Most reliable old Mercedes

[zaerth]

I've read so much about the W124 being an amazingly over-engineered car, and right now they are so cheap, they are a great purchase.

Are there other legendary over-engineered Mercedes?

When you balance purchase price, parts costs and reliability, are there any better buys than a used W124?

[BWhitmore]

W123 is probably the best Mercedes ever built (240D, 300D, 300CD, 300TD, 230-280E, 280CE).

[Phil_F_NM]

I wouldn't say the W124 is cheap these days. They are selling for quite high amounts whenever they can be found.
Aside from that, I'm willing to say the diesel W115 then W123 would provide the very longest life, given normal and regular maintenance.

EDIT: the most reliable old Mercedes is one of the above but without rust.

Phil Forrest

[Frank Reiner]

"Most reliable old Mercedes"?
The cynic says: "The one that is never driven."
The rationalist says: "Reliable" must be defined first.

[cth350]

over engineered? They're all over engineered.

The 600 is stratospheric; every graph needs an upper bound that gets close to infinity.

There are cars from the late 60s, early 70s that have a time relay to keep the dome light on for a minute or so after you shut the door. Today, a computer does that for you.

The MFI system of the late 50s and 60s, along with the CIS systems of mid-70s to the mid-90s use ports precision machined to tightly regulate fuel metering. Get a spec of junk in the wrong place and metering goes out the window. The late 60s & early 70s EFI systems relied on accurate vacuum reading, so a leak throws things off. The cure? more sensors and a computer to control them all.

The W114, W123 & W124 cars definitely sit at the knee of the curves for price to maintain and resulting performance. If you do you're own work and can handle the occasional broken piece of plastic because nobody's got a spare, you can't go wrong with these (says the guy that loves the W111 & W108 cars more).

-CTH

[Sugar Bear]

If they were all in the same condition, my reliability vote would be for the simplistic 115 diesel followed by the 123 diesel.

I'd prefer a very well sorted, rust free '94-95 W124 M104 non- 4Matic sedan for the fun factor even with the loss in reliability penalty. They run smoothly, strong, drive incredibly well, are safe (ABS and SRS) and are decent on fuel.

[meltedpanda]

W123 diesel would be my vote, and I've tinkerd with many of the models

[rumb]

W126 are great cars.

[Dubyagee]

W123s are simple and rugged

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by Sugar Bear

If they were all in the same condition, my reliability vote would be for the simplistic 115 diesel followed by the 123 diesel.

I'd prefer a very well sorted, rust free '94-95 W124 M104 non- 4Matic sedan for the fun factor even with the loss in reliability penalty. They run smoothly, strong, drive incredibly well, are safe (ABS and SRS) and are decent on fuel.

I agree...any diesel with a stick is good. The best imho is a 83 240d stick. Trick is finding one in good enough condition to be worth taking home.

[fonzi]

My gut reaction is w123 and w126, and diesels over gassers. And if in gassers, the most common issues with 1970’s r107 cars is lack of use and rust. The carbs on w114 gas cars have given me trouble. 1960’s MFI is hard to get tuned apparently. So d-jet is the earliest I’d go with gas cars, and kE-jet is when things start to get more complicated with injection, and the systems started having all sorts of changed in the early 90’s and the wiring harness issues started. So it’s hard to say the best built e-class w124 is “reliable” for that reason. I think you will find that people have put the most miles on w123 and w124 cars which alone might make them the most reliable. But nothings going to send a w123 to the scrap yard besides not being worth enough money to fix the rust. W124 might go to the scrap yard bc someone doesn’t want to deal with bad wiring or a bad m103 head gasket. I think a 198$ diesel w124 might be the winner though.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by fonzi

I think a 198$ diesel w124 might be the winner though.

I never took to those plasticky side panels on the W124. I am sure the early diesel versions were good cars though.

Today, I was out picking up a few things. At both places I stopped, someone came over to me and complimented me on the 85 300D. Happens a lot with the 107, but unusual for the 123!

To be honest, the 300D isn't that great. Needs a few small rust repairs. But overall, it still looks good and has that classic MB "look". After 32 years, still my go-to car.

By the way, we also have a '98 W210 E320. These cars get a bad rap, but we have had ours for 21 years and have had very few issues and no drive train problems. Whenever rust showed up, it was fixed. We have put over 200k km on that car. Still original paint and is still my wife's daily driver.

For all these old cars, you do need to be a DIYer or have deep pockets!

[fonzi]

This graphic made me think maybe it would be worth trying a diesel wagon maybe to see if I could get by with a wagon for my work instead of always relying on my Honda Ridgeline. 1987 is what I meant to write above when 198$ came out. The w123 wagons seem to have gotten too expensive. I’ve got a POS 1992 300te that I MIGHT be able to register if I install an exhaust on it, and know where there’s a diesel parts w124, but that’s just another project for limited environmental gain.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/comparing-the-carbon-footprint-of-transportation-options/