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  #1  
Old 12-28-2002, 07:47 PM
Travmonster
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Newbie gives frst impression....

I have been cruising this site for a while and as a member of the quattro list I must say that this forum is very impressive and very well run. Very high caliber of people and information here. I am in the process of doing research on the next vehicle purchase, narrowing it down to a 300te, 400e, or if possible a 500e. The 400e looks to be a serious bang for the buck car as far as Mercedes cars go, and I hate that we in America don't get any cool "uber wagons" here other than the Audi stuff, which is pretty darn cool in it's own right (just wished they'd let us get ahold of the RS4's man!!) But I shudder the thought of owning a SUV so the wagon might be feasible for hauling the drums around.
From what I hear, the 400e's have a pretty stellar reliability record other than the classic German A/C stuff, the timing chain thing, and the wiring harness issue. Anyone out there have anything to add to this list of what to look out for that haven't been covered already? I'll go ahead and close for now, but just wanted to let everyone know that I'm really impressed with your forum- keep it up, folks!!

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  #2  
Old 12-28-2002, 09:03 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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I think you've listed the weak points.

My subjective opinion is that wiring harness problems happen on 400E's, by not nearly as common as failures on 1993-1995 300E (3.2's and 2.8's) and E320's. I think the failure rate on 400E's might be more likely on '92-'93's than the later '94-'95 E420's. I'm sure you also know that '92 and '93 400E's have the same 4.2 liter engine as '94-'95 E420's. Mercedes gets the badging wrong sometimes. It's the same on the 1993 300 TE, which has the same 3.2 liter M104 engine as '94 - '95 E320 wagons. They just didn't change the badge in 1993 as they should have.

Also, after reading thousands of posts, the failure rate on evaporators on post 1989 W124's is very low. The failure rate on the earlier ones was much higher. You'll still have the failure of the vacuum operated valves inside the dash, though.
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  #3  
Old 12-28-2002, 09:06 PM
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JCE JCE is offline
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Welcome Travmonster:

Here are a few threads from the archives on 400E w124s. Awesome car!

E420 Purchase

Info on E420 please!

"Best" year for a W124 400E
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  #4  
Old 12-28-2002, 09:17 PM
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Nice threads John, but the first one has a small mistake.

All 400E's, even 1992 400E's, came from the factory with R134a.

1992 400E and 500E's were the first W124's to arrive with R134a. All other W124's received R134a in 1993.

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2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".
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