MERCEDES BENZ CLK

[Guest]

have to say a remapped miltek equiped 355bhp proper 4 seat convertible has its uses ...........

when we arn't in flat 6 mode

just don't make me post pictures of my pink kart .

[JeffC]

QUOTE

you can't beat a good v8

Well I did,  and in a diesel    

Ps. didnt realise you were a Hairdresser Harv    

[Guest]

hairdresser ......      err , we sold the elise ..... nowt wrong with a 4 seat convertabubble  

god i know i am going to regret posting this picture of me at silverstone

[JeffC]

 

[Guest]

whats worse is the fact io bothered to say that picture was at silverstone

[Keith Scarfe]

RobK said:

QUOTE

Rust is on cars from specific years and models. I have a E270 CDI thats just outside the problem period and it has no rust.

Just out of interest, what exactly are the specific years then and is it only certain models or all of them?

[cidersurfer]

I believe (and I may be wrong) that Mercedes stopped galvanising from 1998 onwards and restarted as below...

C CLASS -203 series- saloon and estates: -

All steel panels were galvanised from Quarter 2 2003 production onwards.

During the previous six months (Q4 2002 + Q1 2003) the process was gradually introduced on the production line and therefore some vehicles were galvanised during this lead-up period, but not all.

E CLASS -211 series- saloon and estates: -

All steel panels were galvanised from Quarter 1, 2003, production onwards.

During the previous quarter (Q4, 2002) the process was gradually introduced on the production line and therefore some vehicles were galvanised during this lead-up period, but not all.

CLK CLASS – 209 series

All steel panels were galvanised from Quarter 2 2003 production onwards.

During the previous six months (Q4 2002 + Q1 2003) the process was gradually introduced on the production line and therefore some vehicles were galvanised during this lead-up period, but not all.

SL CLASS –R230 series

This is not so easy to be specific because the change-over period continued right through into Q3 2004. So although many SLs were galvanised in early 2004 it is not till the end of the third quarter of 2004 that one can say that all were galvanised.

S CLASS –220series and CL class 215 series.

The S class and CL class are built of a combination of aluminium and steel. For the aluminium components there is, of course, no galvanising process.

All steel panels were galvanised from Quarter 1 2003 production onwards.

During the previous quarter (Q4 2002) the process was gradually introduced on the production line and therefore some vehicles were galvanised during this lead-up period, but not all.

The W210 E Class seems to suffer particularly badly, there are rumours on the forums that the tooling for the body panels had had it's day and seams seem to suffer.

Mercedes will honour a 'goodwill' repair if the vehicle is less than 8 years old and has full MBSH. The 30 year MobiloLife warranty with Mercedes is another way of getting it sorted but it does seem to be the tough way to do it as you have to prove it is a manufacturing defect that is corroding from the inside out, hence stone chips and normal wear and tear will not be covered.

This info is sourced from various Mercedes forums and therefore I am not entirely sure it is all correct but I hope members find this helpful. (From a satisfied 2003 W203 Mercedes C270 CDI owner that isn't rusting yet!, that's the car not the owner....)

[Mark B]

98 onward seems to tally up, a mate had a late 98 E class which rusted like b*******y -particularly round the suspension which was worrying, spring carriers failing are common whci makes the car look (and drive) like an old leyland.......

The early cars seem to have no troubles though...

[RobK]

Mines a 53 plate 211 E Class. After research i realised that even up to a 03 plate there could be issues although unlikely.

I checked which panels were Aluminium and used that as an indication that all the other bits should be galvanised based on the production runs etc at the time.

54 plate onwards seems a safe bet on most models but if you do some studying you can find a bargin that "should" be ok on models before.

[carpetstu]

Buy something else!

I wouldn't buy a new merc ie after 1996 again.

The quality is pants!

[PeP]

I remember someone telling me that Porsche made more profit per car than any other manufacturer and when Mercedes found out they decided to raise their profit margin by cutting costs and quality. I never knew if it was true or not but have heard people who used to swear by Mercs say how bad they are and to get an Audi instead.

Same person also said the last good quality Merc was the SL R129

[Keith Scarfe]

Ok as I understand 1998 on are the bad ones, but from cidersurfer's note I assume from around 2004 ish  onwards (depending on model) they are ok again. Is this correct?

[Jumpy07]

I have an 04 plate SLK AMG and no signs of rust anywhere, my mother has an 02 plate A Class and its rusty round the wheel arches and door pillars, which I was shocked at.. seams to confirm that they did drop some of the treatment on early cars.

CJ

[carpetstu]

Ok as I understand 1998 on are the bad ones, but from cidersurfer's note I assume from around 2004 ish  onwards (depending on model) they are ok again. Is this correct?

Nope it a load of crap!

The new mercs made after the late 90' are all unreliable junk buckets and the quality of service from the dealers is even worse.

buy an Audi !

[perksy]

Ok as I understand 1998 on are the bad ones, but from cidersurfer's note I assume from around 2004 ish  onwards (depending on model) they are ok again. Is this correct?

Nope it a load of crap!

The new mercs made after the late 90' are all unreliable junk buckets and the quality of service from the dealers is even worse.

Won't be buying another one then Mate            

What was the Quality of the Carpet like