For what its worth...
I just returned from a 10 day trip to Denmark and northern Germany, where I was very surprised to still see loads of approx. '88-'95 w124s all over the place, in emaculate condition. Way more than w210s. Germans generally unload their cars even sooner than Americans do, especially when new models hit the market.

To me that was really saying something special about this particular platform.

the new 211 E was quite ubiquitous as a taxi than private purchase...for the moment. It sure looks nice.

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1995 MB E320 Wagon
2001 BMW 530i
2007 MINI Cooper S (!)

Hey suginami, the picture you posted of the steering wheel/ shift knob is nice. My new ride's interior is the same color ( cream beige? ). The exterior is black, and the paint is in excellent shape. The hand-painted pinstripe is still crisp, no chips in the front bumper or headlights, and the wheels have no curb damage whatsoever. The car has had dust shields since it was new. All the interior wood is like new. There's some minor wear at the drivers' seat back-rest, but other than that it's quite clean. The car has 101K miles on it. The previous owner took very good care of it. My list of things to do is pretty short. Other than the engine harness and maintenance items, the L/R window regulator needs to be replaced. Also the belt-tensioner shock is shot. I'll give it a good cleaning this weekend and then take it on a nice long drive. Thanks again

The leather on my driver's seat back rest was worn, too, especially the side bolster.

The "wearing" or "cracking" is really superficial and can be fixed. Many guys on the forum have had good experience with the leatherique leather dye and the colorplus dye.

Check out run.exe's 500E. He completely redyed the creme colored leather in his car to two-tone gray / black with leatherique.

Also, Thomaspin fixed some bad cracking in the leather in his 300SD. He used the leather dye from colorplus, and featured the process in his website www.pindelski.com

He has a lot of good DIY stuff there, too. It's worth a look.

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Paul S.

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".