1995 Mercedes C180. Sold

[rr69h]

As it happened I was offered a new job so I was about to join into the commuting-game from one city to another for at least three months before I move house.

After doing a bit of research I discovered that going by train is about double what it would cost to use a car. So I hatched a cunning finance-plan:

Cost of car + three months of tax, insurance and fuel < train ticket price x 1.5

Why the ticket price x 1.5 I hear you ask? Well, I currently have no car. All I have are car-shaped toys which are either too prone to rust to run it through the winter, too roofless to run it through the cold or too large to get a parking space at my new office. Yes, I am a coward and I do know that I sound like a little girl.

Anyway. As I discovered that (at least in my area) useable W124s or W201 were pretty much extinct I started reading up on that first C-Class. The one that rusts like hell, with the horrid plasticy interior and it doesn’t even have SU carbs. None at all!

After doing a bit of research I decided that it all could be tackled. Or the car would go up in flames in which case I didn’t want to have too much money tied into it.

So on Dec 31st I had this in the driveway. Say hello to Arthur:





Looks rough, eh? That’s because it is.

Fact sheet!

• C180 Classic
• Built in 11/1995, so it's had the small facelift
• 311.000 Km (I do have a soft spot for high-milers)
• DB721 Onyx Grey paint
• Immaculate black cloth interior (it really is unmarked and even the driver’s seat looks and feels brand new)
• Power windows up front
• Outside temperature gauge
• Central arm rest
• Radio MB "Classic" and an electric antenna
• Sunroof (!!)
• Seat warmers (!!!!)
• Standard are things like power steering, remote (!!!) central locking or four headrests.

The bad:

• It definetely has rust, lots of it in fact. But: C-Class Mercs had a problem with water based paint and the primer wasn’t up to the job. These things rust from the outside to the inside and not the other way around. The driver’s door is dead though.
• The power steering pump is on its way out.
• A few bulbs on the instrument cluster have gone sour
• Hasn’t had a clean inside or out for a year or so
• The wiper switch sometimes doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do
• Desperately needs a service

The good:

• The seller clearly liked his car and recently spent a fortune on it. What this actually means: timing chain and head gasket have been replaced before anything could go wrong there, new shocks all round, new tyres, new radiator, complete brake job (and I really do mean it. Everything from rotors to calipers to the master cylinder is new!). Or more than three times of what I’ve paid for it have been invested in it during the last two years alone.
• The rust is mainly on the outside and can be dealt with fairly easily. All the sills, spring mounts and floors are immaculate.
• The car really drives like a two year old modern Mercedes. I was really impressed how solid and fresh this car feels despite its age and mileage.

First up (right after getting home) was giving it a deep clean:





It took me the best part of two days to get all the muck off. After that it looked a bit like this:







So I’ve started servicing it. Fluids, filters, consumables... you name it. I was surprised that it even ran on those:


...and that the blower motor actually shifted any air through that cabin filter (new one in the foreground, old one in the back):


And this is where we stand. To me a car this ‚modern’ still feels like something from outer space:


But it gets me to work and back without any hassle. So far everything works as it should and it’s frugal on fuel, too. It manages 40 MPG easily and if you’re a bit careful you can even get beyond that. Let’s see how this one works out...

[smart]

Combination of very poor quality steel and hugely cutting the paint budget means all Mercs of this era and the next were rust buckets. Somehow Merc managed to keep it reasonably quiet and out of the media.
Having said that they go on for ever! Good luck

[Mercdan68]

Superb cars, that's the same colour as my c180 love these cars, and nice ones getting rare oh and both of mine are virtually rust free

[jeffeRS]

I've sold lots of Mercs of that era. And they were rust free. If cars are neglected they will rust. You look after it, it will look after you. A wise man once said.

[Mercdan68]

Will add, I've owned hundreds of cars both new and old in my 28 years of car ownership, and my c250TD is without the doubt the best car I've ever owned, I will never sell it, my wife drives it now daily, it will be with us forever, that's coming from someone who only keeps cars for a few months, I've had it four years now, just routine servicing,and a water pump , rust issues? None

[TurboDieselWeasel]

The last real Mercedes!

[smart]

Not saying these were bad cars, just went rotten very quickly. Worked in a bodyshop with a Merc contract through the naughties and we were full to the brim with nearly new 202 and 210s and then later the 203s and 211s went the same way. Rusty front and rear arches, door tops, door bottoms, bootlids and bonnets. Merc repaired all cars for free as long as it had full Merc service history. Cost them hundreds and hundreds of millions in europe alone. As ive said poor quality steel and cutting the paint budget massively led to the problems.

