So reading comparisons of the older 124 with the newer E320s I find the older one preferred for many reasons. Im a big fan of the 94.95 E320 and thoroughly impressed with the engineering and the machinists tell me the engine is top quality alloys and design. But honestly, my interest in these cars is due to their ridiculously low resale which allows me to get into a really fine car for peanuts.

And I truly enjoy working on the car and solving its issues. Once a problem is accurately identified and corrected it stays fixed and works great! Other cars Ive owned, an MG for example, fall apart faster than they can be repaired!

So I originally looked at the W211 and these were running 6,500 to 9K but now Im seeing very clean W211 wagons in the $3000 range and it's very tempting! But am I asking to get sucked into repair work that would triple that number with any transmission issue or electronics failure?? Im really not tempted by the W210, in comparison I really prefer the W124 but the 211 seems great.

Sticking with the 124 for now but just watching the market. It seems with all the new car sales there is a surplus of trade-in cars driving the used market way down. (just my guess)

Thanks for any advice or comments, esp from W211 owners, 04 or so.