GTAm

Great looking car and looks pretty decently preserved (at least from the pics). Great to see it being rescued and given a new lease of life. Good luck!

kalindabd about two doors next to Sumana there is a shop called "Kuruppu" if I remember right. They have a lot of British parts and Lucas stuff.

Purely out of curiosity how much are they trading at?

Yes you could say that. The 124 was answering a question most of the world's premium car buyers was no longer asking. I recall how people used to refer to a Merc as "a car of a lifetime". Now who would want to have only one car for their entire lifetime? And yes the W210's bugs were ironed out eventually. It's logical to think that the facelift was sorted. The industry usually works that way. But initially Mercedes being not used to such issues, faltered and the press went wild.

Correct Supra the W124 was considered one of the last Merc that was engineered up to to a standard - which was the MB ethos up till then. The W210 on the other hand was supposedly the first Merc to be engineered down to a price target. So it indeed was a step backwards with Mercedes choosing cheaper global suppliers over their trusted old ones. The thing is however it wasn't as bad as most of the press made it out to be, which is quite normal with the press when a manufacturer's PR is weak. There were lots of glitches in the electronics which I recall reading was from a Taiwan supplier which must have shocked the traditional old Merc boys whose average age must have been (I'm guessing) 60+ at that time for not been "Made in Germany". But the truth is EVERY (except for maybe Rolls/Bentley, Ferrari - small specialists etc) other manufacturer was were engineering a car down to a price. This meant that BMW and Audi were eating into Mercs dominant status as "THE premium car" and a growing majority of consumers were really not willing pay a premium for the 3 pointed star however superior this somewhat illusive quality was. I recall in those days Mercs commanded as much as a 20% premium over its German rivals if you were to compare models spec for spec. As you might guess that business model was doomed to fail. Just because they made those (inevitable) compromises does not mean that the W210 was not a good car. It was still a well engineered, very comfy, advanced machine and the early electronic glitches slowly disappeared. Perhaps it lacks some of the indestructible feel of a W124, but then no other competitor does too. There were various quality issues reported internationally during that time. This is the case with so many cars today. Almost every month of the year you hear about a manufacturer doing a recall. However Mercedes failed to properly address the issue (Bad PR again) with properly orchestrated recalls probably due to their being used to their "infallible" reputation, and the 210 got bashed from some quarters naturally. However to my knowledge in Sri Lanka there have not been major issues except for a gearbox issue on a particular car - But hey how many gearbox failures does one hear about Land Cruiser Saharas? So I believe it's a quite a safe buy if the example is a non-abused one. I don't know the production numbers for the 210 but I believe that despite that bad publicity it sold well. The other thing is that the W210 is a world of a difference to drive compared to the W124 which to me is frankly one of the most boring cars to drive. Styling wise though I think the 124 is far more elegant and has aged much more gracefully than the 210.

Actually almost all modern Mercs, high performance cars excepted give excellent fuel consumption, despite their weight. I know a few owners who can confirm this. The W210 and even the W220 are noted for their excellent fuel economy. I have checked this with several owners and the numbers are quite amazing. This particular car being a diesel should be even more economical. The biggest worry about the W210 was the electronics failing when it was still current. By now all those would be sorted in a well cared for car. As for parts availability, you should not have any problem with such a popular model. When it comes to prices of parts there are two things to remember. If you go to the agents they'll take your pants off. However other suppliers offer parts and very reasonable prices. There are also people who import some used parts too. Considering the longevity of the car and excellent engineering an old Merc (provided cared for previously) makes an excellent daily runner IMHO.

I think you will find lots of new and used parts in Panchi. These cars were very popular over here. You just need to set aside a few days for serious hunting around.

I think I know the place - Went to see the Alfetta years ago. Sad plight is what I can say......

Basically to get this car back as a BM, the best would be to find a complete E28, dismantle it and reassemble it combining the two cars. Actually it would make an interesting prospect if someone can find an M535i or, dare I say it an M5 A lot of work but far from impossible. If only I had one less project on my hands..........

Wow let's hope it's true. I heard a rumour about a Grand Cabrio.

Terrible. I've actually driven this car (before it was bastardized) many years ago when it was up for sale.

Will be sold in EU officially this time.

