Is MB C220 a Lemon car?

[evolution9]

I'm planning to buy a C220 benz as my first european car. Please share your good and especially bad experience owning this car. Should i or shouldnt i buy this?

My second option is 96-98 BMW 320i.

Salamat

[redorange]

It really depends on the history of the car you are buying. How many Km does it have? Was it maintained properly? Lemon cars rarely run the whole model line and are normally just a few cars that were not made to standards.

[afrasay]

C220 and the models from 1995 to 2004 including the E class, sama mo na rin yun S class, are plague with electrical gremlins. Though easily fix with a new harness or replaced by an experienced electrician. C 220 has a M111 engine, 2.2 liter 16v double overhead cam which produces 148 HP and 210 N·m (155 ft·lbf) of torque. Kung napalitan na yun harness well and good, if not prepare to shell out 40 thou for an oem and less than 20 for replacement wirings. Symptoms to look for are hunting rpm and sudden engine shutdown. If you can get one a rock bottom price (around the 400thou range for the 96 model) go ahead. Otherwise know how the previous owner maintains it.

[afrasay]

Register at www.mbclub.ph. May mga may C class dun and you can ask them. Mababait mga tao dun.

[IJD180]

I agree with afrasay, german quality aint what it used to be. The luxury, exclusivity and image are still there but.........

As a rule, Dont expect european cars to be as reliable as japanese cars.

Expect them to breakdown more often than japanese ones even if they are mercedes and bmw. european cars also tend to have prematurely broken parts that normally wouldnt happen in japanese cars. like trim pieces, interior switches, dashboard lights, power window switch assemblys, power seats, sunroof electronics, rubber suspension parts, brake hydrovac,
Europarts are really expensive, so some owners make do with remedyo repairs before selling it.

If your really bent on buying one,
As a rule look for stock cars with all original parts and a casa (cats, europhil) service record history.
Plan to use it daily as euro cars tend to have more problems when they arent used.
Check also if its a gray market import or a locally released ones. Repair costs are higher for gray market when the check engine light comes on and you need a computerized diagnostic check up from those casa benz computers.

A lot of Out of casa independent benz mechanics have an attitude problem. know it all na mayabang and not that knowlegeable, so be careful.

check out lemonmb.com for more problems regarding the model ur interested in before buying.

good luck

[jaredpogi]

As a rule, Dont expect european cars to be as reliable as japanese cars.

Ooops, my experience is different. The major services done with my Benz are removal of non-stock performance parts installed by previous owner and some silly things in it, fuel-tank cleaning, brake overhaul. And all of these was due to the negligence of the previous owner. Until then, my Benz is no longer a shop buddy and it only visited the shop for periodic maintenance and replacement of worn-out parts. So this is an exception to the rule.

Again it may be true if you're referring to the younger generation of European cars. In the case of MB, those models that were no longer designed by Sacco and Breitschwerdt. No offense to the C-class owners in fact I would love to have a W203 as my second Benz and buy my favorite headache.

Too sad we are currently in the "dark" age of the euro car industry. Too many computers, too limited DIYs.

[mbeige]

^ More reason to keep your 190E and I agree with you there.

As Afrasay said the wiring harness is an issue along those years. Log on to MBCLUB.PH and check classifieds, somebody is selling their C220. ;)

[evolution9]

Thanks to all

"Symptoms to look for are hunting rpm and sudden engine shutdown."

Woooo what if im driving it on the road of nowhere?!!

and is this true, it suddenly accelerated and would not stop
and the computer itself was the problem?

So now may i ask you honestly should i buy a Benz c220 or shift for a BMW e36 320i instead?

Thanks again

[ronw123w124]

As a previous owner of a 1995 MB C180, I could say that the car was generally trouble free during my 2 years of ownership. Apart from the dreaded wiring harness problems, mine was generally a good car.

[jaredpogi]

Thanks to all

"Symptoms to look for are hunting rpm and sudden engine shutdown."

Woooo what if im driving it on the road of nowhere?!!

