I have a W124 and was looking at newer MB diesel cars. It's like a game of Twister as to which ones are good and which ones aren't. For example the frog light headlight cars were ok if you got the 6 cylinder 1996 model, but the 1997 and 1998 had bad transmission problems.

I hear the cdi's are good cars, but the bluetecs could be problems. I know on some Volkwagen cars they had certain years where the power windows would fail around 30k miles. How could VW not have known this when they were making the cars? Just as soon as you know what a good car is (because it has a long enough history to judge it), they've stopped making them.

How can a manufacturer make something and change the designs every 2 or 3 years? I've read on some Mercedes they have sensor problems. Who wants sensor problems??? I know there are govt EPA standards to hit, etc. but there's too much instability. If they stuck with the same platform, found problems, and IMPROVED on those problems that would be good, but they don't. Instead they just make a whole new engine. It's got to cost them a fortune just in design and retooling costs.