I have to admit that I can certainly relate to this. I spent a lot of time lurking here before I finally bought my first benz last year, after wanting a 300E for many years. And since then I can't help but check up on what people have to say numerous times a day. Hasn't helped my med school marks but it's still very hard to resist.

I must say that the prices you guys in the US pay for these cars always amazes me. Down under it's a completely different story. I paid something like $7000 for my 1991 300E-24V last year and it was still a good buy compared to a lot of other cars I have seen here. Rust here is a bit of a non-issue though compared to some of the stuff I have some on the forum from people living in areas with snow where they salt the roads.