From about 1981 through around 1992 I had a '79 300CD. I guess I put 250,000 miles on it, mostly from '81 to '86, sales car. Then it sat for years. Sometimes 6 months between starts. The engine always started and ran fine. Yes, I had one instance of transmission failure requiring rebuild, and I one instance of A/C compressor failure (AC Delco I think).

Since '92, I have put 75K on a '90 300E, then 140K on a '92 300E. Only stranded once in 210K miles due to coil failure.

Mine MB have been very reliable.

Steve