Faults:

Nothing so far.

The only apparent weakness so far is that the warning light on the dash for a blown/faulty light stays on. Probably a bad bulb and something which has not bothered me enough yet to figure out.

The drivers seat is known to wear badly and 'slump' but have managed to find a comfortable position.

General Comments:

Great. I paid 4000euros (could have bought the saloon for cheaper) for the estate model as I thought it was most distinctive in that form.

The old style dashboard to me is what a high ceiling is to a Georgian house. Its just speak quality and charm. Everyone remarks on the tasteful use of wood.

Gets a lot of attention for something that I bought for cash. Its really a top end S class model in E class clothes.

Attention to detail like a visor over the centre and that by holding down the key fob all the windows close automatically.

Get the '94 model onwards as it is the face-lift model and features the door handles with an LED light that turns green when you open and red when you lock. No keyhole in drivers door is funny.

I drive it slowly as otherwise it would drink petrol too much, but the quietness of the car lends oneself to more relaxed driving style.

**Update 30.12.2006**

I have owned the car now nearly 1 year and nothing of consequence has gone wrong with it. The left electric window won't go down but what is needed is a new window mechanism. Common fault. Also the fan for the heater has stopped but i shall get these things fixed next month in my first real service.

The car can tend to burn oil (litre every 10K or so) but that is also common and is probably not helped with motorway driving and only 4 gears. (auto) Its a good way though of topping up on the oil without any messy oil changes.

On the whole the best car I have ever owned.

Faults:

Car has small coolant loss, haven't traced fault yet.

Driver's side seat bolster (cloth) is wearing out.

General Comments:

Great performance from a non-turbo engine, the car has a flat spot around 2000rpm, but once it's wound up the engine pulls really strongly. You're not going to be burning off any boy racers at the lights, but it will happily cruise at 80+ all day and acceleration at speed is impressive.

Very quiet for a diesel, even at speed.

The Auto box generally works well, but needs shifting manually to get decent acceleration at times, usually on hills etc. A 5th gear would have been nice for even better fuel economy, at 70-80mph you're pushing 3500 rpm.

Good to very good fuel economy, recently did a 400-mile trip with 4 adults and luggage cruising at 70-85mph on half a tank of fuel.

This is my second 124, I loved my previous 300E, but not it's fuel economy. The diesel makes more sense for the budget-minded.

Build quality on this '94 car is still excellent, but doesn't feel quite as solid as the '92 model I had. This car feels more like a solid workhorse rather than a luxury vehicle. The estate version is huge. Trim level is a bit tight for a car costing this much new-the outside temp gauge was even omitted on my model.

Insurance is still a surprising group 14 for a 11-year old tank-I guess the name still counts.