Hi, I'm a regular vintage forum guy (have a 108) but looked at a 124 wagon 4matic yesterday. very clean and solid, 206,xxx miles. Is this the place to ask about specific maintenance and reliability issues? Dunno if there is a paper trail with the car. Does the AWD hiddeously complicate life for a DIY'er -- particularly with over 200K mis.?? TIA

Many describe the 4matic as something to run from!
Some owners wind up disabling the feature, I can't say anything for or against that because I've never researched what is involved. Parts are very expensive.
Here is a discussion on the wagon, check the link to Baroque for general discussion on the 124 chassis, a very nice chassis BTW regardless of whether the car is AWD or rear wheel drive.
Thoughts on a 1987 300TD?
and the excellent discussion at MBCA (Canada): http://www.mbclubcanada.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Moved to tech help for better topic match.

I disable my 1990 300E 4 matic in the summer. You get better gas mileage, and it drives a little nicer, at least mine does. They are problematic, and really not even worth fixing if it goes out. Sometimes the cost is worth more than the car. On the earlier models like mine, you can disable. The newer ones, I believe 98 and newer, you cannot, at least there is no " test" valve for the system. Mine works great in the snow, but it is developing a little " chatter " when turning at low speeds. Shut it off and this goes away. BTW if you turn it off, in order to engage it again you MUST disconnect the battery terminal and reconnect it again. The light will " 4 matic light " will then go off. Good luck