I would say that if you buy the car, expect to put some serious money into it to keep it well maintained. I owned a 1990 w124 coupe with the w104 engine and I felt that the car had a lot of problems considering it only had 170k miles. I also had an '84 300D at the time, and I felt that the 300D was much better built, and certianly easier to work on. The quality of the interior was the same (very, very high quality that is), but the wiring harness on the w124 was failing, the suspension had lots of rattles (before your buy, price new struts, strut mounts, and little things like ball joints, you'll be surprised how expensive), the water pump failed, the a/c system had a couple leaks, the car would get hot very quickly in summer traffic (caused in part by a bad relay ($25), and fans that weren't working well anymore (2 X ~$150). the accessory belt tentioner failed (~$125), the cruise control didn't work properly (too expensive to bother fixing), the front timing chain cover was leaking and making a mess (which all of these engines do), and one rear wheel bearing failed (~$400). I felt that the list of problems with the car never ended, and I got tired of fixing it. Keep in mind, the prices I'm quoting are for parts only. I did the work myself, so you can double or triple those prices if you are paying someone to fix your car. I would also say that my coupe, like the sedan you are looking at, was in excellent condition and came with a service history dating back about 7 years (mostly serviced at the dealer). Even with excellent care and gentle owners, the car was just falling apart.

I would really like another Mercedes diesel and would love a w124 diesel, but based on my experience with the w124 coupe, I don't htink I would ever buy one. I would be very careful about this car if I were you. At least have it looked at very carefully by a mechanic you trust.

Greg