I have been told the cat on the 300CE model year 1988 in California is going to cost me US$1200 dollars. Is this true? I have also been quoted by a master muffler shop for US$185 dollars installed for the big cat under the transmission. The first question is do the pre cats go bad or the big cat and why would it cost so much? Why would the muffler guy give such a low price? I was referred to the muffler shop by the best master Benz mechanic here in Los Angeles. You know who I mean. So whats the deal?
All help appreciated as I consider to buy this car. Its 3K now but if the cat or cats cost 1200 a piece I will have to really reconsider.

Jason

These devices contain platinum among other things as I understand it, hence materials cost is behind a lot of the expense. I had to replace some on a Ford a while ago and that's what they charged me for the parts, so it doesn't sound too far out of line to me.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Just did a quick check from FAST LANE here and for an 88 300CE a CA cat (Miller) lists for 1,225.
Same item for the other 49 states = $637.

Are you sure it's bad? Although it's 18 years old, 100,000 seems a short life for a CAT. Any noticeable flow restriction? Does your indy think it's the CAT?

And, yes, it is easy to change the odometer, or replace it altogether. They are known to break. Mine went last summer and it was fixed (replaced) by an indy shop.
Are you sure the mileage is correct? For an 88 that's average annual driving of 5,500 miles. Does the condition of the car jive with that little useage??

My 88 CE now has 85,500 on it, and I hope to get more than 15,000 out of the CAT, even though I will need to replace some if not all of the still original exhaust system ( mufflers/pipes) in the near term.

It's been said here a lot:
There's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes!
Good luck with the car... IF you decide to buy it.

Lots of variation in both price and quality. The MB part is a known quantity. My son has had to replace his cat 2x. It was bought with an aftermarket cat that was an early replacement for another aftermarket cat which failed. The replacement recently started to rattle like a snare drum on acceleration and needed replacing. The muffler shop told him $350 for a replacement, saying 'the cheaper the price, the shorter the life' on aftermarket cats. His lasted him about 18 months -2 years from the time he bought the car!

On the other hand, his GF has a Mercury Cougar V6: Both of her pre-cats are showing a fail code and need replacing in order to license the car (moving here from Ohio). The pre cats are built into the exhaust manifold and are not available seperately. Buy from Ford and install at dealership only, according to 2 muffler shops and 2 Indy garages. $2200 parts and labor, which includes a cheapie aftermarket main cat at $150 as part of the pkg!

Pre-cats on MBs can go bad as well, but on my 87 theyy at least are not part of the exhaust manifold. I would consider a good aftermarket cat that is well recommended by someone you trust - just be prepared to replace it more frequently, maybe much more frequently, than a factory cat. I don't know about the precats as aftermarket units, however - I haven't seen them offered.

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John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

i bought the car for 2 grand today! It's a real beast of a coupe. It's really a decent driver that could be a candidate for resto sort of mod. That is if I keep it and really like it.

It turns out that my wife's uncle is a mechanic with a couple of garages still. So he just happened to be at one of them early this morning. And the guy selling the car called me last night asking if I would buy it today. So I met my uncle-in-law and the seller with the car at a garage in Redondo beach. It turns out the uncle is a 30 year Mercedes Benz mechanic and expert. He got the price down from 3 grand to 2 grand in a matter of minutes. Its a strange world. He even has a couple of the exact motors for this car in storage somewhere. Along with all kinds of mercedes goodies as well as corvette goodies. Turns out he buys new Mercedes Benzes with damage at auctions and fixes them to better than new for his clients.

He believes the mileage of this 300CE to be right around 120K and that the odometer's plastic gear broke only 10k miles ago.

He also believes the pre cats and big cat are not the culprits. He says its the injectors and a fuel leak. Also it fails for a sloppy visual. And thatit fails for NOX. Among other things. He's going to smog the car for me. Then help me get the car up to snuff. It could cost money. Seems that this is one of the cars the state helps people with. For smogging that is. Anyone know about that?

The cats look and sound fine. The rear muffler looks decent too. The precats have a Bosch number on them. There are no shields on them.

The valve job was done I think before 100K. By a decent benz guy on the west side. That's what i've been told anyway.

I do need a rotor cap. It is a bosch unit I believe. It would help with the static on the becker grand prix radio. Maybe a complete tune-up kit is in order.

The front sub-frame bushings are going I was told.

When I got it home I was so busy that it's only now that I'm going thru the papers from the glove box.

The car also has full size chrome spare and tool kit and LA cellular set-up. The first aid kit has never been out of the box. its a little crazy. It's like a pristine driver that hasn't been kept immaculate but at the same time hasn't been punched out.

The papers are all there. The Data card, the window sticker, the booklets, the maintenance booklet showing that the original owner did not drive the car very much. Never more than 10K a year, usually far less. I think it sat a bit in the late 1990s. The second owner did not take such good care of it. But the valve job was performed. And I dont think he drove it much either. it sat in a garage in Beverly Hills. All in all its a decent and cheap driver purchase. All electrics are working. The interior is free of rips and stains. The leather is the off white color so it aged well enough. Not a speck of rust but lots of little nicks and dents from narrow parking lot spaces.

Thanks for the help.

Jason

Hello,

I have Cali 300ce.
I have 215K miles on the original cat and it just passed its DMV check for emissions.

Make sure everything is OK with your O2 sensor etc.

I was told that you can get aftermarket cat for much less than the Mercedes ones.

Brian

Brian,

Isn't it the best car? I'd like to do all that's needed to keep this car running well. I'd like to get it to be better on gas as well. What kind of miles per gallon are you getting? Which gas are you using? I have filled up with chevron 91 and it seemed to like that. better kick in low revs. my oil needle stays at 80 unless its been on the freeway and running fast. Then it hits 90-95. Actually its hard to tell with the gauge. My speedo is also wacky.
Am going to go thru everything including injectors and air intake. The rad was flushed last week and engine oil was changed week before. Seems to be doing OK. There is a slight smell of burnt fuel and a little drips back down the fuel line to just under the driver seat. I think the injectors are probably dirty. The fuel pump relay was replaced but the screen was not cleaned recently. I guess the car needs a really thorough going over. Are you in Los Angeles?
Oh, and the front rides an inch low. Must be the sub frame bushings are shot. All in all its a great ride. I just love driving it. It eats up any and all road that can be thrown at it. Hope to keep it for a long time or at least fix it up as I learn more and then later upgrade to a slightly newer 300CE in the future.
thanks,
Jason