I drive it so rarely, the maintenance will be negligible. I drive the 300D daily because I drive like 1,000 miles a week so 25-30mpg on an easier to work on car is better.

Go get yourself one used ME S500 engine. Best bang for the buck by far.

Its identical to the E420 motor, just pull the 4.2 & swap over all the stuff thats unique to the E class, headers, compressor etc onto the 5.0 lump.

Engine performance is 275hp/295 ft/lbs for the 4.2 & 315/347 ft/lbs for the 5.0.

Voila, one poor mans E50 AMG (euro only model).

You can sell your 4.2 motor as well, probably pay for at least 50% of the conversion.

If you want it faster still then get a different diff ratio, I have a 3.06 in my E60, and with the overdrive 5th cruising is still ok.

Thats my 2 cents.

__________________
David Hendy
'97 Renntech E60RS
'97 GMC 2500 Sub' Diesel
'95 E300D
'88 300TE
'88 250TD
'84 L/Rover 109

I owned a 1997 E420 for about 5 years and 80,000 miles. Also black with black interior. I drove a W124 E420 before it but in my opinion, it was not as nice as the W210. The W210 is quite a beautiful car when in good shape and the M119 engine mated to that 5 speed tranny is silky smooth. I sold the car to a friend of mine at around 146,000 miles. The interior was still perfect, the a/c was ice cold and everything worked.

In the time that I owned it, I had to replace the following:

Pads and rotors (a couple of times)
A couple of coil packs and plugs
Right side cats
Shocks
Control Arm bushings
fuel filter
regular oil and filter changes with mobile1 15w50.

I really miss that car, it makes about 275hp and it comes in like a turbo charger. The car is plenty fast at over taking speeds. You should test drive one before planing on modding it. If you decide that you need more power, don't waste your time tuning it, just get an E55.

__________________
With best regards

Al

I've been test driving it for about a month now. I'm just currently broke so I'm not worried about modding anymore.

I like the E50 idea, what motor is in your E60? Is that a V12 swap or a punched out V8?

Fair enough, I just noticed that you're in Ohio. The main flaw of the w210 is that they rust like crazy. The rust protection on a W124 is far better.

__________________
With best regards

Al

It always has, and always will remain stored in doors. Only got 65k on it, the first like 20-30k was down south. I've seen it up on a lift, its got zero rust.

Good man, keep it that way and you'll have a fantastic driver. My car spent it's first 5 years in Chicago. I bought it as the second owner in Texas and moved between TX and GA with it for five years. When I sold it, it was starting to fray around the wheel arches even though it saw hardly any salt or snow in it's later life.

I also had to take care of the spring perch within the first year of ownership.

__________________
With best regards

Al