Advice please for buying E Class W124, thank you

[Dan Czech]

Hello everybody! I want to soon buy in middle of March an E Class W124 saloon or estate, I'm not bothered! My favourite choice will be a 280 or 320. I understand there is also a petrol 300, which I don't know anything about - would it be an option for me also? I prefer the 320 to the 280, because I understnd it has a 5 speed autobox and cruise control. I also thought about a 300 diesel, but was told it was very slow and just as much cost to run because it needs extra servicing to petrol engine. I wll use the car quite often onthe motorway, not speeding, but for comfort, and I will also use it on country roads, maybe total 12,000 up to 15,000miles every year. I see lots of 280 and 300 for sale at about lowest £5000 to highest £8000, many with more than 100,000miles on the engine. How long could I hope for the car to last with so many miles, I have been told they could drive 300,000mile s on 1 engine if looked well after. Is this myth? It just I have never considerd buying car with so many miles, so some re-assurance needed! Anyway, I come to this site on recommendation of friend for some expert advice from Mercedes enthusiasts! I live in UK, though english is not my first language, but I hope you understand!

Thank you all very much for any advice.
Dan. :wink:

 

[Richard Moakes]

Hard to answer your question, but here goes.

320, uses M104 engine, loads of power, very smooth, loads of electronics, possibly fragile head gasket

300, uses M103 engine, not much electronics, slight rough idle for a six, but change the oil regularly and they are reliable as the day is long.

Not so sure about the 280, but I believe it is a cousin of the 320 and uses the M104 engine. What I do know is that the old 260 was underpowered and used more fuel than the 300 !

No guarantees on what gearbox you will get, but once again bear the following in mind, the five speed is packed with electronics and the four speed is good old fashioned hydraulic and vacuum technology.

The most important thing when choosing is condition and service history. I ended up buying a much older car than I expected, however the condition was exceptional, it had been properly serviced with MB parts and had no evidence of crash damage.

If you don't know your MB's get someone who does to have a look or get the AA or RAC to inspect it for you.

Good luck with your hunt, the W124 is an exceptional car in any form.

Regards,

Richard
1989 W124 300E 119K and increasing !

 

[grober]

W124 BUYING!

IN THIS CASE OLDER IS PROBABLY BETTER! Especially if you wish to avoid expensive dealer servicing. As the previous post said the older engines and gearboxs are simpler to service and more reliable. Body condition is very important so look carefully for evidence of corrosion or botched repair. weak points:- front and rear disc wear corrosion ,front spring corrosion leading to breakage close to the wishbone arm.dodgy transmissions due to poor maintenance/misuse, engine wiring loom insulation can degrade due to heat on post 94?? cars, water leaks in the boot , ABS problems, rumbling backaxles. Stay clear of 4-matics unless you have a large wallet! NEEDS DOCUMENTED SERVICE HISTORY/INVOICES from Merc agent or reputable specialist. Look at the seller as much as the car! Dodgy blokes sell dodgy cars! Second opinion of expert always a good idea before purchase, an honest seller will not object to this. buy on condition not mileage. Remember these cars were built to last, but like all mechanical devices they will break down if mistreated. GOOD LUCK.

 

[NormanB]

Hi Dan

1. Welcome to the forum, you have received sound advice already, let us know how things pan out.

2. Your English looks pretty well perfect to me!

 

[Dan Czech]

Thank you Richard, Grahame and Norman for taking time to reply.
From what you say, the 300 6cylinder petrol is best for longer term reliability because they are simpler. Obviously, the 300 will be older than the 320, but from what you say, this does not matter providing condition is good and service history is fully documented. I am curious about ultimate mileage on these cars - is there a record mileage W124 that anybody knows about? Many years ago in one of the Sunday papers I heard of an E (I think it was a W123 with 6cylinder) that had driven 350,000miles on original engine and gearbox. I had a W123 4 cylinder once that was an excellent car, but it did not have this many miles!

Anybody else has any W124 advice, experience or information they like to share, please post!

Thank you,
Dan.

 

[Mike Buley]

Hello Dan,
I have a 1992 300te, which is a 3.0 litre petrol. The fuel consumption isnt that bad, but it spends most of its life on the motorway. It has just about 180,000 miles on it and never misses a beat.

It has had a few things replaced, recently a new belt tensioner, but that is to be expected with those miles.

My advice is not to be scared with the miles just as long as it has a documented service record. They really are good for the money, and worth every penny.

Regards,
Mike. :lol:

 

[Dan Czech]

Thank you Mike, thats reassuring to know.
By the Way, can you or anybody give some quick advice on the 300 and 300-24 valve. I have been looking since I left my first message and seen both types for sale at similar price. All I know is that the 300 is not as powerful! But, is one recommended over the other? As I think I said before, it is reliability that is most important for me.

Thank you,
Dan.

 

[Mike Buley]

Hi Dan,
The 300 is a 12 valve, the 300 24 (24!!). The 300 is a single cam older style (bombproof) engine with about 180 ish bhp. The 300 24 is the newer twin cam unit. Both are very good engines. I opted for the 12valve due to the simplicity of it. (Less bits, less to go wrong approach)

The 24 v is an excellent engine and has plenty of power (200 bhp?), more than the 12v, but the 12v has more than enough for me and certainly shifts the old girl when it needs to.

