MBAMBZ

I'm new to the board and MB's. I'm looking at 300E's. I've been told that the automatic tranny of the 300E's was the weak link. Is this true? I'm currently looking at 2 different 300E's, one has 170k and has recently had AC repair, brakes, and other PM stuff. The sunroof and CC don't work. It has Sony deck and CD changer and tires are 80% good. It's an '88.

The other is a '91 with 104k and the guy said "I do all my own oil changes" so the maintenance documentation is not stellar to say the least. I'm a bit of a DIY type of guy so I understand, I'll probably do my own oil changes too. It's got the original MB cd changer. The guy with the 91 is asking $1500 more but the tires are probably 40-50% left. What's important here to make a decision?

Thanks guys.

pkmaven

The 124 series Mercedes has been a huge success for mercedes-Benz. The transmission has never been the weak link. MB advises changing the transmission fluid and filter anually. If these instructions are folllowed there is seldom a problem. Whenever considering a 124 model purchase, always buy condition of vehicle over anything else. Whatever year/model you buy will be greatly improved by you over time. Newer 300e's have a newer designed engine with more power. The true weak areas of the 124 series have always been the climate control unit and the Becker Grand Prix cassette radio. In this day and age, one might consider trashing the old technology in favor of a CD head unit that controls a changer. CD's have been here since Billy Joel's first in 1979! Tape is finally going away! You can buy a rebuilt like new climate control from George Murphy @865-482-9175 for $159.95! It takes five minutes to replace the unit in your dash using a phillips screwdriver. P.

Jackd

1988 vs 1991, less mileage, $1,500. more.. I'd say go for the 1991.
The transmission is not a weak link. if services properly, it will give you no problem.
The weak links are:
Head gasket: Check for oil /coolant leak on the rear/right side of the engine.
Valve seals/guide: Abnormally high oil consumption is the normal symptoms.
outside these fairly minor problems, these engines are bullet proff and will last a very long time.
I,ve seen a 1990 (taxi) with 676,000K (420,000mi) on it with nothing more than a valve job done on the engine.
Good luck
JackD

allenjdmb

early radiators--late wiring harnesses--all years, AC evaporators--water pumps, especially M 104...and some misc other things that don't fail as regualarly (late wiper motors, M 104 fault code problems, HVAC panels, etc.). I think 170k is quite good tranny life for these cars, and I also have seen them do well over 200k. Does depend on the maintenance. I agree, condition--and history--uber alles. Just my .02, allen.

suginami

I concur - transmissions are not problems on any of the W124's - 86-95.

Weak links would be:

1. head gaskets and valve guides and seals on all M103 engines (86-92) and M104 engines (93-95). Coupes got a 3.0 liter version of the M104 engine in 91? or 92?, and wagons got a 3.0 liter version of the M104 engine in 1993.

2. engine wiring harnesses on all 93-95 300E / E320's. (1993 is inexplicably called a 300E, even though it has the 3.2 liter M104 engine.

3. A/C on all W124's. the whole system, but in particular monovalve's and evaporators.

I believe these are really the only achille heel's of note for the 300E / E320's. The rest are items that will eventually wear out on any car.

The chasis never wear out and will feel new at even 500,000 miles.

MBAMBZ

Well the '91 had a scary record attached to the VIN# so I passed on that and the '88 was owned by a chowderhead with scary few maintenance records so I passed on that one. I'm now looking at an '87 with 156K miles, wonderful dealer maintenance records and even the original manuals, etc. Been driven by a middle-aged couple. The electrical part of the headrests don't work, the cruise doesn't work and the left rear window doesn't work. It's got fewer "significant" problems than everything that I've looked at. I don't care about cruise, the headrests and the windows I think I have a decent ability to fix on my own. It's the first older 300E that I've seen where the headlight wipers work when you wash the window. It's champagne ext/palomino int (not my favorite colors but everything looks to be in very good condition and it's all original...unfortunately even the Becker cassette deck but that's not a huge deal). What do you guys think???

suginami

156k miles isn't bad considering the year.

Maintenance records are everything when buying a used car, so I would feel comfortable buying this car.

The items that are broken are minor. The left rear window is probably just the switch in the door.

The headrests and the cruise control you may fix later on or tackle by yourself.

The search function always works good when researching problems.

There's another website forum where there is a ton of helpful tech information available - www.mercedeshop.com. If you can't get help there, it doesn't exist.

How much are they asking for the car?