Chinny4290

Ask anyone who's a car nut and they'll tell you that the W124 is critically acclaimed to be the best modern mid-sized luxury sedan ever produced.

CharlestonN

My E320 Coupe is only the 2nd car i have owned (First was a 97 S10 Blazer)

But i have driven a LOT of other cars, some higher end and some mid/low end and can honestly say that while some of them were greater performers, more practical or just looked nice none of them did it all as well as the W124's do IMO, the W124s seem to have more 'soul' than most other cars on the road and they still hold up well visually to most contemporary cars

Before my paint started to fade and my wheels got chipped up i would get compliments on my car almost daily "my favorite benz body style" "nice car, really nice car" "absolutely beautiful" and even now with it's age starting to show she get compliments here and there


I was recently walking to my car which was parked at the meter and had all of the windows down and i get in and close my door and the guy working in Cartier (the store i happen to park in front of) comes out and asks me "does that thing really have 230K miles on it?" i replied yes and he said "I hope you don't mind but i had to take a picture, it looks spectacular" and this was in Beverly Hills where bentleys and maseratis are a dime a dozen so that is a testament in itself as to the staying power of the W124 as far as i am concerned

So you will get another YES from me in answer to your question

RHW

Best is subjective and can always be argued, but it is purely amazing how many of these cars are in normal daily use, by choice, 20+ years after they were put on the road.

CharlestonN

You own 3 variants the best cars ever made, nice collection

I want to get a 320 cabriolet and a 500 to complete my 124 collection

neanderthal

I'm the moron who just up and drives my car to wherever i'm going; Denver, San Francisco, Dallas, etc.

And without a doubt there are very few older cars on the road on the interstates. And by that I mean far from any metro areas. Most cars will be the typical fare you find at rental counters and late model midsize types. If you do see older cars, invariably they are Mercedes, and most likely, they are W124s.


This has been my observation.

kafklatsch

I currently have close personal relationships with my s55 amg, my S90 (volvo), my 300e 90', my E420 94', and a loaded Cirrus.

The 300E is dripping fluids from everywhere..... Yet it still rides rock solid. I have not found the time to fix it. But it has NEVER in 260,000 miles left me on the road.... even my 2 alternator failures allowed me to drive home. ohh....there was the flat tire.....

The Volvo........ well, put it like this, My wife and I test drove a new s60 volvo (for her)... and I'll be darn..... it drove just like the 98' S90..... a testament to the engineering of the s90.... as the s60 rode quite nice... (we did have the catastrophic timing belt break, but the car was in such good condition we repaired it - new engine). We still like and drive it reglularly

The Cirrus kinda does nothing good and nothing bad... just transportation. It is a B*%$tch t work on. It is hardly driven by me or my wife.

NOW..... as for my e420.... it is extremely satisfying to drive.... quiet, nimble, very comfortable and quick enough to easily do what I desire on the highway (you know.... to get to that empty spot the guy in the Turbo Neon thinks he can block you out of).... and the one thing that I still find amazing is that it is absolutely quiet inside... at any speed and even while excelerating.... thats after 15 years...amazingly, the quietness rivals the S55 ... but "the beast" S55 is another "thrill a minute" story best left to another thread and place.

I frequently think to myself, how can a car this old look so nice and be so nice to drive. my wife and I have conversations at 90 mph without raising our voices at all. Luckily, she's fun to talk to still... I love my w124s.

Pavka007

I agree 100% with kafklatsch above.
I just returned from a 1100 miles trip on my "new" 1994/E420.
I have to repeat everything from above about the speed, the comfort, the quite cabin, the sporty acceleration when you need it.... and just to add the MPG... 27.32 for the trip with average speed of 80MPH on cruise control and this is from V8. The moral of the story for me: DON'T BUY anything else.
Recently I've watched a TV commercial for HONDA Accord V6. The Ad claimed that the Honda will deliver 28MPG on the open road. Good for them, very good.
Finally they have manage to deliver with V6 what Mercedes V8 have been doing for almost 20 years I used to have E320 (1995/W124) and my OPEN ROAD with a 6 was in average of 31MPG in town even better than Honda on the OPEN ROAD.....24/25. I am sure that everyone here with E320 will confirm that.
So...to answer the question.. I don't know if this is the best Mercedes ever, but what I do know that is MY best - period.
The simple fact that there are so many W124 on the road in fantastic condition with 150K + speaks volumes. My one is just a baby with only 78000 miles.
I rest my case

bluecoupe

What's a Cirrus?

picklesam

well i just bought a 1990 300E, i bought it as a daily driver so i can retire the 560sec for weekends, atm it's getting a gearbox rebuild, a new exhaust, the ignition barrel replaced, cruise control minor electrical faults fixed. Im spending more $$ on fixing it than i bought it for BUT im sure once it's fixed it'll give me many years of happy motoring. It'll end up costing me $13000 australian dollars all up but for that $$ i cant even buy a new japanese car.

Real1shepherd

I never thought that I'd 'settle' for a wagon. I bought the car new in '92 mostly as the family truckster and after a couple of yrs(of driving bliss, I might add), I lost the car in a divorce. Just over a yr ago, the ex couldn't afford to keep it anymore.....so she sells it back to me. The car sat for over a year in a carport....rotten, varnished gas, low air in tires, dead battery...leaves & vermin under the hood, you name it.

