W124 or W126

Best car you can find. Be aware, the little rubber and plastic stuff will drive you crazy. If your budget is below $10K, buy one, but don't start fixing stuff. You will regret it.
Drive and enjoy.

Or buy a car from me. I always put too much money into cars. I brought a 2005 C55 for $14K and then spent about another $14K fixing ****. Those damn squeaks were driving me crazy.

PS Don't tell my wife.

 

Unless going 500E stick with the 126.

Awesome cars.

 

swb 126 300SE...these have a couple of notorious and fatal weak spots

the most important is that ALL swb AND lwb versions using this drive line employ the 722.351(off the top of my head, after 25 yrs.), which have serious problems with a 2-3 upshifting flare.
There is a TSB which is a spring kit for the accumulator valve in the valve body(NOT for the inexperienced) as well as numerous problems with reaction valves, B2 piston seals, K1 clutch wear along with premature K1 band wear(upshift flaring).

For every one tent of a second a tranny is slipping, the oil heats up 100 degrees F!!!
stuff wear FAST...then as it slips, the alloy frame of the valve body overheats and distorts-very few know where or even how to evaluate this area....
finally, the constant over revving will eventually cause the torque converter to elongate and not supply proper pressures to rpm ratios as matched with the governor and the main command valve as designed...
a mouthful, but the short version is that a minor hiccup in a 30 yr. old MB tranny is 1800-3000.00-period.

then there was the terminal design flaw regarding the valve train resulting in astronomically premature guide bore rates of wear....

stick with the v-8, much sounder engine-but guard for overheated history-this is a fatal condition as the block is ALUSIL and NOT NIKASIL(there were o9nly 3 of us who were ok'd by warranty dept. to bore and machine these blocks west of the Rockies.

124 cars were blown up 201 cars....mid size "econoboxes"
s-class...you generally get what you pay for...

 

I have a 1994 E320 (also had a '95 years ago, never should have sold it)- wonderful car! Drives a bit old school. Big steering wheel, the whole feel of it, but it has THE smoothest engine ever! Lots of torque and you never feel underpowered. I love mine.

 

Does it have to be 4 doors?

I'm enjoying the heck out of this, and with more miles, will fall into the around $10K category.

C209 CLK350. although the CLK320 and CLK500 are also a good deal. Just steer clear of the 2007 model year.

My car is a 2009, $58K new, bought it used for $15K a few months ago, with 50K miles on it.

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I'd stick with pre-1993 300E/CE/TE.
Nice daily driver, can teach 500Es some lessons.
Especially with ASD they are fun to drive (hydraulically actuated 100% LSD), unlike boring ASR (traction control) system as fitted on later W124s and most of the W126s.
300E/CE has good mileage and power. KE-Jetronic systems are pretty bulletproof, just don't panic. 300E-24 is the hybrid 24-valve inline-6 with KE-Jetronic system - 3.0 230hp. Though it's got some minor problems with distributor caps and moisture there, which can cause poor spark. Other than that, it's the pinnacle of old school Mercedes.
W126s are cool, however, sedans got a lot less legroom than W124, so the only W126 to consider would be a W126 coupe for me.
560SEL with full hydraulic suspension is the thing to drive. Pricey repairs tho.

You can avoid most of the transmission problems if you get more line pressure (it can be adjusted underneath). The shifts would be more noticeable and crisp, however, you almost eliminate wear this way.

 

w126 are the last of the vault built mercs imho.

build quality and reliability has never been the same

 

Love old mercs I have a R129 SL600, and other than pricey wiring problems that i didnt know about before I bought it, it has been rock solid.

Never felt a smoother engine!


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I have a CLK 320 for 7 months now, I bought it with 140000km for all of 6800€. I already put 16000km on the clock, and apart from a broken third brake light, it has had exactly zero issues. The engine is wonderful, ride quality is great, no problems at all - light years of difference to the BMW E39 I bought in January 2015, where I already changed half of the car by the same time last year...

 

I've owned several W124s but none of the bigger brother.
Great cars with a few caveats; If the HVAC isn't working properly buckle up for a big potential bill. The transmissions are a bit awkward feeling, starting in second and clumsily going to first if you ask for more acceleration. I've not experienced the 2-3 shift flare in these but have with an old 190e, don't know if same trans.
The engine wire harnesses are know to biodegrade. A replacement is available but expensive. There is a way to determine if it has been done(colors of a certain connector as I recall)if not seek a used updated version from a wrecker. Paid <$100 for the last one I bought. It's a DIY job for most.

 

I'm a Mercedes fan. In fact when switched to Mercedes in 91, my parents did so following our BMW sales guy who began working for the Vancouver Merc dealer. I still deal with him today. I have him call me on older trade ins. I also own the 91 420SEL he sold my Dad new. Same time my Mom bought a 500SL. I owned that one up until about 7 years ago. My family also had a 300E and 190 diesel.

They've changed some of their warranty deals that made them excellent value used. Like the older ones including up to my 500SL, had free lifetime Mercedes roadside assistance. It even transferred over to new owners. Now you need to do all the dealer inspection services and here it ends at 180k kilometers. Second they had a lifetime body warranty against rust. You needed to have at least one inspection by the dealer per year for this. They replaced or fixed small rust issues under warranty before it was a problem. Now they limit this to 180k kilometers and I forget the year limit.

The above may have been Canada only. I know they are really popular in places like Toronto. Many people buy them there as winter cars due to the above warranties. The other thing you can find lots of decent shape Mercedes. The higher end most service them at the dealer open check book when new.

Having said all the above. Even though my 420SEL is nice overall, with 200k kilometers its not worth much. All though excellent parts supply, some things can be pricey on them. Shocks and brakes can exceed the value of many older Mercedes.

For this reason and since the warranties are expensive to receive. I believe the best used car value is a low miles VW Corrado or GTI with the VR6.

 

Had a W126 300 SEL for 6 years. bulletproof and easy to fix. parts readily available. Never had drivetrain issues. AC compressor went out which was the most expensive issue. Drove it 70K miles and sold it in less then a day. Amazing car for something 25+ years old.