Tough luck, yes it do happen in W202. But this symptom is not unique to W202. Sometimes it is caused by faulty electric-driven fuel pump(the greatest FUD of all MB owners haha), But my ever-reliable mechanic has dismissed this FUD and a failing fuel pump will not happen "just like that" (maybe it requires to much shagging in the backseat, to really cause this... JOKE! ) . I don't know, but I found those who had this experience are too embarrassed to tell the real story on how they went about this ordeal, what really have they done during those shivering minutes. So on my 5th month of ownership or when this dreadful event happened to me (whichever comes first) I'm going to replace mine as well.

So now may i ask you honestly should i buy a Benz c220 or shift for a BMW e36 320i instead?

Thanks again

But you got to answer yourself honestly; why do you want to buy this car? If I have the money I'll get a 2.3-16 (...errr, parts where are you? haha)! The E36 is even a worse choice but if this is really your favorite headache then it's really up to you

Are you for the looks? or for the reliability? This might be biased, but the W201 holds a good balance of both. :groupwave:

[mbeige]

Did somebody say 2.3-16?

[jaredpogi]

Did somebody say 2.3-16?

Oh no! Stop it!

mbeige, i think the question is "Is MB C220 a Lemon Car?" But that baby is really going to make a lemonade out of the younger sistah!

[jcastillo932]

First, ask the previous owners regarding all the parts replaced and major problems encountered with the unit but repaired. Expect mo na din that there are some problems na ikaw na ang aabutan dahil second hand mo naman nakuha yung unit. European cars are really fun to drive but expect mo na na medyo mas mahal ang parts comnpared to japanese cars. We have Volkswagen Caravelle TDI 97 model, second hand namin nakuha. At first dami talagang problemang lumabas pero na solve na namin lahat. And right now, in top condition siya and sarap talaga gamitin. Hindi nakakapagod i-drive ang mga european cars kahit na manual tranny siya. Huwag mo lang talaga compare yung price ng parts sa Japanese Cars.

[theveed]

Paging boss Hens.

[afrasay]

^ More reason to keep your 190E and I agree with you there.

As Afrasay said the wiring harness is an issue along those years. Log on to MBCLUB.PH and check classifieds, somebody is selling their C220. ;)

Oh you beat me to it...

[afrasay]

Paging boss Hens.

Dave,
Hen's is a 2002 plus model. Had a talk with him when I saw him at Kababs. To some it all, lots of trouble yun MB niya. But hey, we are talking about a C class 1995-1998 (correct me if I'm wrong) kayang kaya ng mga ghetto MB mechanics ito.

To the TS,
Tama yun sinabi nila na expect some parts to break down due to wear and tear. But once you've replace them count how many years since the car is new before you replace that part again. I don't know what in those German metal but my W124 is still rust free after 17 yrs and 155,000 km. My seats, sidings and all are still intact, no tear or discoloration because of age.
When I say rpm hunting it doesn't mean the car goes forward uncontrolably. RPM hunt niya is only around 100 to 200 rpm. This was fixed by cleaning the maf sensor though this could also be one of the symptoms of the faulty fuel filter/pump, broken air hose or the dreaded wiring harness.

[theveed]

Ah ok, the W202 not 203...

Just realize that no matter how good the car is or how good the parts are, if the previous owner(s) isnt' the type of owner who cuts corners in maintenance during the car's decade-long toil, the car's reputation really won't make a single factor...

If a car has been owned by more than one owner, your odds of getting one that's REALLY well taken care off inside-out will be prettttyy slim.

[ringostarr]

european + late 90's definitely lemon na yan

[jaredpogi]

european + late 90's definitely lemon na yan

ang galing mo! teka pano na yung pangarap kong 203 ang ganda pa naman ng itsura nun huhuhuhu! dibale balik na lang sa 201, isa pa! 2.3-16, humanda ka hehehehe.

[afrasay]

Hmmm....if they are lemon cars then why do they keep producing them? And why do people still buy them? I bought my first (akala mo may kasunod pa noh...hehehe) Mercedes not because of its durability, not because of the almost the same maintenance cost of a Jap car, not because it is European, not because it stands out (well... the hood ornament), not because of its ride and handling. I bought it because I always wanted a merc since the first time I rode one when I was a kid. Kaya nga sinabi nilang passion...kasi malapit na ang Holy Week at parang kang nag papasion pag ng maintain ka ng MB, pun intended...hehehe.