S70Houston

What are the forum members thoughts about the last of the W124's, a E320?

Always loved the body style and am in the market to find one I like.

What are your thoughts about the last of the W124?

Thanks in advance.

S70Houston

ANYONE?????

ohollenbeck

You should also consider the E420, a much nicer driving experience, but both cars are great. If able, drive an E420 before you buy an E320.
The E420 V8 is a smaller brother to the iconic E500, really worth the effort to get a good one.
When looking at the list below, for the E420 scratch the head gasket, the rest still applies though.

Anyway here are some common things they all need

* Head Gasket – M104 motors will need a replacement head gasket after 150-175K - $1500
* Transmission – Reverse engagement delay is a warning, time to rebuild, over 150K - $3000
* A/C Evaporator – If not replaced yet, the factory unit will leak, - $2000+
* Engine Wire Harnesses, if not already replaced, must be done, Upper harness, Lower Harness, and ETA wiring – about $1500

So the prices may vary somewhat, but if none of these items have been addressed yet, look to spend another $8K plus over time.

So look for 124's that have most if not all these items already taken care of, or use that information to lower the purchase price.

It has been said in another forum, that most all 124’s have at least $10K in deferred maintenance to do after you purchase it.

Anyone who keeps a 124 for the long haul understands and accepts this above list as part of the ownership.

I have and will do all of those fix items myself, better that driving a Honda or whatever any day.

Good Luck...

S70Houston

Thanks very much for this valuable information OHOLLENBECK, greatly appreciated.

So does it matter which year of E420? Either '94 or '95? Or was one better than the other?

Thanks in advance.

ohollenbeck

94's and 95's I believe are identical, I would also consider a 93, which looks different, as it's the last year of pre-facelift. It's a personal choice thing, but I prefer the 93 look to the 94-5 look. Mechanically all 3 are are about the same, the radios in the 94-95's are better and lend themselves well to aftermarket radio installs without having to hack up the wiring in the dash. Just thinking about the A/C evaporators, not sure what years beside the 94s and 95's are bad, but the late year 124s evaps were made of aluminum and copper. The dissimilar metals don't live well together, and corrode until they leak. Although the new evap is only a couple of hundred dollars or so, in order to change it out, you need to pull the bloody dash out of the car, many hours of expensive labor. The replacement evaps are all aluminum, fixes the problem, and while the dash is out, replace the 7(I think) vacuum pods that control the air ducts, there relatively cheap, but you don't want to pull the dash more than once.
So, if someone is selling you a 124 and says there is a minor leak in the A/C, guess what the most common problem is? The evap, and $2K will fix it, I know, happened to me on the 94 E42 we have..
So I replaced the evap, vacuum pods, all three wire harnesses in the engine compartment, the timing chain and tensioner, water pump while in there and now the E420 is primed for many more miles. The only thing not done is the tranny rebuild, at 175K so far no sign of any problems, but I change the tranny fluid every 30K miles, don't know if it's needed that often, but the transmission doesn't suffer from dirty fluid.

S70Houston

Thanks very much again.

But would a '93 model not be badged 400E or 300E?


Can't say I have ever found a 1993 E320 or E420.

ohollenbeck

It's simply the pre-facelift vs the facelift designations, the confusing part is that they called the same motor a 400 and a 420.

I think all the 400 series 119 motors are really 420's, they just called them 400's when they were first sold.

Although the motors are the same, 92-93 are 400E, and 94-95 are E420.

So search for a 93 400E, or a 94-5 E420.

A generic search for all 93 to 95 E-class with a 8 cylinder will get them all.

Same with the 6 cylinders, a 93 300E or a 94-5 E320, same basic motor.

Last thing, if you can't find the right 400/420, and will settle for a 300/320, consider the 2 door coupes.

I think the coupes are the best looking of all the 124's, the cab's are right up there as well.

If they had built 400/420 and/or 500 coupes, they would have been the car to own...

They took the basic family sedan to makeover into a V8 rocket ship, a 500CE would be the best if they had chosen to built it.

Good Luck

S70Houston

And ONCE AGAIN, many thanks OHOLLENBECK. At least now I know my assumptions to be correct.


I can not agree with you more. But in todays world, my most favorite car is the 500E, but I cannot afford one.

Maybe you need to share some pic of yours, seems like you are having quite the stable. ;-)


Found this one today, but has too many little issues, needs clear coat, antenna stuck in up position, AC Evaporator not done, cannot confirm that the wiring harness was done, ........... would take 1500 bucks for the car, but I do not think this is what I want?


https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/6001345294.html

ohollenbeck

Good Choice, I would walk away myself. The mileage isn't so scary if there were a ton of maint. records showing everything fixed. But this one sounds to be owned by a person(s) not willing to fix things when they should,

Seriously, if you get a chance to drive one that's running well, give it a shot, just to know what there are like.

S70Houston

Thanks, I agree and cannot believe how many people ignore what should get done and give the car the love it deserves. It is not a Camry for crying out loud, it is a Benz!!!!

