High Mileage Mercedes Diesel | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

Wed 13 Nov 2002 22:35

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - Not so Honest Archer

Hi I'm new to this board, so treat me lightly if I'm posting in the wrong forum.

The question I have is that I'm looking at a Mercedes E class estate, and would like to know what mileage I can expect them to run until. Obviously it will depend on past, as well as future, servicing, but all things being equal when should I expect things to start getting too expensive to be practical to keep running (150K, 200K, etc etc.). I've heard stories of 300K, 500K but I don't really think it would be cost effective to keep them on the road that long as everything must have been replaced by that point (although I'm happy to be told I'm wrong)

Any info, links, stories, etc are greatly appreciated.

P.S. Congratulations on a good site and active boards

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Thu 14 Nov 2002 08:49

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - MGspannerman

A friend has an E300 turbodiesel, just over 3 years old now which he uses as a tool of his business. In that time has has done 270,000 miles or thereabouts. No major mechanical problems, just the normal tyres, pads, discs. The bonnet has collected significant stone chip damage, I understand the paint can be fragile, and has been resprayed. he has also had the chip replaced, which looks to be playing up again, and a problem with the boot catch. The car drives beautifully and is rattle free as it glides along. Of course these have been largely gentle motorway miles back and forth to heathrow etc, but in terms of expensive replacements definitely not. It has been an object lesson to myself and colleagues who are regularly driven back and forth in this car. In fact one bought a Merc a year ago rather than his more mainstream choice of Mondeo/Xantia etc. He is very enthusiastic and doesnt regret it at all.In germany recently I used a taxi which was a merc diesel estate. It had 800k kilometres on the clock (500k miles) and was in pristine order. It is my intention to get a diesel E class next time round, although my Audi diesel is also an excellent performer so it may be some time yet!

MGs

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Thu 14 Nov 2002 13:54

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - peteH

Post on the mercedes club forum.

www.mercedesclub.org.uk

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Thu 14 Nov 2002 16:00

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - KP

The taxi fleet that services the airport in Brussels run their Mercedes for 400km then rebuild the engines. Then they do 400km all over again before changing the vehicle. They spend their life either accelerating or braking.

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Thu 14 Nov 2002 17:48

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - DavidHM

How many km is that per year? Because I wouldn't have thought you'd get more than 10 years out of any car with that kind of mileage, at least, not if your livelihood depended on it.

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Tue 19 Nov 2002 21:59

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - Not so Honest Archer

Thanks for the replies, they're confirming what I'd heard, although like DavidHM I still can't get my mind around a car with that sort of mileage not being totally hanging. I'm in a similar situation to that mentioned by MGs i.e. middle of the road car that will do 150K or something that's twice the price but will do twice(ish) the milage.

Now I'm off to think if it's best to buy now and drive the car for many years or wait a few years for the new e-class estates to hit the 2nd hand market.

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Wed 19 Feb 2014 19:45

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - vmturbo

Be careful! I needed a tow car that was legal to tow about two tonnes and capable of doing so with ease. The desire was to tow away a sailing boat from an expensive marina that was bleeding me dry. My Discovery had just been given a bad MOT fail by a tester whose opening gambit was "Oh I don't like these as they rust a lot" He and his mate then set about the vehicle with a 3/4 pound hammer NOT the VOSA approved toffee hammer and sure enough it was a fail needing a great deal of welding in order to get a pass. The result was that I was now saddled with ongoing marina fees of about £100 per month and I had no way of moving the boat

I had been told that the Mercedes W124 diesel estate was the best car that it is possible to buy. As finding a decent 4x4 at a reasonable price seemed to be quite impossible the Mercedes W124 300 Touring Diesel was purchased online. It had been listed as "Spares or repair, alternator not charging". Knowing that the alternator was likely to be an easy fix (it was) the car at first seemed a good buy. On the drive home it was noted that the car had plenty of torque however the top speed was rather poor for a 3 litre (a road test before purchase had not been possible owing to a SORN) The effect was similar to what occurs on the Rover V8 when the camshaft wears down and the valves are barely opening.

The car which quite frankly I was disgusted with, was parked-up and after a week or two it was noticed that the coolant had disappeared! The viscous fan was suspected at first. Several weeks later whilst having another dabble with the car it was noted that the level of the engine oil had increased by about two inches! The coolant was now in the sump! IGNORE the stories about the "million mile engine" as its just not true! Incidentally it is noteworthy that the bloke who eulogises about the model has a bad left leg that has been broken several times hence he likes automatics.

In the end another old Discovery 300 TDi was purchased and whilst this is by no means "Rolls-Royce" it does what it says on the tin! Its also much faster than the sluggish 300D which most definitely isn't Kosher. Caveat emptor!

As to Mercedes cars, allegedly the later models of E class that have oval headlights rust far worse than the older oblong headlight models. Allegedly its to do with the "green" change to to non-VOC paint.

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Thu 20 Feb 2014 12:54

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - Collos25

You bough an ancient car sold for spares and then you complain about it I would grow up and come into the real world.

