problem with this is that it's a 1997 car and it does not have OBDII plug (not until 1998 for Mercedes as far as I know?) and so it only has the Bosch diagnostic cluster under the hood - which is not what exactly you call a "common tool" 9 out of 10 mechanic's shop wouldn't have one (those that aren't specialized in Mercedes, at the very least) and so between today and tomorrow I wouldn't have any way to plug any tool into it. It's not going to work in time that's the issue.

So I'll ballpark its market value minus the AMG engine and set my upper bound safe.

I'm not too worried about the bidding I did bid a C220 at like 1/3 the market value at that awesome auction site. All went well, drove that for a long time, loved the car and sold it for exactly how much I paid for it.

and now I'm going back for more W202 action. Only now I'm choosing between a 1997 C36AMG and a 1999 C230 Kompressor..... If no one heard about this weird symptom particular to the C36 before the auction goes ahead I might just end up with the C230K coz that car drives and revs just like a fine Mercedes should. Less of a headache for me.

But I do want a C36 if that's at all possible, for a lil resto-mod project and if it's a common problem I'd like to hear from you gurus.

Thanks for your time.

^ ya if I can drive it out of the lot and get the codes scanned I would, but the situation does not allow.... the cars are not licensed and are not allowed to be driven off the lot.