95 E320 Convertible advise
 

I'm new to this amazing site and really appreciate any help with the following:

Thinking of purchasing a 95 E320 Convertible with 60K. Asking 25K. Car appears to be in pretty good condition......will be viewing it in person next week

Is this a fair price for this year/mileage?

Above and beyond the typical pointers you look for in buying a used car, any speciifc advise regarding the body/engine for this model?

All advise much appreciated!

Cheers,
Banirl

Welcome aboard

Do a search on the 104 engine, head gasket and engine wiring harness and you have just about covered issues you may experience with the engine. These jobs are straight forward and take a couple weekends to go through for a competent diy'er:). I don't know how the drop top holds up.

You can get a CLK for that much money which is roomier, faster and more modern in every way. The down side is the CLK is a lot more compicated to service.

The price seems to be inline with other W124 Cabs I've seen for sale. They are expensive but one of the only 4 seater convertibles around. Welcome to the forum. This is a great resource, great people.

Well, here is a point of comparison
 

http://www.globalmotorsportsinc.com/view-inventory.aspx?_page=&_makeF=Mercedes-Benz

I looked at both of these cars, just because they are in my neighborhood. I did not drive either one, but they looked very nice. Both had some small issues, mostly in the interior, so they were not perfect, but very nice. They have been for sale since before Thanksgiving, but the price has not changed on his site during that time. He certainly knew what he had and refered to them as the "last of the Mohican's" Gotta love car salesmen!

In general, these guys sell a lot of nice cars and have a very good rep. in the neighborhood. I am kinda surprised that this pair has lasted so long. The area is mostly upscale so I suppose there is not a big market for cars that may be best for the DIY/tinkerer type person. As atikovi mentioned, I have seen him sell 4 or 5 CLK's in the same time period, and he has an 03 now with about 19K on it, but it's a bit more expensive :eek:

FWIW,

Clay

Re:E320 Convertible
 

Thanks everyone who replied, very helpful advice!

The price seems about right, but for $25k you can get a more modern convertible that would (in theory) have less problems. The w124 convertible probably won't drop in value as fast as something newer, but it will drop in value.

If I wanted a convertible for $25k, I'd would quickly end up with a late model BMW 3-series convertible.

Cabriolet
 

I purchased a 1994 E320 Cabriolet last year for $21K. It had 65K miles and was near perfect in and out. Remember this was an $80K car when new and did NOT stay in showrooms very long. (alot of$ back then & now too!)
As mentioned the wiring harness is a weak point, and if not replaced yet, will eventually need to be. Not a deal breaker. Also, the front timing cover will leak oil, not a big job to fix. The head gasket will bear examination for leaks.

This is a great motor, good torque and great gas mileage. Straight six is cheaper to do a valve job when needed. The bottom end will last forever.
Check transmission for burn smell. Check maintenance book for stamps. Look to see if 60K mile service done, if not change the trans fluid & every 25-30K miles thereafter.

Just make sure to look for the proper top operation (quite complicated). Make sure the leather is soft, look for paint/body work (check to see is all the factory body panel bar code stickers are there. Do a Carfax to see where car was delivered and licensed since new (rust belt States!) The A-C should be 134A on that car(which is good)
This was one of the last MBZ cars that was somewhat "hand built", other than the 500E/E500.
Good luck

Timing Cover Gasket Question
 

Having just seen a reference to the timing covers in this tread, figure I'll go with it...
My '94 E320 Cabriolet timing cover appears to be leaking.
Was told that the repair includes takingoff the head & thus the gasket needs to be replaced.

Is this always the case?
In as much as my Cabriolet has 94k on it, might as well do both?
What "should" these repairs cost at an independent shop--average?

The timing covers on all these motors eventually leak, design fault. It is not a huge job for a qualified mechanic to fix. It does NOT involve removing the cylinder head. That IS a big job. I would not remove the head at that mileage without doing a complete valve job too. It will cost a lot of money but will need to be done anyway at some point in time (and will involve removing the head again).

Thanks Nipperiley,
I didn't think it sounded right that to repair the leaking timing cover that I'd have to have the head lifted. Sounds like it'll be a much easier (read - less costly) proposition.

Oil is cheap. Unless it's pouring out, if you have to add a quart or so a month, thats only about $20 a year. Just live with it.

Parva, the leak you're talking about is usually a leak from the upper timing cover seal. At the bottom of the upper timing cover is a U-shaped seal that needs to be replaced. A dab of Loctite 7900 goes on the corners during reinstallation. The archives have good discussion on this repair. Search using keywords "upper timing cover seal" or "u-shaped seal" for good tips. The head does not need to come off.

A bad head gasket usually results in oil leaking at the rear passenger side corner.

I thought we were referring to the M104 engine which do not usually require a valve job. If it was an M103, that may be a different story...

I saw a white 1995 E320 cabriolet around here recently for $17K... it was very tempting. I think it's still available.

Apart from the M104 issues, check the following:

-Transmission smoothness and no leaks. A124s with M140s tended to be fitted with the dreaded 722.5 transmission, which is not very reliable.

- Water leakage through top of front doors. A missaligned top can cause water to enter the passenger compartment on a rainy day (by the gallons!)

- Accident damage. A severely damage A124 on an accident may exhibit weird electrical gremlims later on. For example, the rollover rear headrest safety deployment can fire without reason at any time.

- A/C operation. Believe or not, the A124s were also prone to A/C evaporator failure. Very expensive to fix.