W124 estate..Buying advice please?

[stevedurham]

Hello all !..am a newbie to this site as thinking of changing my trusty Disco (175k trouble free miles over 12 years) Am wondering whether a W124 Estate might be the way to go.We tow a Caravan (mtplm 1340 kg) around two thousand miles a year and the rest of our average ten thousand miles a year is mixed motorway/town journeys.
As I new to Mercedes would really appreciate any advice,thoughts or tips as to which might be the best variant for us,any issues we should be aware of and maybe some idea as to current values for a really good example?
Sorry my first post is so long and thanks for reading.

Regards

Steve

 

[stumpy]

Hi Steve, a good place to start is www.w124.co.uk Nick (Bolide) knows these cars like few others. Good cars are not cheap and there are plenty of snotters out there. I paid 1900 for my E280 on an N plate. Nice smooth power, fairly economical, but being a late car believe it or not means possible wiring loom problems and rust. I spent 1500 on a gearbox overhaul and new TC, and it has just blown its head gasket at 125k miles. Am I peed off? Not really cos I love these cars and always hope to have one on the fleet. When the repairs are taken into account I still think it quite cheap motoring - bearing in mind the first owner of my Spur dropped 70k in 2 years!

 

[Blobcat]

Hi & Welcome,

Bolide is the 124 estate specialist and it is well worth having a read of his site

 

[bigyin1]

stevedurham - i was in the same position about 1 month ago and spent ages looking around and asking questions then spoke to Nick Froome. I'm picking up my W124 300D Estate on Thursday bought from w124.co.uk and can't wait . Listen to advice from everyone, plus on here: http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=56732 where i've also been posting as i couldn't get on this forum until now.

It was a tough choice and a bit expensive (still having my ear bent from my other half) but i'm 100% happy with my choice.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Hi,
Good car, owned a 300TE for 12 years. As you are using the car for towing I would go for the later 5 speed box 280 or 320 petrol. I'm not sure about the power of the diesel being up to the job but I'm sure Nick Froome will advise.

Hope this helps!

ps the 210 series E320CDi makes an excellent towing vehicle.

 

[RGubbioli]

If you're going to use it for towing certainly avoid the 4 cylinder models (200TE and 230TE) as they are too weak (they can probably take it, just would be a pain to drive with so little power on reserve). This is coming from a 200TE owner (unfortunately, soon to be ex-owner).