So I'm looking to swap into a different car, my E46 saloon is no good now we have another dog, so I'm thinking a hatchback and fold the back seats down, or an estate. I've had a couple of BMW 3 series estates in the past and all have been great, but they are a little thin on the ground now, so I widened my search. I came across an ST220 estate which looked nice, but then realised they did them in a hatch too. TBH, I like both.

Question is, are there any cons of owning one? I don't do enough mileage to warrant the 2.2 TDCi, and I have read horror stories about pumps and injectors needing to be replaced at pretty much the cost of the cars, so that's out. The 3.0 V6 duratec is what I am after. Plus, you know, recaro seats

Granted, I know it will be thirsty, but owning 330s and VR6s previously, I am good friends with my local petrol station. But as the mileage racks up on them, are there any bad faults with the V6? Do timing chains/tensioners fail?

My budget is £3500.00 and there looks to be a few on trader/Ebay in that range. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Like a lot of cars this age they get neglected and any work on them makes them a financial write off. Inc
Rust rust rust. Look at the bottom of the doors to start with.
Flywheel is dual mass so if it needs a clutch it won't be cheap.
They are a heavy car so bushes and other suspension parts take a beating.
If they run low on oil they can spin the shells.
So often just get run into the ground.
Front bumper is very low and easily gets trashed on a curb.
They arnt quick but they are smooth and it's a very comfy place to be.

3.5k should buy you the very best of the best.

 

Asked the same thing a few months back https://passionford.com/forum/genera...alk-to-me.html


still looking for one myself, estate version, facelift but pre march 2006 ish when the tax jumps a lot! oh and idealy in blue.


There aint a lot out there to choose from

 

I’d go for a Skoda octavia vrs over the st220.

 

That interior though

I'd rather have a Volvo V50 estate than the Octavia, it's a fuck ugly thing

 

Thought this was a Ford forum? :P


Water pump problems were quite common with some of the Mondeo Mk1/2 2,5 24V, not heard anyone complain about the ST220. Most has been said before. Although it's a good and well-built car there are some examples out there that suffer from massive rust problems. Doors are quite common on most of these cars and keep in mind... production of the MK3 started 20 years ago. Many people would call this an old car nowadays. Prices should be quite low in the UK too so investing some money for a much better example than a bargain one might make a huge difference. Especially as we're talking about 1-2k more.

It's too heavy to be a racer and the engine is a bit on the comfy side, but it's a cruiser with a lot of torque and good suspension. And lots of space inside.

 

TBH, that's perfect. I've even looked at the Mk4 Golf 4mo for the same reason. Grunty cruiser that's comfy, but fast enough when needed

 

I've had mine for about 11 years now, I haven't even covered 10k yet. Its kept in the garage all year round but can't bring myself to sell it as theres not really anything else i could replace it with.
They're good all round cars

 

other than the tax, the things you need to look out for are worn clutches, get the big brake asbo upgrade at the very least, and don't let them run low on oil, that's almost instant engine death

there are plenty of forums, the facebook st220 enthusiasts is one of the best for technical help, but they are a strange bunch, think of them as them mason weirdos and you'll be ok

 

Never owned one, but have driven many miles in one. Fabulous cars.

 

I've always wanted one myself. Would be scary and expensive I bet if it went wrong though.

 

I used to have a mk3 mondeo 2.5 v6 zetec s. It qas basically a ST220 but without the engine.

I had mine about 2 years. Was a good car just a bit thirsty. All I fitted to it was front discs+pads osr shocker osf coil spring rear caliper and hadbrake cables.

 

Just found a pic of my old "office"

 

That's awesome

 

Still not found anything reasonably close to home, they all seem to be at the other end of the country.

I guess the ST TDCi is a big no? I keep reading horror stories about injectors and pumps failing, overboost issues etc, or are these just internet myths?

 

The 2.2 doesn't seem to suffer the same issues as the 2.0

 

I used to look after a couple in the garage. You seemed to get good ones and bad ones. One of them done mega miles with not a single issue, I remember the other one had nothing but probs from a fairly low mileage.

 

As above, you're looking at around £300 each injector, £700 for a fuel pump etc. YMMV

Same as any diesel really, just have a few quid spare if it shits itself.

 

300 quid for an injector.....? Glenn was taking the piss at me paying 110 at Mercedes...

 

That's cheap, a Perkins c9 engine there almost £1000 each 😮😮
I've bought one this morning for a c9.3 acert engine service exchange £520 bloody rip off 🤬🤬

 

Makes the Mercedes main dealer look like a bargain

 

Diesel injectors are always more money.

 

Anyway.... Glenn said there are no cons on an st220.... Only pros...

 

I've had to resort to joining Freakbook as most of the owners clubs/selling pages are on there now. urrrgh. I feel dirty

 

Lol I feel the same about Facebook too mate

 

possess oooofffffffff

Lol. Not all of us have Merc money ha ha.

 

It's just a 12 year C class ... Not going to have much Mercedes money left soon.... Goes in tomorrow for 2 front wheel bearings and a propshaft bearing so that'll be another thousand quid...

 

I thought these german cars never went wrong. German build quality and all that ha ha.

I will stick to simple fords which I can fix myself.

 

Wear and tear items on a 90000 mile car ... I can't be bothered fixing them myself these days... My days of crawling about under cars are past

 

The old mondeo is on 110k. Still on its original wheel bearings.

Unfortunately i fix vehicles for a living so i dont get much of a choice lol.

 

I've done 10000 miles since I bought it last November and 9999 of them have been thrashed