Blackscooby

Might go and look at a C32 AMG this weekend.
Currently got a Saab 9-5 Aero, and to be honest it's a bit of a barge. Quick(ish) in a straight line, just don't point me at the twisties .... as I'll just go through the hedge !

C32 appeals to be as it's a complete and utter "Q" car, with it's 350BHP v6 Kompresser.

Anyone owned one and can advise ? Am I entering a lions pit of massive expense ?

Ta

Mark

jgevers

ball joints, rear springs, duo valve, cats and rust are common failures.

Pumpkin

I've got a C43 AMG

Common problems are

1) a bit of rust, so check carefully

2) sluggish gearbox change which is often due to low gearbox oil or contaminated MAF sensor

If its the same as the C43 it will have an adaptive gearbox, so drive like a granny and it will behave like a granny. Reset the gearbox (if you can) otherwise you may be disappointed with performance.

" 1. Get in your car, it doesn't matter if you close the door or not.

2. Turn the key to the on (not start) position, the position just before the starter turns over.

3. Press the gas pedal to the floor with the key in the "on" position.

4. Hold the pedal to the floor for five seconds, then turn the key back to the "off" position (don't remove the key), then release the gas pedal.

5. Wait 2 mins for a full alignment.

6. Drive the car as you always do


I get between 20 and 25mpg, not taken it on a really long run yet - thats mainly too and from work, bit of city traffic and so on.

The best bit is that 99% of other road users don't know your in anything special.

craigdmcd

iTrader: (2)

They are the berries, and if you find a good independant specialist, then the bills are not as high as you would expect, and definately not that far away from Scooby territory. Oh, shame you are not in Scotland, as the reason I know this, is that i'm a Merc Technician

jgevers

Perth perhaps?

Blackscooby

Rust on a 2002 car ?
I've read that the intercooler pumps can cause problems, and you can end up with taking water into the engine.

jgevers

Rust is a huge problem on even the latest Mercs. We have 7 Mercs on the fleet and all have some rust appearing. Also, to keep Mobilolife going, you need the car to be serviced by a franchised dealer. At probably £90odd an hour it will be quite expensive to keep going.

If you get a good one though, they are great cars.

Cheers

John57

Servicing is £££££

My wife popped in to a Merc dealer to have two brake light bulbs replaced as she didn't want to continue without them working (and wasn't sure how to change them or which bulbs ... etc, etc).

She was charged £50 + Vat excluding the bulbs.

She said to them why was she being charged an hours labour - their reply was that it was only 1/2 hour !!!

So £100 + VAT per hour labour rate on a Merc.

IMO it would be a very expensive car to own and one that without a full MB service history would be impossible to sell on.

Deep Singh

I have a c32 AMG. Its not that expensive to run compared to say a modded Scoob. As its 4+ years old now I tend to have any work done by specialists and just stamp services by the Merc dealer.

Tbh, its not great at the twisties either. Its a fantastic, comfortable, well kitted fast cruiser. If you want a real drivers car its not for you.


Pumpkin, I've never heard of the gearbox reset before. What does it actually do?

Ben v7

I like them... pretty subtle styling and plenty of power. Not really what I would call a pure drivers car but very capable none the less. Fuel economy isn't great due to the supercharger. 0-60 in 5.2 seconds,13.6 for the quarter mile and over 170mph derestricted.

Pumpkin

If your model has the adaptive gearbox which "learns" your driving style, then the reset clears its memory so its out of the box. It may not work on all cars, but it made a big difference to mine as the previous owner was a bit of an old codger.

The C43 is surprisingly good round corners (despite shifting 1600kgs)

craigdmcd

iTrader: (2)

[quote=jgevers]ball joints, rear springs, duo valve, cats and rust are common failures.[/quote

That list is more like one for a 202 model C-class or even a 210 E-class.
A list of things to go wrong on the early 2000/1 C-class 203 model are :
1: Front thrust arm bushes
2:Anti-roll bar links and bushes
3:Any of the 4 roadsprings, but mainly the rear(less so on AMG models)
4:Heater box mechanisms (pretty rare now)
5:ABS/ESP wiring faults at the ABS pump/ECU
6:Front indicator contact fault requiring modified wiring
7:Steering pull to left
8:Seat recognition pad for Airbag

From this and previous posts, the Cats on any V6/8 Merc are poor and also the water pump for the chargecoolers on the C32's are weak.

The AMG models do seem to be better engineered, and there are very few cars that have required all of this work to be done, and if the right deal can be done, then I would advise buying one.
By the way, I'm in Glasgow, not Perth.

Blackscooby

Thanks for the advice chaps, from my own research the chargecooler pump seems to be a bit of an achillels heal.
Phoned the dealer yesterday and the darned thing isn't available to go and look at today. Booooo

It is still in stock, just not there ~ annoying to say the least.

