German Car Zone

A relative of mine is having a problem with their C320. The car's electronics are crap and the sunroof is leaking. Zung Fu, the exclusive Mercedes dealer in HK, suggested they trade up for a E280. The new engine has more power than the existing 3.2L in the C320, but obviously the E is a bigger car. My advice to opt for a Citroen C6 was ignored because the French cars are not known for their reliability.

Does anyone own the E280? It would stink to have to switch off the air conditioning to climb a small hill to reach the motorway.

Well if we're talking about the petrol E280 then there shouldn't be anything to worry about. The new (actually a 3L V6) E280 has 231hp and that is more power than the previous E320 and C320. It does have slightly less torque though, but still there is no way a C320 owner is going to find the E280 lacking for power in my mind.

M

NO WAY would an E280 be underpowered in HONG KONG. Seeing as how HK has alot of small engine Mercedes vehicles driving around the mountains and what not, I think an E280 would be more than adequate. There aren't enough open highways to fully exploit the power of an E350 or higher.

An E280 in Hong Kong is like a "performance car amongst economy cars". Seriously the E280 is more than adequate. I have an E320 at home and that car is more than powerful for my or my families needs. The 3.2-l V6 still pulls strongly and isn't underpowered as so many US magazines claim (0-60 biased). The E280 will outperform the old E320 by a respectable margin and should deliver better fuel economy to. Plus, I presume in Hong Kong they're all A/T anyway meaning you guys will get the 7Gtronic transmission as opposed to the standard 6-speed here in Europe.

The E280 will be fine.

Thanks for your opinions, lads. Chigga_Chan, the lowest powered E-Class is the E280 today. I don't see a E240 listed any longer. All of the small engine Mercedes are now C-Class and lower.

Cawimmer, I had a discussion with Roberto about the W107, R107 and he suggested I pose this question to you. Did the early cars (1972 and on) differ from the later cars? Roberto quoted a source that said they were virtually the same. I might have a problem with my eyes, but the early cars somehow looked different from the front...

IC, I guess from looking at the various models around HK, I assumed there was still a smalerl V6 or 4 cylinder Engine in the HK lineup. But thats cool for HK, the BASE engine is just as fast as the old 320 engine.

I know how car prices are pretty rediculous over there, atleast you get some punch to go with those MB looks...

No problem.

The original R107 SL's did indeed differ from the latter models, visually that is. If you recall the W126 S-Class, the first editions from 1979/1980 had ribbed side plastic guards. These were removed on the facelifted 1985 model. On the R107's, the main upgrade was a new front face, as you can see below:

Original R107



Facelifted R107




Minor interior upgrades were also put into the new R107. The rear remained virtually unchanged except for some minor adjustments with the rear as was done to the front.

Here are the W107's.

Original W107


Facelifted W107


^I love the W107's...friggin beautiful! Especially that original green W107!^

Great stuff, cawimmer. Thanks for posting the pictures. I always thought there was a minor difference between the earlier models. I really liked the W107 with its slightly longer wheelbase and body. That wheel combination for the two W107s you posted is splendid. That must be my favourite Mercedes-Benz wheel ever.

No problem. I love those old '107s as well, but my favorite old MB's are the W116 S-Class series and the indestructible W123.