1994 E320
 

I currently have a 1985 190e 2.3 8V with 197K. I am thinking of buying a 1994 E320 with 159K. The price is $4800 and the guy just had a $1400 service (3 months ago). The car is very nice. He is eling it because he bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee and does not want 2 payments. I have requested service records (I know he had it serviced professionally, he is an idiot when it comes to car maintainence). My question is this: What are common things to go wrong with the e series? Are they the same as I would expect from my 190e? Is the heat/AC more reliable than the 190? Mine is aweful. Thanks in advance.

You should do a search on this forum for "w124 problems". Watch out for the headgasket and engine wiring harness.

Foolow up to purchase decision. I went to inspect the car very carefully. It is in very nice shape with the following exceptions: sunroof tilts up, but does not roll back, Drivers window does not go down (motor makes noise though.. like window is stuck), and front left corner light lense is cracked. The window and lense should be easy for me to fix and relatively inexpensive. The sunroof troubles me though. Has anyone else had this kind of issue? I can get he car for a few hundred less now.

RE: Sunroof
 

I have a 1995 E320 Wagon (only 42k miles!) and it had something sort of like your problem happen. The sunroof always tilted up, but would sometimes open a little, then stop, and if you played with the switch it would finally open all the way. It had the same problem closing. I got it all the way open and lubed every piece of shiny metal I could find, and now it works flawlessly. I don't know if the sunroof switch in your 190 is the same or not, but in mine it is a 4-way switch. It slides forward and back for the actual open / close operation and the switch goes up and down for the tilt / close function. Try playing with the switch. Another thing to try is stick the key in the driver's door with the car all closed and turn the key to the unlock position and hold it for 5 seconds or so. This should open all the windows in the car and the sunroof automatically. They should also all close if you lock the car. Maybe your 190 does this, I don't know.

Here are some other minor things to look for: Does the interior light come on in yours when you open the DRIVER'S door? If it doesn't then you will have to change a $60 relay. (Mine is bad) See if the alarm works correctly as well: it should arm when you lock, disarm when you unlock. Mine only works from the tailgate. Just out of curiosity, does yours have heated seats, memory seats, and a power steering column? How about wipers on the headlights? Please fill me in.

CHECK THE AIR CONDITIONING
 

W124s are prone to leaky evaporators. Replcament involves disassembling the entire dash of the car, plus a $300 part ($900 if you have a shop or dealer do it). This is approximately 18 HOURS of labor. Total price is around $2500-$3000.

Make sure that the A/C works!!! The A/C worked on my E420 when i bought it 4 months ago - but died about 1 month later. Now I'm stuck with this massive repair cost. I'm thinking about just bearing the heat - but summer in D.C. can be brutal.

I'd try and work the guy down on the price, given the mileage. If he really wants to sell, then he'd probably accept less now than the possibility of a bit more $ later. Cars with high mileage can sit for quite a while without selling.

Reagrds,
Troy
1995 E420

Ok guys, I bought the car. I went back to see the guy one more time. We went over the car very carefully. He showed me all the records. He has had the car serviced at the MB dealer for the first 2 years and at our local indy shop for the last three. He has not had the head gasket done. He priced it at the MB dealer and was quite shocked, but the car does not need one right now. It surely will sometime. I got a $1200 quote from the Indy shop and that includes milling the head and redoing valves while in there. I also ask them about the car's history.. they said it is an excellent car. They would recommend it. Bottom line: I bought the car for $3400 . I pick it up tonight.

$3.400 is an incredibly low price.

Even with a head gasket and evaporator replacement, you'd still be ahead on the value.

$3400 in my neck-o-the-woods buys you a worn out Civic hatchback from about 12 years ago. How could you go wrong? Cripes, if you had to put a new tranny, head gasket and wiring harness in the first day you'd be ahead on that car.

Congrats!

Problems I've had with your sunroof issue is the rear part of the gasket can 'stick' to the moonroof when trying drop down to slide back. Don't over do it, I think that's how I broke my rails up there($1200). I put a little lube on it (silicon based if I remember) and it worked. I've also had the whole roof jam intermitently due to an acorn in the tracks rolling around.

I picked the car up this evening and all I can say is WOW! I have owned a few "nice" cars (Porsche 944, Mercedes 190e, BMW 318) but none compare. The car is quiet, stable, and the power is smoooooth. No lack for anything in this car.

Regarding your sunroof not moving back - try lubing the tracks.

Mercedes sells a specific grease to be used for this. If you can't get any, I'd try any all-purpose grease, or even WD-40, and see if it works.

My sunroof stopped moving once, and I took it to a local Mercedes shop. They noticed the tracks were bone dry, added some grease, and it is back in action.

You stole that one! Great deal.

1200 for head gasket and valve job ain't bad either!

Ok, richbark, I'll give you $4000 for the car! That car has a computer emissions analyzer. Do a seach and you can run trough the checkup.