More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

I have the opportunity to buy a c230 kompressor year 2000 with 28k miles. I have owned 2 c280's (a 94 and a 98) and was satisfied with them both. Any comments on the reliability of the Kompressor>? I like the sport look but would like more info if possible...

Thanks


2006 Mercedes r350 Kidhauler
2003 BMW M3 Smg
2004 Noble M12 #53

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

bradr,
If you have a Noble M12, a BMW M3 and a R350 for hauling kids why do you go low end and used on your MBZ Sedan? Is it for the housekeeper? :D

-Eric

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

very funny. I do some housekeeping though.

I happen to like the car and am going to use it to go back and forth to work with. Also, I really need a 4 dr to put my kid/s in when my wife has her truck.

My m3 is completely useless in the snow and a real PITA to put a kid in. I will probably get rid of it at some point soon.

With the exception of the r350 (which is leased) all my cars were bought used (1 to 2 years old).

BTW...I dont have a housekeeper and my wife does not like to be called that.

Any chance i could get some info on the reliability issue?

:)

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

Sorry not from me Pal. I have an '06 C230 Sport which is the first year with the V6. My experience has been all positive thus far - 2 years and 12k miles.

I had a '97 318is BMW with Charcoal interior and I much rather dump my kids in that than the C230 with the Ash (light Gray) interior - but that is due to the difficulty of keeping the light interior clean.

Noble M12 .....Whoa! where did that come from!

-Eric

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

England, via South Africa....

http://gallery.mac.com/ebaybrad/100025/m3-20008/web.jpg

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

As you can see by the lack of response to your question (other than my chatting with you) this Forum is a little less "active" than similar BMW Forums if you frequent those.

It seems to me that this "C Class" Forum covers too wide a range of cars over too many years with not enough activity to be really useful. There seems to be WAY fewer MBZ C Class owners that are fantatic enough to share on a internet forum versus BMW 3 Series owners.

:(

-Eric

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

We are at exact opposite ends of the sports car spectrum!

http://www.geocities.com/techstockjock/topview.jpg

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

OK>as usual, I guess I'll answer this one.
This forum not "active"? Hmmm. I thought I was pretty active. Oh well. Call me "inactive".

I have a 2005 C230K. 113,000 miles on it now. Mostly freeway every day.
I can tell you that some people have had great luck with this car and some not. I know that doesn't help
you a lot, but like everything else, you might be lucky and you might not. I was not so lucky and my extended
warranty paid for itself several times over during the past 50k miles, with a new supercharger at over three
grand and some other expensive stuff. I do the easy maintenance myself now and save a ton of money.
Brakes, oil and filter, etc. The four cyl. supercharged engine went away in '06 as no-mo-bmw said. Mercedes
was having too many problems and complaints about engine noise, according to my local dealership spy. I have
a friend who works there who told me in case you were wondering where that came from. Who knows. The six
cyl. is MUCH quieter and smoother. They gave me a loaner and it was quite different. If it were me, I would get
a six and not the four and be done with it. Even though the four cyl. gets great mileage on the highway, I would
never buy another one. Next time it's a V-6 or I'll walk. Walking is good. You can take the dog with you too. :D

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

I recently spenttwo monthssearching andtest driving many '99 to '02 C230, C280 and C320models.My research included this and other forums. I received feedback from more than 5+ people that includedlead mechanics at MB dealers and high end dealers that recommended goingwith a99 and 00 models or new for the C-Class.

The C230K's sport modelsthat Idrove felt tighter andmuch more responsive. The C280 felt okay but didn't inspire me in comparison to the C230k. I suggest test driving both models on the same dayas I did to get a good feel test.

I decided buying directly from a MB dealer that had all service done by the dealer. One thing I found was pulling carfax and then calling MB service departments for detailed service information. I found a 99 C230K with 65k that had complete service done by the dealer so I decided not to purchase the 3rd party mechanical insurance.

I have found theC230k is a little noisyonly for a very short time in the morning at initial startup. I wouldn't be concerned about it being too loud. The only person making a comment to me was my neighbor asking me about it and I responded "yeah that's my kompressor sound!".

In summary the C230k has a quick response to throttle, feels tightplus I like "kompressor" badge on the trunk.I'd go with the K with low miles, full service records from a MB dealer and recommend buying from a MB dealer. The dealers get lots of trades most of which are wholesaled out and will keep only the clean models. Note finding the right one will take time and you may need to expand your search outside your local area.I purchased myC230k out of state more than 350 miles away; however, not as far asSouth Africa. lol

Good luck! [8D]

RE: More reliable ?? - 2000 c230K or c280 ??
 

I have a 2000 C280 Sport(55,000) on it and BLACK ON BLACK. It has been a great car only a few small things such as my hood latch broke but other then that it is great. It is sport responsive and handles like a dream.