Fast forwarding to July 2024, I purchased a 1998 E430 from a member of the Mercedes-Benz Club of Victoria. The E430 is a delight to drive, especially the combination of a small block V8 and 5 speed automatic transmission, in a smaller chassis than an S-Class.

The range of engine options available in this generation E-Class was enormous, with Mercedes-Benz Australia offering eleven different engine combinations, covering the first generation and mid-life update models, including sedans and wagons. There was a broad range of trim levels, from Classic, Elegance and the more luxurious Avantgarde trim. The Australian line up is summarized below:

Compare the range of engine combinations to the latest W214 E-Class generation, it’s only offered in one engine, E300, 2 litre twin-turbo, with 48v mild hybrid. Apparently the E53 and E63 are still on the radar of Mercedes-Benz Australia. How times have changed, with sedans losing favour to SUVs.

This week I got the opportunity to drive another W210 E-Class, an E240 Elegance with the smaller 2.4 M112 V6. The E240 model was part of the mid-life update, released in November 1999. The updated model range included a new diesel model, E270 CDI and two petrol models, E240 and E200K, released in August 2000.

Driving the E240 Elegance, I was surprised at what a great little package it is. Even though it’s 80KW short of my E430, it never felt slow around town. The suspension was perfectly tuned for Australian conditions, providing a supple ride, insulating driver and passengers from our terrible roads. Once on the freeway the engine becomes a bit noisier, with the tachometer reading 2500rpm @100kph.

This E240 Elegance had a recommended retail price of $96,180. The original owner ticked two options, Suspension Sport incl. 17″ 5 Double Spoke, $3825 (alloy wheels have since been removed and replaced with 16” alloy wheels) and Sunroof, $3786, lifting the total price to $103,791 in 2000. This was a lot to pay 25 years ago, and in 2025 I still consider it to be a lot of money.

My E430 is a pre-update model, while the E240 was released as part of the mid-life update. Many Mercedes enthusiasts have trouble spotting the changes, but there are people around like me who contain a wealth of useless information, taking note of these changes.

You can see the E240 has revised taillights, using transparent plastic for the indicators. The third stop light is also more integrated, with the older E430 having a stop light more reminiscent of the W124/W126.

The E240 has a revised front bumper, that is more integrated below the bug-eye headlights.

The right- and left-hand side exterior mirrors have also been updated, with the incorporation of indicators

Further changes were seen on the interior with an updated cluster. The newer cluster contains the same information, but in a larger font size.

Other changes included a new leather multi-function steering wheel, including audio, phone buttons.

Safety got a large update, with 10 airbags, while my E430 has 4. Rear seat airbags. Both cars have Electronic Stability Control (ESP).

The changes in the mid-life upgrade make an even better car, especially from a safety perspective, with the increased number of airbags and indicators on exterior mirrors. The external changes are minimal, with these changes mirroring design changes in the automotive industry.

Even though many will note quality was not up to the same standards as W124/W126, the standout for me were the engines, especially the M112 & M113. Mercedes-Benz were successful in developing engines that performed well, provided increased efficiency, but were also known as highly reliable engines, with few problems.

This E-Class design has grown on me over the years, with the small lip on top of boot, somewhat reminiscent of the boot on the VL Commodore. Those bug-eye headlights still cause debate in the Mercedes community. I like the outlook from the driver’s seat, seeing the raised bumps on the left- and right-hand sides. The rest of the W210 E-Class package can be considered as conservative.

Perhaps Mercedes-Benz didn’t want to frighten their customer base too much, but with the release of the W211 E-Class platform the design was more modern and assume attracted a younger audience without disenfranchising their existing customer base.

Author:  Nick Gruzevskis is a contributor to classicjalopy.com, and the custodian of a great collection of classic and modern cars.  Links to some his other articles can be found here

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I’m beginning to feel a sense of satisfaction, given that I’ve fixed a lot of small but annoying issues myself. My confidence has grown over this time, even though several of the parts I’ve used have been non original, as the original parts are no longer available. One of these jobs was to replace the left and right exterior mirror rubber seals. These seals were only on the pre-update W210 chassis, later with the update model, Mercedes changed the whole exterior mirror assembly.

Looking online, there’s no part number available for rubber seal. This makes more sense when you’ve removed the mirror, as the rubber seal boxes around the electrical cables. After communicating with W210 owners on a global W210 Facebook group, the consensus was the aftermarket rubber seals available on Amazon, Temu, Ebay is a good replacement but need some small modifications. I ordered a set on Amazon for $40 delivered. They came in two packets, one that said LH and the other RH.

Removing the mirror was quite straightforward, with a clip and three screws that needed removal. There are plenty of videos on YouTube demonstrating removal. Upon removal you can see how cracked and hardened rubber seal has become.

Looking at the replacement seal, I needed to cut two holes, one for each connector (apologies I didn’t take a photo, so displaying photo of replacement part, unmodified). Then
it’s just a matter of installing the new rubber seal and attaching mirror to vehicle.

I was impressed with the results; it just about looks like it’s a factory replacement. BTW, the replacement rubber seals also work for W202 and W140 chassis vehicles.

