Best Daily Drivers! | Modern Classics | Merc Estate, Micra & BMW | Classic Obsession | Episode 47 

What a therapeutic treat to watch - well done ~Gary and thanks!

Love the piano music in the background as you work. A different kind of maestro. Very relaxing watching things get fixed and preserved rather than thrown away

Thanks Gary - I love fixing older cars that otherwise would have been scrapped, all for the sake of a little bit of easy maintenance

Doesn't matter what car you work on you do the job, with as much care as you do for you classics

Hey Gary - Different this one but very enjoyable as usuall 🙂I ran a W211 E200 Kompressor Estate for about 4yrs, bought with just 42k on the clock and traded in 4 yrs later with 149k ; oil and filters every 10k miles and discs and pads as and when required; no other maintenance other tha that . I ended up trading it in for £2k as the cylinder head gasket had gone and replaced it with a 530d Sport Tourer with 90k miles on it - same maintenance cycle , oil and filters every 10k and discs and pads as and when required - ran this to 170k miles 4 yrs later and got 4k for it when I sold it . Both motors were brilliant and so reliable - cheap motoring even 10 or 12 yrs ago ! Keep up the great work ! cheers stew

Isn't this just great. I even like the music. Top bloke! And this praise from an Irish man.

Gary, thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I confess to having negligible mechanical skills, however when I bought an early Range Rover (1972) that had been sitting for a couple of years, with a helpful and knowledgeable friend we got it back on the road, therapeutic when you have a stressful job in the city, and very satisfying too. I eventually had the car restored, and mildly enhanced (Holly carb, overdrive etc) and then made the crazy mistake to sell it. Must get another one again, and now I have more time, enjoy the tinkering 😊

Nice cars, nice video, nice house!

My last Mercedes in that model a 220 diesel I brought at 58000 miles and sold it some years later with 362000 miles 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

W210 really is one of the best MB´s ever made.

Agree with your comments. Most cars will live a long life with good maintenance. On the Mercedes, please polish the headlights! In their current state, night driving would have greatly reduced visibility.

It is about time you did what all us car geeks want to do Gary... Demolish the house, build something new with one room and 10 garages 😀

Yes different to your usual videos Gary!, but don't worry, your dedicated subscribers such as myself would probably watch you take your washing machine apart.

Cheers Gary for another tip top video..My motor trade mentor always taught me back in the day when we were jockeying all sorts of cars around the Liverpool motor trade ..’A third class drive beats a first class walk’ Thanks Again

man, that is A clean merc, most i've seen here in Ontario Canada are just covered in rust bubbles / rusting around the fender lines.

A key is that you are able to do the work and do it properly.

I've never seen an e240. There are a lot of European cars that we never get over here across the pond. I had an 85 300d turbodiesel. It had 280k miles when I traded it. It was immaculate, ran like a top, and did not burn a drop of oil. I did all my own maintenance on it. My last car was a 2001 e320 sport. Shortly after I bought it, I had to have the conductor plate replaced. It was not cheap, but it was not something I could do. I always thought there was something weird about the transmission. Give it a bit of gas, and the shift sounded like someone double clutching a standard gear box. You could not feel it, but you could hear it. The shifts were the smoothest of any car I've ever owned. But as I said, you could hear It do that. My ecu went out and I could not afford to fix it so I had to sell it on. I'm already 74 so I don't know if I will ever get another car but if I do I will try for another e class mercedes.

Nice work Gary! I really admire the fact that you still do all this on axle stands on your cobbled drive! - Credit to you! I'm in my early 50's and I'm lucky to have recently moved to a place with a barn for my car storage and even luckier that I had enough room to put a 4 post car lift in there too! (Need to retire to get the full use out of time though so that's the next challenge to overcome!) Really enjoy watching your channel and your explanation of the problems you solve - Thanks for sharing your life with your daily drivers and your classics! Hope to meet you at cars and coffee when I'm next up in Liverpool or at the NEC Classic! Cheers Guy

Great video 👍 THATS IT!!! From now on I’m going to play classical music when I work on my classics, very calming 👌

Another excellent video, and as always very relaxing to watch . Please show your little dog more often. He always makes me smile😊.

I had a W reg E240 back in the day. Bought it as an ex demo. Great car , sweet engine, really refined but a bit underpowered. Biggest problem was rust though. Used to go in for a warranty respray every year. They never replaced anything. Just treated and painted. Surprised yours is in such good condition. Chopped it in 5 years later for W211 E270. Even better, great economy and much more powerful. And no rust!

My Mother has an E320 sedan with 93k mile on it. Still looks brand new! She doesn't drive anymore so I put about 1k miles on it each year. This video motivated me to fix the head gasket (oh boy) and rear main seal. Just too good of a car to let maintenance take it off the road! Thanks for the inspiration.

Gary, very informative episode. I have followed you from day one and seen all your videos, many of them more than once. Keep up the good work, you are showing that anyone can do anything to their cars if they just use their head and go slow.