I'll let you know !

Cheers

Mark

Blackscooby

Whether I should or shouldn't is a bit academic now. Now the owner of a 2002 C32 AMG estate !

Will be delivered to me on Friday ~ can' wait

Pumpkin

Congratulations.

Everywhere I go I get mostly ignored, apart from a few enlightened people.

craigdmcd

iTrader: (2)

One of the coolest estate cars out there, and on a 2002 plate, it should suffer from very few of the warranty issues I posted further up.
Congratulations and enjoy (especially in straight lines )
Craig

Deep Singh

Photos?

Blackscooby

Photos... yeah I need to take some. Been a tad busy which is a cr@p excuse. Try and get some tonight.

Summary of car ~ fooook (out of fuel again !)
Does shift a bit as well. Now it's de-badged as well so totally stealthy

Blackscooby

Pictures for you !

Debadged, and now plain Jane... fantastic
349BHP hidden in an estate

John57

Nice !!!!

This thread prompted me to look a a C32 ..... it was lovely but I can't afford it unless I sell my Scooby and TVR - which is not going to happen just yet.

The thought of a comfy good car that accelerates as quick as my TVR Griffith and is an auto still really appeals though

Deep Singh

Casper blue, very nice. Not quite sure why you debadged it though, the small AMG letters are hardly in your face.

Blackscooby

Why did I debadge it ?
No other reason than it looks tidier in my opinion. However I did take a number of photos against a ruler such that they could be replaced if I wanted to !

craigdmcd

iTrader: (2)

From a glance, it looks like a C270CDi estate now, awesome street sleeper looks. If anyone is interested, I know where a very tidy high mileage (Approx 95K with full Merc history) is going for around 15 grand.

S7EV3N

Craig

I too am a west of scotland boy and would be interested in your loclal knowledge about specialist servicing for a C32 AMG.

I currenlty have a Boxster but fancy a change now that the summer is over. The only off putting thing about the AMG is that there is a lot of talk about expensive servicing. I stay in Paisley, can you recommend anyone to inspect any potential purchase and maintain an AMG nearby ?

Is the high mileage car you referred tro in your last post still available, and if so where ?

Stevie

Blackscooby

Well I've had it nearly a month now. Not exactly the smoothest month of ownership.

Had the engine diagnostic light come on a couple of weeks ago, followed by random power losses. More like 50BHP than 350 !
Went in to the dealership to be resolved. They replaced the secondary air injector relay and applied various recalls.
On the drive home from the dealer it suffered from power loss again. The engine note changes dramatically and it becomes a soft sounding V6. The Supercharger is de-activated. Again the engine diagnostic light came on.

I read up on the internet and found that the Intercooler pump fails causing the intake temps to increase which leads to the ECU shutting down the supercharger. Once the intake temps reduce the supercharger comes back into play again.

I've submitted all my info to the dealer in IC pump failures which they hadn't heard of before

Frustrating !

jgevers

Welcome to the reality of Mercedes ownership. We have 6 high end Mercs on the fleet at the moment and seem to spend more time at the dealer than with the drivers.

My own ML has spent more time in the garage getting fixed than my RS6, Golf and Subarus put together.

But when they work ok, they are quite relaxed and good to drive..........

Good luck with the highs and lows of Benz ownership.

Cheers

S7EV3N

Oh dear......that all sounds a bit unpromising !!

If i spend £20k on a car then i really would like it to be reliable. I don't think i woudl be able to afford to get repairs done on a regular basis.

My current car is still for sale anyway, so i'll have some time to think about my next purchase

Stevie

S7EV3N

Blackscooby

You are probably the right person to ask about servcing etc.

I'm obviously not very good on tinternet cos i can't find the info on google.

What are the service intervals on the C32 and does it have a timing belt ?

Does £20k for a 2002 model souns about right ?

Stevie

Blackscooby

I just paid about 20K for a 2002 with 39K on it. It's truely immaculate. Full MBSH. As for intervals dunno mate, it's on a screen which keeps reminding me everytime I start. Something like 3K to go. I'll look in the book and see when it was last done.

Costs ~ I was told a "B" service would be around the £450 ball park. An "A" service is the smaller one and should be less. Couldn't tell you about the timing belt though. It looks to have one of those horrid looking serpent belts that drive everything including the supercharger. I thought I thought it was on timing chain rather than belt.

Thankfully bought it from Mercedes and it's got 12 month warrenty, I've just extended that for another 12 given it's current state.

Just seen your post on the MBclub ! I usually loiter around the "engine" forum !

S7EV3N

I use a couple of forums because i tend to change my car quite often.

What is your username on MBClub ?

Since my last post i managed to confirm that they are on timing chains and that they have variable service intervals depending on driving style.


Service cost doesn't sound too bad. I assume those rpices were form teh main dealer ?

Stevie