My Son In Law sent me this CL listing for a 94 E-320 Wagon. what info can you give me on this model/yr wagon. I know it is a gasser, but some of you have these.

Is the 236K miles a deal killer? what are the pit falls with these engines? I know PO defered maintenance and neglect are a biggie with any of the MB`s. and condition, condition, condition, is everything. a good PP inspection would be the first thing that should be done.

There were some yrs that had the wiring harness issues with it deteriorating. maybe that was the W210?

The listing does list a couple issues.

1994 MERCEDES E320 WAGON

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

'93 to '95 W124s have the problem with bad engine wiring harnesses.

I would guess that most have been changed by now.

M104s are also known for leaking oil at the right rear corner of the head gasket.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

IF you end up getting it. I have a spare M104 with similar miles that was running great when the wagon was wrecked... jay bob has the odometer if you wanna know how many miles were on it at the time...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Like suginami said wiring harness and head gasket are the two biggies with these, they can suffer some odd things going on with sensors/coil packs etc too. Other than that just the same chassis issues you get on any 124. High miles wouldn't put me off if the condition was good and it had service history.

the M104 is a great engine- smooth with loads of torque and really shifts the 124 chassis. I'd have one for my 'daily' if petrol wasn't so expensive over here!

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1993 320TE M104
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past:

1983 230E W123 M102
1994 E300D S124 OM606 (x2)
1967 250SE W108 M129
1972 280se 3.5 W108 M116
1980 280SE W116 M110
1980 350SE W116 M116
1992 300E W124 M103
1994 E280 W124 M104
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"music and women I cannot but give way to, whatever my business" -Pepys

"It gets about 25-28 mpg. The only real problems with the car is the front door locks won't work with the key, you have to use the rear hatch lock to lock the car. I checked with Mercedes and they want a little over 300 bucks for parts to fix it. Oh and the cruise control doesn't work. It also needs the drivers door window adjusted or maybe a regulator. Other than that, everything works great. "

hello

am not sure how familiar you are with the W124, but below are some things that ive learned as the 2nd owner of my 300E.

from what i've experienced with my 93 M104, 25-28 MPG sounds about right, but is probably highway, expect low 20's around town.

front door locks can be ordered from the dealer(with title/proof of ownership), am not sure how much they cost. removing the old locks requires turning the key , ask the owner if any of his spare keys can work the driver's/passenger side locks. procedure:http://w124-zone.com/downloads/MB%20CD/W124/w124CD2/Program/Chassis/72-240.pdf if the locks can not be turned with any of the keys, the door lock replacement might be pretty difficult.

"cruise control does not work" am pretty sure that the ETA(Electronic Throttle Actuator) controls the cruise control. this may be a sign that the ETA wiring harness needs replacing. when you go to test drive the car, pay attention to how the car idles, a jumpy idle along with non functioning cruise control would probably indicate that the ETA is malfunctioning and or ETA wiring harness insulation is deteriorating. the ETA is not cheap. google it, theres a ton of info out there on the ETA. Idle Control: M104

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=m104%20eta%20symptoms%20peachparts&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDYQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DssVt9MbfuJc&ei=RVy7UIyON4vZsga41oGACQ&usg=AFQjCNHXJMVMfbcEOVRqB7MblyqH5QwlyA

many owners have successfully rewired the ETA wiring harness.


driver's door window, there is no adjustment that i know of, it most likely needs a new window regulator, from what i've read, this is a common problem on the W124's . i had to fix my regulator a few years back.

inspect the engine wiring harness near the battery, look for a small white tag . if the harness was replaced, the tag should read "DELPHI" along with two dates, one date is the harness design date(i believe) and the other is the manufacturing date .

hard coolant hoses when engine is hot, along with brown sludge/oil in expansion tank and any oil leakage at the rear of the engine (drivers side) would indicate that it needs a new head gasket.

engine oil leak on the alternator, and in the area above the alternator means that it will probably require a resealing of the timing chain cover. the seal from dealer costs about 5-6bucks, and the job requires no special tools.

front suspension is pretty simple to work on, but be aware of the ball joints, when they fail this happens : see post#2: Ball joint failure on W124

ball joints from the dealer cost about 30bucks a pop.

during your test drive listen for front end squeaks on slow turns and over little bumps/speed bumps at low speeds, and pay attention to the steering wheel, if it fails to return to center by itself, these problems could indicate that the car needs new ball joints.

thats all the stuff i could think of for now
good luck

Non working cruise control is a big red flag here. As stated by previous poster this car uses a drive by wire electronic throttle. Cruise control is just software operating the throttle. Faulty cruise could be a problem with the electronic throttle. I suggest pricing out a rebuilt ETA and factoring that into your purchase decision.

And that interior is not leather, that's MB-Tex. The seat pattern is different for cars with leather.

Thank You guys for the responces I really appreciate it, I sent this thread to my Son In law.

They are nice cars with improvements over the W123. though they are a bit more complicated as they went on towards the end of production. sounds like some expensive repairs. I have yet to ride in one.

Timmyr, thank you for the very detailed post and links.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

On my 1993 300E (3.2), I averaged about 22 mpg in mixed driving.

I don't think I ever got above 26 mpg, even in 100% freeway driving.

You'll never get the 25-28 fuel economy he's claiming.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

The odo had 178.3k when I got it.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

I live in Portland where I have seen that car listed F/S for quite some time now. Dont know the story behind it though.

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Live simply so others can simply live



07 E350 sport Wife's Daily
01 E320 sport My Daily
00 C230 Kompressor Our back up (new Arrival)

87 300D Turbo my Daily for 8 yrs. Selling to neighbor

82 GMC Jimmy (K5) 6.2 Diesel (my Wheeler)
73 Roadrunner 340ci My very first car, still own it