E-Class (W210) 1995 Mercedes W210 E-class Introduction

[Rolf]

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[Deleted member 1071]

A representative of a rather dark (**...cough...Schrempp...cough**) era for M-B. What could have been a truly great car fell victim to last minute corner-cutting and disasterous compromises. Evidence may be the (continued) frequent sightings of E39 BMW 5 series cars, introduced just circa one year following the presentation of the W210. W210s', on the other hand, have become very rare as most examples have long since ended up in scrap yards.

 

[Giannis]

It's been over a decade since I last got myself into a W210. I wonder how one would describe those cost-cutting areas of the car.

 

[Mick Briesgau]

A representative of a rather dark (**...cough...Schrempp...cough**) era for M-B. What could have been a truly great car fell victim to last minute corner-cutting and disasterous compromises. Evidence may be the (continued) frequent sightings of E39 BMW 5 series cars, introduced just circa one year following the presentation of the W210. W210s', on the other hand, have become very rare as most examples have long since ended up in scrap yards.

Schrempp broke quite some porcelain in his time, with the Daimler-Chrysler Mariage as a sad low. I recall Ignacio Lopez being a soulmate, in some aspects, of Schrempp. What he did to VW quality was really devastating. I personaly witnessed his “work” on two consecutive Golf (Edit III). One before and one after Lopez. You could feel it and see it on the used material for the seats, for instance.

 

[Sovereign]

Agreed to Jimmy's statement. The E39 5 Series is the best BMW 5 to date in my opinion. What a beautiful car the 5 series is outside and inside and came with magnificent engines. W201 was no match for it. The E class (W201) was a very plain looking car other than the front end and was so inferior to the car it replaced.

 

[Deleted member 1071]

Schrempp broke quite some porcelain in his time, with the Daimler-Chrysler Mariage as a sad low. I recall Ignacio Lopez being a soulmate, in some aspects, of Schrempp. What he did to VW quality was really devastating. I personaly witnessed his “work” on two consecutive Golf II. One before and one after Lopez. You could feel it and see it on the used material for the seats, for instance.

I've owned a pair of Golf IIs' as second car "beaters". A very basic 1984 1.3L, 55PS 2 door-from 1987 to 1989. And later, a 1990 1.6L TD LLK, 80PS 4 door-from 1993 to 1996. Both were quite bullet-proof. A later second-car beater, a 1995 Golf III GTD 1.9L TDI, 90PS from 1996 to 1997 was fun to drive with its' abundant torque. Alas, a "Lopez Era" car, it rattled, creaked and was, in general, nowhere nearly as "solid" as the Golf IIs' were. Ran like a charm, though. But after one year and having since being smitten by the then new BMW Z3, I decided that I simply have to have a roadster.

 

[Deleted member 1071]

It's been over a decade since I last got myself into a W210. I wonder how one would describe those cost-cutting areas of the car.

Foremostly, RUST,RUST,RUST. M-B had problems mastering the application of the then-new water soluable paints. Otherwise, smaller niggles such as the loosening of parts such as seat rails, floorpan and wheel-well claddings indicated shortcuts regarding the quality of clips and fasteners. Often very uneven panel gaps/shut-lines were testimony to diminished attention to assembly quality. MCUs' and self-leveling were problematic as were electronics in general. Engines less so.

 

[Mick Briesgau]

I've owned a pair of Golf IIs' as second car "beaters". A very basic 1984 1.3L, 55PS 2 door-from 1987 to 1989. And later, a 1990 1.6L TD LLK, 80PS 4 door-from 1993 to 1996. Both were quite bullet-proof. A later second-car beater, a 1995 Golf III GTD 1.9L TDI, 90PS from 1996 to 1997 was fun to drive with its' abundant torque. Alas, a "Lopez Era" car, it rattled, creaked and was, in general, nowhere nearly as "solid" as the Golf IIs' were. Ran like a charm, though. But after one year and having since being smitten by the then new BMW Z3, I decided that I simply have to have a roadster.

Made a mistake. Mine were Golf III as well. Both GL 90 PS (1992 driven from 1992 -1996 and a 1996 driven from 1996-1998). After that my Volvo S40 T4 came (1998 driven from 1998-2000) 200 PS .

 

[Serpens]

Foremostly, RUST,RUST,RUST. M-B had problems mastering the application of the then-new water soluable paints. Otherwise, smaller niggles such as the loosening of parts such as seat rails, floorpan and wheel-well claddings indicated shortcuts regarding the quality of clips and fasteners. Often very uneven panel gaps/shut-lines were testimony to diminished attention to assembly quality. MCUs' and self-leveling were problematic as were electronics in general. Engines less so.

Well to be fair, self-leveling, electrical issues, and build quality were not W210 exclusive issues. I'd point to rust being the main thing above all that put W210's out to pasture. Otherwise I didn't see much of a difference with the E39. I still remember reading Car and Driver's long term test of the 1998 540i and looking at my father's 1998 model out in the driveway. Ours suffered a similar fate as C&D's but was an awesome car that stayed in the family for 10 years.

1998 BMW 540i Archived | Long-Term Test | Car and Driver

 

[Rolf]

It's been over a decade since I last got myself into a W210. I wonder how one would describe those cost-cutting areas of the car.

I have an issue of Autocar from 31 May 1995 when Peter Robinson first drove the W210 and I clearly remember him saying that the W210 he drove didn't feel as rock solid as the W124 when he closed the doors, he said it felt hollow and the materials used for the dash were not in the same league either as its predecessor. He said there were many journalists complaining about the drop in quality and cost cutting and even mentioned that the W210 was the first Mercedes not to have an Oil Pressure Gauge.

