dee7

Hi Guys & Gals!

I am new to the forum and I need to tips about the 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL. Is the car a dependable luxury car? Is is good for a daily driver? What is the top end speed for performance? Is it easy to change your oil in this car?

Your advice will be greatly appreciated!

Dee7

AKRY

I would definitely avoid any early W140 S-Class as they are most "bugged" of the bunch. It's a very comfortable cruiser, and shouldn't be a problem as a daily driver(mine is), but when things do fail, they are not going to be cheap to fix. And expect quite a few problems on early ones. Try a forum search, and there should be a few pop up...

It really depends on your budget, as well as the service history/overall condition of the car you are interested in. IF you are able to squeeze a little bit more, I would suggest you go for at least 1996(though 1997 - 1999 are much more desirable, but alot more as well).... A 1997 S420 in mint condition should cost about the same as a brand new Honda Accord V6... And for price of an Acura TL, you can have a 1998 S500 or 1999 S420.....

herr_kaufmann

Or is it all those "comfort" accessories that tend to pack up? For instance the door closers and so forth? I would've thought that considering how solidly built these cars are made the reliability would be excellent. Although I am aware that the wiring harness was a clear quality oversight.

Peter Guenther

The comforts are great, The AC fails(complete dash removal), the Bose audio amp goes, the closing assist pump has cronic failures, suspension bushings go bad (leak), plus all the normal maintenance.
The engine has a shield under it, filter is a little hard to get to, oil changes are the least of your problems!

AKRY

MB tried to pack every-known technology into W140, and early ones are more like "test-beds" for those new goodies. Like mentioned above, regular services is the LEAST concern when you purchase an early build W140.

On S500, the rear self-leveling shocks could leak and those are 500 - 700 a pair, and are usually due for replacement at 100K - 130K.

A/C Evap Core is known common as well but are less of a problem for garaged W140.

Of course, the door close assist pumps on early ones go out quite often, too. New Replacement costs about 1K, give or take 200 @ MB Dealers....

Dash cluster would short itself out on early W140 with roller-style odometer. Again, it's more of a design flaw than quality problem.

Structure wise, W140 is hard to beat. Even after 10+ years, they still feel solid as a rock.

Also, due to enomous weight, W140 takes alot of beating on tires, rims, and suspensions, as well as tranny and drive train... Especially on low-mileage examples. They are prompt to all sort of vibrations(flat-spots on tires, bended/out-of-shape rims, draive-train vibration, shimmy feel steering...etc).

Do a thorough inspection @ an reputable mechanic shop will save you $$$ down the road...