looking around for a DD that is fairly interesting. Saw an ad for a 300CE. Don't know doodly about these models. Is this a decent model to pick, all things considered? Good shape, low miles, service records.

Jake,

I've owned one since 2001. The M103 motor is very reliable. Head gaskets were an issue. I'm not a DIYer and mine is not a DD any more. I've had normal replacement costs over the years. The in-dash ingition broke last year and was expensive to fix. Not an uncommon for the W124. My shocks are original, but need replacement. I was quoted 1200 by an Indy p&l.
FE is low 20's. Premium gas.
All that aside, I love the car. Drop all 4 windows and roll down the road with the sun roof open and it's as much fun as a cabriolet, without the headaches.

1988 was the first year it was introduced. IIRC, the first year sales were 2,700 units +/-. MSRP was $52,000 Sales went gradually down from there, to around 2,100-2,200.http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/1410428-post13.html

Study the service records diligently.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/21416-300ce-e320-coupe-owners-roll-call.html

Thanks. It is a nice looker, Diamond Blue metallic paint and the interior is very nice. It would be a "sometime" DD. I usually ride the Dyna, then there is the S70 Volvo winter car and my International pickup. Just want to make sure that I am not looking at one of MB's "problem children"

Basically the W124 cars are considered to be EXCELLENT vehicles for their time with ONE exception, the air conditioning and climate control system. This is the achilles heel of these cars. Make sure that the a/c cools well and that all the vents work as they are supposed to. If not, there are vacuum pods that require an extensive amount of work to remove the dash and replace.

These models are known for high evaporator failure rate. 15 hour job to replace. Many people will tell you that ALL of the factory evaporators will fail. I don't believe this since my car is 24 years old and 324K miles with the factory evaporator intact and tight.

Hope this helps.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

ach! that's one area I have trepedation about. Had a 420 SEL that had climate system failure and I did not want to dive in to fix that or pony up the $$$$$ to have someone else do it.

I read a review on these cars that was written in probably the mid nineties. From memory I think I can write a word for word quote. If my quote is not exact it will be close:

"The 300E climate control is plagued with problems, vacuum pods fail, controllers fail and other expensive parts of the a/c system fail, but don't let this keep you from enjoying the EXCELLENCE of the rest of the car."

I took those words to heart before buying my 300E in 1997 (I think.) I have never regretted it. I have had to replace the pods and replaced the heater core while I was in there. It was 15 hours work, but very straight forward. Everything comes apart and goes back together very well. The almost 300,000 miles of enjoyment I've had from the car has been worth every minute of that work.

My $0.02,

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Jake,

Larry's right. It's a dash puller. Fortunately, mine had only 41,000 on it in 2001 and was a FL winter use car originally from NY. It had not been converted from R12. In my area, surrounded by water, I seldom use the ac/evap. Last summer, I finally did have it converted. It works fine. If you are in TX, I guess you live & die with the air conditioner.
How is the driver's seat belt scuffing? Do both seat belt presenters work? That's a nice touch.
Spend a couple of bucks and do a carfax. The fewer owners the better, obviously.

Since we got on the refrigerant subject. This particular car is NOT a good candidate for 134 conversion. Luckily R12 has now come back down in price. Mine is still on R12 and doing quite nicely, although I replaced the compressor last Spring.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I agree wih the above, and my personal experience with my gas guzzling v8 fun to drive '95 e420 (25,000 miles piled on since July 2011 when I bought it), has borne out my suspicions that it'd be a wonderful car for all seasons and all reasons....

i'd add that this is the LAST e class Mercedes Benz built to a cost no object standard of build quality, durability, quality control, with the engineers not the bean counters at the helm.

It's also got styling by the fabled Bruno Sacco which means it's beautiful and cannot be identified at first glance than anything other than as a Mercedes Benz.

If well kept up, and a set of books and records verify that, they will easily run to interstellar mileage.

Plus they are very safe.

If it's diamond blue metallic, it's a slick looker, too and likely will have a black, blue or palomino interior; if the interior is blue, be aware that the fibers in the blue dash top for some reason make long cracks appear - nobody knows why this is, but it does happen. A blue $20 aftermarket dash mat will cover that up though .


A PPI by a good shop or mechanic is advised and generally, condition trumps mileage - one is great shape with 250k on the clock is a better bet than one with 80k that is neglected, has issues or is trashed or has been thrashed.

Its inline 6 cylinder is thought by many to be the best 6 cylinder engine Mercedes Benz ever made.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Jim brings up a great point. I have the window sticker for my 5 speed 300E. It is $49K. In 1988, I expect that 25% of that amount would have bought some pretty decent new American cars, as American cars go.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

That is a good point, Larry... (it is pleasant to agree with you now and then!)

That is correct for the reason that the original HVAC hardware is not designed to handle R134, and one (unsurprising) result is that often as not the cooling effect of the AC with R134 is weaker - *noticeably* weaker.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Safe? Did the man say safe?

IIRC, this former member from TX rolled his 3 times, opened the door and he and his family crawled out unharmed.

all good stuff. does have the blue interior. going to view it today.

Don't be put off if you see an slight indentation below the trunk lip to the left of the key/latch. Unusual but not indicative of collision or abuse. Bunch of W124's have them, mine included. Probably a design weakness. There's a thread somewhere about it.

i had an 89 briefly.guy couldn't come up with the title.but while i did have it i loved that car.that had to be the smoothest 6 cyl i have ever had.i still have the owners manual for that car.one neat thing i really liked about the engine is the serp belt deflected off the top and bottom of the waterpump pulley so there was basically no load on the bearing.mine was also blue/blue.