 

[Robbie]

Well I agree that the W210 was possibly the worst E-class and the E39 was likely the best 5-series. And nonetheless I still see more W210s on South African roads than I see E39s (Maybe since up here in Johannesburg rust isn't an issue).

We had a 2006 pre-facelift diamond black E320 and it was a superb car with great performance for its time, with the 3.2 litre 162kW straight 6. Nothing ever went wrong with it. When that motor got to around 4500r/min, it came on cam and raced to the redline. The later V6 was more torquey but lacked the top end. I suppose it would considering it was an 18v and not a 24v motor.

 

[Rolf]

Well I agree that the W210 was possibly the worst E-class and the E39 was likely the best 5-series. And nonetheless I still see more W210s on South African roads than I see E39s (Maybe since up here in Johannesburg rust isn't an issue).

We had a 2006 pre-facelift diamond black E320 and it was a superb car with great performance for its time, with the 3.2 litre 162kW straight 6. Nothing ever went wrong with it. When that motor got to around 4500r/min, it came on cam and raced to the redline. The later V6 was more torquey but lacked the top end. I suppose it would considering it was an 18v and not a 24v motor.

When the W210 was introduced it was a huge departure from the W124 styling wise, I think those 4 round lights were its major talking point with many people saying negative and positive things about them. The driving experience of the W210 was rated very good by the motoring press, especially in E320 and E280 six cylinder form, they said at the time it was the benchmark in the segment (before the E39 arrived) but the 4 cylinder E230 was a disaster with its unrefined and noisy engine, which was quickly replaced in 1997 by the six cylinder E240.

The W210 weak point was its inferior build interior which was totally exposed by the gorgeous interior of the E39 in 1996, bad electricals,unreliability but the mechanicals and safety items were still benchmark Mercedes Benz.

I think too this day this version of the mid range Mercedes saloon E class is the least desirable out of all the models. Its predecessor W124 was probably the best.

 

[sako97]

Dunno, I remember the day it first debuted. I thought it was ugly then, still feel the same way. Compound that with the fact they’re rust buckets and you got yourself one forgetful Benz.

A relative of mine had one new and I remember times where I walked around & stared at the car, trying my best to like the new design language as a young Merc enthusiast... no dice. I was convinced that MB would also ruin the next S (W220) and SL (R230). I was happily proven wrong.

We had an Estate also, which was a reliability nightmare.

 

[Mick Briesgau]

I remember not liking the design at introduction. The double, separate headlights I always held for typical BMW and didn’t understand this unnecessary move.
My brother however, had an 6 cylinder diesel T-model and drove it for years without any problem. The ride was really comfortable as well.

 

[Sniper]

It was determined that the 1995 E-Class should cost 5% less to manufacture than the existing model. Three times through the '90s these targets were reduced (the last only 18 months ago). Now, despite increasing equipment levels, the E-Class is 20% cheaper to build than the previous model.
New E-Class built with cost in mind

 

[Robbie]

When the W210 was introduced it was a huge departure from the W124 styling wise, I think those 4 round lights were its major talking point with many people saying negative and positive things about them. The driving experience of the W210 was rated very good by the motoring press, especially in E320 and E280 six cylinder form, they said at the time it was the benchmark in the segment (before the E39 arrived) but the 4 cylinder E230 was a disaster with its unrefined and noisy engine, which was quickly replaced in 1997 by the six cylinder E240.

The W210 weak point was its inferior build interior which was totally exposed by the gorgeous interior of the E39 in 1996, bad electricals,unreliability but the mechanicals and safety items were still benchmark Mercedes Benz.

I think too this day this version of the mid range Mercedes saloon E class is the least desirable out of all the models. Its predecessor W124 was probably the best.

Exactly right Rolf. I remember the press loved the drive of the W210, but went crazy when the 528i E39 was launched. It was interesting because it was launched and then the E39 was launched very soon after, in fact I don't think the two models have ever been so close in terms of launch date.

The 211 was what the 210 should have been, but there was such a gap between the 124 and the 210 that it took them another generation to sort out all the issues!

 

[Robbie]

It was determined that the 1995 E-Class should cost 5% less to manufacture than the existing model. Three times through the '90s these targets were reduced (the last only 18 months ago). Now, despite increasing equipment levels, the E-Class is 20% cheaper to build than the previous model.
New E-Class built with cost in mind

Yes also very true. But I think if MB didn't get their production costs under control they would have completely lost the plot. Mercs were so much more expensive than BMW and others up to the 1990s. It seemed to me that they only got competitive price-wise in 2000s. But people were prepared to pay more for them because in general the competition was so much poorer. I think Lexus probably changed the world in that regard.

 

[Centurion]

I'd point to rust being the main thing above all that put W210's out to pasture.

It's also the likely reason why few of them are on the road. I don't recall the last time I saw one. Even when my dad wanted to import one from Germany to Sweden roughly 15 years ago, many examples encountered had already developed rust.

Don't even get me started about the W202 C-Class.

 

[Robbie]

It's also the likely reason why few of them are on the road. I don't recall the last time I saw one. Even when my dad wanted to import one from Germany to Sweden roughly 15 years ago, many examples encountered had already developed rust.

Don't even get me started about the W202 C-Class.

As I wrote earlier, you see far more W210s in South Africa than E39s, but then generally you don't see many old BMs. Rust is not an issue in Johannesburg, which is the main population centre.

We also have many old W202s running around, but I don't think I've seen an E36 for a long time.

 

[Centurion]

As I wrote earlier, you see far more W210s in South Africa than E39s, but then generally you don't see many old BMs.

That's true for many countries in Africa where Mercedes is a much more prefered luxury car manufacturer.