W210 guys - how you liking your Diesels?? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

willy2004 · #1 08-11-2010, 07:30 AM

Just thought i'd ask, been awhile since I've posted here
BUT still consider myself a regular of sorts...and we E300 guys
well there is a core group of us - some more advanced than others

Personally, I have put 42K on my car over the course of 4.5 years

Love the car and hoping to drive it into the sunset..and hoping to run her on veggie oil by this time next year.......which will make me popular w/all the granola girls out here

Some things I've replaced are:
water pump
tires
oil
air filters
fuel filters
abs sensor
front and rear brake pads
solenoid wastegate transducer
MAF (getting this part in the mail any day now)

Things that need replacing
AC Condenser ($500 AC job that i put off for a few months)

and some body work

Love the car and swear by it....wait til I get this work done and I may "represent" it at 150K just to show you guys how beautiful she is

She gets a nice 35MPG on the freeway

please share about your E300

Jeremy5848 · #2 08-11-2010, 12:22 PM

At 270K our '96 E300D (W210, OM606NA) is still in like-new condition. All four owners have taken good care of and garaged the car. The transmission has been rebuilt due to oil leaks but the engine is pretty much original except for some "work" on the EGR system and replacement of the crackcase blowby piping (which your turbo version lacks, fortunately).

The paint is original, we recently had a few dents removed, and except for rock chips in the front, looks pretty good. The leather interior is still nice but some cracked areas are starting to appear in the driver's seat as well as a couple of small cracks in the dash.

I'm concerned about the lack of an oil pressure gauge and may install a low oil pressure alarm of the kind I designed for my 124. I'm not concerned with wear of the bearing surfaces so much as total failure of the oil system due, for example, to breaking the oil pump chain. As unlikely as that is, there would be no warning that it had occurred until the engine was toast.

Absent such a catastrophic failure or a serious crash, the '96 should last (at 8,000 miles a year) for many more years.

Fuel economy under our ownership has averaged 26.9 MPG over 22,500 miles. This is mostly around-town driving; the NA engine does not do as well as the turbo, as you know.

Jeremy

muleears · #3 08-11-2010, 01:36 PM

I've put 68K on mine in the last three years. Love the car overall. Some things I don't like are (in no particular order): Headlight lenses that fog way to soon and to easy. Lack of an oil pressure gauge. Motor mounts that don't last too long, sunroof problems, power window problems, glow plugs sticking and I did replace the engine control computer. Nothing huge, just agravating. I have yet to replace anything I would call "big". No engine/tranny problems. AC works good except current problem with the fan. All in all I really like the car.

Renntag · #4 08-11-2010, 02:03 PM

We have just acquired a '98 E300 and love it so far. Searching a 500 mile radius over several months, we found a great deal and jumped on it.

One week of ownership under our belt, mileage calculations from 22-32. No 35mpg tanks yet. Absolutely loving this car so far. Ride, handling, power, comfort, all great.

We purchased the car with a few issues. A few cosmetic flaws (livable), sunroof drive having issues (unresolved), driver's power seat operation (resolved).

Sunroof makes some clicking noises as it slides (most of the way) back and stops short. I am searching for possibilities for this, may have to disassemble and search for failed parts.

power seat worked but wouldn't operate properly. All the buttons worked and made the seat respond. Problem is that trying to slide the seat back, would make it go forward. Forward operation functioned as expected. We pressed the memory buttons until the seat went back away from the wheel. This made us believe it could be the switch assembly. Roughly $50 to my door step a few days later, a little internet research on how to remove a W210 door panel, and I installed a used switch in my brother's driveway while away for the weekend.

I surprised the wife with a wheel upgrade to sweeten the deal. I am hoping the sunroof repair will go smoothly. (ie, not painful $$).

We are disappointed to not have heated seats and hope to upgrade. Are air conditioned seats available too?

Overall we love this car, but reliability and maintenance cost over the next few years will put that to the test.

