I am duplicating this post from the New Member Group, since some of my questions are specific to my C Class model. Any pointers are appreciated.

I am new to owning a Mercedes Benz. My youngest daughter and her husband bought a new car and sold (practically gave) me her 1999 280C, with about 115K miles. I drove it from Dallas to Houston (about 250 miles) yesterday, so had a chance to get to know it a little.

The ride and handling is great. Noticed a slight delay in acceleration at times, but negligible. Body and interior is in nice condition. I will need to replace the headliner, but a local shop does a nice job on that, so I'll get that done 1st thing.

Where/how is the best, reasonably priced, way to get a second electronic key made?

Any recommendations for a repair/service manual? Any anticipated repairs or fixes I should look for in particular at this mileage?

Thanks
Steven Jindra

 

welcome, your story sounds strikingly a lot like mine. i got my 99 c280 a week ago from my brother who had a fender bender in it and decided that he was'nt going to pay the cost to repair a 12 yr old car, gave it to me, and bought a new one. mine is a silver c280 sport with 108,000 and i noticed today that the headliner is starting to sag. i like the lines of this car and may keep it once i repair the car but i have 2 others already. i have already been to Houston to find parts for it, and mercedes used parts are not cheap or easy to find in good condition.

 

The tires had pretty good wear, so I replaced them with a set of Firestone Touring Tires, went for comfort of ride over higher speed performance. It is a noticable improvement in the ride.

The headliner replacement is $400 and should be complete today. The shop is including spraying/painting the leather seats, since they had a partial can of the right spray on hand.

There are a few scuffs on the bumpers and a small dent in the trunk, but for now I've decided to just enjoy driving it and not get overly persnickety on the finer details.

My daughter was happy that I'm taking a real interest in caring for it. It's been her baby for four years, and even though it was replaced with a new BMW 535I (I believe), she still wants the C280 to be cared for and enjoyed. I told her she could have visitation rights. Reading reviews on the Kelly Blue Book site, it doesn't seem to be unusual to get 250K to 300K of good service from these cars with proper maintenance. That's my hope, anyway.

Thanks for your comments and enjoy your (new) C280.

 

I picked up my recently acquired 1999 C280 from the headliner shop yesterday and they did a great job. They spray painted the leather seats and it's a 100% improvement too. A new set of floormats and a backup Electronic key, and I'll be in bussiness for a while.

There is a slight hessitation of accelleration at times, but I remember the same thing on similar models when test driving several used C class vehicles a year ago. Is this a common trait. Is there a known fix. Again, it's relatively negligable, but wold be nice to fix if cost is not bad.

Thanks
Steven Jindra

 

Slight hessitation of accelleration at times is most likely about Air/Mass meter flow sensor.
Only fix is to clean sensor with MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR CLEANER.
Performance Products® – Performance Parts and Accessories. or call 1-800-243-1220. Price is around $13.00 plus S&H.
After cleaning air mass sensor take a road test. You should feel the difference.