I had an 89 and although it was a great car for the 6 years that I had it, I sold it and got a 92. The important differences that make the 92 better overall are 1) first gear starts and higher rear end ratio so the RPMs are lower on the highway 2) a LOT more power and acceleration. These differences are worth the potential problems with the 104 engine. Furtunately, the 92 had all of the service records from 1994 on and the head gasket had been changed twice. In my opinion, most of the earlier 300E and CEs were geared too low for normal or fast highway driving and the RPMs at 70MPH were much too high. It took MB way too long to figure this out. Craig
PS - don't send me an explaination of MB final gear ratios, the logic would be flawed.

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90 300SL Pearl Gray
92 300CE Smoke Silver