diagnosing a W211 with a cloned star or a good scan tool is a piece of cake, diagnosing the W124 is oldschool oscilloscope, DMM and a bunch of slow tools - which are dirt cheap though.

The machinists are spot on abt the magnificent engines that were put in between the W124 fenders. Its really a great machine but are getting aged with time.

The W211 can run circles around it though, but whenever you buy an early W211 always ask for the SBS brake module replacement. If it has not been replaced then its a 1400 dollar ticket because it has an expiry timer of time and usage (usually 10 years or some number of brake applications). I always advise to keep that money aside when buying a W211 and it wont hurt a bit - its just part and parcel of buying this car.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)