ksing44

Well today I saw that my burl walnut center console has a crack from one window switch to the other. It wasn’t there a day ago. I suspect the console may be the casualty of the wild temperature fluctuations we experienced the last week or two. Last week we were as low as the teens and this week we are in the 50s. Even though I park in my garage at night, the changes in temperature get to my car when I am in the parking lot at work. In addition, just a few days ago the latching last section of the burl walnut folding door came loose from the rest of the door on my center compartment. I think I will be able to fix the folding door thing myself, but the crack will require a professional refinishing to get it right. I’m pretty sure that will be just one more thing that won’t get fixed before I unload my deteriorating E320. As I have already noted on many occasions, things really do start to accumulate on these cars after they are around for more than 10 years and they go past 100K miles. The cooler climate may have helped me get more miles with my old wiring harness and maybe even with the head gasket, but I guess it is costing me in other ways. Looking on the bright side, now I have a cracked center console that matches the cracked leather seats and the cracked deteriorating steering wheel. Alas, if only I had MBTex, I might be in a little better shape. Just think, it cost extra to get the leather and the burl.

I am sure these things happen in other cars too, so I really should not be surprised. It just always makes me feel a little stupid when I think that at one time I really did believe the “bulletproof” thing about these cars. For me so far the things that have not seemed bulletproof are head gasket, front timing cover gasket, wiring harness, AC compressor, AC receiver drier, AC expansion valve, kickdown actuator, transmission seals, transmission in general, full exhaust, water pump, oxygen sensor, leather seats, burl walnut console, leather steering wheel, glue on vinyl door pockets, sender unit on coolant expansion tank, radio antennae, clearcoat on exterior paint, and analogue cell phone no longer supported with no updated replacement available from Mercedes. I guess the joke is on me.

Is this funny to you guys? For me it is getting almost ridiculously funny.

shdoug

The effect of climate on these cars may be a large factor in how long they last.

You have always had yours in a garage?

My father-in-law had a '92 300E that at 10 years old had 64,000 miles and inside and out was like the day it rolled out of the showroom. It was a Nebraska car, always garaged and driven by my mother-in-law who did not work.

At 12 years old with 162,000 miles mine was getting brittle with some slight wear on the driver's seat and slight cracking on the center console. Things were a bit crispy in general. There were some interior creaks and rattles. It was from Arizona/Dallas most of its life, spending about 3 years in Nebraska.

Some of those things you mentioned are not common problems from what I've read. When you look at these cars on Ebay some look really, really nice. Others not so much. I would think a Nebraska car would have a shorter lifespan than one from Arizona or Texas.

My Aunt and Uncle in California had a 1999 (I think) C230 Kompressor. They now have a new Camry and swear it is built much better. I can't say because I have not seen either car. I'd rather have the C230 for obvious reasons.

Chappy

MB haterz unite lol....

ksing44

I don't know if I would go all the way to hater, just not a blind lemming worshiper. My car was darn good for 10 years and I have enjoyed the ride.

ZorroAMG

Awww, come on...NOT AGAIN buddy.

shdoug

What does a small rodent have to do with your car? Not being facetious, I just don't get it.

Saijin_Naib

Lemmings run off cliffs because the follow blindly the pack. He is infering that we here (enthusiasts) are lemmings because we enjoy these cars.

Bigpete123

ha ha I knew this thread was gonna degenerate to this as soon as I saw who the author was!

shdoug

Thanks! I didn't run across that interesting fact in my brief lemming research but it makes sense now. Somehow I feel more intelligent understanding that analogy.

Saijin_Naib

They are so damned cute though! I really dont know WHY they tend to do that, but they do apparently. I would think the fitness value of that behavior would be really negative, but they have existed for milenia soooo... I guess they arent all bad

I guess, much like us and our benz... Hmm, maybe ksing was onto something?

shdoug

Thinking about it for a minute...why does the first lemming run off the cliff? He's not following another lemming.

Federic0W124

a labor of love my friend...
albeit a rather expensive one at times.
my 500e is currently at my job with it's transmission out.
it hurts but i know it's the price we pay for the cars we drive.

Saijin_Naib

Maybe he is slightly psychotic and thinks he sees another, long lost lemming friend, and thus follows intently yelling "hey, wait! Where are you going? Come back!"

shdoug

Must be God's way of thinning the lemming population.

Diesel

Ken, I think we can all appreciate your frustrations with your car. My guess is that you will be happy if you get the 3 series you have talked about. They are excellent cars.

