klobuznik

Gegards from Spain,.

I'm new here and want to ask for your oppinion as I'm a BMW Specialist but never had a close look at a Merc. I've the chance to buy following car here in Spain:

MB 300 CE-24 '90, (220HP) black, leather, Wheels, Automatic + Tempo, Elect+heated Seats, Elecr Roof, Electr Curtain, Alarm, Wood, Second Horn, Automatic Climate, 240.000km , and as u see in the pictures the condition is very good. The seller wants 4900eur for it.

What do you thing about that Engine (220HP) as I've read many things about and mostly negative.

Best regards from Spain and thank u for your Answers...

shadowgriffen

wow that is a VERY nice looking car.

Congratulations.

Esta pero super lindo ese coche.

Eliot

The CE weighs a fair bit but looking at the performance figure it will hit 100kmh in 7.8 seconds. The engine is quite reliable, Mercedes kept working at that straight six for decades and the end result is polished to say the least. The transmission should last another 120,000 to 160,000 km depending on how well its been treated. The engine will go well beyond that.

Set aside money for regular maintenance though. There are wear parts that will go out at a regular basis. Engine mounts, brake pads, bushings, struts.

RogerJones

I'm on my second W124 Coupé. I sold the first one only because I found another in the colours I would have chosen had I bought it new. They are great cars and I cannot imagine selling my present one.

The weaknesses are well known. The one that shows is when the rear screen delaminates and produces a milky fringe. That's an expensive repair (up to 1000 euro?), but there are some wise ones about who recommend living with it, as it's not that unsightly (and it is possible to conceal it). From my observations and direct experience, all the M103 and M104 engines are prone to head-gasket leakage at the rear of the block (LHS as you view from the front) and at the front via the timing-chain cover. Many tolerate these dribbles for many thousands of miles, as they rarely seem to get spectacular. A car with 240k km on it may well have had both done (and the rear screen would have weakened many km ago). I guess the one you're looking at pre-dates the era of failing wiring harnesses, so that shouldn't be a worry (it hit a wider range of cars than the W124 and affects years 1991 through 1996, I think).

I've seen people expressing a preference for the early 24-valve engine. Its main characteristic seems to be that it needs to be pushed to release the torque sitting high up the rev range (maxing at 4600, compared with 3750 for the later 3200 engine), which suits a pushy driving style.

Chappy

My 1991 300CE has covered 220,000 miles without major incident. The 3.0 M104 absolutely sings at the 7,000rpm redline!

klobuznik

Yes, but I imagine you're talking about the 12v (300 CE)....not the 24V (300 CE-24)...Right?

Chappy

Mine is the 3.0 24V M104

Here in the U.S., we received the following engines:

1988-1989: 3.0 M103 12V
1990-1992: 3.0 M104 24V
1993-1995: 3.2 M104 24V

Hope this helps.