Hi all,
I am new to this forum and love the great discussions. What brought me here is that I'm looking at a 1993 300te 4matic wagon and very close to buying it. It has 180,000 miles and looks and drives fantastically. The best part is there is an intact service history all the way back to delivery, everything done on time by reputable shops. Currently it needs nothing. I have read the "caveat emptor" posts on the 4matic option and kept it in mind when I drove the car, but either it is working flawlessly or it is not activating at all - no vibrations in tight turns, no shudders or noises. The only noise I noticed was a whine coming through the shift console when the engine is in the higher RPM's, just before the tranny shifts up.
Please feel free to comment on this car, what I can expect in the next couple years, a good buy or bad buy. The owner is asking only $4000.
Thanks!

I've heard through the grapevine that the original transfer cases were weak and would fail in under 100k, but the factory replacements have shown to be very robust. Apparently, by now most of these have already had the replacements installed, so they should be good to go. That seems like an excellent price. The whine might just be the little plastic bushing at the base of the shift lever.

Good luck.