300TE 4matic Advice!
 

Hello,

There is a mint 1993 300TE 4matic for sale that I am considering. Apparently, the 4matic was coming on without necessary reason so the current owner took it to the MB dealer and they replaced a sensor - so far so good.

According to numerous threads, it appears that the 4matic system is problematic, high maintenace, and very expensive. Bottom-line, while the AWD is a nice feature, and I am more interested in the overall mechanical condition of the car and versatility of the wagon.

I am still looking for a decisive answer - If the 4matic is failing (or during the summer) can I manually turn off the system, run it ONLY in 2 wheel drive, and have no subsequent damage on the car. There seems to be some discussion as to whether the self-leveling system will subsequently fail.

If the 4matic fails, and becomes too cost-prohibitive to repair, I would be more than happy with a rwd 300TE.

Thanks for your help!

-MC

That early 4-matic system was very problematic..

I wouldn't have have one of them w/o owning a spare one for parts!

As rightfully stated my M.B.DOC (as usual), the W124s 4-matic are EXTREMELY problematic and EXPENSIVE to repair.

General advice on those models is don't walk away from them: RUN!

The owner of the M.B. dealership here imported one 300E 4matic for his wife in 1992. After several failures and repairs the car was returned to the factory.

You cannot just turn off the 4matic and drive. The system can be turned off just momentarely as it goes into a kind of "emergency" driving mode.

Don´t mind if the system is running perfect now or has been recently serviced. It will eventually fail again (sooner than later, be assured).