[Mercdan68]

Had a w210,,, the 202 is a far far better built car and the panels are far better than those on the w210, mine had rust appearing under the paint even on the roof!

[smart]

Jan 19, 2015 21:00:47 GMT Mercdan68 said:

Had a w210,,, the 202 is a far far better built car and the panels are far better than those on the w210, mine had rust appearing under the paint even on the roof!

Agreed, 210s also had the dangerous habit of huge holes appearing in the spring cups allowing the suspension to completely collapse!!

[rr69h]

Jan 19, 2015 20:42:03 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

The last real Mercedes!

I see what you did there!

Speaking of rust. I will say that there seems not to be a general scheme about which cars are affected and which ones aren't. They were built in the German cities of Bremen as well as in Sindelfingen. According to a German forum which wanted to investigate the issue both plants produced cars that are now neglected high-milers and are free of rust as well as very low milage pampered cars that look like they had been parked under water. And the other way around as well as everything inbetween.

To be honest: I knew that rust on these is mainly cosmetical. I don't mind getting the Dremel out and trying my hand at getting rid of it (and learning new stuff inbetween) as long as the structural parts are solid. This (for once! ) should be a car for being used after all.

Another benefit is that since nobody wants them dozens of them are being broken for parts. I've just received a power steering pump out of a 40.000 mile-car for the grand sum of 15 quid. And I'm pretty chuffed with that!

[TurboDieselWeasel]

I don't know if you know - but after I told you, you'll know - it was all caused by bacterial infection of the immersion baths when they changed to the new paints. There's a dissertation here which goes into big detail: elib.uni-stuttgart.de/opus/volltexte/2000/653/pdf/diss_guehring.pdf - the solution was to renew them more frequently and monitor them better. As some were only randomly monitored for bacterial growth. But basically: that's the cause: bacteria

Some cars went through old baths, some through newly filled (uncontaminated) ones...

Who would have thought there's life in - erm - paint...

[robinmasters]

Jan 20, 2015 19:15:31 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

I don't know if you know - but after I told you, you'll know - it was all caused by bacterial infection of the immersion baths when they changed to the new paints. There's a dissertation here which goes into big detail: elib.uni-stuttgart.de/opus/volltexte/2000/653/pdf/diss_guehring.pdf - the solution was to renew them more frequently and monitor them better. As some were only randomly monitored for bacterial growth. But basically: that's the cause: bacteria
J
Some cars went through old baths, some through newly filled (uncontaminated) ones...

Who would have thought there's life in - erm - paint...

Your post is the most interesting thing I've read today; I'd assumed it was cost cutting, not angry germs!

Just a shame the linked document is in German!

[TurboDieselWeasel]

Well cost cutting is a part of the problem, and not the smalest Someone's got a doctors degree with that text - I don't know if you realy want to go through 155 pages of google translation Maybe I can translate the most important bits of it, but give me a couple of days I think it's interesting enough to be translated properly.

[tdk]

Jan 20, 2015 19:15:31 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

I don't know if you know - but after I told you, you'll know - it was all caused by bacterial infection of the immersion baths when they changed to the new paints. There's a dissertation here which goes into big detail: elib.uni-stuttgart.de/opus/volltexte/2000/653/pdf/diss_guehring.pdf - the solution was to renew them more frequently and monitor them better. As some were only randomly monitored for bacterial growth. But basically: that's the cause: bacteria

Some cars went through old baths, some through newly filled (uncontaminated) ones...

Who would have thought there's life in - erm - paint...

That is (genuinely) very interesting. Thanks

[Dave Dorson]

Jan 20, 2015 19:15:31 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

I don't know if you know - but after I told you, you'll know - it was all caused by bacterial infection of the immersion baths when they changed to the new paints. There's a dissertation here which goes into big detail: elib.uni-stuttgart.de/opus/volltexte/2000/653/pdf/diss_guehring.pdf - the solution was to renew them more frequently and monitor them better. As some were only randomly monitored for bacterial growth. But basically: that's the cause: bacteria

Some cars went through old baths, some through newly filled (uncontaminated) ones...

Who would have thought there's life in - erm - paint...

I love forums and the Internet for nuggets of information like that.

