a hundred miles on them now, but am very pleased. They brought some life back to my SD. I'd like to eliminate some roll in the big old beast, and maybe someday I'll find the components to do so.

If my other cars needed tires any time soon, I'd go buy more of these Eagle 1 tires, but alas, all the others have new tires already. These tires are definitely not for anything but summer use though. That's OK for me, 'cause I have winter sets, Blizzzaks, for all my cars.

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Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport

Yeah, I've driven it. It's smooth alright, and sounds good. But it could be just a bit louder and deeper for my taste. Of course I'm used to driving my Escort, which you can hear about a half a mile away, drones on at highway speeds, has a deep idle, and screams when you beat on it. It's lowered but it still rides as good as a small car, which is to say, not bad, but not great. So going from one car to the other, I have a high tolerance for craziness, but I know not to mess with a good thing too much. As for the tires, I'll keep those in mind. I had been considering some Michelin Pilots.

And yes, I noticed there seems to be sufficient room for a couple 60-1s or BB T-4s on the right side of the engine.

Or, once I get the car, I might use the high profit margin to go get something newer, like a C280 Sport or the like. If it's worth it.

One of my friends suggested selling it and using the extra money to turbo the Escort. I have $8k in it already, and it's only worth about $1500, and I'm not gonna dump much more money into it that I can't get out, even though I love the car.

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Rod F -

Escort Wagon 1.8BPZE/5spd
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...87_98_full.jpg
Soon to own '95 C280

Ford Escort --> Mercedes... wow

congrats...

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72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

rfjax:

Check out the Hod Rods and Performance Paddock forums for advice on modding your new acquisition.

I agree that there really isn't much leeway to increase horespower on the M104 engine configuration...at least not economically. You could spend around $15K and only garner 15-20 hp tops.

Nevertheless, I believe someone on one of the aforementioned forums has posted a long thread regarding a turbo project with the same engine.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car