Congratulations. Where are you all located that 400e's are selling for those prices?

I bought a '92 in January with the following history:

130,000 miles, smoke silver on mushroom leather
NO slip control
Garaged since new
2 owners, I was able to get in touch w/ the original owner and speak w/ him.
Wiring harness replaced
New radiator
New motor mounts (expensive on the M119!)
Timing chain replaced at 110K
Tires at 120K
A big stack of service receipts all of which I cannot remember at present

Seller was asking $4900 and I got the car for $4500. I think I nearly stole this car b/c it looks as though it could have come off the showroom floor a year ago, except for the various & sundry coffee stains on the carpet, which show up unfortunately well on that mushroom color. A good steaming should get them out. Seller was a good guy and a long-time MB driver who really wanted to sell the car fast. He got his wish - I bought it on my second viewing.

You are going to love that car. If you drive it conservatively around town you can see 22 MPG. Then again, it is hard to drive conservatively! These cars feel like what they were when new - a VERY expensive piece of machinery. 270 HP I believe to be a conservative rating - the car feels a good bit faster than that.

One thing I love about the 400E is that it costs no more to operate than the 300E - fuel mileage is only 1-2 MPG poorer. Makes me wonder why anyone would have bought the 300E new, then I remembered that there was a roughly $10K (!!!!) price differential.

The only thing that I need to address on mine is a blown rear speaker and I need the trim piece that covers the tow hook on the front air dam. That's it.

The one thing you must watch on these cars is the temp gauge. That M119 is really stuffed in there so these cars tend to run a little hotter than average. If your cooling system is not up to snuff the car WILL run hot, and that is not good. The M119 might be one of the most robust gasoline motors that MB has produced in recent memory, and the only ways I know to kill one is to run it hot or run it w/o oil. Don't let that happen to you!

Mercedes makes a leather cleaner and a leather conditioner. I'd recommend using that - check w/ Phil @ Fastlane.

PM me w/ any other questions and congratulations.