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Thu 20 Feb 2014 13:05

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - gordonbennet

Spot on Collos, advertised as spares/repairs and then expect it to tow boats out of marinas after a 5minute easy repair'...its a tough as old boots old school Merc it was never going to be spares or repairs for a simple worn alternator.

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Thu 20 Feb 2014 18:36

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - cws

If you want a good MB diesel that will take you beyond 200K, then avoid any cars that have the OM611 4cyl. engine (2.15 diesel, produced up to approx 2002) - they'll be badged as a 200 or 220cdi. The 611 was in essence a decent engine BUT had various of issues - amoung them diesel leakage where the injectors sit against the head and problems with the inlet manifolds (the manifolds had 4 ports that were opened progressively more at higher revs) - these flaps get loose on the hinges over time, leading to bad tolerances and then the car going in to limp mode/turbo shut-down.

Go for the OM646 2.15L 4cyl. engine, or the OM647 2.7L 5cylinder engine (badged as 200/220cdi and 270cdi respectively). These were the refined versions of the 611 and 612 engines, with all the issues ironed out with better mpg and emissions. Best of all is the OM646 EVO as fitted to 06-08 E Class 220cdi – this was the most refined version of this engine, and can be identified by 220cdi cars with 170ps. The OM651 is the latest engine fitted to cars badged as 200/220cdi (the latest <W212> E Class), but these have a few more issues compared to the OM646, such as injector issues (like most other Euro5/6 diesels!) and EGR issues. There are also some reports of cam-chain stretch 9and resulting pulley jump) on the 651 engines surfacing.....

As for which car, the face-lifted W211 E Class, launched in 2006, is a superb car. Yes the early W211 E Class had many issues, but the facelift version was a transformation (coinciding with a change of CEO at Daimler Benz, from Accountant back to Engineer, who in turn got rid of Chrysler!) and scores highly in many reliability indexes (it was featured on HJ recently). You can identify a facelift W211 by the front grill – it has an angular point (facing downwards) at the bottom edge (as opposed to non-facelift, where the bottom edge of the grill is a curved line).

Engine code should also be displayed on the VIN.

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Thu 20 Feb 2014 18:56

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - Collos25

Funny that these engines were the mainstay of the german taxi business I personally had one with 600k kms ,they are absolutely bullit proof those that still come into the garage it is very rare they are for engine trouble/I think you have been reading the DM to often.

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Thu 20 Feb 2014 23:55

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - Peter.N.

Most diesel cars will do 300,000 miles plus providing the oil is changed regularly. I have had several Citroens to this mileage and a Peugeot that is at present on 220k and runs faultlessly.

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Fri 21 Feb 2014 08:31

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - cws

Collos25 - why do you feel the need to chime in constantly with your sarcastic comments, and what has the DM got to do with anything of what I wrote?

Are you now going to argue on this thread that the OM611 was an absolutely flawless engine with no issues at all, EVER (like you've also been posting on another thread that the MB Valeo rad issue was non existent). I've not said the 611 was a bad engine, just that it has some issues. My facts come from a) personal experience and b) 1 MB independant mechanic, and 2 main-dealer MB mechanics. Not from the DM!!!!

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Fri 21 Feb 2014 09:05

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - Collos25

The car and the engine in question had issues like all mechanical objects only they had less then most a fact you fail to mention ,it is in fact one of the most reliable cars ever produced but then I speak from fact you speak from hearsay.Your experience comes from being a grease monkey at a few garages we have a bit more expeerience than that.I think you should re read what you wrote and what other people write before you make such stupid comments.

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Fri 21 Feb 2014 12:41

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - pd

The car and the engine in question had issues like all mechanical objects only they had less then most a fact you fail to mention ,it is in fact one of the most reliable cars ever produced but then I speak from fact you speak from hearsay.Your experience comes from being a grease monkey at a few garages we have a bit more expeerience than that.I think you should re read what you wrote and what other people write before you make such stupid comments.

The W124 has a reputation is being very reliable. But you can't state that as "fact" either - it is a reputation, not based on any actual numbers. You do not speak from fact, you speak from reputation.

For what it is worth the W124 is OK but miles behind in build (they rust), components (they go wrong) and engines (they also sometimes go wrong) than the LS400 from the same era in candidate "for most reliable car of the late 80's and 90's". That's a fact! :)

As for late 90's to mid-2000's Mercedes they have an awful repuation just as much as the earlier ones have a good. By the same measure, both must be "facts"!

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Fri 21 Feb 2014 13:10

High Mileage Mercedes Diesel - cws

Collos25 - I'm starting to think that you're either a professional wind-up merchant or just a plain forum troll. You pop up all the time berating other people, telling them how stupid they are and how you know best, have the true facts etc etc. Perhaps re-read some of your own comments and see how stupid you are, at times. If you want to be picky, I never said the 611 was a bad engine, only that the 646 was a BETTER engine. Go on, tell us again how MB never had an issue with the Valeo rads and how regular servicing would have prevented such issues.

Some of the people on this forum actually want to help people and when they reply, you can tell they know their stuff. You are not one of those people.

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