Thanks

[peter96]

I was tempted to go and look at a supposedly rust free one of those a few months ago in exactly the same colour. Got distracted by another Volvo instead. Looks like it will make a good winter car and save your other Benz's for the better weather. Must admit I do like your W114 and W126. Any more updates on them.

[rr69h]

Good day y'all,

Jan 20, 2015 19:15:31 GMT TurboDieselWeasel said:

I don't know if you know - but after I told you, you'll know - it was all caused by bacterial infection of the immersion baths when they changed to the new paints. There's a dissertation here which goes into big detail: elib.uni-stuttgart.de/opus/volltexte/2000/653/pdf/diss_guehring.pdf - the solution was to renew them more frequently and monitor them better. As some were only randomly monitored for bacterial growth. But basically: that's the cause: bacteria

Some cars went through old baths, some through newly filled (uncontaminated) ones...

Who would have thought there's life in - erm - paint...

Yep, that's what I was pointing at saying "the primer wasn't up to the job" right at the beginning. What I've researched so far is that rare colours have a tendency to have lead to rust-free cars later on. Immaculate panels you can buy secondhand are often enaugh in that pinkish "Rosenholz Metallic" paint:

Strange, huh?

As our journey continiues I've now done the first 1000 Kms with it. Before getting the tools out to tackle the bigger jobs I've decided to fix up those interior lights:




Ah, much betterererer!

Jan 22, 2015 11:01:26 GMT peter96 said:

I was tempted to go and look at a supposedly rust free one of those a few months ago in exactly the same colour. Got distracted by another Volvo instead. Looks like it will make a good winter car and save your other Benz's for the better weather. Must admit I do like your W114 and W126. Any more updates on them.

Hi Peter! If by any chance that car might be broken for spares... I might be interested in a few panels. Thanks for asking, sadly there's nothing to report about the other cars. They've all gone into hibernation with only the S-Class having had a bit of spanner-action before. I haven't taken any photos of that annoyance though, but I'll add a few lines of text to its thread soon for you all to have a good laugh at.

[peter96]

I'm afraid i think it eventually sold. Looked really neat. A few years ago my neighbour spent fair old wedge on a late 90s CLK . At the same time I had spent £750 on my first 190. After a year or so of ownership the CLK had rust popping up in loads of spots throughout the bodywork. My budget 190 only had one small rust bubble near the aerial. To say he was decidedly peeved off is an understatement! Must sort myself out another Mercedes again at some point.

[UtterPiffle]

Cool old thing - will give you many years trustworthy service if you keep the rust at bay... Rare to find hot seats on a base model like that as well. Nice touch!

I am back and forth UK to Düsseldorf every couple of weeks in my old w210 e55 kombi, so if any parts come up in the UK that you want, give me a shout.

Kinda weird that German car parts are often much cheaper in UK than domestically, but it usually works in my favour

[rr69h]

Jan 23, 2015 9:13:33 GMT UtterPiffle said:

I am back and forth UK to Düsseldorf every couple of weeks in my old w210 e55 kombi, so if any parts come up in the UK that you want, give me a shout.

Thanks alot! Although I'm now working in Düsseldorf nowadays and drive right through the city twice a day I haven't spotted your Kombi (yet). I imagine you won't spot me either since you're capable of at least twice the speed. Maybe one day we'll meet in a Stau... or better have a beer someday!

The C-class has served me well for 5000 Kms now and just keeps on going. Having a winter-beater again has its own thrills, like being able to enjoy views like these:


At the time this pic was taken the seat warmers were keeping me warm on setting 1, the tank was 3/4 full and the radio was playing "Driving home for Christmas". No joke.

The only thing that's irritating is the grubby steering wheel. It feels well used whereas the rest of the car somehow doesn't. I'll swap it for a leather-one, soon. But at least the steering wheel now does what it's supposed to do thanks to this:


A new(ish) power steering pump came out of a low-miler for the price sum of 20 quid. The joys of running a very common car.

Other than that I've had a go at getting all the rust off. Before:


...and after:




It doesn't look completely horrid and that's absolutely fine for the moment. If the rust doesn't reappear I think I'll treat it to some real paint (i.e. not brushed-on touch-up paint).

Other than that I seem to grow somewhat attached to it. Amongst other things it now has new pedal rubbers and I've just bought an original auto-dipping interior mirror for it. I even find myself occasionally scanning ebay for a set of original alloys... heavens!

Luckily the community is hard against this madness and redirects my cash-flow towards other things:


Gah. But they won't win in the end!