I have a 1988 300SEL. No, it is not very fast, but with 177hp, it is not that slow either.

My reason for buying the 300 was the simplicity of the six cylinder. I have also not driven the 420 or 560. On the highway the car is really smooth and the high rpm does not add any additional noise in the car. It is very quiet at 60 to 70 mph - very close to my E350!

Condition and updated maintenance is for me more important than the engine size. My SEL was a Southern CA car, and I am the second owner but had NO service records. The car is not perfect, but I have NO rust anywhere and inside everything is still original and in good condition with only 100k miles on the clock.

The head gasket is still the original, and although I have small oil leaks, they are small and I don't have to add oil between changes (~5k miles between changes). Most of the repairs was due to the car not being driven enough. From all the stuff I found in the car, the car did about 2k miles in the last 10 years before I bought the car - the tires were also over 10 years old. Now that it is driven every few days, it is a real pleasure to drive.

Good luck!

Looks nice - https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/1989-mercedes-benz-300-se-low/6554776703.html

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

92k! Wow. :D That CD player is the only disgusting thing.

323k here now. Back on the road today, maybe I will hit 330 by end of the year.

Looks like a nice one. Of all the W126's on craigslist for sale, 300SE's always seems to be in the best shape.

$2950.00 for a seemingly clean W126 300-SEL. Sad.

One of the reasons I'll keep mine until one of us dies.

Wait for it...
 

You think that’s clean? Take a look at this...


https://tucson.craigslist.org/ctd/d/1991-mercedes-benz-300-series/6592768135.html

Wow!

$2500 now, with the rising fuel prices in CA it's a hard sell.

Put it on BAT and people will pay top dollars, unseen!

Your biggest enemy isn't the fuel price, it's it smog check.

With the M103 it's pretty hard to not get it smogged. My 300SE had a high idle, blown head gasket and it still passed with flying colors. I still can't get over it how that was possible.

Tell it to the people not wanting to buy it. I junked my 2.6 when it failed smog twice. It was worth more in Parts than as a whole car. Anything pre-2000 needs a tailpipe test. That depresses the values tremendously. If you really want to sell it, have a current smog certificate in hand and say so in the ad. Personally I'm not touching anything pre 2000 that needs to be smogged.

That's a no brainer.