It must have been poorly maintained, or you ended up with it right at the point where it would need a bunch of repairs. My 300E has been quite reliable.....

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Weight mostly.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I think that Mercedes cars through the early '90s were engineered and built to last, to be used for a very long time but still cars. The pressure to have extended service intervals and "permanently lubricated" systems doesn't fare as well for them in their old age, plus many of the items that typically wear out, such as sunroofs, do have a service interval that is usually ignored once out of the original owners' hands.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

My 88 300E just hit 500,000 kilometers. It's had normal maintenance along with a few driveshaft, diff mount issues and a few other minor repairs that are to be expected throughout 500,000 kilometers of driving. A valve job is the most serious work that I've done on it.

At this stage it doesn't look like much cosmetically, but I wouldn't be afraid to gas it up, check the oil and tire pressure and then take off on a 2,000 mile trip. I would leave with as much confidence as anyone could have that it would be a trouble free trip.

Cars are machines. Machines require normal maintenance. It doesn't matter if it's 56 Rambler or a brand new Mercedes, if it is not properly maintained it will give trouble and lots of it.

My $0.02,

My W124 is finally sorted out mechanically, so I haven't had to deal with underhood issues for awhile.

However, the Texas heat has permanently damaged the interior, so I have a sagging headliner, torn seats, and all of the plastic panels are so brittle that touching them for removal results in shattered pieces!

So I'm looking to overhaul the cockpit down the road, and have started to acquire a number of these panels...noting that the replacements are nearly as brittle as the pieces I'm trying to replace...obviously, I'm not the only one experiencing this.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

I've heard all kinds of things about the interiors being poor. My car has leather and has almost always been stored out of the heat. As a result, the interior is not perfect, but it is actually pretty decent. It's the paint and exterior trim that needs help on my car. Part of that is my doing because I have not kept the car waxed over the years. Of course, the deer that I hit about 6 or 8 years ago along with a few other smaller animals have not done the old girl any favors.

I've had '87s with great interiors, my worst interior was a southern '95. Depends on whether they were garaged regularly / parked out of the sun or a northern car I guess.

Rust is the other side of the coin, if a rust-belt car that is neglected, there can be rust (but a perfect interior).

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Neither my 190E nor my S420 have ever required a major repair. (Knock on wood.) All of the work I do on them is regularly scheduled maintenance or replacing plastic or rubber parts that have become brittle and broken due to age. I have absolutely no complaints about either of my two vehicles and have never regretted purchasing them. The main reason I come to these forums is because I enjoy learning everything I can about the technical aspects of my vehicles and to assist anyone who may need some advice on their MB. This forum has saved me tons of money by allowing me to do maintenance myself, especially on my S420.

If not I start doing preventative maint

I dunno exactly why, but engineers often use fiber optic connections where electrical isolation is desired. Hard to get a ground loop over glass.

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-tp


1990 300SE "Corinne"- 145k daily driver - street modified differential - PARTING OUT OR SELLING SOON - PORTLAND OR. AREA - PM ME FOR DETAILS
1988 560SEL "Gunther"- 190K passes anything except a gas station
1997 S420 - 265k just bought it with a rebuilt trans. Lovely condition

The fiber optic saves weight. Rather than a zillion, copper cables carrying signals and power to various portions of the vehicle, they run one copper power wire and a fiberoptic cable to an intelligent device that controls the accessories in that location.

I'm not defending it, I'm just being a Parrot, regurgitating what I read some years ago.