Nickelmania-Dal

After reading a lot about the history of the E class.It seems that a lot of people believe that the 124 E was the last super high quality E class built.Do you guys believe the 07 E is built as good as a 91 E class?

I bought a 07 E Saks a few monthes ago and wondered about the complaints of the previous years. I thought Wow! This car is fantastic! This is the first MB I have ever owned and dont really have any previous MB experience.

The only real time spent with an E was back in 91. A friend of mine bought a 91 E and I remember the interior quality being extremely well built. It felt thick and strong. My 07 interior feels good but not as good as my friends 91 E. Any thoughts on 91E versus 07E ?

Jim-Nickel Mania

eddietr

Of all the Mercedes I've driven or ridden in, I really like the early 90s cars. That's true for the 190, E-class and S-class (late 126 cars especially).

They seem to be of the highest quality and no gimmicks.

Nickelmania-Dal

I forgot about the 190. I was listening to Ed Wallace the other day (car show radio guy in Dallas) He said that the 190 was the best little MB brought to America. Much better built than todays C class
Jim -Nickel

BudC

I have both a '91 300E and a 2004 E320. There is no question that the 300E has much higher quality. There wasn't much difference in the MSRP so you have to think that a lot of cost savings have gone into the W211 to keep the price as close as it was.

The only time the 300E was at a dealership in the first 12 years was to have the transmission serviced. I finally had to have the head gasket replaced at the 12 year mark and at 14 years I took it to Phoenix Motors and told them to go over it from bumper to bumper. They replaced some things like the injectors and oxygen sensor and it's been running great ever since.

1992 was the last year that the engineers ran the company. They defined the car, then a price was put on it and sales was told to go sell it. Lexus changed all that.

I had planned to sell the 300E when I bought the E320 but I simply can't give up my teal beauty. It runs beautifully and the only time I drive the E320 is on vacation.

ruykava

actually i wont put it as early as 1992 - the w140 S-class was the most awesome piece of automotive engineering (and build and material quality) i have seen so far. that one went on to 1991.

that's exactly how they felt like in those days.

the early mercs were certainly solid but they had almost no bells and whistles (except the W140) - you'd be surprised how sparse the interior was. no modern car could sell with a feature set like that! money had to come from somewhere to add all the electronics and yet still have good quality material and good design. so something had to give.

having sat in the W221 though, i think they've finally managed to get both excellent build quality and electronic wizardry into one package. not QUITE as solid as the old days, but impressive nonetheless.

lkchris

Those are mostly guys with no W210 or W211 experience.

There is NOTHING about a W124 that's better than a W210 or W211.

bm75204

I disagree, and agree with the above posts. The build quality and materials of my '93 400E were FAR superior to my '06 E350.

Nickelmania-Dal

Although I just bought an 07 E Saks, I now have a strong desire to buy one of those old, high quality, MB tanks for fun. Maybe a 1983 300D (123) Those 300D remind me of an ugly old Checker Car except they are much better quality than a Checker. Several years ago I wouldnt have thought of buying an old 300D as I thought they were so very ugly! Now I like them. Strange how taste can change.

Jim-Nickel Mania

lig

One of my buds has converted his old 300D to biodiesel. 300K miles so far and counting.

My co-worker has a 300D wagon with 280K on the clock. Having kids really took it's toll on the wagon.

Both of them are bank vault solid cars.

Build quality wise IMO W124 > W211

If I had the garage space I'd love to have to old AMG Hammer 500E (the one built by Porsche) That was a very cool car.

bm75204

Absolutely. I wanted a 500E in a bad way when I bought my 400E but couldn't afford it at the time. I looked at getting one last year but decided I didn't want to maintain a 13-year-old car. I saw one a couple of weeks ago (a rare solid black '94 E500) and it was stunning.

lig

^^^ I hear you! One of the techs at my local dealer has a lightly modded one - it's beautiful. He was selling it to get an E55. I just don't have anywhere to put it (and like you - am kind of gunshy about maintaining it)

Barry45RPM

Dont forget, to make cars meet higher fuel economy targets, lighter weight materials were developed and used in later cars. There was no reason top make cars lightweight back then. In our minds lightweight=cheap, when in fact it usually costs more to use the lightweight materials & still have rigidity and that "biult like a tank" feel.

lig

IIRC - the 500E weighed just about 3900 pounds. It looks a lot smaller than todays E class.

Nickelmania-Dal

Did your 2006 E350 AMG sport package come with exhaut tips?

Nickel

bm75204

It did. The package was the E55-style body kit, dual exhaust w/chrome tips, add'l suspension changes, and the 18" AMG wheels. I think my exhaust tips are identical to those now offered on the 2007 E-Class with the Sport Package.

ZedStyle

holla back in 20 years.

