Sell or Keep? '89 260E with 120K miles

Oil is being sucked into the intake via worn valve guide seals which are a known defect of the 260 engine. New valve guide seals will fix that, no need to remove the cylinder head.

Coolant leak is just that - water pump, hose or radiator.

Fuel injectors or their "O" ring seals may be needed after 120K miles.

Poor fuel injector atomization increases emissions - fix the injectors or their "O" ring seals before doing anything with the catalytic converter.

IMHO $1K to $1.5K should repair these items, excluding the catalytic converter which is probably not needed. That's about 50% of just the sales tax on a new E320!

Keep it.

These are fairly minor issues. The head needs new valve oil seals (can be done with the head in situ, not expensive) as most 260E engines suffer from this eventually. The waterpump/water leak is again relatively cheap to fix, get the parts from an on-line specialist it may well be cheaper.

However, if there is evidence of water in the oil (or vice versa) then the cylinder head needs to come off for a new gasket to be fitted. This is more expensive but the oil seals could be done at the same time.

Fuel injectors? Just replace them and their seals, again not critically expensive. This may help with emissions.

As you have already spent money on the transmission, I would say keep it. I'm assuming of course that the body is in good shape, as they can rust. I wouldn't keep one which had expensive rust in difficult to repair areas. Unlikely though as the body should have been galvanised.

My own 260E has covered 160,000 miles now, and has been a very good car indeed but it needed fuel injectors and did use oil, but I never bothered with the oil seals as it wasn't too bad. I would still be driving it except I have a 500SE to replace it now!

Al Bolton, G4VSQ

1988 Mercedes 260E 160,000 miles

My mechanic says that after all the above work, the car should be good for another 10 years. Any advise on whether the car's worth keeping? ____________________________________________ Just depends on if you want to spend a lot of $$$ on a 14 year old car and then "drive it for another 10 years". I think most people would sell the car and move up to a newer model. If the body and interior are in excellent conditon and you really like the way the car looks and drives it might make sense.....if not, sell the car and get something else.

why would anyone get rid of a good car like this? he can expect to get well over another 100k miles from the car, the car doesn't look out of date and as long as it runs well he should keep it.

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Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, advice, and contribution. Yah, the new E320 and even C240/320 look great, but they're sure going to cost a lot more than fixing the old one I have - so I'm going to get my mechanic to give it a once over and let me know how much he wants for fixing all the above problem (and any more he finds). Will keep you posted.

why would anyone get rid of a good car like this? __________________________________________ If everyone thought like that the entire car industry would be out of business. Millions of people get rid of good cars every year...because they have to have the latest, greatest, newest, whatever. What I meant was that in order to spend big bucks on an older car you have to have a real liking for the vehicle so that you will keep it long enough to get your money back. I own a 1986 560 SEL with 128K miles on it and I plan to keep the car forever. It runs great, looks like new, and has never let me down. I bought it from the original owner 10 years ago for $22K I have updated the timing chain and related pieces, valve guide seals, radiator, brakes, etc and that's about it other than normal service items. Where else can you get this kind of transportation for such a low amount of money?

I agree: I bought a 1990 560 SEL in 1997 for 22,000 bucks. At the time it had

67,000 miles and was flawless. Since then I've spent around $ 11000 on repairs (one was a 3500 dollar collision) and the car is still mint. I have it detailed including leather and carpet shampoo 1-2X /year, and recently had it painted. It now has 133000 miles and runs like a top. I doubt if I could buy anything this powerful or luxurious new for $ 33000 (what I've spent in 6 years for the car and maintenance). snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

Sell me your 560 ; KH

OK - here's what they did at the shop:

Re/Re cylinder head, all new gaskets & seals, new timing chain and guides, injector cleaning and seals, new water pump (old one was leaking), all new valve guides, timing belt tensioner, thermostat; plus coolant, oil & filter, air filter, spark plugs, various hoses, clamps, etc.

Total Damage: $2200. Ouch. The mechanic said it should go another 100K miles. Sure hope he's right.