W124 4-speed or 5-speed automatic?

[vin_rouge]

I am about to buy a W124 estate (almost certainly an E280). I've got my eye on two; one is a standard 4 speed auto, the other is a 1995 5 speed auto. On the face of it, the 5 speed sounds preferable, but as this is fairly rare on the W124, does anyone have any thoughts/experience as to which I should go for?

Many thanks.

 

[Myros]

do a couple of searches here

on 4-speed auto and 5- speed auto. I think I remember some negativity about the 5 speed, but I can't be sure.

 

[Richard Moakes]

5 - Speed, nice as long as it is working, electronics
4 - Speed, cheap'ish to repair, simple, almost no electronics

Given a choice, on a low mileage car I would go for the 5 - Speed and enjoy it whilst it lasts. On a high mileage car, it would have to be the 4 - Speed.

Good Luck,

Richard

 

[Chazchuzzlewitt]

I remember reading about some of the aussies having problems with the 5-speed autos, though I wouldn't mind having one in my 124 with a 4 speed box in the shed for back-up

 

[pascal]

The 5 speed. A complete different drive. As we have thousands of members on here, and most join up originally with a problem. But problems with the original 5speed don't seem to be any more previlant than four speed. There was one here a couple of months ago in an older W140.

Drive them both and see what you think. It was fitted as an option on the 300E/CE-24 a few years before that (92 anyway)

 

[MW]

I have a 4 speed 230E 1992. I love it. It has done 116k with no problems. What I like is one can change the oil in the sump AND the convertor which both have a simple 7mm screw in plugs. So simple and easy. The oil filter is cheap from europarts and is held in by 3 screws. I change the filter and oil at 36K and the oil at 18k. Oil is cheap, the gearbox isnt.
No experience of 5 speed, but there is an argument for keeping everything simple on older cars, and moreso on newer ones. Black boxes of electrics are wonderful until they fail, and then MB extracts its revenge. Check if the 5 speed is easy or possible (is it sealed for life?) to change the oil.

 

[Bolide]

4-speed vs 5-speed

I'm selling my first 5-speed auto W124 and this is my take on it:

The box isn't "sealed for life" and uses a readily-available filter, pan gasket & etc and uses standard ATF. An oil change will cost around £100 in parts but it's a good idea, particularly if the car's been outside the dealer network a while and hasn't had an ATF change

The shift lever's a little different (obviously) and the box shifts like a 4-speed (ie imperceptibly most of the time) but drops revs 800-1000 rpm when cruising. That alone will make it a lot more economical on the motorway & A roads

I think the 5-speed was an option from the early 90s but suspect it was expensive and so no many were sold. It seems to be commonest in E320s and E280s and I've never seen one in an E300 Diesel, more's the pity!

All the W210s had 5-speed boxes so look at early W210s to get an idea of reliability of 5-speeds vs 4-speeds. Mileage is the key here - most boxes will need rebuilding between 200 and 250k so budget for it and you'll be OK


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Terminator]

The enagagement of the auto 5th gear is very dependent on the electrics of the 124 series being sound. Bear in mind the 280E, 300E 24 and 320E circa 1992-1995 were fitted with the dreaded bio degradable wiring harness which breaks down by about 135k miles, the degradation of which can cause running problems and the 5th gear to stop working due to current fluctuations.

 

[telletubby]

If it's not a silly question how do you recognise 4 from 5 speed ( ie know which you've got?)

 

[Terminator]

The five speed box will go upto number 4 with D next to it and switchable.
The 4 speed box goes up to number 3 then D, all in the same plane.

 

[Apial]

I read an article in 1991 about the 300CE fitted with the new 5 speed autobox. The reviewer raved about it, but it was some £1300 extra. I'm sure he said that you won't go into 5th until you are doing 60mph. This of course gave a huge improvement on fuel consumption.

Now some 14 years later our roads have clogged up with traffic. Most of the time you are lucky to even get up to 60mph except on a motorway. If you live in an area with motorways and use them, then you will benefit from a 5 speed box, but if all you do is city drive or live in a motorway/dual carriageway free area (Lincolnshire) then you might as well stick to the 4 speed.

I can't comment on what happened to the box design after '91 so maybe they changed its characteristics to allow lower speed use of 5th.

 

[PINBALL]

My E280 has the 4 box & I'm more than happy with it.

After a major - major service last week with non-franchise Merc specialist cost ni-on £500 squid for overhaul on all servicing parts of estate.

The performance is smooth n sweet!

Never had a 5 speed, & not likely to judging by the comments particularly as they are steered to high mileages.

This is my 3rd merc: 1st was 88 E230 with 89k = bit of a dog with low rear suspension.
2nd was a 94 E220 bought from new, kept for 4 years & 88k clocked up without a murmer from the gearbox.

This my 3rd E280 knocks them both for six with harder suspension & smoother ride (will never go back to a 230 or 220 after this).

The cars done 191,000 miles & if someone had clocked it to read 20,000 miles I would have believed them, whereas with the previous 2 with high mileage as this they would have had a ride more noticably knackered!

I get 24mpg with 100 kilos spares parts loaded continuously.

24 mpg = driving in Granny mode.

or 21-22mpg in 'S' mode.

My opinion: Go for the 4 & try to knock the owner down in price for having the cheaper version.

Looking forward to the next 100,000.

Regards,
Keith.