I have a question that I would like to run past the community as you have much more experience than I have.

 

I have a Merc E Class which is absolutely riddled with rust and needs sorting. Those of you that don't know, this model (95-02) has major bodywork problems and MB has shelled out millions in claims over the last few years. Unfortunately, not for me...

 

Anyway, basically the whole car needs sorting but the summary is:

 

- New bonnet

- New boot lid

- 1 new front wing

- 2 rear arches to be sorted. Will involve cutting and welding new metal.

- 1 door skin to be replaced. 2 other doors to be repaired.

- Full re-spray for the whole car, to the existing colour.

 

MB have quoted 3-4k, and 2 other garages 2-3k.

 

It's a huge amount of money to shell out for a design which is not fit for purpose, but in terms of the work required, does the money being quoted sound reasonable?

Sounds about right for a good job.

 

Personaly I wouldn't bother as it will all just rust away from underneith you again in 10 months

why not just trade it in for a new car and get your 2k for it if its so bad.

I have a question that I would like to run past the community as you have much more experience than I have.

 

I have a Merc E Class which is absolutely riddled with rust and needs sorting. Those of you that don't know, this model (95-02) has major bodywork problems and MB has shelled out millions in claims over the last few years. Unfortunately, not for me...

 

Anyway, basically the whole car needs sorting but the summary is:

 

- New bonnet

- New boot lid

- 1 new front wing

- 2 rear arches to be sorted. Will involve cutting and welding new metal.

- 1 door skin to be replaced. 2 other doors to be repaired.

- Full re-spray for the whole car, to the existing colour.

 

MB have quoted 3-4k, and 2 other garages 2-3k.

 

It's a huge amount of money to shell out for a design which is not fit for purpose, but in terms of the work required, does the money being quoted sound reasonable?

 

full respray + those bits for 2-4k is cheap enough but you could get a whole 2nd hand E class car for that...i'd chop her in for spares and get something less rusty with the money

Sounds about right to me.

 

Personally unless your very attached to it, I would get rid. With the car in top condition being worth about the same money that your going to spend out on it your going to lose out big time financially.

Thanks guys. Obvious question is of course why do I want to keep it?

 

Stupid and sentimental I suppose, but here goes:

 

- Had it for 6 years.Never let me down and know the car inside out.

-Performs brilliantly. Very fast (can keep up with my NA Z), smooth and refined, economical (32mpg on motorway) and still looks great (as long as you are far enough away not to see the rust bubbles!).

 

The problem with getting rid of it is that for similar money, I could buy something that's unreliable and with an unknown history. I simply don't have the dosh for something newer, nevermind new so the scrappage £2k is a non-starter.

 

My thinking was that as stupid as it may sound, £2k will give me a car that is not only mechanically sound but also cosmetically perfect. All of the garages have offered 5 year warrantys on the work. So even if it lasts another 2-3 years, that's not too bad for £2k.

 

I fully understand your points though!

 

Some pics below. Hard to believe it's terminally ill...

 

looks liek a big comfy luxurious motor, so if you like it i would get it repaired then mate, especially with a 5year warranty and only paying 2k is pritty good, and it means your shell is going to be solid. Just a thought tho.......could you not by the shell part yourself bolt them on and then just pay for a respray?

 

Looks nice tho if mechnically sound i think id keep it. 5year warranty throws it for me also.

Remember the warranty will only be for the work done, if that much of the car has started to rot so badly surely the rest is not far behind and will need the same spent again to get sorted in 10 months??

Thanks guys. I'm hoping that with the wings and arches,bonnet and boot lid replaced, there isn'tmuch left to rust in the future!

we used to have one of these in the fam. had many electrical problems and many of them do but mechanically was sound so if urs is running sweet id keep it and run it into the ground as the engines just keep on going and going. im surprised yours is rusting at its age as i did not spot any signs of rust on ours

 

what variant is yours? ours was a E240 and that felt quite quick for a big car.

 

if your willing to travel to london i know of a very good garage that could do that work for under 2k professionally as they worked on ours over the years and the quality is very very good.

Thanks isyss. It's an E280 Avantgarde with a tiptronic gearbox.

 

The garage details would be most welcome.

Check your front suspension spring cups ( welded to the chassis and the spring sits in it ) these seriously rot and your front suspension can collapse , I work in a large bodyshop that,s got a merc contract and we too have to do warranty work , it,s a bloody nightmare trying to sort these earlier rust buckets out !!!!.

I,ve seen your model with the front crossmember completely corroded through :shock::shock:

Apart from that they,re not a bad car :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Boldy, what's the best way to check the items that you've mentioned, i.e. where do I need to look?

Boldy, what's the best way to check the items that you've mentioned, i.e. where do I need to look?

 

Jack the front of your car up and lock the steering over , look behind the front wheel , you,ll see the suspension spring and the cup it sits in welded to the chassis leg , have a good look and see if the sealer around the cup is lifting , usually a sign of corrosion .

Sometimes it,s just blatantly obvious that there is severe corrosion set in as it,s as rusty as the titanic !!!.

We,ve had a fair few in that,s collapsed it,s suspension as the cup breaks away from the chassis .

I,m not trying to worry you bud , the rest of the body rust is cosmetic but this is something that really should be checked , i do hope they,re ok for you though .

Cheers Allan

After much soul searching and exploring all avenues, have decided that the cheapest option at the moment is to replace the wing, bonnet and boot lid with clean second hand parts.

 

That will leave:

 

- 2 rear arches to be sorted. Will involve cutting and welding new metal.

- 1 door skin to be replaced. 2 other doors to be repaired.

- Full re-spray for the whole car, to the existing colour.

 

That should reduce the costs considerably. Will need to get a quote first though.

 

Does anyone know if rear arches can be bought? Someone I spoke to suggested sometimes they can be a separate part? That would be ideal.