Now with 230K, most of the time I'm angry about how far I want to go with the car in repair...even before I turbo it. Slowly it's coming back online....had a ps2cho idle issue-gone now. Still, what lines, what grace, what pace(to borrow Jaguar's terms). You know you have a classic car when at almost any angle, the car's lines still excite. The real litmus test on a car's lines is from overhead...looking down on your car from a distance. If at that vantage point it still excites, you have a winner. The paint job is phenomenal, given what the car has been through. The MB Tex interior looks like the day it was new. I came down from Lake Tahoe to Carson City doing over 80mph in the worst of the turns(dry pavement)...even had the 4matic light come on a few times. Aren't any other wagons I'd have the confidence to do that in.

Just ordered $700+ worth of repair parts and I'm taking a week off to work on this car...that's friggin' I can think of at least a dozen things I'd rather do while off...but still, she needs this. Long live the W124 and long live the 4matic wagon!

TomRobert

Hi Guys,
I am new here, but I have been driving MB for a long time.
My W124 is almost in showroom condition. It's my weekend car. The mileage is very low, just over 55000 and I love every single mile

I am glad to see so many of you love the W124.

Be safe on the road and keep the legend alive.

TomRobert

Few pictures of my W124

pwogaman

I recently bought my 5th Benz, the 300TE 4matic. I thought nothing could beat the 300SD for drive comfort, but this W124 is giving it a real run for it. It is nice and tight and cruises incredibly well. I recently gave my brother a ride in it and he was absolutely astounded that it has 225K miles on the clock. He thought it was a replacement speedometer cluster. What I truly love about these cars is that anything that can wear out can be renewed putting the car back to that brand new feel. I really like to think it is as a nice set of Lego's that can easily be fixed, upgraded, or otherwise modified with pieces from another Lego kit.

suitcaseau

Definitely. When I bought my 95 E280 I also tested some later models but I knew before I stated the engine that it was the 124 for me. Just closing the doors and looking at the interior showed up the drop in build quality. And my independent repairer and his chief mechanic both drive 124s, and this is a bloke who restored a gullwing to concours standard.

OJ's DNA

Alright, here goes. To qualify myself I've owned a W123, W126, 3 W201's, a W124 wagon and now a W124 (95 E300D) and can honestly say that the W124 sedan is a tremendously balanced and solid car. I always have the same thought when I walk up to drive it - from the outside it doesn't look like anything real special, but when I'm driving her I feel like a million dollars.

I believe its a combination of interior quality and craftsmenship (wood trim, black leather dash, grey MB tex) and ride quality / feel. I bought my diesel with 118K on her and recently got it back from my father-in-law with 228K!!! And he didn't do much to her at all. The first thing I noticed when I got in her to drive home was "Wow, she still feels great! The most comfortable ride bar none". Now, to be fair the suspension is all OE from 95 and is now getting a little floaty, but amazingly smooth still. That's what the W124 gives you that other cars can't match, and overall smooth, sensational feeling while behind the wheel, and not to big but not to small either.

appatula

I love my W124, but I call COMPLETE BS on 27mpg from a V8 4.2L.........maybe 25mpg. Has anyone else achieved this? My M103 barely exceeds 20mpg, but that could be attested to my driving habits...

pwogaman

Mileage is largely a result of the rear end ratio. My 300TE 4matic has a 3.29 so the mileage kind of sucks. The 400E and 500E have the much lower ranges and will actually do better on the open road.

Saijin_Naib

I got about 29mpg on the first half of my trip from Rochester, NY to New Jersey. About 22 on the second half due to traffic and then hilly back roads.

ZorroAMG

I got over 700km to a tank on my M103 when I moved from Calgary to Vancouver.

neanderthal

I just had a 460 mile tank. Didn't fill her up completely, but assuming it was 18 gallons then we are looking at 25.5 miles per gallon for mixed driving.

I also realised that when the fuel is extremely low the car goes into like a limp home mode. I had no power, but the car was idling and I managed to limp to a gas station. 2nd time its happened, this time with the E320. Happened with the 300E 2.6 as well.

JSe420

I call BS too. I drive about 40 miles to work everyday and its all on the highway. I get 23 mpg on my 4.2

epowers777

I own a 86 300e and a 90 300te 4matic and LOVE them. Im a mechanic and do all my own work. The chassy of the car is well made and is coated with something like ryno lining. Engine is rock hard (just type in pumpish on u tube 650hp stock engine) Fuel system not great though but love the car!

suitcaseau

The 124 can be a little thirsty. Around town I get about 450 kilometers to a tank. But on a run about 600 to 650 kilometers to a tank which is slightly better than my 230E (123) which on a run from Melbourne to Adelaide invariably got 600 k exactly to the tank (60 Litres). Sorry about the continental measures!

Joe

cradlemountain

W124s are great, though the early 4MATIC system was a poor design and not up to MB standards, in my opinion. My '91 300E has 162,000 miles and seems capable of going to 300,000 miles or more; however, because of problems with the 4MATIC system it looks as though the car will need to be retired very soon, very possibly as a 'cash for clunkers' car.

The build quality of my 300E compares favorably with my previous MB, an '87 W126 420SEL, which went almost to 300,000 miles before $4.00/gal gasoline and less than 15mpg caused its demise.

ZorroAMG

LOL why you sorry, it's only the US that uses imperial....