Wolf in sheep's clothing
Needed a new water pump at 82,000 miles. Quite an expensive repair as the V8 takes up quite a bit of space in the engine compartment, and labor costs are high.
A fantastic automobile based upon no expense spared engineering. 15 years later it's superior to most vehicles on the road.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 5th July, 2010
German pride
Coolant sensor died around 200 thousand km..
Front hub bearing cried around 210 thousand km..
Two front absorbers felt "tired" around 190 thousand km.
Radiator separated with its plastic parts around 220 thousand km..
Reliable parts, even though it comes with high mileage and years of use.
DIY resources are complete and easy to find and access.
Quiet cruising and agile steering make this car a special.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 3rd June, 2010
Wonderful understatement
New air conditioning compressor and evaporator at 100.000 km.
New auxiliaries belt tensioner at 130.000 km.
Maybe shocks soon.
Gentleman quality bruiser.
Fast enough, feels balanced and good even on the Nordschleife of the Ring.
Restful character through total competence from the engineering era of Mercedes.
Minuses: no glove box, air con barely adequate.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 8th September, 2007
Serious Luxury motoring
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.
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.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 24th May, 2006
Huge workhorse tank with style
Car has small coolant loss, haven't traced fault yet.
Driver's side seat bolster (cloth) is wearing out.
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.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 17th January, 2005
Update at 161,000. I now do pretty much all my own work on this car, and I've had no major problems since purchase except a broken front coil spring- common problem I found out.
I was a bit economical with the fuel economy figures- that trip was more like 280 miles, and the return per tank is about 450 miles at an average motorway speed of 90mph. So not too bad for a 4-speed auto.
Items replaced since purchase: Radiator- found to be source of coolant loss, leaking fuel return line, new w/screen after old one cracked and normal service parts.
8th Feb 2005, 14:50
Re. coolant loss- I changed the coolant brand and there is now no loss.