I am halfway searching for a new daily out of boredom. I have a wide range of searches saved on craigslist and today an 02 C32 AMG popped up for $1700. Says it has 200k miles and needs some TLC to daily but runs and drives.
Am I crazy for considering this or are they fairly decent by modern Mercedes standards? I have also been looking at S500s and the gastropod CLK thread isn't helping my desire for a cheap Merc.
If I were to jump into early 2000s Mercedes ownership I'd be leaning towards the bigger cars like the S500. They have at least one thing in their favor over the smaller and cheaper Mercedes which is they most likely were better maintained.
0-60 in sub 5 seconds and 349hp for $1700. What an era to live in! I’d say upkeep is a gamble but you’d be smiling until it broke.
clutchsmoke said:If I were to jump into early 2000s Mercedes ownership I'd be leaning towards the bigger cars like the S500. They have at least one thing in their favor over the smaller and cheaper Mercedes which is they most likely were better maintained.
I think that's only true if the seller is the original owner, or at least a long-term owner. I see plenty of big Merc's that clearly haven't seen a wrench put to them in years.
In reply to Indy-Guy :
I'm still waiting for the seller to respond to my email.
Yeah, I’d tank a chance on that for sure. Lots of potential there.
I'd do that all day, easy.
So.... do it!
For that price it's hard to think of a reason not to. A W210 e55, W203 C55 or either CLK55 is probably a bit less likely to be a disaster, but I'd for sure get that car over a W220.
S500 isn't a bad choice if it's a late w140 or late (2003+) w220. Don't forget the S420 as well.
If that were local i would buy it. I've been looking for them for a while and the cheapest one i've seen running was ~3k about 3 hours away and didnt look particularly good. The normal, nice ones are going for 6-7k around here and when i say around here, they're always at least an hour and a half away. 
yupididit said:S500 isn't a bad choice if it's a late w140 or late (2003+) w220. Don't forget the S420 as well.
After 2003 all but the S55 switched to the 722.9 transmission so its $1800 for a new conductor plate (if you don't have to replace the whole valve body) vs $180 + a fluid change for the 722.6, so that's something else to keep in mind when looking at them. W140 wouldn't be bad though.
Tk8398 said:yupididit said:S500 isn't a bad choice if it's a late w140 or late (2003+) w220. Don't forget the S420 as well.
After 2003 all but the S55 switched to the 722.9 transmission so its $1800 for a new conductor plate (if you don't have to replace the whole valve body) vs $180 + a fluid change for the 722.6, so that's something else to keep in mind when looking at them. W140 wouldn't be bad though.
The v12s kept the 722.6 until 2014, so the s600, s65, cl600, and cl65 still have the cheap conductor plate after 02 until 2015. I had to replace it on my 03 cl600.
I heard back from the seller. He says that there is a leak from the oil cooler and the supercharger pulley makes noise at idle that sounds like a bad bearing.
EvanB said:I heard back from the seller. He says that there is a leak from the oil cooler and the supercharger pulley makes noise at idle that sounds like a bad bearing.
I don't know if I'm crazy, but none of that scares me lol
yupididit said:EvanB said:I heard back from the seller. He says that there is a leak from the oil cooler and the supercharger pulley makes noise at idle that sounds like a bad bearing.
I don't know if I'm crazy, but none of that scares me lol
Agreed, definitely seems like it would be a fun project and worth taking on for 1700.
Yea, nothing that seems too bad. The bearing appears to be available for around $40. Oil cooler seals are $20 for the pair.
Now to see if it is still available by the weekend when I can get down there.
In my recent searches for Merc luxo cruisers, I was told to stay away from the C-class. All the Merc headaches without the clout. S-class is a pretty good bet. E-class, I wouldn't go newer than the W210.
When I was searching I found an S63 AMG with 44k selling for $14,000. I know that's higher than your budget, but a $120k car that is just broken in for a tenth the price is hard to pass up.
There are gems in the Mercedes lineup, but I was told (nonspecifically) that the C-class was just not one of them.
Curtis said:In my recent searches for Merc luxo cruisers, I was told to stay away from the C-class. All the Merc headaches without the clout. S-class is a pretty good bet. E-class, I wouldn't go newer than the W210.
When I was searching I found an S63 AMG with 44k selling for $14,000. I know that's higher than your budget, but a $120k car that is just broken in for a tenth the price is hard to pass up.
There are gems in the Mercedes lineup, but I was told (nonspecifically) that the C-class was just not one of them.
W221 s63? The w221 is so good imo. It's like a modern w140 to me lol. Ugh don't even tempt me!
Cotton said:Tk8398 said:yupididit said:S500 isn't a bad choice if it's a late w140 or late (2003+) w220. Don't forget the S420 as well.
After 2003 all but the S55 switched to the 722.9 transmission so its $1800 for a new conductor plate (if you don't have to replace the whole valve body) vs $180 + a fluid change for the 722.6, so that's something else to keep in mind when looking at them. W140 wouldn't be bad though.
The v12s kept the 722.6 until 2014, so the s600, s65, cl600, and cl65 still have the cheap conductor plate after 02 until 2015. I had to replace it on my 03 cl600.
Right, I forgot about the V12 ones. The switch to the 722.9 is kinda an upper limit to the years of Mercedes I have any interest in.
All the Merc headaches without the clout
It's certainly smaller and less fancy in some ways but the C32 is actually one of the fastest AMGs of its period so it has that going for it.
“Less clout” doesn’t seem like much of a downside to someone that’s not buying it for “clout.”
I see no reason not to do it.
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