outsider

I bought a 1994 e320 wagon with 245000 miles on it . It seemed to be in good shape and runs and drives great but it uses a quart of oil in 500 miles . what should I tell my mechanic to check to determine if it is worn rings or worn valve stem guides and seals . Also , how much should it cost to have the vale stem guides and seals replaced . I am afraid if it is rings I may have wasted the 3 grand I paid for the car because a rebuild will probably be more than I can afford . My wife wanted this car so we jumped pretty quick on the purchase and now are wondering if we made a big mistake . We are not wealthy by any means and approaching retirement age . I had hoped this car would last for the long haul . Was I dreaming?

bimmerc90

It has 245,000 miles. What exactly were you expecting? These cars are rock solid but they do wear and tear like any other car. Prepare to spend A LOT of money on that thing. If you can do that you can get yourself a remarkably good car. If you cannot you have made a financial mistake.

Floobydust

You need to find out where the oil is going and with 245K on the clock, anything is possible.

The most common place to lose it is a leaking head gasket. Everyone on this forum has or will have to deal with a head gasket leak. The only question is when. Check for oil under the car after parking for a while.

A quart in 500 miles should produce some visible smoke out the tail pipe. You can try the following: Have someone follow you. If the car smokes when you let off the gas and decelerate, it's the valve seals/guides. If it smokes when you step on it, it's the rings. A compression test by your mechanic (with and w/o oil in the cylinders) will be very revealing as well.

If it's a leak and/or the valves seals/guides, you will able to kill two stones with one bird. If it's the rings and/or low compression, a good, low mileage used engine might be a viable option. I would really only consider either if the car is in otherwise very good condition (especially the engine wiring harness).

A wise man once said that that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes.

outsider

Thanks guys . I still think it is a great motor car and will attempt restoration . I guess that stuff I read about the "million mile car" is pretty much hype though.

watut

Do you expect a machine to go that long without any maintenance or work?

outsider

No , I do not . But if that maintenance involves replacing engines and transmissions and rebuilding all the components of the car periodically then i guess any vehicle could be called a million mile car . With that said , I will say again that this w124 wagon is a solid ,well built motor car that I do not ,as of yet ,regret purchasing . At least it does not have a head liner that falls down after 5 years . The wiring harness has been replaced and it does seem to have been reasonably well maintained through its life so far . I also just found out from my wife who told me that the oil was topped up before our 500 mile holiday trip and found to be a quart low after , was actually about a half quart low at the beginning instead of topped up so that would put consumption at 1000 miles /quart . Given the mileage and type of this engine , I don't feel so bad about that . I thank you all for helping me with information to keep this great car going now and in the future . I can take some "attitude " along with the help without blowing my top because I am an adult and hopefully my experiences will be of benefit to others as time goes on . I plan to get a repair manual and do what I can to maintain this beautiful machine .Peace.

Shoomakan

I'm 24 and knew when getting my 150,000 mile car I'd need to invest alot of money into it...

Peace be unto you, too.

Floobydust

In every large population there is always a distribution for MTBF. Most units will failures will cluster around some value near the middle, while some will fail earlier and some will be the million-milers, or "six-sigma" units. In cars, the million-milers tend to be the ones that were carefully driven and meticulously maintained and the ones where all the engineering tolerances were spot on at the beginning. While many W124's may have met the latter criteria, unfortunately, very few meet the former due to the maintenance costs versus value over time proposition. I would say the MTBF on the W124 given typically care is probably about 200K (comments welcome), so given all this, 245K on the clock and still running reasonably well isn't doing too badly.

- FD

Quicksilver500

I don't think that's accurate. You can get service bearings, pistons, rings, etc. You should never need to replace the engine unless you just never change the oil. The bottom end should "never" wear out. Try to get engine rebuild parts for a new engine, they will laugh you out of the parts department. Everything now is replace not rebuild. An experienced tech can do a head gasket in less than a day, trans rebuild in the same time. What makes it a million mile is that the hard parts don't wear out, block, head, cams, crank, etc with proper maintenance. The trans and engine in my 500E have been meticulously maintained and the trans has 160k on original build which is crazy for a 500E. The engine dyno'ed 333HP corrected with nothing but K&N filters and a check engine light (wheel speed sensor). Find another car that can show the same performance with 160k on the clock from 1993. The idea is you design for wear on replaceable parts to save important parts - Valve guide inserts instead of having the head be the guide, etc. In fact both my cars have 160k on them now (E320 coupe and 500E) neither burns any noticeable oil over my 5k change interval. Its all in the maintenance!

Quicksilver500

Also MB's factory oil consumption limit is a litre every 1000km. Ridiculous, but that's what it is.

outsider

I appreciate your comments Quicksilver500 . You make some good points.

larryj

............fill the oil to "the top". It should not be filled beyond the half-way point on the dipstick. And, you should allow at least 3-4 minutes after engine shut-down before removing, wiping and inserting the dipstick......and leave it inserted for 15 - 20 seconds before withdrawal and reading the level. Trust me on this.