Boring? Prestigious? Granite? Overrated? In praise , or otherwise of the E Class Mercedes.

[Jerzy Woking]

https://www.milanuncios.com/venta-de-co ... 224317.htm

This looks alright for €6,500, 1982 diesel, no rust no cracked dashboard.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The W124 is okay but a good W210 is even better. They are worth very little and the only serious rot point is the front spring perches. Panels and poarts are cheap and the engines are the best MB have ever made from the M111 fours to the M112 V6. Absolutely unbreakable.

A good/saveable one is worth buying now. I'd go for the E240 or E320, both really nice cars to drive.

The facelift W124 isn't that great with all the engine loom dramas and ECU's losing communication with the key. Plus they rot like a bastard around the rear sub mounts. The E34 5 Series is much better, again, if you can find a good one.

[mercrocker]

Just found you one on eBay. I’d forgotten that MB invented the roof box as we know it with these estates too.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186535185178 ... R_yRkKKEZQ
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I know that’s quite a lot of money to us non-plumber/accountant types , but a bloke at work has just financed a BMW i4 with a higher list price- I know which I’d rather have.

I'd rather have a J4 van than an i4 but it doesnt make that W123 worth 50k!

I suppose a new one would cost that, though......

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The W124 is okay but a good W210 is even better. They are worth very little and the only serious rot point is the front spring perches. Panels and poarts are cheap and the engines are the best MB have ever made from the M111 fours to the M112 V6. Absolutely unbreakable.

A good/saveable one is worth buying now. I'd go for the E240 or E320, both really nice cars to drive.

The facelift W124 isn't that great with all the engine loom dramas and ECU's losing communication with the key. Plus they rot like a bastard around the rear sub mounts. The E34 5 Series is much better, again, if you can find a good one.

My last two 210’s

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Bought the 430 at the start of COVID from super posh bloke in Fulham sold it for a lot more money a month later, wish I’d kept it but no work at the time. It’s since appeared on eBay in Scotland with no MOT and looking ver sorry for itself . Amusingly with one of my for sale pics, as evidence of the original owner having a Roller and Ferrari so it had been well looked after

The 240 was 2 years ago and I preferred it to the Jag, that picture was at a family AirBnB break in Wales, me and Mrs went in the Merc. Kids took my XF.
Just looked at MOT history for both , and yes both rotten and probably gone now. That 430 was fully loaded with all the AMG bits from the factory and was a Mercedes U.K. press car for its first 4 months. Those 18” Monoblocks are probably worth what I paid for the whole car in 2020.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Might as well put what I consider the “ best cars I’ve owned “up as well
I’m a fully paid up fan of the W211fan club, 10x better than what came afterwards.the red one was a 3.0V6 diesel e280, I took it from 160 to 240,000 miles in the days I worked my cars hard, didn’t miss a beat . Would sit on the motorway at 90 all day and always returned 35-40 mpg.
That 220:diesel estate is the car I most regret selling this time last year, was just a perfect car. My circumstances changed a week after I sold the fucking thing.

I did once have an early SBC etc bollocks pre facelift 220d manual saloon that was horrible and I moved it on pretty sharpish.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I’ve found a picture of that 220 , earning its keep alongside my old 300C ( itself almost an eClass)

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[treehugger]

The estates are popular in banger racing.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

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Some other random Mercs, the grey 220 was a facelift 2013 car that I paid £9 k for worked for 2 years then punted through WBAC when the gearbox started playing up, during COVID when they were desperate. Got £8200 for it , great times!.
The dogs hit brown 250 was a replacement for the red 211, horrible car got rid after 2 months lost a Grand, sad times.
The red CLK cab was on the strength for 10 years, Mrs still wishes she had it instead of the e Class cab. She’s got now.
Silver CLk was an AS barg, paid less than the value of the plate and scrapped ( agin in covid) for £450 when the ticket ran out.
The w124 cabriolet wasn’t mine, but my brother’s . Fitted with the Carat Duthalet kit from new, we got it from the original owner who owned a brewery in Axminster. Gave us a couple of crates of Badger something or other when we picked it up. Lovely bloke, lovely car. My brother doubled his money after 4 years’ careful’ use.
The ML is almost an e class, later ones called the GLE. Was a money pit, but served us well for 4 years as a family do-it-all.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Fucking hell 50k for that really is deluded. Sorry but I am no Merc fan, I had a few 190's 20 odd years ago and that kind of put me off them. I always found old Mercs uncomfortable with seats that feel like a piece of board ontop of an old spring matteress. I suppose it's just me used to the lovely armchairs in Renaults.

Your description of the seats reminds me of bottoming out a300 SE at high speed late one night. I wasnt wearing my seatbelt and bounced into the roof almost knocking myself out.I did ponder what the Police would have made of the wreckage the next morning if I had managed to break my neck…

[xtriple]

As a serial Mercedes botherer, I am amazed and ashamed to admit that I have never had an 'E' class. Lots of 'S' class from a bottom spec 116 to a top spec 500 via a German spec (LHD) 560, a variety of SLs and now an SLK.

I do love the engines in the earlier cars; the old straight sixes were fantastic lumps and could put up with some serious abuse. I did have a series 123 (is that an 'E' class?) 230 that was a great car... after I changed about 12 valves and a timing chain after it snapped on the way to an MOT. In fairness, the chain was rattling its tits off from the day I bought it and was the next thing on the list after it was MOT'd, just a few miles short!

I sold it to a bloke that wanted it for a Taxi in some God-forsaken hell-hole in Cornwall.