Jeremy5848 · #5 08-11-2010, 03:18 PM

Our '96 came with heated and pneumatic seats. The driver's side failed before we got the car and replacement is ~$600. In a colder climate we would replace the heaters but for us it's not necessary. The pneumatic seats are great - we heard from the original owner who still misses them.

Other than the transmission rebuild we have had no serious repair issues, just little things that I can fix myself. For the last 12 months, repairs and maintenance totaled less than $1,000 including $450 to remove 14 years of parking lot dents and dings and $140 to have Freon added to the a/c system.

willy2004 · #6 08-11-2010, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muleears

I've put 68K on mine in the last three years. Love the car overall. Some things I don't like are (in no particular order): Headlight lenses that fog way to soon and to easy. Lack of an oil pressure gauge. Motor mounts that don't last too long, sunroof problems, power window problems, glow plugs sticking and I did replace the engine control computer. Nothing huge, just agravating. I have yet to replace anything I would call "big". No engine/tranny problems. AC works good except current problem with the fan. All in all I really like the car.

Ahh...you reminded me about the lights
I replaced the HID ballast on the driver's side
It's "HELLA" costly at around $400, got it from Phil

adding "motor mounts" to my list of needed work

I haven't had the glow plug issue but thinking about preventative maint.

willy2004 · #7 08-11-2010, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy5848

Our '96 came with heated and pneumatic seats. The driver's side failed before we got the car and replacement is ~$600. In a colder climate we would replace the heaters but for us it's not necessary. The pneumatic seats are great - we heard from the original owner who still misses them.

Other than the transmission rebuild we have had no serious repair issues, just little things that I can fix myself. For the last 12 months, repairs and maintenance totaled less than $1,000 including $450 to remove 14 years of parking lot dents and dings and $140 to have Freon added to the a/c system.

not bad
when did your TRANI blow and what was the cost?
around $4K i've heard......

mike0000 · #8 08-11-2010, 05:02 PM

We have put around 15K miles on ours, nice power and ride. I replaced the glow plugs without problems (although two did have me sweating). I also had to replace the wiper motor and just recently the SOV. I purchased it from the original owner and it was a dealer serviced vehicle (the trans. fluid had even been replaced) hope to get many years and miles out of it (have thought about a chip in the future) so far I would recomend them especially the 98-99 turbo.

Mike

Jeremy5848 · #9 08-11-2010, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willy2004

not bad
when did your TRANI blow and what was the cost?
around $4K i've heard......

We got the car at 248,000 miles in October 2007. I immediately changed all of the fluids to Mobil-1. This was an error, at least for the transmission, which exacerbated an old front pump seal leak that the POs had been living with for years and which I could have continued to live with for many more years.

Unfortunately, the smaller molecules in the synthetic lubricant increased the leak such that it was leaving a tablespoon or two on the floor every time the car was driven. Changing back to non-synthetic fluid did not help. After a couple of months I gave up and had the transmission pulled and rebuilt by a local shop with a good reputation, Santa Rosa Hydramatic.

The mechanic's report was that all of the "hard" parts were good, decreasing the ultimate cost. I was also told that the "wear" parts (clutches, etc.) had another 50,000 miles on them, oh well. In the end, it cost me just under $3,000 for parts, labor, and tax. The work also disturbed some of the "environmentally friendly" insulation on the wiring to the reverse light switch. The mechanic patched this as best he could and I rebuilt the wiring later. I also had the car back in once at no charge to tighten up the pan bolts and stop a slight ooze of fluid.

The transmission has been trouble-free since (22,000 miles). I'll let the shop do the next fluid and filter change just to protect the warranty. They wouldn't use that as an excuse but it gives them an opportunity to look over their work and keep an eye on things. I probably will buy the filter and gasket myself and let them put it in.

Jeremy

Jeremy5848 · #10 08-11-2010, 05:31 PM

Motor mounts on straight-six diesel engines are easy, at least on the '96-97 NA engines. Can't comment on the turbo version.

