Want to trade merc c200 cdi for 5 series diesel

tw0nk

Heya All,

My very first post on this forum, have been a long time reading though. I currently commute 140 miles per day mon-fri in my trusty 05 Mercedes c200 cdi.

I am thinking about trading up to a 5 series diesel, preferably 2005 or above. I dont mind paying high tax, Im already paying over 800, so which model I dont really mind, 520-535. I would probably prefer 525 or above for that 6 cylinder engine.

What I would love to know is if anyone knows of any really good genuine 5 series for sale at the moment under 14k 2005+

My wish list:
5 series diesel
2005+
heated leather seats (cream)
<100k miles

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and personal experiences of cars you reply with.

166man

tw0nk wrote: »

Heya All,

My very first post on this forum, have been a long time reading though. I currently commute 140 miles per day mon-fri in my trusty 05 Mercedes c200 cdi.

I am thinking about trading up to a 5 series diesel, preferably 2005 or above. I dont mind paying high tax, Im already paying over 800, so which model I dont really mind, 520-535. I would probably prefer 525 or above for that 6 cylinder engine.

What I would love to know is if anyone knows of any really good genuine 5 series for sale at the moment under 14k 2005+

My wish list:
5 series diesel
2005+
heated leather seats (cream)
<100k miles

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and personal experiences of cars you reply with.

Might as well live a little and go for the Six Cylinder!Good choice. Found this one that seems to meet your requirements..

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/530d-NCT/201050200566511/advert?channel=CARS

Under budget too..

tw0nk

thats top of my list at the moment alright, hoping to do v.small money trade whichever one I get. Do you know anything about Burke and Sons? are they reputable?

Bearcat

A word of warning re your budget......pre 06 e60 diesels have issues with swirl flaps in the inlet manifolds.....google it....crud built up on these plastic flaps and were known on the odd occasion to snap causing terminal damage.

2nd these cars have awful issues with maf's getting tired. Drive the car at 1650rpm near lean on an open road at say 110kph.......just make sure there is no hesitancy and feeling of a flat spot.......replacing the maf with an oem part is pricey but non oem is a non runner.

If you can, I'd advise post 06.....IMO better put together and swirl flap issue addressed with stronger ones.

I've had a 04 530d with the issues above and currently run a 07 530d.......they are on different planets re build quality. Once you get t
He right one, they are an utter pleasure especially on motorways. I get great miles re fuel efficiency. Likewise the gearbox change should be seamless ESP on the newer models.

There are loads out there, do your homework, make sure the one u pick is
correctly serviced. I used Geo here to fix mine up.

Best a luck in your quest but take on board their little foibles.

tw0nk

thanks for the reply Bearcat, are those faults easy to hide? what I mean is, if I drove it and it felt good, is it possible there is a problem being hidden and I woulndt find out about it until a few weeks later?

If I drive it and like it, does Geo here check over vehicles pre-purchase for a cost? btw, what kind of mpg are you getting?

Bearcat

Drive it.......put the boot down to a reasonable level to ensure no hesitation and the turbo charger is healthy, 2nd as I said drive it at 1650rpm on a straight road as such nearly feathering the throttle.......if the rpm needle starts to flicker and you feel hesitation in the drive train, there maybe MAF issues.

Also ensure it has been regulary serviced......this 25k gap between services is madness in my opinion as oil is the life blood of the turbo.....likewise ensure the breather to the turbo has been changed......they clog and your turbo is starved of oil.......

As I said, bloody great drivers cars.......just make sure work is done, or if you get a deal of the century which I did with a 07 m sport, send it immediately to a bm indep and get a full full service. Get them to clean the EGR valve also.
I got my front discs done also. I'm thrilled with my car but caveat re what you buy......also try and get leather, cloth IMO is sh!te esp if u have kids collecting from rugby/ gas etc re staining seats.

On the later models also u can connect your iPod.

Let us know how u get on.

tw0nk

so drove 2 bmw 530's today:

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201138204572984

this drove pretty nice but didnt get a chance to really open it up due to traffic and location of garage. I didn't 2 things about it:

1. 2004 and 111000 miles on the clock
2. the phone adaptor built into dash, nokia was the business phone of the moment back then I guess.

The second one I went to see was:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201137204473241

This one looked really nice, looked almost new but there was one weird thing about it, I brought it to an empty road and floored it, it seemed dead, It got slowly up to 80kmph and then it stopped accelerating, I couldnt get it to go over 80, this was in automatic mode, not tiptronic. So then I brought it up and down the road a few times and same thing, I eventually figured out if I took my foot of the gas at 80 and pressed down again it would accelerate over 80.

I cant understand this at all as the car seemed perfect and engine sounded great, I told the dealer when I brought it back and he said I was the first person to say that about it.

Another disappointing thing was that the garages are only offering me 7k trade in on my own (merc c200 cdi 83k miles, electric leather etc). Would I be better off trying to sell privately and then go looking myself?

