I’ve always been a BMW fan, having gone though a bunch of 7 series ranging from 1984-1990...never did reach the E38. The 3.5L inline 6's were nice, and for such a large heavy car, it moved VERY well. The last 7 died in a moderate collision and thus my foray into Benz's. My dad has been driving Benz’s since the early 80's and I never quite liked them. Long story short....I own 2 1994 E420s now. As of yet, nothing major, but that’s much in part due to both the previous owners who loved their cars so much… money was no object and preemptive service was the norm. Wait, I forgot, I did do an evap core in one (which BTW is not a hard thing to do, just a bit time consuming.)

The only thing I don’t like about the W124 E420 is the turbo lag.......well at least that’s what I call it. I have always found the E420 to be slow to react. You step on the gas and it’s like the car has to think about it, or like there a bunch of sandbags in the trunk. Now I’m not trying to make it sound like its taking 15-20 seconds but when I hit the gas it’s because I need/want to be moving NOW, and I don’t get that with the 420. At highway speeds the car responds much better and makes me more comfortable in its abilities.

I don’t know what exactly I need to get what I am looking for, maybe a BMW 540i with the 6 speed manual? I had thought a lot about the 210’s in 430 guise, but you guys make them sound problematic and that’s sort or worrisome.