1996 E200t

I'm new to Mercedes and to the group. I recently purchased a 1996 E200T with 130.000 km, manual gearbox and no extra equioment. Not very amusing, but I just wanted a reliable transport for my family. However there are some things i wonder:

The wipers for the lights doesn't work, the electric motors are burned. I friend told me this is a common problem on this model. It seems strange to me since in 1996 it was the last year of the model, and it had been produced for many years. If it was a common problem, why didn't Mercedes sort it out? Is it expensive to get new motors installed?

Also I'd like to put 15" light metal rims on the car. Can anybody help me what type of rim is the correct one for this year and model (according to what the factory delivered when you chooze light metal wheels as an option).

Any other things I should know about this model?

Cheers

Christian

[mbdoc]

Is that the T124 chassis? If so then headlight wipers weren't a high fail item unless you BUMP into something.
In the USA alloy rims are standard equiptment. The standard size is 6.5 X 15
That should be a very nice car.

MB DOC,

Thank's for your reply.

T124 ..? I'm not sure, I thought it was called W124, but maybe it's T124 (T for transport?)? I do know it was the last chassi with the big rectangular front lights, before they got the circular ones.

I'm almost 100% sure the car has never been crasched, since the car is very well documented with dealer service and only has had one owner before me. But I heard that head light wipers weren't standard on all markets. A service guy said that they were attached after the car left the factory especially for the Swedish market. This might explain why MB Germany never thought it was a problem. He also said the electric engines to the wipers were very exposed, sitting in the front, to salt, dirt etc. And we do have rather harsh driving conditions here in Sweden big parts of the year, which can explain why many of the wiper motors fail on Swedish cars. But I guess the climate / conditions in many of the northern U.S. states must be similar to ours.

We have steel wheels as standard. The wheel sides however look pretty good, but I'm considering to get alloys for summer tires and go for 205/60:s and there seem to be a lot to chooze from. I'd like to keep an original "correct" look.

And yes, I really like the car. It is feels solid and are nice to drive. And it looks really good too, with clear marker glass as standard.


cheers

Christian Karlsson

[blackmercedes]

Yes, T designates the "wagon" body.

Your car can fit any of the Mercedes factory alloy wheels that fit the W210, W202, W201, and W203 chassis. There are lots to choose from including factory alloys and aftermarket wheels too.

Your steel wheels are well suited to winter use, and keeping them for that purpose is ideal.