Thanks for taking time out Gary to produce interesting content....i think we should all try and enjoy our classics.The writing is on the wall ☹️

I agree. Three modern classics, particularly MB E 210 (state or sedan), one of the less valued great "old" cars in the market.

You are a balm for the soul!

Well another relaxing video. Thank you for bringing old cars back on the road.

Gary, just discovered your videos. They are a joy. So well made and you clearly have a passion for some great older cars! Keep up the amazing work!

Unfortunately the W210 had horrendous corrosion because Mercedes goal was reducing cost from the W124 by 30 %. So most of this cars had rust already in the brochures! Water based paint was also a new task

Loved this video! The mix of cars and approach is what makes this channel fantastic. I have a w210 e320 wagon in same color scheme as yours that I’ve used daily for kid hauling for five years. They’re fantastic and underrated.

Always a well spent sunday morning watching you work Gary. Tnanks,your knowledge always amazes me

Fab video Gary - can't be many people who would have repaired that Micra in the cold - I take it that was last winter? - a wee vid cleaning those fogged Merc headlamps would be good

Pugs, make you look strong and wise.

You make it look so easy, a practiced hand I suppose

Great job keeping those beautiful cars on the road! And that's what really protects the environment, keeping the old cars in use as long as possible instead of buying EVs.

Thanks for the informative video... makes me feel as if I can do simple jobs on the car... o ... 'two little black pugs...' love it!

Always enjoy each new episode, it’s a very relaxing channel Gary!

Always worth putting a little effort and money to keep a good old car on the road

Really enjoyed this episode Gary, please can you cover some more runarounds / future modern classics etc?

Nice to watch

Cool beans ol chap

The dark arts of an auto gearbox examined/explored/fixed - great stuff! Love the Micra maintenance - then a "brush with a skip" !! Probably looked BETTER after the new wing, door and a lick of paint! Beemer - a quality car indeed. Thanks for a "different" type of video, really enjoyed it.

Great to watch as always, you are so right, a little bit of money and some time can keep an old car running well.

Great channel this,and a local lad.

Great video as usual. Sadly, I fear ULEZ will claim a quite a few cars like these. Makes no sense to me at all.

Really enjoyed this one Gary

Thanks for doing maintenance for the common man! I enjoy watching you work on your vehicles, very calming! 👍🏽

Car covers are a good idea.

Really enjoyed this episode. I enjoy all of your content but this is probably the closest I come to being able to relate to it - in terms of something that I can afford to run. BTW- the designer of the micra interior being on drugs made me laugh 😂

Really enjoyed that one Gary well done

Great video Gary, along with my “Classic” classic 83 500SL I also have what I think is a modern classic, a 2004 Mercedes A190. A perfectly useable everyday car and far better than they have been given credit for.

job well done Mr. Mavers

Great episode as always, continue the good work Gary

I had an E46, 328i SE, steptronic auto, also titan silver, loved that car, i'm seriously thinking of getting another, its the best shaped 3 series ever.

I really enjoy these fix it episodes (well, al the rest to) and to do the more affordable cars it makes it even more interesting! A suggestion, how about taking on a classic or vintage cars, preferably pre-1940´s Thanks for another great episode Gary.

What a fascinating insight! not only to your choice of vehicles, but you as a person who we see on our TV from time to time. Great Stuff Gary "thanks"👌

That mercedes interior fits your look perfectly.

Greetings from Lake Tahoe🌲 this was a great episode. Thank you.

Actually prefer the Micra you have was better looking than it’s successor, manufacturers often do that , make a revision which somehow spoils it

I owned a E200 1996 R Reg saloon manual for 10 years I had the rust problem but loved the motor, I sold it 10 years ago for a 2007 CLS 320CDI gen 1 car in black that is absolutely immaculate and must be a classic of the future. Mayor Khan has outlawed such cars with the ULEZ charge where I live but he aint getting mine off me! Funny to notice that the gen3 cars have reverted to the sleeker look of the gen 1 motors! It goes like stink and I have got 47mph on a run driving like a vicar on Sunday! While I miss my old 200 bus I think I did the right thing!

Another beautifull video, and a MB (German car) !!!!Thank You, greetings from Belgium!!!!! ❤❤❤

Triple Threat! Good stuff, always enjoyable. Cheers!

That Merc is so quite I forgot how good they are! Good upload Gary 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Great video Gary. 👍🏻😀

Gary....how could you...let that lovely Merc sit there accumulating that grime. Seeing mine ($2,500 '83 300 sd daily driver for 20 years !) covered in just a bit of dust drives me nuts. Old Mercs are so good to us...give her a cover !

Good watch,thank you 👍

Great video on the mercedes gearbox, very informative, didn't know there was a cars and coffee in Liverpool will definitely look it up next time im there , great content in your videos, obviously a labor of love

Juat discovered this channel and I'm absolutely hooked . I can see this channel growing. Hope to see you at a show etc your welcome to drive my 78 series 2 xj that has a chevrolet v8 👌

Great episode Gary, thanks again

Hey Gary - no objection if you want to do more affordable classic videos at some point!

