Reliability of older Mercedes?

Awesome, thanks for the replies everyone. Still no word on the 380 I'll keep looking.

Had a W123 diesel before. Those things will run forever. Very plush ride. Go for it.

I have nothing but fond memories of my 190E.

They can last many miles, and smoke out everyone behind you on the highway too.

Originally Posted by pancakes

older benz?

gonna start smoking a pipe too?

What's wrong with a pipe Mr. Skinny Jeans?

Originally Posted by kuksul08

They can last many miles, and smoke out everyone behind you on the highway too.

I know basically nothing about them. So this is a total noob question. Generally I assume that cars that blow smoke are broken in some way. But if that's the case almost every older Mercedes (gas and diesel) on the road is "broken". So, is the smoke normal?

the older diesels do tend to smell.....

Want to sell that 94? What did you pick it up for?

Originally Posted by Five_seveN

my dad had an 81 sd, 91 sd and 95 sd. i currently have a 94 sd and theyre great. maintenance and DIY is pretty straight forward as well

the 91 saw ~ 265,000 miles
95 is at ~3xx,xxx
my 94 is at 134,000 and is flawless. looks like a brand new car
BMW has ~45,000 and sits in the garage

I use a 93 W124 as a daily driver. It has 146K on the clock and still looks and smells new, drives like new as well. Routine maintenance is the key to keeping these cars on the road. Only oddball repairs were a new wiring harness, head gasket and a fan bearing bracket. Everything else is and was straightforward.

Found this beauty locally for $1500. Need some minor rear repairs.

Only 130Kilometres (not miles)

Looks MINT!

http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...AdIdZ443069289

Went to check the car out tonight and it's in good shape minus a few small things that I wanted to ask you guys about. The rear windshield heater is corroded, not sure if it still works or not. I'm not very worried about the cosmetics, moreso it if could damage the glass or the seal around the edge and let water in.

The paint isn't bubbling here but I wanted to get a second opinion just be sure that there isn't rust under there. The rest of the paint looked pretty solid for a car that's 28 years old. I couldn't get my phone to focus very well



Last but definitely not least, the driver's power seat isn't working. Is this common at all? What are the chances it's just a fuse?

Originally Posted by cowmoo32

Went to check the car out tonight and it's in good shape minus a few small things that I wanted to ask you guys about. The rear windshield heater is corroded, not sure if it still works or not. I'm not very worried about the cosmetics, moreso it if could damage the glass or the seal around the edge and let water in.

The paint isn't bubbling here but I wanted to get a second opinion just be sure that there isn't rust under there. The rest of the paint looked pretty solid for a car that's 28 years old. I couldn't get my phone to focus very well



Last but definitely not least, the driver's power seat isn't working. Is this common at all? What are the chances it's just a fuse?

Defroster wouldn't cause any leaks, no worries there.

Rust would bubble, that looks like thin clear if anything.

As for the seat it could be a fuse, motor, switch or something with the wiring. Being that the car is that old I'm sure it would be relatively easy to diagnose.

It's a 28 year old car, there a one year old cars for sale with more issues than that, if the price is right go for it.

Good to hear, thanks. I'm going to take it to my local shop and have it looked over and hopefully bring it home tomorrow.

That back glass is crazy expensive. It's laminated with a tiny defroster grid sandwiched into the middle of two sheets of thin glass. The last one I sold (10 years ago) was over a grand just for the glass. The earlier version of that car had a solid tempered back glass, so you might want to look around for one of those if it really bothers you. The rubber weatherstrip for the glass is probably $200 now, and labor to install will run about the same.

How bad is it?

It's like the picture on both sides of the glass. Like I said, I'm not overly concerned with the aesthetics as long as it first pose a problem.

Originally Posted by cowmoo32

Went to check the car out tonight and it's in good shape minus a few small things that I wanted to ask you guys about. The rear windshield heater is corroded, not sure if it still works or not. I'm not very worried about the cosmetics, moreso it if could damage the glass or the seal around the edge and let water in.
The paint isn't bubbling here but I wanted to get a second opinion just be sure that there isn't rust under there. The rest of the paint looked pretty solid for a car that's 28 years old. I couldn't get my phone to focus very well
Last but definitely not least, the driver's power seat isn't working. Is this common at all? What are the chances it's just a fuse?

my grandfather and uncle have owned 80's 90's Mercedes for as long as I can remember and I happen to know a collector as well. On top of that I own a 95 W124 Station Wagon and used to own a 93 W124 Coupe. So I can say that I know these cars pretty well.

