mercedes E220 coupe

Don17

Hi
Have a 92 Mercedes E190 but thinkin of upgradin to an E220 coupe, around 94-96, but prices seen to vary wildly from 4000 euro to 9000 euro.,
Any thoughts on these cars,
Reliable?
Expensive to fix?

Love my e190 but just want a car with a little bit more something

Thanks

Seweryn

Don17 wrote: »

Hi
Have a 92 Mercedes E190 but thinkin of upgradin to an E220 coupe, around 94-96, but prices seen to vary wildly from 4000 euro to 9000 euro.,
Any thoughts on these cars,
Reliable?
Expensive to fix?

Love my e190 but just want a car with a little bit more something

Thanks

Hi,

I have the E220T (T = Station Wagon), it is not a coupe, but apart from that it is the same car. The E-Class came out in late 1993, so you can include this year as well when searching.
The prices in this country are way above the E220 saloon, but all you pay for is the look and style of the coupe.

Is it reliable? Yes, it is one of the best (if not The Best) Mercedes ever made in terms of quality build and reliabilty (comparable with the W201 which you have at the moment, as they share a lot of components). Most of parts for these cars are cheap (if you shop around of course) and the best parts are the original pulled from a donor car or new original Made in Germany, as the quality is unbeatable.

Expensive to fix? Not really. They rarely break down, that's one thing. Parts are cheap, and what is most important - these cars are very "service-friendly" - you do not need to be a mechanic to service it (I service my one myself). There is no cam belt (chain instead - as in all proper cars and in all Mercs), so the maintenance is very simple. The W124 Mercedes (same as your W201) is very well engineered and much better than the next generation E-Class (1996 up), whis is not as reliable. The W124 is the last Mercedes fully Made in Germany.
The 2.2 16V engine is a good compromise between the economy and power. In coupe with automatic gearbox you should achieve 30-33 mpg, if driving only in town probably a bit lower numbers.

If you can live with 4 door saloon instead of coupe, that would be a much better value for money, of course.

And... The most important - get the proper one and shop around, do not rush and check the car properly prior to purchase.

Best of Luck.

Don17

Thanks for that detailed reply

Yea I bought my e190 of pegasus classics in the UK and have to the say the car has given no probs whatsoever, the NCT guys were very impressed with it too. Said I must have put a lot of work in to it.
I know he has a e220 for sale but hes lookin for around 9-10K
Seen a few advertised on carzone and have checked a few out but some are quite tatty , the garages won't take trade ins or else what they'll offer is laughable ( 500 euro off the price plus my car! ) and of course no one seems to offer a warranty given the ages of these cars.

Anyway i'll keep lookin.

Seweryn

Don17 wrote: »

Yea I bought my e190 of pegasus classics in the UK and have to the say the car has given no probs whatsoever, the NCT guys were very impressed with it too. Said I must have put a lot of work in to it.
I know he has a e220 for sale but hes lookin for around 9-10K
Seen a few advertised on carzone and have checked a few out but some are quite tatty , the garages won't take trade ins or else what they'll offer is laughable ( 500 euro off the price plus my car! ) and of course no one seems to offer a warranty given the ages of these cars.

I think that 9-10 thousand for W124 is a bit crazy money, however, considering the reliability, comfort, non compromised quality build (you won't find it in any car made today unless you pay a lot, lot more), safety and superb engineering, for a mint example, this price is probably OK, as you simply get a trouble free, comfortible, good looking and reliable car which only needs fuel and regular service.
I wouldn't do any trade-in if I had the 190E (or any Mercedes from early '90), as you simply would have to give the good car for nothing.
The other option that you may consider is to get one LHD in Europe, if you could live with LHD. From my experience, the LHD Mercs are a bit better built, as they were designed to be LHD, so everything is spot on and in the right place. But that would be an option if you are really mad about the quality of the car itself.

Regards.

Don17

I've seen a few e220's for around the 5-6k mark , reckon I might give them a look over and if they have the NCT who knows.
I might make a purchase

3ps

There are a couple of dealer out there are selling pristine Mercs but they are looking for crazy money.

These W124's are generally well built and reliable, and cheap to fix (although I'm sure all cars have expensive bits here and there.

I bought a W124 300TD and am fixing it myself as things go. No problems so far.

I would scour autotrader for a privately owned one with good service history for alot less than 9-10k!

Watch out for VRT.

Anan1

OP - I'd go for a pre-facelift car. Apart from looking better than the later cars, they don't rust as badly.

MercMad

I would agree with the lad here, trhe W124 is a superb car, though obviously condition is paramount more so than the year.

The price differences reflect this, though dealer think they have gold dust on their hand.

UK imported car WILL suffer from rust, especially the later cars where water based paint and a reduction of the use of seam sealer has allowed them to rust from the inside out so a thorough check is vital.

Personally I would go for an Irish car purely because the lack of salt would ensure the longevity of the bodywork.

Make sure you get leather and auto and check out as much as you can, things like brake discs, ball joints, tack rod ends.

Finally some of these cars have a tendency to leak from their head gasket so ask if any work has been done and inspect the motor for the usual tell tale signs.

Feel around the carpets in case the ehater matrix is leaking, which is a massive job.

Good luck !

Seweryn

Anan1 wrote: »

OP - I'd go for a pre-facelift car. Apart from looking better than the later cars, they don't rust as badly.

I have to agree with you. The second series W124 (late 1989 - early 1993) is better protected against the corrosion than the last, third series, especially under the body.

Seweryn

MercMad wrote: »

Feel around the carpets in case the ehater matrix is leaking, which is a massive job.

Wet carpets (at the back seat foot well) can also be caused by blocked water drains under the engine bonnet (on both sides) - I had this problem in W123. It is a minor problem to solve (a good flush would do), but that needs to be checked anyway.

shawnee

There is one of these for sale privately in Limerick for approx 4k, it has 140k and is an Irish car. I haven't seen it but owner says it's in good con. A friend of mine was considering it , however I am pretty sure being an automatic theswe would be pretty juicy for driving around town.

Seweryn

shawnee wrote: »

There is one of these for sale privately in Limerick for approx 4k, it has 140k and is an Irish car. I haven't seen it but owner says it's in good con. A friend of mine was considering it , however I am pretty sure being an automatic theswe would be pretty juicy for driving around town.

Petrol engined automatic... yes, it would be a bit thirsty around town (20-28 mpg I believe and up to 33 mpg on a long run), but on the other hand you just didn't spend 30 or 60 thousand on a brand new car, so you can easily afford it, as you have thousands "left" for the extra juice.