Personally, I would stay away from anything '92 or newer in an S-Class. If I were looking for a full size luxury sedan, I would seriously consider a Lexus LS 430.

I currently own a 96 E300D and am very pleased. It offers all the luxury amenities I desire (heated seats, dual zone CC, CD player, traction control, acceptable leather, etc...) without the stuff I just do not need (I can close my own doors, am still willing to put a key into an ingition, and can manage to apply the brakes while on cruize control, thank you). At the same time the mid-size allows a more responsive behavior and less of the "big boat" feel. Reliability for this model, as far as I can gather, has been impressive.

If you can imagine yourself in a smaller, albeit "less luxurious" model, the E Series is worthy of further consideration.

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1996 (W210) E300D 86K - Traded in for a Lexus
1992 (W124) 300D 2.5 Turbo 202K - Sold
1983 (W123) 300D, 146K - Sold
1970 280S, 263K - Sold - Beginning of addiction