High mileage W210s?

[Lunagen Labs]

I did a quick search on here and only found one reference to someone having over 300,000 miles on a W210, it was an E300 diesel I believe. Has anyone put that many miles on a gas W210?

My '96 E320 has just over 246,000 now and it's running perfect. Had some rust fixed, body looks great. Had the whole front suspension rebuilt after losing the second spring perch, and it drives like new. Even the seats are in really good shape.

My goal is to get the 500,000km badge for it. I think that'd be pretty rare for one of these, at least in the US.

After a polish and wax session a couple weeks ago:

[bobs]

Don't know about the mileage, but the car looks sharp!

[GradyService]

Looks very nice. Every now and then I see a used W210 with really high mileage (200k miles plus), but they usually are well maintained.

Dave

[Zeus]

Beautiful car Lunagen! Love that color.

Coming up to 150,000 Km on mine, still a baby.

My tech's E320 has over 400,000 Km on it. Runs perfectly and the body is in good shape.

IMO, the longevity of W210s up here in eastern Canada will be determined more by the chassis surviving rust than any kind of mechanical wear...

[Lunagen Labs]

Thanks guys! I'm really happy with the car. There's a short list of minor things I need to fix (rr window regulator, rear brake pads..) but it's holding up really well. Doesn't use a drop of oil either.

Its had all the normal issues for these cars. Spring perches, throttle body module wiring, head gasket, and the transmission started acting up at about 120,000 or so. The dealer adjusted the line pressure apparently and it's worked perfect since.

I like the avatar, Zeus. I've got a similar picture of this car from a trip back to Michigan after visiting Benzmac's shop in early '04. The drive-by-wire throttle failed shortly after that and I had to limp it home from Ohio in a snow storm. Not the most fun, but it was an adventure.

[suginami]

That amount of mileage on an M104 engine doesn't surprise me at all.

What I'd be more interested is to see what kind of mileage cars are getting with an M112 or M113 engine.

[deanyel]

Agree, sounds more to me like a 104/722.3 testimonial.

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by Lunagen Labs

I like the avatar, Zeus. I've got a similar picture of this car from a trip back to Michigan after visiting Benzmac's shop in early '04. The drive-by-wire throttle failed shortly after that and I had to limp it home from Ohio in a snow storm. Not the most fun, but it was an adventure.

Thanks. It's from my 300E, after driving in the freezing rain.

Paul/deanyel - The mileage I quoted for my tech was for the M112. If maintained, I think they are excellent engines and I'm betting time will show as much. Key though, is whether the FSS was followed to the letter or if diligent owners did some extra oil changes in between. Also what oil was used. Those are they key factors I think, above and beyond the engine design itself.

[fahrgewehr2]

Lunagen Labs-

How much rust have you dealt with?

Where has the car lived?

Still my favorite MB design, but scared of several issues.

[Ocean View]

For the most part, I think these cars are not old enough to have reached 300K miles yet.
I am sure in the next few years there will be more reports of these cars hitting 300K and more as the M104 engine will show that it is a very durable engine.

[Lunagen Labs]

Originally Posted by fahrgewehr2

Lunagen Labs-

How much rust have you dealt with?

Where has the car lived?

Still my favorite MB design, but scared of several issues.

It was starting to get a fair amount of rust in most of the common places for these cars: wheel openings, trunk lock, inside door bottoms, bottom edges of the fenders above the bumpers. I had a competant shop in Michigan do the work who are used to the conditions there, so I'm confident in the prep work they did.

Here's a before pic:


It's been a Michigan car until about a year ago when I moved to Atlanta. The car was pretty well taken care of by the first owner, but the roads there take their toll. An example from outside the rust belt or a low-milage well kept car would probably be quite solid.

I think it's a great car. They're obviously not built quite like the older ones, but it's really well engineered and is great to drive.

[TheDon]

wow it looks good

most w210s I see the headlights are all cruddy looking...

[Lunagen Labs]

Thanks!

Yeah, the headlights do seem to fade. I need to pull the driver's side assembly and polish it. The passenger side was replaced several years ago after a deer hit and is in good shape still.

[Texholdem]

Originally Posted by Lunagen Labs

I did a quick search on here and only found one reference to someone having over 300,000 miles on a W210, it was an E300 diesel I believe. Has anyone put that many miles on a gas W210?

My '96 E320 has just over 246,000 now and it's running perfect. Had some rust fixed, body looks great. Had the whole front suspension rebuilt after losing the second spring perch, and it drives like new. Even the seats are in really good shape.

My goal is to get the 500,000km badge for it. I think that'd be pretty rare for one of these, at least in the US.

After a polish and wax session a couple weeks ago:

Very nice color, I'm envious of you . Hope to reach your current mileage with my ride.

[danboy]

I have a 98 4matic with 230K and still going. It is a NY car all its life and the first owner did follow the FSS so I had no problem purchasing the car. I would like to know of a good NYC MB shop to get my spring perch inspected. Before I found this forum I never knew of this problem and now I rarely use the car as I want to have the perch inspected. The only issues I have is my SRS light stays on, when I don't start the engine for a week or more there is lifter noise for 1-2 minutes and at temperatures below freezing the drivers door lock refuses to open. Additionally the check engine light comes on for a few days then stays off for weeks. After I get the perch inspected I will go for the 500K mark as I travel often but I am afraid of airplanes.