Nickelmania-Dal

I have the 07 350 E Saks. Also has AMG kit. The exhaust tips have AMG on them. Before 07 I have not seen dual tips except on an E55 If you ever get a chance, please post a pic. I would like to see a non E55 AMG E350 class (factory original) with dual tips before 07. It would be interesting to see.

Nickel

lkchris

Given that W124s TODAY are only worth $3K and most need 2 or 3 $2k fixes, don't expect to see many still around in 20 years.

ZedStyle

no shiz. in 20 years w124's will be 40 years old. i'm asking you to see how well the w211 is functioning 20 years from now as compared to a 20 year old w124 today.
come to the w124 section and ask how many people have cars over 15 years old and/or over 200,000 miles, and still running like tops. mine has absolutley nothing wrong with it touch-wood, every single thing on the car works like the day it was made. it has zero rattles and squeaks, and nothing has malfunctioned on it. that's the rule with these cars, not the exception. people in this very thread who have owned both attest to the w124's superior build quality.

hit me up when a w211 can do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bIV_hHPAFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRKhKKdXIl4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn19Qj5jtf4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTedyrdAzV0

Germancar1

There is no question that the late 80's and early 90's Mercedes were built better from a sheetmetal and interior quality point of view, but like others have said something had to give. The W124, W126, R129 and W140 were from an era in which all the gadgets could be left off and you had a real basic car built like a bank vault. I don't think the W211 is built to same block-chock standard, but it is a much better car in every other imaginable way. The new S and CL are the high points of Mercedes' return to stellar build quality. Of course they can't use the thickest metal anymore because if you combine that with all the electronics in play you'd wind up with a Maybach 57. Which reminds me, if you want to see W140 build quality check out any Maybach, they're based on that chassis and have that chock-block quality. The new S and CL are built as close to that old standard as possible, but they're no doubt much better cars all around than the W126, W140 or W220 could have ever been. The W124 E500 is still my favorite Mercedes of all time followed by the R129 SL, but the current E and SL are not shabby cars by any standard, especially after their facelifts.

Mercedes is returning to solid quality, the new SLK proved this in its build as did the CLS, but the S and CL shout it. Nothing is built like those old Benzes except maybe the Maybach and the VW Phaeton. Heavy tank-like cars that feel and drive heavy like that.

M

Stoneseller

Great vids Zed

bm75204

Here are some pics for you. It was a rare package that was only offered for a few months in the Fall of 2005 on 2006 E350s & E500s. There are a ton of E-Classes in Dallas and I've only spotted about half a dozen with this package. Factory option code was 321, and I think the price was $4995. My dealer had almost 250 E-Classes in stock and only had 2 with the 321 package, and it had already been discontinued in December 2005 when I tried to order one in black with the package...so I took the silver car instead. It wasn't cheap, but I got $7000 off MSRP shortly after the bigger 350 engine was introduced, so I was ok with it. The body changes are the same as your Saks car other than the 2007 revisions (taillights, more pointy front bumper, different fog lights, etc.) and the wheels (I like mine but I like yours better!).

Nickelmania-Dal

Thank you for the pics. Your E looks great! Looks close to an E55 Your right it is rare. I also live in Plano/Dallas. I dont think I have ever seen one like yours. It makes your E look classy. You say you like my wheels better? I cant tell much difference,if any at all, between your wheels and mine.Did MB offer your wheels on any other E other than the AMG package?

Nickel Mania

bm75204

Thanks for the compliments. I really like the Saks wheels, which are similar to those on the CLS55/CLS63. I am happy with my wheels, though. They're the thin-spoke 18" AMGs, and I think the other most recent Mercedes they were offered on was the CLK500 (which had 17s of the same design).

Since you're in Dallas, a word of advice...do NOT get your car serviced at Park Place. They tried to charge me nearly $400 for the first service, and with a coupon from Ewing's website, I had it done there for $190. I've been in Dallas for 5 years and have only purchased BMWs here, and was referred by a friend to a salesperson at Ewing when looking at Mercedes, but unfortunately they didn't have any E350s with the 321 package so I had to get my car at Park Place. They were even a pain to deal with on the purchase/lease side of things. I think their only redeeming quality is the free car washes.

Nickelmania-Dal

Dont get me started about Park Place. I was with in a half inch of signing a deal at Park Place when they changed the deal a few dollars in their favor. I walked out .Their salesperson said he had five deals going and couldnt keep the numbers straight.Not my fault. The salesman didnt give a damn if he lost my business. His attitude was like "good luck at Ewing" real smart *** attitude. I walked from Park Place and bought my new E from Larry at Ewing. He made the deal fair and Easy. I was in and out on a couple of hours.Park Place has a very nice store but I believe,like you, they are higher in price.

Nickel Mania