The comfort class is from the German word "comfortklasse" the conditional classification of C-class cars occurs. And this is about the Mercedes-Benz W203, the car, the release of which was launched in the two thousandth year, and completed in 2007.

Despite the date of birth (the second generation of the C-class), he, as before, looks immaculately outwardly, retains the refined salon and the desire for an energetic ride. Age! Yes, the return is not small. Did it affect the glorified reliability of the Mercedes family?

Go through the basics

Subjected to analysis the body of the legendary Mercedes-Benz W203, the conclusion that confirms the reliability of this part of the car.

It is fully galvanized by double-sided galvanizing, by immersing the whole body in zinc electrolyte. The applied layer of zinc from 9 to 15 microns. High quality zinc. Even fifteen-year-old cars show no signs of body corrosion. Of course, if the car body was not exposed to the effects of scratches or bumps.

The electronic part of the Mercedes-Benz W203 does not cause as much optimism as the results of body analysis. This is probably one of the most vulnerable parts of the car.

Suddenly, you can face the problem of ignition, which is quite unpleasant. And the matter may not even be in the original ignition key, which does not have the familiar “blade”. The problem may be more serious - in the electronic unit that reads the information and controls the ignition itself (800 €). You can either stay on the street (there will be no access) or become the owner of a Mercedes as a real estate object.

Recovery of the most lost ignition key will cost 100 €. And that is not all. “Surprises” are presented by the SAM unit (up to € 450), which processes electronic signals and distributes energy. Its inaccurate operation may discharge the battery, affect incorrect ignition of lamps and the functioning of various sensors. The result can be deplorable - idle electric drives, which are abundant in expensive equipment. Specialists of service centers caution that the unit’s “life” may end in a banal disconnection of the battery.

Faced with the sudden ignition of the anti-blocking system (ABS), dynamic stability control (ESP), emergency brake assist (EBA) systems, it is necessary to take into account the age threshold of the car, which creates instability in the work of electricians.

At first glance, there may be two reasons: a malfunction of the usual non-latching button for turning on the lights of the stop light on the brake pedal bracket (25 €) or a malfunction of the system control unit (1250 €).

All auxiliary elements of the machine, directly dependent on the operation of electrical circuits, work reliably. For example, electric drives for headrests of the second row of seats, curtains on the rear window and mirrors. And the answer is obvious - it's age.

The long-term exposure to the atmospheric environment has a negative effect on the control units for glass and mirrors (130 €). Humidity is the root cause of their unstable operation. It also makes unstable the work of the luggage compartment lock, a pump that pumps fuel between the parts of the gasoline tank. Lifting the luggage compartment lid, for the same reasons, is no longer the same as in earlier times.

Trouble can be expected from hood lock. When it fails, the work of both the wiper blades and the windshield washer ceases. As for the standard alarm system, it is provoked its unreasonable work.

Recommended article: New car up to 800,000 rubles: a review of several models

The replacement of the switch will not cause problems, which cannot be said about the malfunction of the servo drives of the air conditioning system, because to eliminate it, it is necessary to disassemble the front panel. Contacting the official service center with this ailment will be 500 €.

About motors

Highly reliable operation of a gasoline engine is possible only with proper maintenance of power units. The service life of such an engine from the Mercedes-Benz W203 is significant - 400,000 km is not the limit for it.

Owning a C-class Mercedes with a gasoline engine, it is necessary to regularly clean the throttle unit (replacement up to 1000 €), aiming at the purity of the cross section of the flow channel that changes the volume of gasoline flowing through the medium channel.

Passing a threshold of 100,000 km requires the replacement of an airflow sensor and a poly V-belt tensioner (up to 400 €). Kilometer is slowly doing its ungrateful work, therefore, such an element of the power unit, as the rear support, can become unusable.

When the border reaches 120,000 km, it may be necessary to replace the valve cover gasket and the cooling system pump. And there is not far and the replacement chain in the gas distribution mechanism.

After an average of 120,000 km, it is time to replace the pump (cooling system pump). It is not possible to replace individual parts of the pump because of the peculiarities of its structural device; therefore, it will have to be replaced entirely.

By this time, the gasket under the valve cover may become unusable. At first glance, it seems to be a trifling element that does not affect the performance and technical performance of the motor as a whole. But this is only at first glance. If she became the cause of leakage, then wait for big trouble. The motor must be dry and clean.

Separately it is worth stopping on the engine in volume of 1.8 liters - M271. Machines of this series, over 10 years old, suffer from a weak single-row chain. With a run of 60,000 km, it is drawn out. A knock from the depths of a cold motor is a direct offer to immediately contact a service center. The threat is obvious - a worn chain break. As a rule, they simultaneously change the drive circuit on the balancing mechanism. The cumulative cost will be 800 €.

A running resource of 100,000 km in such engines reveals a loss of valve mobility with nakoksovannye rods. The consequence may be high thrust loss or the engine at idle "walks" (floats) within insignificant limits, the use of washing is already a useless option. It's time to change the valves that have special grooves on the rods, along with fresh valve springs.

The following lack of the serial M271 motor is weak hose for crankcase ventilation. It regularly falls into disrepair, which will be indicated by a peculiar sound emanating from under the shell of the air filter. The cold start difficulty is manifested in a floating zero load. Upon reaching 100,000 km the generator wheel is made to make noise.

The six-cylinder engine of a series attracts attention M112 with working volumes of 2.6 / 3.2 liters. In terms of its specific flaws, it is possible to note the insufficiently successful crankcase ventilation device, failures of the crankshaft sensor, as well as destruction at the resource of 60,000 km of elasticity of the crankshaft pulley damper. If the appropriate measures are not taken, the loose wheel begins to damage the engine cover.

