90-92 W124 230 Estate VS Saloon

[ali]

Hello all, I been following this forum quiet some time and found it's very good and informative. I'm from Malaysia.

I'm looking to buy W124 230 but not sure estate or saloon.

I been read in the past thread that that 300TE engine rev higher than 300E at top gear as it has been designed for carry luggage. Is it true? Are there any other different ie. suspension, wheel base, engine, transmission, parts, servicing etc (of course other than body).

Estate car are not popular over here, so it will give me problem if it's not share the same spare parts with salon.

I'm also thinking of manual transmission due to it's 'problem/maintanence free' since for car at this age auto trans need lot of repair. Also for small engine capacity.

Thanks. Any advice much appreciate.

 

[MotardMan]

Hello all, I been following this forum quiet some time and found it's very good and informative. I'm from Malaysia.

I'm looking to buy W124 230 but not sure estate or saloon.

I been read in the past thread that that 300TE engine rev higher than 300E at top gear as it has been designed for carry luggage. Is it true? Are there any other different ie. suspension, wheel base, engine, transmission, parts, servicing etc (of course other than body).

Estate car are not popular over here, so it will give me problem if it's not share the same spare parts with salon.

I'm also thinking of manual transmission due to it's 'problem/maintanence free' since for car at this age auto trans need lot of repair. Also for small engine capacity.

Thanks. Any advice much appreciate.

Ali,

I'm not sure where yopu got the impression that a manual box is more reliable than an auto. Almost certainly NOT true. The Estate will not have a manual, very few, if any, did. Also you subject line indicated a 230, but the message talks about a 300. The 230 is a 4 cylinder car, the 300 a six. BIG difference.

Saloons and estates share much of the running gear and electrics.

Gearing is the same on both body styles I think.

Servicng will cost the same.

HTH,

Jim

 

[ali]

Thanks MotardMan. In that case I'll stick to estate. On the gearbox, it's base on my experience since I'm using manual cars all the while and not giving me any problem. But when I went through the previous threads there are many problem arise regarding auto box. May be these is because most of the merc are auto.

 

[andy_k]

there seems to be very litle difference between the saloon and estate mechanically - One noteable exception is the self levelling rear suspension. Make sure it works and ensure there are no leaks - things can get expensive when that needs repairs

Andy