They don't have any reason to lie? One reason is that they make a living from fixing them, and from what one can observe on this board alone, the W124 will need plenty of repairs.

Let me restate it -- my FRIENDS who are shop owners and technicians at several shops up and down the West Coast have no reason to lie to me.

Cheers,
Gerry

Try putting a set of snow tires on your W210 and you won't have any regrets forgoing the 4matic.

I bought my E320 used from San Diago. The previous owner put a set of high performance Michelins on it. When I drove it back to Chicago and experienced the first snow fall with it, the car would not get from my driveway into my garage. I purchased a set of Michelin Pilot Alpines snow tires and put them on a seperate set of rims so that I can change them out in the summer. I could not believe the difference, in the snow and ice the car handles likes its on dry pavement.

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

PA2TU,

Several of your points are spot-on, and I agree completely. Even the part where you encourage W124 owners to try something new is good advice. With regards to the 124 being the last "blue blood" platform, I suspect a violent horde of 123 owners would take exception. It's all relative.

What is not subjective is that the Mercedes build quality dropped after the merger, leveled off, and has recently (2002-2003) risen to previous levels. I imagine any rational W124 owner would not blackball every 2xx, just MY97-98 and possibly to MY2000.

Ready for a crash course in business and economics? No-one in Stuttgart has been chasing Lexus around the block with a copy of Consumer Reports in their hand. The quality issues have everything to do with improved margins to substantiate the merger for majority shareholders. There are a limited number of ways to improve margins a few points without affecting quality. You can force a temporary margin increase using cheaper materials, but the bottom will always fall out on any long-term ownership item (like a vehicle).

That is what DCX learned after the early 2xx vehicles had been on the market for a few years, not how to better compete with Lexus.

The margin on any DaimlerBenz vehicle manufactured prior to 1997 was much smaller than an equivalent platform today. Not a coincidence, 1997 was the first year the integration process went from paper to plant. The Germans made two significant changes that led to much higher margins per vehicle: 1) full automation of the stamping and assembly plants, and 2) selection of a lower-cost supply chain.

The former has paid off in spades, the latter had some negative consequence (see the latest mass recall).

I have no regrets spending money on and fixing my W124. Total expenses including purchase are approximately $15k USD during the past two years. It is a somewhat unique vehicle on the road, represents a good example of German engineering, and should last quite some time.

Enjoy the ride, fellow Mercedes owner.
-DM

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1995 E420 SE black/black
2004 Volvo V70R AWD

Paul:

Thanks for the writeup...

...and the rest of you who chimed in...thanks for the insights!

I am struggling with the same decision. Replacing the old W124 with a W210.

I am staring down a list of minor anomalies that would probably run in excess of $3K if I just hand the keys over to my indie. But it's paid for, and I just got comfortable enough to do a lot of the repairs myself...when I can find the time.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Some people say the opposite about the current rack and pinion system vs. the old-school recirc ball. That they prefer the new stuff, that is.

In my opinion the older system is better, but it was more expensive to produce, so out it went in the scrap-heap of little engineering tweaks that made the Benz the Benz. Now the Benz is more like a Toyota than ever before, and the elimination of things like the recirc ball steering is a key example of why this is....

Cheers,
Gerry

I like the currant rack and pinion system's, much more precise, the old recirc ball is very umm well not precise! All modern cars have rack and pinion, MB had to adapt thats what the public demands.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

"All modern cars have rack and pinion, MB had to adapt thats what the public demands."

Challenge. "thats what the public demands" What does that really mean?
I'm trying to picture people calling, e-mailing MB demanding rack and pinion steering. I don't think so.

As another poster stated, it's purely a cost thing. Rack and pinion is cheaper and easier to source than re-circulating ball.

It may be more precise, then again maybe not. My '92 300E Sportline is pretty precise. To me the biggest drawback to rack and pinion is reliability versus the older re-circulating ball system.

Just my contrarian nature coming through,

Steve

well now that I have an e430 I guess I can compare the w124 to the w210 as well
agree with the initial post. Less road feel but at the same time very lexus like. The only thing the w210 can't come close to is the isolation of cabin from outside noise that lexus does an awesome job with.

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

Because MB is a high end cutting edge car and must keep up to all the other high end cutting edge cars? I found the old system to be rather numb, rack's a lot better. Car & Driver agrees with me to...

Cost seems to be about the same. Old gearbox for my W126 is about $1,500 new, whats a rack for a W220 cost? I bet about that.

People are so quick to jump down MB's throat for any little reason, time march's on and things change. The Model T was a fine car too but I certainly don't want to commute to work in one.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

You hit the nail right on the head with this description. The W210s under damped suspension makes me sea sick, literally. I would consider a W210 if I could find a report of someone fitting HDs and seeing an improvement or comparing it to a W124, or W123 (my favorite riding chassis)...

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1977 Mercedes 300D

The W210 suffers from the same poor performing main rubber bushing on the lower control arms.

I located a source in California (Duarte, CA) and ordered a polyurethane bushing for my W208 CLK55. According to their website, the bushings are also available for the W210 and W140. www.lpdauto.com

Mine should be arriving soon and will give feedback after install.

Do you really believe it's the lower control arm bushings that are the source of "wallowing"?

I might have to look into this.....

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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 lower control arm bushings cause a shimmy between 50 and 70 (as if the wheels are out of balance)

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With best regards

Al

Oooh no, that symptom just surfaced on my E430 last week. I'm planning on having the front wheels rebalanced to see if it goes away...

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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".