Al Savage's 1999 MB E300
Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:57 pm
I bought an E300 last Saturday. Sight-unseen. This should be interesting.
It's in Parker, Colorado. I bought it from Royal Automotive of Englewood, CO, and it's now at an indy MB shop in Parker, Hoover Mercedes. I had Mike there do the pre-purchase inspection, and after I agreed to purchase it from Royal, I had it delivered to Hoover for an AT flush and diff oil change. I fly in on 03Mar, drive it home over 04-06Mar.
I have been without a diesel vehicle since I gave away the '86 Sentra to Bill and sold the '82 Maxima Wagon to Ray in Sacramento, both in 2010. I sold the '93 Aerostar to Doug in Carlton, Ore. and in 2012 bought basically the same van (but with AWD, the 4.0l engine, and the only Aero with a 5-spd. auto: 1997 Aerostar E4WD). In 2013, I got a job that involves a 54 mile commute, five days per week, and I've been racking up miles on this AWD minivan at a prodigious rate. I like the rig, and more importantly the dog like it, so it stays, but I've been meaning to move to a saner commuting strategy for years. I've tried public transit but it adds 1:20 per day to my commute (almost eight hours per week!) and still involves three miles of driving. I would really like an electric commuter but they area still rather downscale and extremely expensive; I can almost buy a used Leaf in my budget, but my heart's not in it.
I looked at hybrids and decided that the in-budget ones are either worn out, don't get decent mileage for the class of vehicle by today's standards (1st & 2nd Gen Prius), or too expensive.
That leaves going back to biodiesel, my stopgap green commute until electric becomes affordable and desirable. Of the available-in-North-America options, I don't want an SUV so the Jeeps are out. I don't want to commute in a pickup. I looked at the VWs and found their engines lacking. I eventually talked myself back into Mercedes Benz. I've owned a couple before (W111 "fintails" 220Seb, 220S, 230S, 190D, etc; W108 280S; W115 1975 300D) and sold off my father's W123 240D three years ago, but I've never really liked them all that much. They are their own thing.
However, say what you will, they are durable. Not reliable, not cheap, but durable. And they have a lot of diesel models that are available on the used market in the US. So, I started reading about the "newer" MB diesels that I knew nothing about: all the models after the venerable W123, which was discontinued after 1985 and had a very well regarded five-cylinder turbodiesel by that time, the OM617. It turns out, the last MB diesel that reliably runs biodiesel at high concentrations (which is the whole point of diesel for my situation) is the 1998-99 W210 E300 with the OM606.962 turbodiesel engine. It can run B100 (after viton conversion, of course).
After 1999, that engine was no longer available in the US market, and when MB brought a diesel back to the US years later, it was the common rail CDI with a trap oxidation/particulate filter regeneration strategy that does not work with high blends of biodiesel.
So, in the MB world, only diesels up to 1999 are an option.
I wanted a Green one. You can buy these in Silver, Black, Gold, and White all day long, but if you want a Blue, Burgundy, or Green one you've got to wait. I missed a very good one seven months ago, but it was too low miles and the price was astronomical. Then two months ago this one came available (and another one for the same price in Virginia, with lower miles but more "used" looking). I had it inspected, and it seems to need a replacement radio (the current one is probably FUBARd during the SiriusXM add-on installation; we have SiriusXM in our other car & I don't like it, it cuts out too much on our drives due to those damned trees we have everywhere in the PNW), and a seat switch.
These W210 models have dozens of well-known trouble areas, all carefully documented by the Ones Before Me, so the paths are well traveled and I think I know what to expect.
Photos, if interested, are here. Click on "Photos" then "Large Photos".
It has 149k miles, and I gave $7300 for it. Argh. That's the most I've ever spent to purchase a vehicle. I hope that it's worth it.
It's in Parker, Colorado. I bought it from Royal Automotive of Englewood, CO, and it's now at an indy MB shop in Parker, Hoover Mercedes. I had Mike there do the pre-purchase inspection, and after I agreed to purchase it from Royal, I had it delivered to Hoover for an AT flush and diff oil change. I fly in on 03Mar, drive it home over 04-06Mar.
I have been without a diesel vehicle since I gave away the '86 Sentra to Bill and sold the '82 Maxima Wagon to Ray in Sacramento, both in 2010. I sold the '93 Aerostar to Doug in Carlton, Ore. and in 2012 bought basically the same van (but with AWD, the 4.0l engine, and the only Aero with a 5-spd. auto: 1997 Aerostar E4WD). In 2013, I got a job that involves a 54 mile commute, five days per week, and I've been racking up miles on this AWD minivan at a prodigious rate. I like the rig, and more importantly the dog like it, so it stays, but I've been meaning to move to a saner commuting strategy for years. I've tried public transit but it adds 1:20 per day to my commute (almost eight hours per week!) and still involves three miles of driving. I would really like an electric commuter but they area still rather downscale and extremely expensive; I can almost buy a used Leaf in my budget, but my heart's not in it.
I looked at hybrids and decided that the in-budget ones are either worn out, don't get decent mileage for the class of vehicle by today's standards (1st & 2nd Gen Prius), or too expensive.
That leaves going back to biodiesel, my stopgap green commute until electric becomes affordable and desirable. Of the available-in-North-America options, I don't want an SUV so the Jeeps are out. I don't want to commute in a pickup. I looked at the VWs and found their engines lacking. I eventually talked myself back into Mercedes Benz. I've owned a couple before (W111 "fintails" 220Seb, 220S, 230S, 190D, etc; W108 280S; W115 1975 300D) and sold off my father's W123 240D three years ago, but I've never really liked them all that much. They are their own thing.
However, say what you will, they are durable. Not reliable, not cheap, but durable. And they have a lot of diesel models that are available on the used market in the US. So, I started reading about the "newer" MB diesels that I knew nothing about: all the models after the venerable W123, which was discontinued after 1985 and had a very well regarded five-cylinder turbodiesel by that time, the OM617. It turns out, the last MB diesel that reliably runs biodiesel at high concentrations (which is the whole point of diesel for my situation) is the 1998-99 W210 E300 with the OM606.962 turbodiesel engine. It can run B100 (after viton conversion, of course).
After 1999, that engine was no longer available in the US market, and when MB brought a diesel back to the US years later, it was the common rail CDI with a trap oxidation/particulate filter regeneration strategy that does not work with high blends of biodiesel.
So, in the MB world, only diesels up to 1999 are an option.
I wanted a Green one. You can buy these in Silver, Black, Gold, and White all day long, but if you want a Blue, Burgundy, or Green one you've got to wait. I missed a very good one seven months ago, but it was too low miles and the price was astronomical. Then two months ago this one came available (and another one for the same price in Virginia, with lower miles but more "used" looking). I had it inspected, and it seems to need a replacement radio (the current one is probably FUBARd during the SiriusXM add-on installation; we have SiriusXM in our other car & I don't like it, it cuts out too much on our drives due to those damned trees we have everywhere in the PNW), and a seat switch.
These W210 models have dozens of well-known trouble areas, all carefully documented by the Ones Before Me, so the paths are well traveled and I think I know what to expect.
Photos, if interested, are here. Click on "Photos" then "Large Photos".
It has 149k miles, and I gave $7300 for it. Argh. That's the most I've ever spent to purchase a vehicle. I hope that it's worth it.