Author:  Nick Gruzevskis is a contributor to classicjalopy.com, and the custodian of a great collection of classic and modern cars.  Links to some his other articles can be found here

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Finding parts for my 1998 W210 E430 has been hit and miss. Some parts have been very easy to find, like the climate sensor motor, found at Pelican Parts, while the fan regulator was found on Amazon. There have been some tough parts to find, like the RHD dashboard speaker and the driver’s side front tow eye cover, which was missing when I purchased the car. This last part was especially problematic as my car has been fitted with genuine E55 front and rear bumpers. I searched the web, but sellers were asking drug money for a used example. It was then I stumbled on OctoClassic. They re-engineer spare parts for many marques, but cater for a wide range of Mercedes-Benz vehicles

It took me a while to workout what was left and right, but then ordered the part. A few weeks later it was delivered and came primed, all I needed to do was paint it. I was thinking how I would paint it, would I do it myself, or should I get it painted professionally. Well, the decision was made for me, when my daughter reversed into a car. I dropped the car off at the panel beater and asked if they could paint the cover while fixing rear damage.

Picking the car up, I noticed the cover freshly painted, but they were unable to install it as they didn’t have the clips. The next challenge was working out what parts I needed and where to order from. No surprise to me the hanging straps required (Part# 0069882878) were no longer available from Mercedes. I found a set on Ebay, costing $68 and they were delivered within a week.

Fast forward to this weekend, I finally got around to installing tow cover. I quickly worked out the plastic end of strap that sits in front bumper was too wide for slot in bumper. I used a small file and filed it down a fraction. The tow cover then simply clipped into place and looks good, apart from the rest of the front bumper that’s chipped up from many highway kilometres.

If you have an older Mercedes-Benz, I recommend you check out the OctoClassic website.

Author:  Nick Gruzevskis is a contributor to classicjalopy.com, and the custodian of a great collection of classic and modern cars.  Links to some his other articles can be found here

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I’m one of those individuals that can’t handle interior noises, mostly rattles & squeaks, but in this case it’s been a buzzing noise coming from the dome light in my new E430. I had procrastinated long enough, so did some research online and identified the likely culprit, the cabin air temperature sensor fan. It’s a tiny little fan with a temperature sensor, which continually sucks in cabin air for temperature measurement.

I first attempted to clean the fan, removing the dome light assembly, which was easier than I anticipated, blowing the fan with compressed air. After re-assembling symptoms were identical, so then thought I must order part before it goes NLA. I found the part was still available, PN 140-830-00-08 ($79.12 USD) and ordered part from Pelican Parts. A week later I had the part.

Replacing part was very simple, as I’d already removed dome light and had disassembled to clean my original part. Within less than an hour I had everything back together and confirmed new part had successfully fixed problem.

It looks like Mercedes used the same part for models using the digital LCD climate control unit, e.g. W140, W210, C208, W202. If you have a Mercedes with one of these climate control units, I recommend buying a spare while the part is still available

Author:  Nick Gruzevskis is a contributor to classicjalopy.com, and the custodian of a great collection of classic and modern cars.  Links to some his other articles can be found here

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Racking my brain, I thought what I could buy for between 6-8K but also pricing in a roadworthy certificate. I do enjoy these challenges, as quite often the thrill of the hunt is more entertaining than the mundaneness of car ownership. I remembered a friend had posted a few months back on Facebook, that he wanted to move on his 1998 Mercedes-Benz E430 Elegance. After viewing photos and a phone call, a deal was done, sight unseen. I booked the car for a RWC the following week with Berwick Prestige. To pass the RWC, it needed lower ball joints, tail-shaft coupling and gear shift bushes. I was within my 8k budget, including purchase price, RWC work and registration transfers.

Mercedes-Benz Australia released the E430 in 1998. The new V8 was 3.2-litre V6 with two extra cylinders. The one thing the V8 doesn’t have is the V6 balancer shaft, not needed on a 90-degree V8. Mercedes rational for the 4.3-litre V8 was lower emissions, reduced fuel consumption (11% over older quad-cam 4.2), with a broader range of torque, rather than superior power, producing 400NM across 3000-4400rpm. Performance specs back in the day quoted 6.6 seconds to 100km/h, a second quicker than E320, while carrying 50kg of additional weight and higher gearing. The list price on release for the E430 Elegance was $147,800, with the Avantgarde costing 4k more.

I’m someone who prefers originality but stop reading now if you’re a purist. The E430 has been lowered and wears a set of original Brabus mono-block styled wheels. The original front and rear bumpers have been removed and replaced with genuine W210 E55 bumpers. Finally, the original exhaust has been swapped for a genuine Remus exhaust. The colour combination is striking, Ruby Metallic (527U) with Leather Mushroom/Quartz/Pebble (205A). As you can imagine, the interior leather and car mats are hard to keep clean.

There’s been a couple of small jobs I’ve needed to address. The drivers side headlight allowed moisture in, this was fixed thanks to Pick-A-Part, sourcing another headlight cover. The driver’s side Brabus alloy wheel had a buckle in it. Can highly recommend Wheel Enhancements in Dandenong South, they did a great job of re-rolling wheel. I couldn’t stand the leather steering wheel, as it had lost most of its colour. I used New Life Vinyl & Leather Service; they came to my house and re-coloured the leather. Finally, both rear speakers were shot, after years of UV. Replaced them with a pair a Kickers.

My daughter finally got her CLK back, which means the E430 is mine now. I have a couple of small items that need to attention but will save that for future updates.

Author:  Nick Gruzevskis is a contributor to classicjalopy.com, and the custodian of a great collection of classic and modern cars.  Links to some his other articles can be found here

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