Wouldn't complain if any of these cars appeared on the channel from time to time. Back around 2007, my best pal drove an E46 Coupe and my other best pal drove an identical silver Micra. The only car you're missing from our majestic fleet was the Volvo 940 Estate I was flying around in, but I guess the W210 is a good stand-in..! (edit, mixed up my Merc codes)

Gary get those headlights polished on the Merc ! Good work 👏

Excellent content and presentation as always . The background music is a great choice , should play it when I work on my cars to keep me calm when a 30 min job turns into a few days . Keep it up Gary , best Classic car channel on RU-vid for me. 👌😎👍

A great video Gary 🥇but you must have a magic wand!! No spanner rash, everything go so smoooothly, no swearing unbelievable also you should be a Yorkshire man, you certainly got your moneys worth out of those brake pads mate. Thank you for your lovely videos, whack😉😊

ULEZ Will prematurely kill off a lot of future classics . Great video as always 🤘😎🤘

Another great episode, keep 'em coming 👍

There's a few of them Mercs that go past me every morning on the dog walk in Norway. Normally diesels, driven by workies who live pretty far away from the site. Can always spot them a mile off due to the sad looking French yellowed up headlamps. You still see the odd one over here too that had been taxied in Germany and they left the ivory coloured body-wrap on.

Yep - Your Micra was also built in sunderland- yours is the first refresh with the larger headlights - factory model designation is 090. Nice.

great video gary

Great episode Gary….thanks for sharing your can do attitude and insights, you’re an inspiration!

How do you know all this stuff!!!! Very impressive.

I don’t know how you do it Gary, but you just make me want to go into my workshop and fiddle about with engines and mechanical stuff!! My first car was a Honda Jazz… absolutely brilliant car. All my mates used to take the Micky out of it, calling me an OAP… but it never once, ever let me down…

Those Micras were made in Sunderland and had a very high UK content. I worked at one of the suppliers for it

It's a surprise to see you talking the praises of the Mercedes E Class. I looked at them with the legendary om606 diesel engine in the early 2000s. Looked at two covered over 200k to see both had rotton front wings and falling apart interior putting me off. I view a few E36 three series with similar mileage in much better condition and bought a low milage 325 TDs se. Since the ULEZ & CAZ I've moved towards 40+ year old cars. If I was to buy a Mercedes it would be a W123 240td or 300td although sure an om606 swap with all Bosch parts could get me near 240bhp for relaxing driving. You're so thrifty, I would of waited to buy a whole door in colour to save my time. You make me feel lazy P.S. for a cult tiny car rising in value, Lupo GTi for trips to London.

Great video, strangely enough my son and I had a chat about Micras on Sunday and just how good and underrated they are.

Really enjoyed this ... Thanks 👍😊

with the current UK regulation of increased ULEZ zones, sadly some of these "modern classics" may not be cost effective enough to make it to the 40 year old exemption date, assuming that continues?

Thanks Gary for this episode. I am amazed at how you will tackle anything that is needed. Do you do a lot of research before you takle these jobs? That removal of the door hardware looked too complex.

Good work Gary top vids

Another great video, thankyou. Every time I think about buying a seven or eight year old BMW I wince at the thought that it's already at 'that' age where it could go spectacularly Tits Up. On the Merc though - the W210 was very rust prone. In reality the one after (W211) was a much better car as long as you avoid the dreadful M271 four cylinder petrol and the M272 V6. Stick to the C220CDI (OM646), E270CDI straight five OM647 and pre 06 M112 V6 in the E240 and E320, all with the same type of five speed auto. After this they were 'improved' with more complexity and less reliability. The M271 is garbage and the M272 V6 has balance shafts, swirl flaps etc that all cause expensive trouble. Just stick to 02-06 cars. Plenty of good ones about still, the last of the good Mercedes. I'm not a fan of E46's but a good one (rare now) is a worthy machine.

Gary another great video your absolutely right three cracking car's little bit of love and they'll run for years well done John

Gary, great vlog. Love watching. Your attention to detail is fantastic.

A great video......as usual.

Great vid gary always good keep them coming mate

Great episode, thanks!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

A fantastic episode Gary. Really appreciated the content. ❤

Excellent video (as always) and a nice change to see your more everyday/modern cars. I used to have a 2001 E320cdi and you’re right… they’re great! Looking forward to the next video already!!

Its a shame for the little micra that door although rusty was so original then you get some numpty who shouldnt be behind the wheel let alone behind the wheel of a skip truck if my ears served me right i know micras are small motors but there not inconspicuous are they you can see them i know accidents happen but come on lol great channel tho gazza keep up the good work matey 👍

Thanks Gary I had two Jaguars both 10 years old dun me well love the videos

Ace