Our headlights, fortunately not the expensive HID option, were yellow and pitted after 250,000 miles. I bought a 3M kit for under $20 and polished the plastic to like-new. Interestingly, it's only the outermost layer of plastic that yellows. Once you have sanded that away, the plastic underneath is clear.

The fog light (glass) lenses were also badly pitted and one was cracked. I replaced both and covered them with X-Pel film to reduce future pitting. So far it has worked well.

Jeremy

Renntag · #11 08-11-2010, 05:56 PM

Pneumatic seats? Is that what the a/c seats are called?

Mike0000 mentioned a chip upgrade for the turbo cars. Does anyone know anything about this? Other vehicles we have had experienced an increase in fuel mileage after digital tuning.

I also agree with the comments above about an oil pressure gauge. I'd like to know Oil Pressure, EGT, Boost and possibly even fuel pressure. All of these parameters monitored through one digital monitor would be great.

muleears · #12 08-11-2010, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy5848

Our headlights, fortunately not the expensive HID option, were yellow and pitted after 250,000 miles. I bought a 3M kit for under $20 and polished the plastic to like-new. Interestingly, it's only the outermost layer of plastic that yellows. Once you have sanded that away, the plastic underneath is clear.

The fog light (glass) lenses were also badly pitted and one was cracked. I replaced both and covered them with X-Pel film to reduce future pitting. So far it has worked well.

Jeremy

My headlights, fortunately or not are the HID lights. They have fogged beyond what I would like. What kit did you fix yours with? I have read about fine grit sandpaper and other remedies but they have not worked on mine. I bought a kit from NAPA that used a hand drill to polish the lenses but that was unsat. also.

Jeremy5848 · #13 08-11-2010, 08:21 PM

Renntag: "Pneumatic seats? Is that what the a/c seats are called?"
The seats are air-adjustable. They have several different bottom and back "balloons" that you can inflate and deflate (using the same pump that locks the doors, I believe). It's like a seat with adjustable padding, thicker or thinner as you wish, with a control down between the seat bottom and the console. Driver and front seat passenger have individual controls. Has nothing to do w/air conditioning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by muleears

My headlights, fortunately or not are the HID lights. They have fogged beyond what I would like. What kit did you fix yours with? I have read about fine grit sandpaper and other remedies but they have not worked on mine. I bought a kit from NAPA that used a hand drill to polish the lenses but that was unsat. also.

The kit is used was from 3M. It has various grades of sandpaper, a polishing wheel, and polish, all designed for use in a hand drill. For the "regular" plastic lenses on my '96 it worked great. Maybe the HID lights are different. YMMV.

Jeremy

DieselPaul · #14 08-11-2010, 08:34 PM

A non forum member friend has 297,000 on his '97. He loves it. It needed the evaporator/condenser (the one in the dash) done which was a mess but now the AC works gloriously. Its a more refined car than the W124 in my opinion. That said I still love how sturdy and trusty a W124 feels.

Skid Row Joe · #15 08-12-2010, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willy2004

Just thought i'd ask, been awhile since I've posted here
BUT still consider myself a regular of sorts...and we E300 guys
well there is a core group of us - some more advanced than others

Personally, I have put 42K on my car over the course of 4.5 years

Love the car and hoping to drive it into the sunset..and hoping to run her on veggie oil by this time next year.......which will make me popular w/all the granola girls out here

Some things I've replaced are:
water pump
tires
oil
air filters
fuel filters
abs sensor
front and rear brake pads
solenoid wastegate transducer
MAF (getting this part in the mail any day now)

Things that need replacing
AC Condenser ($500 AC job that i put off for a few months)

and some body work

Love the car and swear by it....wait til I get this work done and I may "represent" it at 150K just to show you guys how beautiful she is

She gets a nice 35MPG on the freeway

please share about your E300

I like my '99 ETD just fine. However, I would never buy another Mercedes-Benz brand new - you take too much of a beating out-of-pocket.

That said, my ETD has been a nifty car, as I've kept it in really nice condition since I did buy it new.