Taxi Driver Online

These cars look perfect for high mileage/airport work,any readers running one of these vehicles or know someone who has,are there any weak spots on the car? I work with a chap who uses one(E220 CDI),seems to be ultra reliable,what are servicing costs like?

Thanks in anticipation

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GuildfordPH

Any Merc on or after 56 plate, most comman faults have been recticfied by Mercedes, upgrade to Merc autoboxes faults also have been plugged, it is now known that 2010 onwards the injector sytem injectors have had a problem, but software upgrade to the ECU have rectified the problem

servicing costs by Mercedes have also been reduced to more of an affordable cost inline with most other makes, they had to because they was loosing business

servicing costs are around the £250 to £300 , a small price to pay, when also you can put this against your income tax, and the job is done right, they are not some back alley car repairers

Oh and dont be frightened to give the merc a good hard thrash in low gears

The new Skoda superb has more room in the back, in fact it has more room than an S class

It all sounds good,thanks stinky-i like the fact that most (or all) e220 run on 16 inch tyres too so means tyre replacement still reasonably cheap-always important,you never know when the next nail or screw is going in there which cant be puncture repaired.Nicer interiors too than 5 series bmw (except for wood and leather combo)

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GuildfordPH

Servicing costs are not bad, £170/£270 for a minor/major (although mine is the E320 CDi).

I take mine down to http://www.prestigecarservice.co.uk/ in Horndean, near Portsmouth, great service and they know what they're doing, and it's worth the drive down there.

They do go forever if they're maintained properly, many you see around Heathrow has done hundreds of thousands of miles, plenty of high milers on eBay.

Although if you're doing airport work, you may want to consider buying a V6 3.0 CDi engine - which comes in two power outputs the E280 CDi with 190bhp, and the E320 CDi with 224bhp. If you're carrying a full load of passengers and luggage, for a motorway airport run then the mpg may be better, since the engine will be under less strain (than the E220 CDi) and more relaxed.

"Servicing"............how long is a piece of string?

it depends what gets done

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Thanks christopher,a man who is running an e class himself.Everyone tells me the parts etc are mega reliable so just oils and filters most of the time with servicing.What kind of mpg do you get with the 320 CDI? Does it suffer at traffic lights,rush hour traffic? The Chrysler 300C has 3 litres and people i know who run one say its fine cruising motorways etc but really gives terrible economy through towns,rush hours etc.

Does the 320 have a cambelt that needs replacement? Are you running 16 inch wheels?

Cheers Paul

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GuildfordPH

Yes, most of the time it's just the oils and filters. Suspension components do go as well from time to time such as the ball joints and springs.

MPG wise, I get about 28mpg in town, and can get up to 45mpg doing 70mph on the motorway. However as I mentioned, the fuel consumption on the less powerful E220 CDi on motorways, especially hilly ones with a full load on board can be less than the bigger engined E280/E320 CDi, remember, fully laden, that 2.1-litre engine will be hauling over 2 tonnes. The 3.0 V6 will be more relaxed, and it only does 1,600rpm at 70mph.

It's worth considering getting the 3.0 V6 just becuase of its' smoothness and refinement over the E220 CDi, even though you'll pay the penalty on mpg in town.

It does have a cambelt, my car has done 145,000 miles, (I bought it at 95,000 miles last July). Looking back at the service history, it was last replaced at 46,000 miles, and I've been told at the last service, it will need replacing at the next service (in about 5,000miles time).

I'm running 17 inch wheels on mine. I replaced the rears with budget tyres from blackcircles.com at £50 each at 113,000 miles, and they've still got about 3-4mm tread on them! Obviously made from a more harder compound than the Continentals that I bought the car with, so it's more hardwearing.

Also, don't go to a Mercedes main dealer for servicing and pay their £120/hour labour charge. It's best to go to a good independent - such as the one I just mentioned (charging a more reasonable £55/hour), since they are more used to working on higher mileage cars, and they'll know what problems are likely to come up.

No , it does not have a CAMBELT, its a chain, THRIPLEX Chain

just goes to show you have been conned buy some back street dealer, some people never learn

Yes, it is chain driven.

I just wonder why I was told the belt needed replacing, unless it's something else, and it was replaced at 46,000 miles as shown in the service book.

maybe something is confusing you, I think you mean the external "Serpentine belt" which turns the power steering pump, alternator, waterpump and idler from the crankshaft pulley

Yes I think that's it. I quickly checked on another MB forum, that it is chain driven - which I hear should last as long as the engine, as long as the correct oil changes are done.

I was just told a "belt" will need replacing soon, and I just immediately assume it was the cambelt.

Remember when jeremy clarkson did london to edinburgh and back on one tank of fuel in an A8 3 litre? Audi told him it was impossible but he averaged around 37 mpg (kept the engine at 1000 rpm on motorways and highways).He did even better with the jag to blackpool the 2.5 litre car averaged around 55 mpg.

Like the sound of NO cambelt changes too,my current car is cambelt every 80000 miles (peugeot 307 SW).I have a local independent garage i use that specialize in BMWs and Mercs.

Spaceinvader1

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GuildfordPH