we have owned our 87 300E for about a year, and have enjoyed it so much that we planning on dumping our P.O.S. 5 speed 88 Acura legend coupe and buying another w124. We only really need a 2 door, and have talked about a 300CE. Are these also W124 chassis? Are there any major safety, noise, quality, mechanical, durability, or performance differences? Any caveats or advantages? In other words, given the choice between an identical mileage/condition coupe or the sedan, all things being equal, which would be the better choice? Thanks for the input!

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JCE
87 300E, 62k miles
Smoke Silver

[This message has been edited by JCE (edited 05-11-2000).]

IMHO - the CE looks much MUCH nicer. I don't think there's any difference but for sheetmetal between the two, but that statement is not qualified. For some reason though, the CEs are running, on average, about $6k more on the resale market here in California (same year, mileage, condition, appointments). I don't know if that's attributed to them being harder to find or ???
Matt

CE is defenately a better statment and a much better looking car. Up to 89' it had the same engine as 300E but in 90' it got a bigger one, same as 300SL i think, so it does have a better performance (217 hp vs. 189hp). It is 124 shassys. Unless u live in California, it is an exlusive car, not many of them around.It is more expensive though, 6 grand more than E is about right. But it did cost much more new (around $60,000). If money is not a problem go with CE, defenately

Safety, reliabilyty and mechanics are the same as E

Dmitry
90' 300CE

Another advantage of a coupe is the increased visibility you get out the side windows due to the lack of a door post between the front and back windows. This makes it a little easier to check your blindspots on the freeway. It took me a little while to get used to decreased visibility in the 300SD.

The main disadvantage that I can think of is the obvious one: the coupe only has 2 doors. The coupe might also be more of a "cop magnet," but my experience has been that Mercedes in general are not cop magnets at all. <knocking on wood>

I'd weigh the coupe's nicer looks (if you find the coupe a more attractive car) against its higher price and base my decision on that. Keep in mind the coupe will be worth more if you sell it too. Either way you'll have a lot nicer car than an Acura.


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Dean
Santa Barbara, CA
1974 280C
1984 300SD

The Coupe is 5 inches shorter than the 4 door, and has quite a bit less rear leg room, but the reduction in length REALLY increases the handling.

I love mine even tho it has the old style motor.

Bri 300CE - 181,000 miles



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Brian Drought
1991 300CE
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drought/
ICQ: 2180069

Did the coupe come out in '86 at the same time that the sedan did? If not when did it come out. If it came out in '88 or earlier, there may be a few 5 Speeds out there.

Don't worry JCE, I'm not suggesting you turn into a manual transmission maniac like myself, I'm asking the question for myself.

Good luck in finding the car you want,

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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 516K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

I believe that the CE came out in 88 or 89 - my sedan belonged to my father, and he had always owned MB coupes - he probably would have bought a CE if it had been available.

BTW, I too am a manual transmission fan - this 300E is the first car I have ever owned with an auto.

I really like the looks of the coupe better than the sedan, but have grown to love the handling and sturdy nature of the sedan.

I asked if there were any differences because at one point I thought I read from one of the moderators or senior members that they didn't like working on the coupe. I would buy a coupe only if I felt it was at least as durable and sturdy as the sedan, otherwise I will find another 4 door and add the sportline package to that. Thanks for the comments so far.

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JCE
87 300E, 62k miles
Smoke Silver

The 300CE started in 1988 for $52,500. In 1990, it received the m104 3.0-24valve engine with 217hp versus the 3.0 m103's 177hp. In 93, it received a bigger version of the m103, a 3.2 which increased the torque. Here are the figures:

m103 3.0 (88-89) - 177hp@5700, 188lb.ft.@4400
m104 3.0 (90-92) - 217hp@6400, 195lb.ft.@4600
m104 3.2 (93-95) - 217hp@5500, 229lb.ft.@3750

The biggest difference between the m103 3.0 and m104 3.0 besides the 24v, are that it has an upgraded version of the fuel injection system (KE-III v. the KE-V) and the difference between the m104 3.0 and m104 3.2 is the new HFM fuel injection system.

Also, the m103 ran a compression of 9.2:1, while the m104 ran 10:1.

In 1990, the retail was $55,700 and in 93 went to $61k. In 95, they sold for $63k.

Right now, a 95 E320 Coupe retails for w/60k miles reatiles for a little under $35k.
A 93 300CE coupe w/84k miles runs for under $22,500.
A 90 w/120k miles runs for under $15k.
An 88 w/ 144k runs for under $10k.

Hopw this helps.



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Chirag (Charlie) Patel

- 99 Mercedes-Benx ML 430 V8 w/custom TV, Video, UHF, speaker system
- 93 190E 2.6 (4-sale) w/ an amp, equalizer, and CD-changer, integrated w. stock stereo for integrated cellular phone speaker system
- had a 93 190E m103 3.2, 5-speed trans,
- had a 88 300E 2.6
- had a 84 300TD w/275k+ miles
- 2001 C-Class - Maybe (if 190E sells)

JCE,
No one has mentioned this yet so I'll forward that although the coupe is shorter than the sedan, it weighs about 150Lbs more.
To compensate for this though, MB put the larger brakes, 4 piston calipers in the front, starting with the 1990/M104 models.
Great car, love it...

TobiasMB
300SE, 300CE, 190/5.0

According to my manual, the 300CE is slightly lighter than the 300E!!

Are you sure you're comparing like for like? When the 300CE got the 24V motor, yes, it got heavier, but no heavier than the 300E 24V!!

Bri - 300CE M103 12V

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Brian Drought
1991 300CE
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~drought/
ICQ: 2180069

Dont cook the 5 speed trannys ...they can be found.!

Brian,
On this side of the creek MBUS publishes a technical sheet showing all models' specs and dimensions. In the 1991 sheet they show the 300E as weighing 3365lbs and the 300CE as 3505lbs. Of course this is with the M104 engine and larger brakes but wouldn't think this amounts to 140lbs...do you? Curious!

TobiasMB
300SE, 300CE, 190/5.0

Same weights are listed in the '92 literature as those Tobias stated. Also, the CE is only 3.3" shorter overall, and all of it is in the wheelbase...exact same front and rear overhangs. Of note, the CE also has the same track and overall width as a 300E.

Beautiful cars. Get the M104 motor! Kinda slow without it, but goes fine if that's not your thing.

Good luck!

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Best regards, Michael
'92 500E
'88 300TE

If I understand other tech posts in the past, the main problem with the m103 engine is valve seals/guides, and the main shortcoming of the m104 is head gaskets. Both these problems would seem to show up around 100,000 miles if I understand correctly. If the above is true, which of the 3 engine models/years listed by Chiraqp (m103 3.0L 88-90, m104 24V 3.0L 90-93, or m104 3.2 93-95) would be the best to hunt for? Reliability and long term ownership cost are more important to me than horsepower. Thanks to everyone for all the great info on these cars!!!

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JCE
87 300E, 62k miles
Smoke Silver

The extra weight in the CE probably comes from the beefed-up frame needed to compensate for the lack of a pillar. Mercedes has a long history of giving the coupes a little more power. The 70-72 250C for instance had a 2.8 liter engine as opposed to 2.5 in the sedans.

If you can afford it, go for it. The only down side I see is if you have to haul kids to school frequently it is a pain to get them in and out of the back seat.

There are usually 2-4 for sale in the DC area.


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Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'86 300E 5 speed
'95 C220 (wife's car)
'98 Porsche Boxster
Past: '79 280E, '82 300D (18 yrs), '77 240D,
4 250C's