I quit even thinking about getting a 97 E420 when I heard about the spring perch problem. I had already quit thinking about an E430 when I heard how much the manufacturing cost of the 3 valves had been lowered compared to the 119s. I think the 124 is the end of the road for me - when it's done I'm done.

Like you, I have read about the spring perch problem. I think it is very, very rare though, and should be easy to fix anyway.

__________________
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".

Paul,
Thanks for the write-up. Congtrats as well.

How many miles are on the E430?

What is you opinion of the 4.3 relative to the 3.2?

Thanks,

Geoff

I was trying to avoid making the comparison as its just not fair. The V8 is so much faster than a six.

Both engines have a wonderful mechanical engine note. They love to rev.

I find that the 3.2 is more like the M119 4.2 liter engine - they are both slightly "peaky". You can feel that they really come alive higher in the rpm range.

And like the literature tells us, the M112 (or M113, I can't remember) V8 produces more torque lower in the rpm range. It is noticable.

It's no mistake that the W210 E420 goes 0-60 in 6.7 sec. and the E430 goes a half-second quicker to 60 at 6.2 seconds.

.....oh, and the car has about 72,000 miles on it.

__________________
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".

"Actually, a very long-term member here, JCE, bought it for his son. I let it go for $6,000.00"

And he is Lovin' it! He is likely to turn into an obsessive-compulsive now that he is in the MB fold - reading his owners manual, studying up on waxes, etc. (but there aren't many mods left for him to consider, thanks to Paul ). He had occasionally driven our 98 C230 (Koni sports, 16" wheels, Summer performance tires), and our 87 Sportlined 300E (Yoko ES 100s) before getting Paul's car, and had commented to me about the different feel between them. His comments were similar to Paul's comments above, and he has repeated them since he has been driving a 124 on a daily basis: basically, less convenience and creature comfort in the 124, but more 'soul' and feeling of solid construction.

He even noted the difference in sound between the sound of the hoods closing on the 3 cars. The 87 sounds like a bank vault closing. The C230 sounds solid, but with a bit of Toyota/Honda metalic clang. Paul's car sounds in between the two - closer to the 87 300E, but not quite as solid. Closing the hood on our 88 Acura Legend 5 spd coupe never sounded as solid as it's contemporary, the 300E - and the hood on the Acura had to be open WAY more often than the MBs hood, believe me.

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John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

Paul, thanks for the interesting write-up, and congratulations on your E430! I think the W124 coupe/cabriolet won't disappoint as your 3rd car -- you'll get back the E320 feel, plus a different body style for variety.

I’ve always been a BMW fan, having gone though a bunch of 7 series ranging from 1984-1990...never did reach the E38. The 3.5L inline 6's were nice, and for such a large heavy car, it moved VERY well. The last 7 died in a moderate collision and thus my foray into Benz's. My dad has been driving Benz’s since the early 80's and I never quite liked them. Long story short....I own 2 1994 E420s now. As of yet, nothing major, but that’s much in part due to both the previous owners who loved their cars so much… money was no object and preemptive service was the norm. Wait, I forgot, I did do an evap core in one (which BTW is not a hard thing to do, just a bit time consuming.)

The only thing I don’t like about the W124 E420 is the turbo lag.......well at least that’s what I call it. I have always found the E420 to be slow to react. You step on the gas and it’s like the car has to think about it, or like there a bunch of sandbags in the trunk. Now I’m not trying to make it sound like its taking 15-20 seconds but when I hit the gas it’s because I need/want to be moving NOW, and I don’t get that with the 420. At highway speeds the car responds much better and makes me more comfortable in its abilities.

I don’t know what exactly I need to get what I am looking for, maybe a BMW 540i with the 6 speed manual? I had thought a lot about the 210’s in 430 guise, but you guys make them sound problematic and that’s sort or worrisome.

I actually prefer the M119 engine to the newer M112 / M113 3-valve per cylinder engines. Thus, I was initially leaning heavily toward the E420.

What ended up swaying me to buy an E430 was the inability to install the Command navigation in the E420. Steve Krabbenborg, of the MBenzNL.com website, does Command installations all over Europe and the U.S. I e-mailed him and he responded that the Command came out in 2000, but could be retrofitted back to 1998 models. It could not be installed in 1997 models.

He can also retrofit the 2000-2002 revised instrument cluster and steering wheels into 1998-1999 models, but not 1997 models.

Since I planned on doing all of the above if I bough a pre-2000 model, I ruled out the '97 E420.

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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".

Hey, I'm with you brother.

Don't get me wrong, I love my W210 and I plan to keep it for a long time. I've already done the Command install, and plan on doing the E55 AMG suspension to alleviate the excessive wallowing. Otherwise, I'll have to pop dramamine on a regular basis.

However, the W124 has much more of the classic Mercedes feel, and I plan to buy one again as a third car.

I'll probably get a W124 coupe or cabriolet, and tool around on the weekend, cruising chicks. Just kidding.... (as the wife looks over my shoulder).

__________________
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".