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« on: 24 January 2007, 10:26:36 »
Hi guys,
I went through a bit of this before I bought my last big car, I eventually went for the Volvo 960 3.0 24v on the grounds of a) price b) fantastic build quality/no rust c) fantastic crash protection/solidness and d) the beautiful super compact super simple and easy to work on all alloy straight 6 engine (a much superior engine to the Merc's offering). Eventually sold it due to the body design being too old (poor aerodynamics mean low top speed and lots of wind noice, not the best suspension, well balanced and very safe but not 'fluid' and fair bit of body roll, also poor brakes compared to modern stuff, plus I went to diesels on vegetable oil for a mix of environmental and cost reasons).
In all other ways the Merc was better, eg ride, comfort, etc. The engine and box were too old fashioned though. I nearly went for an omega as it has a newer body and better aerodynamics than either of those (though the Merc is pretty good) but the quality (rust, things broken, seats wearing, trim issues) in my price range wasn't so good and with similar performance the much simpler/easier to work on construction of the Volvo bullet proof inline 6 won me over (I'm a mechanic).
That said... I always liked the Omega and I may be looking at getting on again, but only if I can find a decent direct injection diesel to put in, mainly thinking of the 2.9 5cyl Merc engine from a sprinter coupled to an auto box. It would fetch between 140 to 200bhp in 'warm' fettle with around double the torque of the Omega's 3.2v6. I'm an alternative fuels man which cramps my engine choice slightly, the merc engines are good on veg/biodiesel and very economic, they also push a LWB high roof sprinter along at 100mph in the 120hp versions, so I'm guessing in a car body a warmer engine would be more than quick enough.
The Omega 2.5d would be an option but I'm a little unsure of how durable the BMW engine is. The Merc comes with an excellent 3.0d but in the uk no turbo, so I'd want to do a turbo conversion. I would be considering the 5-series here only the estate isn't big enough and it's the same engine as in the omega so I figured that really rules the 5-series out as I'd be better off with an Omega.
Question is, especially as I'm probably looking at a merc engine, how would you rate the Omega up against the last 'proper' merc, the 1986 - 1995 E class (w124) IF anyone has had both/had access to a w124 and knows what I mean by 'smooth ride, very solid'. It would be very easy to drop a merc engine in a merc body on a merc box....
How much better in general respects is the Omega facelift to the original one? If I got one I would want the Elite Estate, either one with a blown engine or cheap enough to do my engine swap (fairly simple on a rwd car and the 5 cyl engine shouldn't stretch the bonnet space much) OR think about tarting up a 2.5d estate (do they come in elite?) towards the 200bhp (been done in Range Rovers with but a chip and intercooler) and a veg conversion. Also it would have to be auto. I'm thinking a nice late diesel may be thousands more than a high miles 3.2 petrol, which is something to consider when £500 could buy me a a nice diesel engine and box....
Any suggestions apprecaited. Also any info about the crash protection of the later Omega's, the early one wasn't amazing and I can't find any NCAP tests of the post 2000 stuff.
Greg.
