Yours may be the most durabile Mercedes ever. It still had the old attention to quality. Also, it had galvanizing. That was the one misssing feature that did in my W126. The rust got it. My W126 had the same engine that is in your car, and it was also a tank. Never had any serious problems with it. Trust me, the new one aren't the same. As my earlier posts states, marketing took over in the early '90's. That is always a deathknell for quality in the auto industry. The marketers quickly learn that you can lower quality for about 10 years before you get into trouble. Most of them consider a success to sell a car at the same price, produce it cheaper, and make more money. Eventually it catches up with you. they are offering $0 down/ $290 month leases here to get the cars off the lot. Brand equity has been burned and it is time to pay the piper aka 1980 for the US auto industry.