Also this will probably be the last time I go for some big engined car for quite a while so I want to get something really fun and pretty good economically too. Is there any other car out there than the 5 series that fits the bill?

any other advice?

thanks.

JJJJNR

I don't want to suggest turbo gone but it sounds like an E39 I drove a couple of years ago that had a blown turbo.. couldn't get it up past 60k/ph

Bearcat

That 2nd one with the low mileage I'd avoid like the pox. These 530ds should pull like trains.

With that trade price your getting for the Merc maybe u might keep the old girl after all?

I love my 530d but as time progresses they do give trouble.

tw0nk

unfortunately Im thinking the same thing myself, I really love the 5 series but as I would need to be going for older ones since I am getting so little on trade in for my own, I am kind of worried they might turn out to be problematic.

JJJJNR

is there anything particular wrong with the merc ? I'd be weary of selling a trusted steed and getting a donkey, the merc has lower mileage also... ? not really worth trading up to a 5 series IMO, unless you sell the merc private, which shouldn't be a problem given the mileage.

tw0nk

nope, not a bother on her, dont get me wrong, I love the Merc but I do a lot of mileage and would prefer something with bigger comfier seats but fun to drive. Since I spend so much of my day in the car I would like it to be a nice car

How much do you think I could sell the Merc for privately? has 1.5 years left on NCT and just got brake disks and pads changed. Going in with cash into a garage might make haggling easier. I did notice neither of them were interested whatsoever in haggling today.

heate

From the picture those two seem to be lacking heated seats.
Anyhow any hesitation or weirdness experienced in acceleration is a huge no no. The car should on a good stretch of road pull right up to 110mph and then start to slowly accumulate speed up to the top speed.
Only other issue you may find is ****ty seals used originally by BMW (and the gearbox requires an oil change every now and again - they are supposedly sealed for life but that is rubbish). Check for oil if the car has been parked up (auto trans fluid is red in colour) or any clunking whilst the car is changing gears.

Bearcat

Diesel mercs in the 320 variety have given awful probs re leaky injectors but the 200/220s I don't think so.

If I were you being offered 7k for my trusty steed and then having to stump up another 5k.......jazuz the bm would want to be perfect.

I had an e220 cdi 05 a few yrs back......apart from the cabin facia being of poor quality, that 220 engine never missed a heart beat.....I even added a Tunit plug on chip and it was mighty. Regretted selling it.

You might get a better trade for a 220 be it a c or an e. I just found the e ultimately boring hence went for the bm. Like I said I'm ultimately happy with my bm which has 70k.....

JJJJNR

For the merc I'd say anything around 8k would be doing well, you could get more on a good day.

tw0nk

what about something like this? would I be mad?
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201138204599445

My thinking was that I could get a higher range car due to high tax rate and people seem to want to get rid of high litre <2008 model cars. But this in itself has created a new market for people like me who want nice cars and dont mind preparing the tax to achieve this.

JJJJNR

Think its time to step away from the keyboard tw0nk!

tw0nk

JJJJNR wrote: »

Think its time to step away from the keyboard tw0nk!

Haha maybe your right

heate

Twonk - not satisfying your need for heated cream seats! I would go back beyond 05' on a 7 - all is issues were ironed out at this stage

veetwin

tw0nk wrote: »

what about something like this? would I be mad?
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201138204599445

My thinking was that I could get a higher range car due to high tax rate and people seem to want to get rid of high litre <2008 model cars. But this in itself has created a new market for people like me who want nice cars and dont mind preparing the tax to achieve this.

Well its alot better proposition than the 05 530D with a fcuked turbo. Tax will be the same. Fuel economy will be similar. It's cheaper to buy and will be more comfortable than anything except maybe an S class. Put up another 100k miles on her and it should still be going strong. Parts could be pricey though.

tw0nk

veetwin wrote: »

tw0nk wrote: »

what about something like this? would I be mad?
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201138204599445

My thinking was that I could get a higher range car due to high tax rate and people seem to want to get rid of high litre <2008 model cars. But this in itself has created a new market for people like me who want nice cars and dont mind preparing the tax to achieve this.

Well its alot better proposition than the 05 530D with a fcuked turbo. Tax will be the same. Fuel economy will be similar. It's cheaper to buy and will be more comfortable than anything except maybe an S class. Put up another 100k miles on her and it should still be going strong. Parts could be pricey though.

Has anyone heard of this dealer? I might pop out and take a look at it, it's some car for the money,

Eoin

I am pretty sure that someone posted here who did a good bit of research on the early e65 models, and while the engines were very strong (well, the petrol ones anyway), the electronics can be very suspect - and sometimes close to impossible for a main dealer to diagnose, let alone an indy.

I don't know if that's the case or not, but well worth checking out. It might only be worth 10% or so of its original price, but I'd say the servicing costs haven't dropped that much!

And personally, I can not understand how people like heated seats!