I had a 500SEL (85) from birth thru 228k miles in 1997.

It DID have a cam lobe go south due to some sort of oiling tube problem in the rocker covers. MB paid for it cause it was a fairly common problem. It got updated oiling tubes.

The heater control flap broke at 188k - no hot air on driver's feet. Never fixed it cause the dash had to come out.

Blew a trans cooler line at 130k. Replaced it with an updated one with a wire spring around it.

Exhaust rotted out at 170k miles - put a $900 aftermarket solid stainless steel one on it.

Put valve guide seals in it at 220k. Took about 6 hours to do in my garage and replaced the plastic oil tubes in the rocker covers at the same time - less than $100 in all parts and supplies.

New shocks at 170k.

Steering box adjustment at 90k and at 140k.

New high pressure line on AC system (not an expensive MB one, but one by a local hydraulic shop).

New radio speakers at around 200k when one gave up. The new ones were cheap (Kicker speakers that fit right in the factory spots for around $35 a pair) but they sounded much better.

New rearview mirror at 180k (glue baked out of it and looked creepy) from junkyard.

Several $5 plastic window lift rollers on various windows.

General belt and hose replacement as reqd.

All of the recommended services up to 120k were followed religiously, after that, I pretty much did it all myself.

The car was driven normally. Not by a granny. Not by Bo and Luke Duke. It raced its share of Camaros and Saabs on the interstate, and even occasionally hung the tail out like Starsky and Hutch in the twisties for fun, but was driven pretty normally. No wild burnouts or nights at the dragstrip yet it knew what wide open throttle meant, too.

At 220k miles, with a loose camchain, one day it backfired and jumped time a tooth on one of the cams. Still ran okay, and ran smooth, but the punch was gone. I was planning to dig in and fix it, but I got a sweet trade offer on a '90 560SEL and traded it (in 97).

I consider the 85 to be a solid tank of a car. Doesn't run as strong as the 86 up 560. Doesn't have as good a radio as the 88 up models.

I've seen one, however, with 68k original miles that gave nothing but problems. It belonged to a friend who leased it with 22k showing. He ended up parking it in a friend's barn to let the last 8 months of lease run out cause he said he couldn't afford for anything else to break.

What I'm saying is that it is a solid design. That doesn't mean that there aren't plenty that have been abused...

mc