The infamous evaporator issue persisted through out the ENTIRE production cycle of the W140, up to 1999 U.S. models which were the last to be built before production ended.

It used to be a less frequent problem on 97-99 models, but I think it was because, at the time, they were more recent models. By now, all 97-99 should be rolling over as the 92-96 did.

The main problem with the evaporator was the combination of metal alloys used to manufactured them (alluminun and copper). These two materias did not mix very happily, hence deteriorating very rapidly creating leaks.

Aftermarket companies manufactured a full copper evaporator which is warrantied from leaks for LIFE! Many costumers who substituded the original M.B. unit with this aftermarket unit did O.K. Owners who fitted again the original M.B. should find themselves with trouble in a few years.

With luck, the original unit should last up to five or six years. But some customers began to find trouble as early as six months.

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A. Rosich
CL 500, 1998
S 500 L, 1998
E 320 T, 1995 [Sadly sold ]