I think for me, the only advantage of having a 24v is the suspension set up. Some have the sportline shocks/dampers which stop it wallowing when cornering quite hard. My way around that is not to corner hard!!

I'm not an expert, this is my personal view. It depends what you need. I am very happy with my 12valve 300te. It has every extra you need. My wife has a Golf gti turbo which in my view is completely over rated. I think my shed (as she calls it) could definately give her a run for her money, as long as there were no corners.

Hope that helps
Cheers,
Mike. :lol:

 

[Richard Moakes]

Think of the 300-24V as a M103.5 :wink:

It has all of the complication of the 320, may use CIS-E injection rather than LH, and rumour has it that it has more noise than go!

It is a straight choice between the simple 300E 12V or the 320E 24V which is complicated, idles superbly smooth, has loads of power, BUT is an electronic minefield :roll:

The 12V gets better fuel consumption, as you tend to drive them sedately, below or at the speed limit, or at least I do.

I have first hand experience of both, my father has a 1995 320E 24V and although he loves the power, he longs for the simplicity of my engine.

Cheers,

Richard
1989 W124 300E

 

[Mike Buley]

I rest my case! :lol:
Mike.

 

[Dan Czech]

Thanks again Richard and Mike.
My heart says a 320, my head says a 300-12. What shall it be?!

:lol:

 

[Mike Buley]

Keep us posted. I know what I would go for......

 

[MotardMan]

A bad one on video!

I recently went to see a 300TE-24, you would not believe the state of this car. It was in one of those 2nd hand car lots that you normally avoid and was up for £3295. The faults I spotted were:

Rust on front n/s wheel arch, rear wheel arches, front wing and doors.
Torn and stained interior.
Missing load cover and luggage net.
Oil leak on front of motor behind the thermostat.
Badly repaired cold air ducting to air filter.
Bonnet release snapped and replaced with classy silver tie wrap!
Windscreen wiper rubber completely torn off.
No service book.
Weird puffing noise from what I assumed was the air con compressor.
A/C not working, poor fan performance as well.

I have a Real Media video of the visit to the car, if you want a laugh!

Best,

Jim.

 

[kid-jensen]

Motardman,

At £3295, you should definately be able to do better than this. There were several around at that price when I was looking last summer.

The Coupe generally commands about a grand over the price of the equivalent saloon. I paid £4800 for a 92 320CE which was perfect in body and interior (111K miles).

They are out there.....keep looking and don't be rushed!

 

[jemclear]

300TE smoking?

I bought my 1990 300TE with 100K miles on the clock at eight years old. A year later I started noticing a distinct puff of blue smoke in my rear-view mirror whenever I put the throttle down hard and got the revs up over 5k. I alos noticed the oil consumption going up, so that I was putting in a litre bottle of oil too often for comfort! I asked around the guys at local Merc specialist garages and the consensus was that the 103 series engine (12v 2962cc 188bhp) is good for at least 250k miles and the smoke and oil consumption increase is likely caused by old hardened valve stem seals. I paid about £100 to have the stem seals replaced and sure enough the smoking stopped and the oil consumption is fine. Before the stem seals were done I was putting in about a litre of oil ever 800-1000 miles -- informed people tell me that Mercedes reckon 1 litre per 1000km (that's KILOMETERS!) is acceptable for this 103 series engine!

The moral is: if you're thinking of buying a Merc 300E/TE then the worrying puff of smoke you see in the rear-view mirror is probably NOT a sign that the engine is on its last legs -- just that you need to get the valve stem seals renewed.

 

[Robby Ackerman]

Dan

Six months ago I purchased a '94 E320 for my wife. It is the 3.2L 24 valve engine. The car had 98,000 miles on it and everything on it looks like new, and the engine with this may miles runs purrfect. She has put over 1,000 mi/month on it. The 24V six cylinder engine has plenty of power and really starts pulling hard around 60mph with a top speed of 148 mph. Fuel mileage is around 25 mpg. I've had no problems with the car. The '94 E320 is known to have been manufactured with defective insulation on the wiring harness. I can get a new harness for 315 pounds and may replace hers if it starts giving me problems.

My daily driver is the Cosworth 2.3-16 Mercedes-Benz. I should add that I love traveling in her car! It is exceptionally quiet, very comfortable and I enjoy using the cruise control.

Cheers,

 

[MotardMan]

Re: 300TE smoking?

<snip> Merc specialist garages and the consensus was that the 103 series engine (12v 2962cc 188bhp) is good for at least 250k miles and the smoke and oil consumption increase is likely caused by old hardened valve stem seals. I paid about £100 to have the stem seals replaced and sure enough the smoking stopped and the oil consumption is fine. <snip>

My 89 300TE, was doing just that! I was quoted WAY more than that for the job though. Can I ask where you got the work done? May be useful to know If I find another 300TE.......

Best,

Jim

 

[MotardMan]

Motardman,

At £3295, you should definately be able to do better than this. There were several around at that price when I was looking last summer.

The Coupe generally commands about a grand over the price of the equivalent saloon. I paid £4800 for a 92 320CE which was perfect in body and interior (111K miles).

They are out there.....keep looking and don't be rushed!

Thx Paul,

My wife is willing to be without a car for a while whilst we search out a really good TE. Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure that something will turn up....

Best,

Jim