Recommended article: BMW 3 Series GT combines sport and comfort.

A special feature for this series of motors is the determination of two spark plugs and three valves for one cylinder. Twelve candles are designed to work the engine to 90 000 km. They change 2-3 times more often than established operational documentation. Costs are 200 €. The reason is the same - the use of low-quality domestic fuel.

"Thrifty" jeopardizes the performance of the oxygen sensor and the neutralizer, the wreckage of which may harm the cylinders.

Late six-cylinder 24-valve engines of the M272 series with working volumes of 2.5 / 3.0 / 3.5 liters, used on modernized C-class cars, turned out to be less demanding. Typical deficiencies in their work were failures in the control units, camshaft position sensors, damage to the dampers on the intake manifold.

A significant part of the engines with a run of 80,000 km wear the teeth of the balance shaft sprockets so great that they lose the phases (periods) of the opening / closing of the intake / exhaust valves. Replacing the sprocket and the shaft itself is carried out by dismantling and disassembling the motor itself. The cash equivalent of the costs is € 2,500.

A little about diesel. The diesel engine certainly attracts. However, the predominant part of cars with a similar engine have a very high mileage. Hence the conclusion that the greater the amount of mileage, the greater the own financial investments.

Will have to change high pressure fuel pump. It is expensive! The reason for its replacement, as a rule, is the insufficient quality of diesel fuel at domestic gas stations (gas stations). To prolong the "life" of the pump, often pay attention to the change of the fuel filter. Otherwise, the pump will be limited to 160,000 km, maybe a little more. The cost of them is in the range of 1 000-2 000 €. You should also reckon with the work of injectors and pressure regulators, limited resource 100 000 km.

Separately, it should be said about the serial diesel engines OM611 и OM612. They are characterized by a serial deficiency - the ill-starred cone connection of the nozzles in the area of ​​the upper part of the motor, where the timing mechanism is located. Nozzle compactor and heat-resistant grease treatment of landing sites during each maintenance, will extend the expected service life. Non-observance of the recommendation when reaching 100 000 km will result in the possibility of acquiring both a new valve cover and a head of the unit (1 000 - 1 200 €) when removing an attached nozzle.

It may happen that a decent enough engine, having lost traction, suddenly puffs up. In this case, it is necessary to examine the integrity of the actuating devices of the dampers for the inlet distributor with varying geometry. In the case of the absence of pressurization of a serviceable turbocharger, or fixation of a clean, non-carbon valve in the recirculation device vacuum line seal test. By the way, the turbocharger is designed to work up to 200,000 km of service life, and its replacement will be at 1,200 €.

Behavior of Mercedes-Benz W203 gearbox with time

Evaluating the transmission, it is worth noting the unconditional operation of the manual transmission with the indicator 716. It is limited to a new oil only with a mileage of 100,000 km. In some very infrequent cases, the manual transmission requires the replacement of the element of the scenes (250 €).

This manual transmission is quite rare on the C-class cars with a working volume of less than 3.2 liters. If it is added by the Sequentronic machine gun, then we should expect a replacement of the clutch element (300–350 €) after reaching 150,000 km. Here we must expect repair (replacement of the pump) hydraulic drive for transfers (380 €).

Recommended article: Why modern engines break more often than old aspirated ones

The first five-speed automatic transmission "Mercedes 722.6" was put on different cars. Before being delivered to the Mercedes-Benz W203, obvious shortcomings were identified in the early periods of its operation and eliminated. For example, the most famous disadvantage is the death of the sleeve at the junction of the primary with the secondary shaft.

However, it did not touch all the machines. So, the boxes of "Mercedes" two thousand years suffer from jolts when switching, the reason for that - independent clutch failure. In all C-class cars of the period before the upgrade, there is a weak spot - the probability of spoiling the automatic transmission with antifreeze, which can get into the box oil through a leaky radiator. It is compatible with the cooling system.

The automatic transmission was distinguished by the flow of oil through the wiring connector, as well as the failure of the speed sensor of the primary / secondary shaft, combined into a common electronic board.

Machines manufactured since 2005, were equipped with a seven-speed automatic transmission 722.9 series, not significantly different from the 722.6 series. It is equipped with a new electronic control system, an auxiliary planetary mechanism that gave rise to new vulnerabilities.

Racks and shock absorbers

Racks stabilizers on the front suspension "MacPherson" on cars with rear wheel drive older than the year 2004 knock with 20,000 km. The reason is the weakness of aluminum levers with combined ball bearings (two on each side). Costs for them: 140 - 150 €. Their replacement will be needed after 30 000 km. Their replaceable silent blocks (25 €) change after 40 000 km. In practice, the replaced component parts worked 2 times longer. The upper pillars on the front shock absorbers (€ 65) for modernized cars rarely “take care” of up to 80,000 km.

As for the shock absorbers (front / 250 €; rear / 180 €), external silent blocks of the rear multi-link suspension, and the tips of the steering rods (50 €), then most likely they will work for 100,000 km.

Other knots and details are stronger, among them the steering mechanism. A knock when driving on a rough road does not give cause for excitement. However, it is worth knowing that the design is disposable and if it flows, the replacement will be € 1,800–2,000.

The choice is made by everyone, to take a veteran or not. It does not differ in special reliability. Its best representatives are modernized (restyled) “Mercedes” with manual transmission, six-cylinder petrol engines of the M112 series with a working volume of 2.6 liters or a 2.2-liter turbo diesel engine. The price of a veteran falls, and for a 4-year or 5-year-old will be asked for from seven hundred thousand to a million. For that kind of money, you can take the “fresh” trouble-free “Japanese”.

Although who knows? “Japanese” is not “German.”

As they say, to consolidate the material, we suggest watching the video on the topic: