I am doing alot of driving with the w126 mostly city, doing stuff like running errands and things and now will be going on a 300km trip. Does all this driving do any harm to the car? I mean I know they are durable but she has about 420 000 km on her and even though is running like it has 100 000km, does all the driving affect it??

How should I drive the car with this many km on it? Gentle, or what? I dont drive really fast but most of the time I drive at speeds where it shifts at 2500-3000 rpms from start.

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99 C43
98 S420
99 C230K
01 C240

My dad drove the 500 24 hours staight from Nebraska to Florida 4 or 5 times. It was great cold a/c (those were the days in the 500) He drove on avreage of 80-90 I rember seeing the needle at 135-140 (real cool when your little). Never did any damage to the car. I would say just watch your temp gauge and oil psi gauge. Stop check your oil everyonce in a while and have trust in the car.

After all that city driving, the car will relish a highway trip.

And if you can give it the old "Italian Tuneup" (e.g. flooring up a long uphill) you might be able to blow a few carbon deposits out of the engine and possibly make it run more efficiently.

These cars like highway trips. Oh, and btw, if your timing chain has been changed at regular intervals, don't be afraid to redline it a couple of times. Trust me, you'll like it.

-Sam

Sam is right: long, fast trips are good for the car. Just make sure the engine and gearbox are thoroughly warmed up before taking the car much above 3,000rpm. 10 to 15 miles should be more than enough to get everything up to temperature.

However, short trips in urban conditions are bad for the car. This is because the engine never gets warmed up. It is always starting or running cold (which is inherently bad for the engine). Also, stop-start urban traffic places higher stresses on the components than even high speed steady cruising.

I did 2,200 miles in 3 days in my C240 last summer, running at very high speed for extended periods (mostly 100mph plus). When I returned home I took the car straight to the dealer to ask if he should have a look at it, maybe change the oil and filter. "Absolutely not," he said, "the car will have enjoyed it."

Now, given how keen dealers usually are to do unnecessary work and generally take advantage of the naive punter, his words must be true!

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JJ Rodger
2013 G350 Bluetec
1999 SL 500
1993 E300 diesel T
1990 190

Well....that is basically what I do. I drive in the city during the week and maybe once every 3 weeks it goes for a short trip on the highway. Usually a 100km drive.

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99 C43
98 S420
99 C230K
01 C240