Newbie with Lighter Wallet
Posted: Mon 30 Apr, 2018 2:15 pm
<r>G'day All,<br/>
<br/>
My name's Rob & I just bought a Mercedes, never owned one before though years ago I did have a BMW for a few years. Oops, just thought you're prob'ly not allowed to say that word on this forum :-/ - ignore that last part. Anyway it's a 1988 E300 sedan Auto (I'd guess they all are?). So I've only had one journey in it so far of about 100kM to get it home and the verdict on whether I've bought a bargain or a lemon is still awaited. Perhaps some kind soul could put me right on a couple of things I've noticed?<br/>
<br/>
The good bit is it drove straight & true, engine purred with no odd noises, gearchange seemed smooth enough - perhaps a moments hesitation to engage when switching from 'N' to 'D' if you're being really picky, brakes seemed to pull it up adequately.<br/>
<br/>
When I was at the Sydney end of my voyage (lots of traffic, delays at lights etc) I noticed a slight misfire or hesitation at idle - seemed to disappear once you were rolling and after about 30kM down the M4 at 110kph the next lights I got to there was no missing. The other oddity I noticed was that after it warmed up, sitting at idle the oil pressure fluctuated rapidly from "1½" to "3" all the time - to the point where the 'chattering' of the needle was audible above the engine note (once moving the gauge was around the "3" mark all the time), anyone encountered this before?. One more thing was that the engine temperature never got anywhere near the middle of the gauge and seemed to drop noticeably when at steady speed on dual-lane or freeway, I'm guessing the thermostats on these things "fail open"? is it a big job to replace DIY-style?<br/>
<br/>
One other thing that made the journey less comfortable than it would otherwise have been is that both of the electrically adjustable front seats don't anymore and the drivers one is at maximum rearward setting. Can anyone tell me if I obtain a secondhand set of seats with 'manual' adjustment will these fit straight in? or would I need to swap the seat runners also?<br/>
<br/>
Other not so good points are that various bits of trim (bottom of doors x2, offside door mirror, offside front doorcard) are broken / missing, the front bumper is missing a couple of divots down to parking scars (no visible damage to the metalwork in engine bay), I also need a new offside front window motor & quadrant. For a 30 year old car the paintwork seems largely OK except the offside rear fender area that must have been basking in the glare of the full sun wherever it used to be parked 'cos it's crazed & faded in that area only. I've found the plate in the engine bay with the paint code but there are about eight lines of coding - some 7 or eight digits, some 3 to 4, can anyone tell me which is the magic number to look for? One other aspect leading to me 'talking myself into' this purchase was that the distance travelled was some 175,000 kM & I reasoned this isn't massive for one of these beasts - error of my ways apparent some 10 kM later when the odometer still said the same <E>:banghead:</E> (though the speedo works OK). are there any specialists out there that can repair the instrument or am I stuck with getting a secondhand unit?<br/>
<br/>
In summary I've got quite a shopping list but hopefully the bargain-basement cost plus all this will still lead to a usable & enjoyable vehicle.<br/>
<br/>
Regards,<br/>
<br/>
Rob</r>
<br/>
My name's Rob & I just bought a Mercedes, never owned one before though years ago I did have a BMW for a few years. Oops, just thought you're prob'ly not allowed to say that word on this forum :-/ - ignore that last part. Anyway it's a 1988 E300 sedan Auto (I'd guess they all are?). So I've only had one journey in it so far of about 100kM to get it home and the verdict on whether I've bought a bargain or a lemon is still awaited. Perhaps some kind soul could put me right on a couple of things I've noticed?<br/>
<br/>
The good bit is it drove straight & true, engine purred with no odd noises, gearchange seemed smooth enough - perhaps a moments hesitation to engage when switching from 'N' to 'D' if you're being really picky, brakes seemed to pull it up adequately.<br/>
<br/>
When I was at the Sydney end of my voyage (lots of traffic, delays at lights etc) I noticed a slight misfire or hesitation at idle - seemed to disappear once you were rolling and after about 30kM down the M4 at 110kph the next lights I got to there was no missing. The other oddity I noticed was that after it warmed up, sitting at idle the oil pressure fluctuated rapidly from "1½" to "3" all the time - to the point where the 'chattering' of the needle was audible above the engine note (once moving the gauge was around the "3" mark all the time), anyone encountered this before?. One more thing was that the engine temperature never got anywhere near the middle of the gauge and seemed to drop noticeably when at steady speed on dual-lane or freeway, I'm guessing the thermostats on these things "fail open"? is it a big job to replace DIY-style?<br/>
<br/>
One other thing that made the journey less comfortable than it would otherwise have been is that both of the electrically adjustable front seats don't anymore and the drivers one is at maximum rearward setting. Can anyone tell me if I obtain a secondhand set of seats with 'manual' adjustment will these fit straight in? or would I need to swap the seat runners also?<br/>
<br/>
Other not so good points are that various bits of trim (bottom of doors x2, offside door mirror, offside front doorcard) are broken / missing, the front bumper is missing a couple of divots down to parking scars (no visible damage to the metalwork in engine bay), I also need a new offside front window motor & quadrant. For a 30 year old car the paintwork seems largely OK except the offside rear fender area that must have been basking in the glare of the full sun wherever it used to be parked 'cos it's crazed & faded in that area only. I've found the plate in the engine bay with the paint code but there are about eight lines of coding - some 7 or eight digits, some 3 to 4, can anyone tell me which is the magic number to look for? One other aspect leading to me 'talking myself into' this purchase was that the distance travelled was some 175,000 kM & I reasoned this isn't massive for one of these beasts - error of my ways apparent some 10 kM later when the odometer still said the same <E>:banghead:</E> (though the speedo works OK). are there any specialists out there that can repair the instrument or am I stuck with getting a secondhand unit?<br/>
<br/>
In summary I've got quite a shopping list but hopefully the bargain-basement cost plus all this will still lead to a usable & enjoyable vehicle.<br/>
<br/>
Regards,<br/>
<br/>
Rob</r>
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