Bye for now!

[chillmax]

Yep on the Swedes, very, very nearly just bought a 2.5 V70 CD, but just not quite right for me, equally as common as the Merc, so I went for the poncier option

JJ

[Dieselman]

Hi Diesel

I have had 2 W124's before a 200 & 300, I did know that they've had spheres, but you just don't notice it; when you look on Merc forums, the blokes don't seem to have a clue about the suspension, and say things like 'do you ever change the spheres' etc. I look forward to asking whether mine need changing.

It's a 320 petrol, I love big petrol engines, but on the economy front, i would have loved smaller or diesel, just couldn't find the right combo!! Nice to hear some good comments about W210's, there's a lot of bad stuff on the net about them.

I'm going here on the 26th - http://www.nickgeorgesvehicleservices.c ... vices.html they look pretty good, have the proper Merc kit, and have loan cars which I must have.

I was in a 2003/4 S Class once, and I thought the seats were really hard, so I hope they're not like that. I LOVED all W124 seats, they are absolutely perfect for me, and I'm afraid to say, a lot better than XMs ;-( But we are talking about one of the great family cars of all time, so they should be


Cheers- Justin

W210 seats are harder and flatter than XM seats and are very similar to W124 ones, offering lots of support for longer journeys.
Your car will have the V6 3.2 engine rather than the older straight six which is actually slightly smoother because the V is 90 degrees.
The V6 only has a couple of foibles really. The crank sensors tend to gradually overheat causing either cutting out when hot or non start after switch off when hot, the other being the harmonic damper pulley breaks up and can cause significant damage to the timing chain case if left.
Have the ATF changed about every 50-60k miles for a long life, only use MB or exact equivalent fluid.

Make sure the car comes with a working spare key as they are £200 and can't be reprogrammed from another car.

Mechanically and electrically W210's are tough, bodies do suffer with 'raw edge' corrosion. Check the door tops under the rubbers, front spring perches, front subframe, behind the headlamps, under the back seat, etc.

Spheres rarely need changing as they do so little work due to there being coil springs as well to actually support the car, the SLS is just that..self levelling for loads.
Front springs eventually break the bottom 3" off but are cheap from the dealer, as are most parts. There are suppliers of genuine parts cheaper than dealers and better stuff than from ECP or GSF.

In reality a W210 is a better all round car than an XM..if I had to part with one or the other just now it would be a hard decision though.

[chillmax]

Great advice Diesel - I'll print that off I think

Yes I remember the seats in my W124 are flatter & firmer, but the shpae seemed to fit me perfectly, where as I do struggle sometimes to get comfy in an XM; I finally found that trying to rest my head on the headrest was wrong and turning it backward/ straight up allowed my back to relax - strange.

Nighty Night