So I bought a '93 190e for my son to get back and fourth to school a year and a half ago with 84K miles on it. It's now got 104K miles and I've had to replace all the rotors, ball joints, tie rods, idler arm rebuild, A/C condensor & Drier, and now the head gasket. Had I not done the work myself he'd be bankrupt!

The car was a single owner car that was maintained by a Mercedes dealer, so I don't think it was abused at all.

So is this a typical list of repairs when a 190e goes over 100K?

To be honest I had been seriously considering a 2002-2004 C230 Coupe as car for commuting, but I'm getting a little gun shy here!

-Steve

While that may seem like a lot all at once, I don't think it's any worse than any other car -- with the exception of the A/C: that is a known weak point in this vintage of MB.

Brake rotors: These are a regular wear item on any car. They should be replaced every 2nd or 3rd pad change regardless of vehicle make.

Ball joints and tie-rod ends: I would expect a livespan of about 100K on any vehicle (for instance a Camry or Accord). Same with the idler arm -- assuming you're talking about the idler arm for the steering system.

Try buying a domestic car with about 100K miles. Your list would be much longer.

Jeff Pierce

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Jeff Pierce

Current Vehicles:
'92 Mercedes 190E/2.3 (247K miles/my daily driver)
'93 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon (263K miles/a family truckster with spunk)
'99 Kawasaki Concours
Gravely 8120
Previous Vehicles:
'85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow (226K miles)'93 Volvo 940 Turbo Wagon
'53 Willys-Overland Pickup
'85 Honda 750F Interceptor
'93 Nissan Quest
'89 Toyota Camry Wagon
'89 Dodge Raider
'81 Honda CB 750F Super Sport
'88 Toyota Celica
'95 Toyota Tacoma
'74 Honda CB 550F

The car is 14 years old. If it was maintained by a mercedes dealer its a good bet that the previous owner didn't want to pay to have certain things fixed because of the cost to car age ratio You on the other hand are a little more thorough because its your son.
Right now on my car I need an abs sensor, front rotors and I need to replace the steering shock, I haven't gotten round to it yet. But if my daughter was old enough to drive it (she's 11 months old right now ) I would fix that stuff immediately.

I've done everything on that list except the tie rods and idler arm on my 1994 C280, plus a water pump and lower control arm bushings, over the last three years. While not the same chassis (yours is the last year W201 and mine the first year W202), my car is 13 years old (September '93 build date). None of this is out of the ordinary for a 13-15 year old car, regardless of where it was maintained.

You wont experience these things with a 2002-03 C class until it gets on in years to a similar age.

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Jonathan

2011 Mazda2
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1994 C280 (retired)

it's a shame you had to do the head gasket.... other than that..it all looks pretty normal to me.... I just bought a 260e (with 206k on the clock)...and expect to be going through many of the suspension and steering issues...

...the evaporator issue is always lurking...but you know that going in...

i wonder how many of these cars you can do those functions yourself? That's the beauty of this series.

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1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

...yea, I must admit I probably wouldn't feel so bad had it not been for the head gasket. Even then perhaps not so bad had I not had those silly pins holding the chain guide welded in place!! I had a heck of a job drilling them out.

Okay, so I'm not feeling quite so bad, might have to do with the feeling coming back in my hands (whacking that slide puller to get the pins out killed them!).

So what are peoples opinions on the 230 Coupe? It's getting near time to replace my commuter (a Porsche 944 with 175K miles). Are the supercharged engines as dependable? Any serious issues with the Coupe to be on the watch for? I found a 2002 with 48K miles on it for $15K locally...

-Steve