Hello all-

In light of Renn's post for Dragon, I have been inspired to start a similar one regarding maintenance of your W202. I have seen a huge influx of people with problems and figured that information provided here can shed some light on what may be going on.

I'll start:
67,000 miles when bought
89,xxx current miles

B service at ~70k

Have changed:
oil (every 3500-4000 miles)
coolant flush and replacement
air filters
cabin filter
all four O2 sensors
MAF
sparkplugs
wires
tranny fluid and filter
shifter bushing
harmonic balancer recall (and got new belt)
fuel filter
steering shock (boy did I need it! )

For the most part my car runs like a champ. I do need to replace my motor mounts, and LCA's (as benzaddict has pointed out to me). Other than that, no known problems.

As you can see, since I am not the original owner, service records are not always available. I do feel that I have tried to step up the maintenance by replacing things that probably needed a replacement. For many of you, I would suggest doing the same. There are alot of basic items that should be changed that can make a world of difference. Many of these parts are cheap (if you know where to go) and easy to do it yourself.

I definitely suggest that many of you think about your car and break down what you do know and do not know about the car's service history. Start with the basics, and then troubleshoot from there. ex: if I replaced my MAF 5k miles ago, and now have a rough idle, you can pretty much rule out the MAF.