Hi-
I am in the early stages of trying to find a 1994 or 1995 Mercedes E320 Wagon (am I correct that this is a s124?). My family just grew to four total (baby Rosalie is 2 weeks old), and obtaining a car with more seats than a standard 5-seater sedan will be helpful. I have never owned a gasser MB, so most of my time has been spent on the diesel forum, but hopefully you don't mind a new visitor to this part of the forum.

Anyway, I have been looking into the later 124 cars, and it looks like head gaskets, AC evaporators, wiring harnesses, and throttle actuators, are some of the major problems with the vehicle. At my budget (~$5000), the mileage on the vehicle will likely be high enough to trigger any or all of these problems plus more. When I find the right car, I am going to pounce on it quickly, so I was hoping to get advice in advance. Keeping all else equal (including price), which would you buy:

1) a lower mileage (say 120,000) car where none of these problems have surfaced (YET).

2) a higher mileage (say 200,000) car where the head gasket has been replaced, the AC evaporator has been changed, the updated wiring harness is installed, and the throttle actuator has been fixed.

I know it is generally advisable to get a car where the previous owner has done many of these major projects (option 2), but at 200,000 miles, a high mileage car may have numerous other problems (suspension, transmission, etc) as well. Thanks in advance for your help.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).