Hey everyone, thanks in advance for taking time to read this an hopefully give me some input!

So, I'm looking at a couple of '95 C280's here in Los Angeles to use as a daily driver. I got the chance to drive both this weekend and was pleased with them overall. They roughly had about the same mileage (145k and 154k), but the lower mileage car seemed to drive alot better for only being 10k less, I would think at this point miles would be irrelevant for a Benz. None of them have had the head gasket nor the harness replaced, I know these are major problems from reading this forum. The higher mileage one also seemed to have a low whining noise when I first started to drive it, sounds like it was coming from the tranny or possibly engine, any known common problems with these? It also seemed to be overheating somewhat, the guy had driven it a few minutes prior to me arriving and the temperature here in LA was in the high 90's. From the time I started the car, the temp. gauge stayed about 3/4 of the way up. Only after driving it for about 15 minutes did it start to drop down to 1/2, bad water pump?
Also, the AC compressor didn't even seem to engage when the button was pushed; however, on the lower mileage car the AC worked fine but the owner stated it could have blown colder/harder, seemed fine to me. Now, one thing that did kind of scare me when I drove the lower mileage car was that the check engine light came on (stayed solid and another "light bulb" looking orange light came on too), it didn't effect the drive ability of the car, but it made me wonder if it was the dreaded harness problem in its infancy. The owner also stated the light would come on randomly but no problems could be found.
Replacements... The owner of the higher mileage car claims that the car is all original and snooping around the engine bay matches up with his claims. The only thing he stated was at the last service (by L.B. Mercedes) was that the knock sensor will need to be replaced soon. Ok, on to the lower mileage car... everything is also all original except for the alternator.
On to the cosmetics... the lower mileage car has minor body damage, the right corner of rear bumper and rear driver side passenger door has a pretty decent sized dent. I'm no stranger to replacing body panels on cars, so I guess it'll just take a few used parts and a Saturday to get that squared away. The higher mileage car oh the other hand, has clear coat failure on the hood, driver front fender and roof, not easy fixes to say the least.
Overall I am leaning towards the 145k car. The minor body blemishes don't really bother me that much and at $3000-$3500 think its a decent deal. My last 3 cars that I have purchased have all been Audi and they have been great cars with the regular maintenance I do myself but, I have always wanted a W202 and I am now in the position to get one.