Since the summer of 2007, we run a W203 Mercedes Benz C180 estate. It has been a reliable car with low running cost, but the quality of the chassis is a disgrace for such a premium brand. As I keep it on a dealer maintenance the rust issues were solved under warranty in 2009, but under the skin, it is the same cheap-skate crap-steel from Chinese origin that is used. Add to that it will reach the 200k km mark somewhere in 2012, it is wiser to replace it with something else rather than keeping it and wait for the first expensive repairs, one of which may be the clutch and twin-mass flywheel. With today’ self-adjusting clutches, its demise will come without an advance warning.
Functional problems that I have with the W203 are its low sit-position which is not ideal for tall people like me, the foot-engaged parking-brake that is a real hassle to operate on inclines in combination with a manual gearbox and a low-torque engine that has a habit of stalling without additional throttle when driving away. A logical successor for the W203 would be an E46 or E91 touring, however these are both very small in comparison to a W203. Even stepping into an E90/E91 is impossible without touching the A-pillar.
I could have opted for a younger W203 with a more potent engine and auto-tranny, but then again, I would have had the same car with another engine hoping that MB would have used proper steel instead of that Chinese crap they have used on the W210 and W203.
At that time, I was also looking at late-E39 or early E61 touring’s as well. Although I like the progressive design of the E61, its interior design is a little bit oddball for a BMW enthusiast. And when one adds the quality of the interior into the equation the E39 is hard to beat. Yes, it is an older model, but build quality is impeccable and low-mileage examples can still be found for reasonable money.
As for the engine, only the petrol variants were considered. There is ample choice of engines, but in today’s market only the three-liter inline six makes sense. Its running cost is almost identical to its lesser siblings whereas it delivers thirty-nine more horses then the lower-positioned two point five. Add to that the 3.0 comes with some nice goodies such as air-suspension on the rear-axle that the lesser models have to do without.
Good 530i’s are rare as hence teeth in Holland. Most of them have been driven above 200k km and then, they still ask around the 10k Euro for average cars. Low mileage cars are available from time to time, but their asking prices drifted too far away from its net trade-in value. This left me looking in Germany and after a few disappointments I found a nice example in the vicinity of Bielefeld. It was manufactured In August 2003 and thus one of the last leaving the production line.
As shown, the car stand on its summer tires on the ‘style 82’ parallel-spark rims (16”) that could be ordered as an option. The winter-set on ‘style 48’ radial-spark rims (also 16”) was also part of the deal. The parallel-spark rims (style 82) were standard equipped on the 540i touring, but available as an option for the 530i which was standard equipped with radial spark rims (style 48).
The interior is black leather and the center console is equipped with the large 16:9 on board monitor with professional navigation. Being one of the last E39’s, the navigation unit is of the Mk4 type that accepts DVD’s. Furthermore, it has the HIFI system with ten-speakers and the TV-module, but to be honest that is an analogue receiver that is almost useless in this digital age..
Unfortunately, the first owner didn’t order the optional CD-changer so that has to be retrofitted. But the CP600BMW unit from maintronic appeals to me a lot as well given the fact that it uses simple SD cards as storage medium and can be operated through the controls of the OBC.
For the rest, I don’t expect to change that much. Maybe a retrofit of the DSP2 system, but that’s it. As larger diameter rims only deteriorate the ride, the rims will stay as they are. Maybe that I will replace the Continental summer-crap with appropriate Michelins, but that is of later concern.