As for the W124, still the best MB in my opinion. My 87 300 D has 340, 000 KM. In the last 20 years we have been very lucky with its reliability, with regular servicing. Speaking of extreme weather, it has been -40ish Celcius here in Alberta for the past week, thankfully my car has started everytime (with the block heater plugged in of course) when it was parked outside. I have to agree, it is an expensive labor of love. I would just get the Bimmer. I would suggest not getting rid of the Benz though. I would just park it, after a few months, you may feel that it was a better car than you realized....

Good luck

shdoug

Why not an older 7 series? I love the ones from the '90s. They handle well and they are fairly reliable as long as you avoid the '95 with the Nikasil block. The 3 series cars from the same era seem to be all torn up for some reason.

Saijin_Naib

3-series (older) are typicaly owned by highschool/college males, and thats why they are torn up. Hell, if I had a 3coupe I'd beat the crap out of it driving it around like a boy-racer. The 300ce is too damned slow and floppy for that, so it gets coddled. Its a dream on the highway though.

ZorroAMG

He got a lemon, not all of us did. Life goes on, W124 > e46,90,92

Geh

Your Right about that Reliability was patchy from new, and while some models did hundreds of thousands of kilometres without repair, others kept their owners poor.

Reliability was something of a lottery and most examples these days are old and worn enough to need serious repairs soon, i mean come on the first W124 Came out over 20 Years ago

Though i would personally Never touch a w124 that was built from 92 and onwards, towards the end of the w124 era Mercedes starting making mistakes, for instance, the W124 didn't have 1 recall until the 1992 Models and later

Just Remember Nothing Lasts for ever

Chappy

shdoug

You know, buying a lemon is nothing to sneeze at. Most people who own lemons are far more upset about it than Ksing44. If you think he has a lemon, a little sympathy is in order because that's a tragedy.

Chappy

I'm willing to extend the olive branch, so-to-speak. I'm arriving in Omaha this Sunday - touchdown at about 10:30am - what about lunch/brunch before I hit the road to Des Moines?

ShanMan

Excellent observation!

FWIW: I happen to own largely the same car as Ksing44 except for the drive train. My car is just about to roll over 160K miles, and in many ways sounds to be in better condition than his. Perhaps the service provided to these cars in the first 60-80K miles makes all the difference...particularly with the I-6 cars?

I do have a few small small cracks in the clear of my wood console...and few creaks coming from the seats themselves. The headrest in the passenger seat has quit working...could be the internals of the seat...could be the doorswitch...I don't really care. Everything else works as it should...even with the original wiring harness, which is petrified, but still works perfectly....for now. I consider myself lucky of course, but at the end of the day, it is the superb quality of the ride and the uber-smooth power from the M119 that keeps me grinning. I love my car! I will love my car when i have to shell out the bux to fix the harness and other stuff that will enevitably fail do to age and "experience".

Remember that the guy who bought a brand new '69 Chevy Camaro Z28 or a '65 Ford Mustang hi-po probably thought that the car was a pile-o-crap by the time the car was 12-15 years old. Bet he wishes to this day he hadn't sold it though huh? Special cars are like a fine wine......they take a while to become considered "classic". I think the right W124 is just such a car...created in an era where most cars were truly built to be disposable and largely forgettable. In another 10 years, a clean W124 will turn heads from those that appreciate cool cars IMO. Honestly, my car does that right now...although it really hides it's age well being the last year of the car-type with all the facelifted features. The color of the car with the dark wheels sets it apart as well, and draws the most comments.

I am no Lemming...I know what my car is vs. what is was when new. I will be keeping it, even if I replace it with something newer as my DD. But that is just my take on it.

RBYCC

Because he can !!!

ZedStyle

most people who buy a lemon also don't drive it for 13+ years and over 100k miles before they decide to sell it.

but no, maybe he's right.
there is no car in the world that would have any of those things go wrong with it after being a daily driver for over a decade, especially living in a part of
the country with weather that gets bad enough to crack his dash.
as for your seats and steering wheel, how often did you treat them with leather care products? they're exposed to the sun, heat, cold, UV, and you've gotten in and out of your car over 20,000 times since you bought it, but the leather should have been able to hold up like new, you're right.
and the kicker is how dare mercedes not realize that cellphone technology would change, and that they should do something about your analog cellphone! i mean now that i think about it, they should have foreseen the fall of the tape and rise of the CD, and upgraded our stereos for us too! good call brah, i'm about to e-mail some customer service reps. or maybe i'll morse code them, they may not have foreseen that in the future there would be phones or-email..?
this car is so far from 'bullet-proof', it should be no problem to put a slug
through the engine block and call it a day, and spare us this misery.

you're so masochistic with this car, i'm surprised you don't drive around
wearing a leather gimp mask with a rubber ball strapped in your mouth.

SELL IT ALREADY!