My father has a '93 E320 coupe. Lovely car, but... Somewhere between our '90 models and '93 the quality went wrong.

We love the coupe for its great looks and strong performance (especially with the 5-speed auto that Oz versions got). Reliability has not been good considering it has only done 130,000km. I found it for my father two and a half years ago in good condition with dealer service history. Since then it has needed an engine wiring harness, a coolant reservoir and had numerous other minor issues, including something breaking in the seat belt extender all in just 18,000km that he has owned it.

The water pump is now leaking and the oil leak at the rear of the motor suggests that we are in for the notorious head gasket failure. My father is fast losing confidence in the car and my parents will only now use their W210 E230 (M111) for long journeys.

As the person who maintains all the Benzes in the family, I am unimpressed with this aspect of the E320 coupe. My father recently suggested I might like to buy it from him but I would rather keep my 190E (with 220,000km) as my daily driver. Unless performance is of greatest importance, I would recommend the M103 as the best engine for a W124 due to its better reliability, quietness and easier maintenance. In a coupe, this restricts you to an '89 or earlier which unfortunately misses out on the updates that occured in late '89. Our '90 300TE (W124 wagon) with 179,000km has been great with a head gasket failure being the only major issue in over five years that we have owned it.

A club member who works as an MB tech recently suggested to me that the M103 was one of MB's finest engines. He also said it was a pity they ruined it when they fitted the 24 valve head and made it an M104.

As a matter of interest, in Australia the six cylinder W124 coupes were badged 300CE, 300CE-24, 320CE and E320. We also got the E220 four at the end of the model run.

__________________
107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.