Going to look at a 1993 320e tomorrow with only 58,000 original miles. We're talking less than 5000 miles per year.Owner says car is perfect. I have owned several benzes and currently own a 85 500sel and a 79' 300cd. Both of these cars were low mileage one owner automobiles. The other two owners had service records. This owner doesn't, but with 58,000 miles there should not be many records. Do you agree? Anyone who owns a 300e or 320e please chime in and give me your input. This guy says that he can show me his carfax report. I think this will be important info. I have been looking for a w124 for quite a while now. The owner only wants $6,500.00 for the automobile. Every other car in this class was going for at least $9,000.00 and had at least 140,000 miles on it. This could be my best deal maker yet. Please give your input. Thanks in advance.

CHECK IT OUT without delay...this could be a good bargain. I know age plays a part in wear/tear of components, but you can never go wrong with a pristine, low-mileage example.

I agree. I was thinking that if the low mileage is correct can I be fortunate enough to get a mint interior/exterior etc. The owner swears by the car and even went as far as to tell me that the original floor mat plastic was still on the mats. I will let you guys know what I find.

Facelift did not come until 94/95 E320..much nicer car.
Also, wire harness and head gasket are weak links that low milage means nothing.
I would check to see if both have been done...if not, you will be doing them.

I will be asking about these items. I will also try to convince him to let me take it to my independent mechanic which is in the same town as he is. This is exactly what I need to hear the good and most certainly the possibly bad. This car is exceptionally underpriced in my opinion. Is the head gasket and wiring harness the only biggies to look for?? Good stuff. Keep it coming. Thank you all.

Make sure the A/C works as it should.
A leaky A/C evaporator is a major repair (at least 20hours of labor)
.

The a/c evap is another.

The problem with these big ticket items is that they were all changed/modified with newer designed parts b/c the originals were faulty. The harness was made from bio-degradeable insulation, the head gasket was changed to a newer style with inserts , and the evap line fusion was fixed for leaks.
So, thse show up regardless of low milage..I would much prefer to buy a E320 with twice the milage that has had these modification already done than a low milage that had none of them done...
...the oddity of these 104 HFM engined cars is that they could rack up a ton of $$$ to do these few changes, but once done , they are Excellent cars and will go 250/300K with few problems.
those are the magor concerns , but there are others ..ASR can be a pain, but that one may not have that. { All the better, in my opinion]
Take a good look at the 94/95 body style for a comparison.. the front end does not have the dated look of the 93 boxed nose, and this facelifted style still looks Benz b/c the 140 and later C class used the samr style..plus the benefit of better lighting [ Euro style lens/lamps]
.. Car Fax and spotless floor mats mean nothing to me when looking at a 124 ..you want to know if the mods have been done, for sure....

Be very skeptical. Get it checked out. A car that hasn't been driven much can easily have more problems than a car that's driven daily.

Sounds great, though! Keep chasing it!

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Just got back from checking the 320e out. In my opinion it was pristine. The car drove like a dream. It was amazing. I am going back tomorrow and let my indy. check it out. It was too late today. When I called my indy up and told him about the wiring harness and head gasket issues, he said that the head gasket should not be a problem at 58,000 miles. He is going to check everything out anyway. The owner produced a carfax report. It showed that the odometer had not been tampered, etc. The owner ran his own report just to prove to the potential buyers that th low mileage was correct.The wiring harness is enclosed inside a hard plastic sheething. I came real close to buying the car tonight based on my visual inspection and road test. The a/c was very cold. Everything that I checked seemed to work except the instrument panel light. This should be minor shouldn't it. I will be posting again tomorrow. I am 90 percent that this is a keeper. My indy will look for things that I can not see for only 69.95. Thanks for your help.

You better grab it...if you miss out on this one you'll be comparing everything to this one when you look at others.
Sounds like you found a very nice car.

Good luck,

Dave

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1993 190E 2.3
2001 SLK230
1971 LS5 (454) Corvette Convertible

http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=186480

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1998 W210 diesel (wiped out by a texter)
Baum spring compressor "for rent"

Guys I bought the car. I took it to my indy to get a ppi. and they did a full inspection. He said that the wiring harness had either been replaced or won't need replacing for a long time. He wanted to buy the car for himself. I feel really good about the purchase now (carfax and ppi. peformed). I am taking it back next month to get the 60,000 mile C service done. This car still has it's new car feel. There was a 1987 300e parked beside my car with 280,000 miles on it. The cars leather had really taken a beaten. The guy that sold me my car was a 20yr. old who also owned a 1999 320 ml. After I made the deal I asked him why would he sell such a mint car. His response was it's a 1993. He really thinks the 320 ml. is a much better automobile. (If he only knew). I am glad he has not been educated on the mercedesshop forum. Anyway, I would like to think everyone who contributed to my ultimate decision. This car is for my wife and she is truly elated about her car. I swear the 320 feels just as powerful as the 500sel and is definately more responsive. We will be taking the 500 on the longer trips and the 300 on shorter distances. I came really close to buying her a "new" Camry for $25 grand. Boy, we saved almost $20,000.00!!. That savings will be used to pay off the house early. She has owned 3 camry's before, but when she drove the 500sel the first time she was truly amazed. I paid $5000.00 for the 500 and $6500.00 for the 320. Go figure. Sorry about the long post, but we are so excited about the savings that we wanted to share it with everyone. Wow!!!. (Can someone walk me through the process of how to post pictures of our cars without them taking up the whole page??.