Some stats that have been released. Power to weight - 4kg per BHP. That's close to Porsche 911 S territory and matches the Corvette Z06! 0-100km/h said to be around 4.5secs. Top speed limited to 155mph. Weight 950kgs power 240bhp. Made from - Carbon fibre and Aluminium.

Leaked photos of the Launche Edition 4C - http://www.quattroruote.it/ginevra2013/immaginebig_articolo.cfm?codiceimg=497844&codedicola=459443&codice=407370&codarticolo=407370&tornaa=/speciale/ginevra2013/salone-di-ginevra-tutte-le-novita-nel-nostro-speciale-online-video

I think they've overdone the styling big time. The double face is plain silly imho. Apart from that the front bumper is too "heavy-looking" with the long over-hang. Plus it's all accentuated with the chrome at the bottom. Pls note these official pics are the best angle. You can see some pre-production ones on allpar.com which a plain awful to my eyes. If I were them I will rush a less controversial facelift and delay the launch since this is such an important model for the company and brand. Chrysler has confirmed that it will be trail-rated. However that long overhang is going to compromise its offroad ability. But I'm willing to bet it will be Jeeps' best vehicle on tarmac. I'm wondering if they should have called it Liberty instead of Cherokee. Since the Jeepers have such high regard for the old Cherokee's (XJ?) offroad ability.......

Hi Cali you seem to be a bit of a Jeeper. What's your view on the new Cherokee styling? I know lots of traditional Jeepers are angry over the styling as well as the FWD Fiat platform as the staring point.

The new Cherokee looks too weird to me. Should be the best handling Jeep ever though as it share the Alfa Romeo platform. I like the Grand Cherokee facelift. They've just launched the new Diesel and 8 speed autos in the US. Should be another record year for the brand.

Nice car. Has lots of potential in your hands. I highly recommended the 510 my "Classic Itch" story in the M*t*r Mag

Aha so you like to date (much) older women I see

Incredible thread. Hilarious. Getting back to the topic I think I am in a position to make a few small comments. I am an independent stock broker and a licensed investment advisor so I will part my humble opinion based on the research I have access to. Although the CBSL is the regulator of FCs they have continually done it very poorly. So many of them have gone under, under their very noses. This is a very sad state as most retail investors have no guidelines or advice to go on when it comes to fixed income investment. The conventional wisdom is to stay with banks. Here too there is at least two banks, whose financial stability is.....how shall I put it........."less comfortable". Considering the many blunders and irrational ad-hoc decisions made by the CBSL in recent times I am not surprised. However most SRi Lankan private banks are in great health! COMB, HNB, SAMP, NTB to name a few. I am not going to name the FC that I think are bad here, but believe me there are many including large ones and ones backed by large groups. However they splash a lot of money on advertising and promos which many gullible customers will fall for. Some are plain ugly, some are scary. I would think twice about a FC that's in the same group as one that is in the gambling industry wouldn't you? However I can name one FC which I think is very solid and it's not the one mentioned here. It's an old large one that hails from Kandy. They are very conservative and cautious. I believe that they are very safe and could be considered if you get a serious premium on the interest over the banks. There maybe other smaller ones but I have not had the time or need to research in to them. Now please note I have absolutely no connection with the company I recommended. I don't know anyone there and have never been a customer there. I'm just giving my opinion here based of publicly available data.

No way. It should do 7-7.5 in Colombo. I owned one for 3.5 years as my daily hack. Who have you shown it to? It's only a very few things that can be the problem and simple fixes.

@Schiffer The main only thing you should aim for is previously well cared for car(not easy to find). Preferably a home delivered car as some of the UK imports were South African built (and not as well as the German ones). 316i is under powered. I would aim for a 318i or higher.

Hmmm. Not sure why many people feel this way, but after owning both models for several years I just cannot agree. The E36 is LOT more connected IMHO. If there's anything not quite connected it's the rear end of an E30 on a damp road. I'm not talking M3s here just the low down 316/318/320s etc. Take a round-about or a series of bends fast it both cars one after the other and tell me that I'm wrong.

Oh Yes. TRs have an impressive "track" record in SL.

Some perspective from someone in the industry. 'Electric cars won't catch on' – former Volvo bosshttp://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/electric-cars-wont-catch-%E2%80%93-former-volvo-boss