1. The rear window heater is not corroding, the two layers of glass that the window heater grid is sandwiched between are separating due to the glue that is failing to do it's intended job over time. This is common for W126's and W124 Coupes. It only spreads to the spot where the glass goes from being curved to being flat. The flat part will remain clear. So apart from the cosmetic downside the glass is fine. Water has nothing to do with this issue.

2. Even if that is rust, (the quality of the picture doesn't allow me to tell for sure) that spot would be easy to fix and has nothing to do with the integrity of the car. You should look for rust in critical spots like the sideskirts, access holes for the jack, spring perches, and metal fuel lines. Faulty fuel lines will also cause a gas smell in the cabin when the engine is cold, so be sure to look out for that.

3. Non-Working Power seats are a common issue on these cars. Unfortunately the chance of only having to replace a fuse to get them working again are really slim, especially since only one seat is out of order (both front seats share the same fuse). It's more likely that you have to replace one of the following:
- Comfort Module ECU under the rear drivers side seat (not 100% sure that it's in the same location on the w126)
- Seat wiring harness
- Actual seat adjustment motor

If you do try to replace the fuse I would suggest replacing all of them right away. The electronics for comfort features are a weak spot on these cars, fortunately they never have any impact on the running condition of the car. These cars are unlikely to let you down in terms of not being driveable at all.

As for general reliability:

The diesel engines are literally bulletproof. They will run on the crappiest quality fuel with zero maintainance in the roughest conditions.

The Inline 6 Gas Engines are amazingly reliable aswell... but they need to be maintained to last. Regular fluid and spark plug and filter changes are a must. The engine wiring harness and the headgasket are pretty much the only things to go wrong... both are fixable and they don't happen out of the blue. Unsteady RPM's at idle which get worse over time are a good telltale sign of the wiring harness goin to crap for example.

With any 80's to 90's Mercedes I would stay away from the 5 speed automatics if you can. These tend to have problems with engaging 5th gear over time. The electronics in these gearboxes tend to go haywire at some point. 4 speed automatics will last forever as long as you do a transmission oil change every 30,000 miles.

If a working A/C is something you want in a car you might have a problem. The AC coolant in these cars is very corrosive and eats up the AC lines and connectors. Usually the AC needs to be rebuilt and refilled.

Here in Germany newer Mercedes are pretty much considered crap by anyone who truly knows about cars. The W124 is considered the last true Mercedes and I can completely understand why. I love how solid mine feels. Everything about it just screams German quality and craftsmanship. If for some reason buying that w126 doesn't work out I would suggest getting a late model W124. These cars are young enough to be a trouble free daily, yet they still have that old school Benz feel. Modern cars just don't compare. Here's my mint 95 E320 Wagon with a couple of subtle mods:







let me know if you need anything else...

^ everything he said

I take it the same can be said for the V8s as the inline 6s?

1985 300E

Made it about 100,000 miles before the problems started kicking in. AC died. The windshield wiper motor stop functioning properly. Leather dashboard was cracking. Plastic parts in the engine were cracking.

^fantastic


Looks like the seat is more than just a fuse, all the fuses are in great condition. I've only noticed one small issue when driving it: When the engine is cold it stutters when I give it gas, almost like it's not getting fuel at all. After a few minutes though it drives like normal. Any ideas?

Originally Posted by cowmoo32

^fantastic

The problems associated with the car were what you'd expect of any vehicle. However, I don't think I could live without the AC piece. And from what I have read it sounds like a problem in other models of that era. It's not exactly an easy DIY. You'll pay an arm and a leg for labor to have someone else do it.


The engine "shuddering" can be caused by a few things. It could be as simple as needing to change the oil or changing it to a different weight/viscosity because of the cold temperatures outside.

It could also be a result of defective or failing engine mounts.

I would start with the oil.