Hello all

Thinking of getting one of these for the dailly commute for around a grand. Does anyone have experience as to what would be the best for the money? Choices range from w124 E class saloon or estate(first choice), a 190 or maybe a C class.

It's going to pound motorways mainly and carry bikes at the weekends. An average of 40mpg+ would be nice, is this realistic?

I'm fairly handy with the spanners and am on first name terms with my local GSF so repairs shouldn't be a problem.

Any experiences or advice? I know we have at least one connousieur of elderly Mercs on this site.

P.S. would consider LPG too if that was viable, not sure what a grand will get me though...

Cheers

Brian

 

Cant see the point of the diesel over the petrol - going to cost the same to run.!

Unless of course you own your own chip shop

 

Personally I would get a M50 engined BMW E34 525i. Those engines will do millions of miles. 30mpg+ on a motorway with little more than serviceable bits. Although I am no Merc expert, I think the W123 merc was the best the W124 and 190 were not quite as good but pretty strong. I think rust is quite a big issue though and in those diesels they require regular servicing etc....

The 2.5D in the C-Class (closest thing I can find to a 190 D) averages 37mpg and 49mpg on a run.

A BMW 525i averages 34mpg and manages 42mpg on a run.

Based on 12k / year in £ the BMW will cost [Based on £3.99 a gallon] £117.35 per month based on average MPG. [£95.00 / month based on extra urban]

Based on 12k / year in £ the Merc will cost [Based on £4.49 a gallon] £121.35 per month based on average MPG. [£91.63 / month based on extra urban]

 

Mm, I was wondering about this. i currently run a Saab 9000 Aero with a remap-circa 275bhp and averages 30-35mpg quite happily on the motorway. I just fancy a change. Is a 525 Beemer really that good on fuel? I'd be surprised if it was. A late vanos's one has about 190ish Bhp, I could live with one of them, especially a touring.

Might be worth sticking with the Saab tho, I'll need to do the maths...

 

Or try Nationwide car leasing for £149 a month 3/12 and you can have a Volvo V70 D5 2.4 SE

The only catch is they are on a 57 plate with low mileage

Mark A

 

A 190D wouldn't pull you out of bed, 0-60 in about 25 seconds!

 

And completely unrefined.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, what I'd really like is one of these.

MERCEDES 300 D DIESEL AUTO on eBay, also, Mercedes-Benz, Cars, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 23-Jan-09 22:32:31 GMT)

What are they like on fuel? I'm still tempted just to hold on to the Saab, there's not much else around comparable for the money.

Can't see a BMW 525 petrol giving me better MPG, if it did that'd do cos I miss RWD...

 

A Beemer will be better on fuel with a good mix of driving. You have to rag the **** of those old diesels to get them to move.

The newer E class averages 38.7 mpg, and is the same engine I think. Refer to my above calculation as that is based on 37 mpg, almost the same give or take a few quid plus 6k service intervals etc etc...

 

Should really give abit more to the gallon than the beemer obviosly not such fun but as a carrier your not going to beat the estate version and parts are cheep ! (TE ) ,apart from front wings which go the rust is unlikely to be terminal also and the mechanics are very good - why else do these things get shipped to africa to be use as taxis once theyve done 250k here.!

 

..and as far as i can tell you can ACTUALLY run the 300d on cooking oil

 

I'd go petrol as the older Merc oil burners don't give great economy and unless you get a late valver W124 (which you'll pay £££s for) they are very slow and need ragging to get anything from them.

They do stand mega miles though!

 

I had an e34 525i touring a couple of years back and it was nearly as bad on fuel as my scoob!

I am looking again at the moment and keep getting drawn to 540i's as it has a V8 Get it LPG'd and cheap fuel costs or better still get one already converted. You won't get one for £1k though. Reading the BMW forums there seems to be little difference in fuel economy form 525i's thorugh to 540i's.

 

YouTube - world's fastest diesel mercedes w123 300d

 

Was it the 12v or 24v engine?

Must have been knackered to give as poor economy as a scoob, particularly if was the 24v model.

 

it was the 24v model 193bhp Iirc, and no it was far from knackered in fact it drove like a new car.

If you look on the BMW they will confirm the straight 6's are not much more economical than the v8's.

 

I think my old 1990 W124 300E 24 did about 20mpg and that was very low mileage (80k) this was about 3 years ago when I had it.

Quite quick though

 

There's someone selling a 1993 Audi 100 2.5tdi 6 speed avant near me, sounds OK but I know **** all about the 5 cylinder diesel engines, has anyone had any experience?

Also may have the chance of a Saab 9-3 2.2TiD, I like the sound of that. Not the last word in handling but nice cars to drive. Anyone got any experience of them?

 

525i has 192bhp/

My 328i does about 36mpg on a run, and about 23mpg around town, and it's an auto.

 

23mpg is very similar to a scoob.