I have NEVER driven an 8 cylinder E Class, maybe you can somehow put the difference between the 6 cyl. and 8 cyl. in words and describe the differences. I would imagine it is way more powerful with additional torque?

ohollenbeck

OK here are pics of the fleet, in a few posts;

Early fleet pic, 81 380SL, (retired just recently), My Sl500, My Coupe, and the E420.

Check out how similar the SL500 and the Coupe look from the rear, the SL's used a 124 chassis..

Last some pics of a perfect Tanzanite Blue 2004 E500 from SF, 47K and in showroom condition. last pic is the newly arrived E500 next to the E420

Enough for this post, more on the next post.

S70Houston

BEAUTIFUL cars, ........ you are a VERY LUCKY MAN!!!!!!

ohollenbeck

OK lets see if I can get the rest in this post, nope need 1 more post;

This is the SL500 when I got it from Idaho, a Lawyer kept it garaged and he worked from a home office, another show room car. Then a picture of my SL with the wife's E500, and a shot of the SL with SL55 wheels and the PANO top off.

The last bunch is the 99 SL500 that I just bought for my wife, a surprise. I came from VA and was delivered in the snow about 3 weeks ago. A fairly rare color, Azurite Blue, really great looking car with a light cream int. , also with a PANO. I left the front plate off, parked it in my friends driveway facing forward and took her over to see it. She thought it was their car until she saw the custom plate from her old 380SL on the rear, a great surprise, got her completely, I'm good for a long time...

OK one more post to go, showing another 124 in progress

ohollenbeck

OK, here is my new hunt, looking for a higher quality 500E, this one is overseas, and in negotiations right now. A very rare color, Bornite, ya either love it or hate the color. Kind of a metal flake blackberry and dark grey mix. Anyway, we're getting closer on the price, but I'm also patient, if it all doesn't pan out, there are more out there...

Good luck on your hunt, it's fun, enjoy it...

S70Houston

You have GREAT taste in cars and I thank you very much for sharing, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL, ............

I like the color of the 500E you are currently hunting for overseas, looks great. Where is the car located at?

Any tricks as to HOW you find all these beauties? I mostly search craigslist and AutoTrader.

Thanks again for all your help and efforts.

ohollenbeck

Thanks for the kind words, although it doesn't look like it, I'm starting to think about thinning the herd. The 380SL is the first to go, but it needed a replacement before I even considered selling it. Either the coupe or the E420 will go also, but really hard decision to make. If I do get a better 500E, the current one will go as well. I may let my SL500 go also, since the wife has a similar one. So, the 04 E500, 99 SL500, (the coupe or E420), and a 500E gets me down to 4 cars, plus my 94 Pathfinder which is my winter and hauling vehicle. The E420 goes out occasionally during the winter, but the rest hibernate until spring each year, none of them have any rust issues at all.

Add cargurus.com and cars.com to your search engines, most of my finds came from autotrader and cargurus. I really like the autotraders searchs you can save. I have one set for E500E's (92 to 94 500's), on set for the 400's, another for SEC's (126 coupes), another for 124 coupes and cab's.. Good Luck...

PS: here is a candidate, a low mile 400E, I would consider with a price adjustment to replace the evaporator, and maybe wire harnesses.

https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/6002900126.html

What your looking for is a car like this, where the owners says "All harnesses have been replaced, and everything works". The slow A/C leak is most likely the evap, been there done that on the 94 E420, and glad I did.

S70Houston

Thanks very much.


While you are thinning the herd, you should just sent 300CE or E420 my way.

ackvig

In the hunt myself for a W124, focusing on E320, (I want some semblance of gas mileage). However, I too like to hear more about the difference between the feel in the 6 vs. 8 cyl that you describe, Ohollenbeck, if you would please.

Awesome fleet, by the way. I've only ever owned two at a time. Hunting for fifth.

Dragos Berghia

Hey man, I see you got some great comments/replies already re: the W124's. I'm still learning about them and I still think it's one of the best cars ever built.

I have to part with mine (moving and can't take it with me), let me know if this could be smth you'd be interested in.

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ws...051229494.html

Cheers!

DB.

S70Houston

Interesting.
I already e-mailed you through craigslist as I saw your vehicle.


Thanks.

matt72

The 93 320e is the later m104 engine in a pre facelift body, may differ in the u.s. you might not have this model there.
It replaced the 300-24 with the earlier m104 motor. Pre 92 cars dont have the wiring harness problem. Good luck with the search

RA6523

i thought they were rebadged for the 93-95 final years of this series.
many of you have driven both the 6 and v8 versions. i've found the 300/320 lighter feeling, almost springy, while the 400/420 are front end heavier.

i like them both and imagine there are plusses and minuses, or at least personal preferences in models.

i enjoy the 420 out on the highway and have driven mine up and down the west coast many times, in all seasons. driving around town is less fun and kind of boring, but out on the highway, its a delight.