I have a 1990 W124 wagon with 225,000 miles. It has the SOHC, decent power, good gas mileage (17/27) and I haven't done any valve work on it yet. The hydraulic lifters click a bit, buy maybe an engine flush would fix that.
Overall, it has been an excellent vehicle. It is my daily driver, camping car, ski car, and bicycle trip car. Fits lots of gear, is very reliable, and with a good pair of winter specific snow tires, it handles very well on ice and snow. It has started reliably, with a weak battery, in Leadville CO, in temperatures of -20F.
I love the way the 525IT wagon looks. But then that black 1993 300TE wagon (3.2 DOHC) posted above in this thread...looks *really* good! I have driven some early and mid 1990s beemers (325 convertible, 325 4 door, 328 2 door coupe) and found the interior to be lower quality than late 80s and early 90s Mercedes. The 328 had an absolutely sweet engine, and is kick-ass driver. The Beemers definitely beat the Mercedes in handling on their stock suspension.
In regards to a tranny for a 300E/300TE...my mechanic has said he can find a used 50k mile tranny for $900, and install it for another $200. I like that option better than $1800 for a remanufactured BMW tranny needed at 150k miles, or less.
