The 500E is the pumped up, M5-fighting, super-sedan version of the W124 platform E-class. The product of a Porsche-Mercedes collaboration between 1990 and 1994, these cars were 322 hp monsters capable of 155 MPH on the autobahn. Powered by the 5.0 liter V8 M119 engine, the 500E was externally differentiated from ordinary W124s only by flared fenders, a slightly lowered stance and an innocuous-looking badge at the rear. The 500E was the very definition of a wolf in sheep’s clothing: practical, supremely fast and understated (a cliche, to be sure, but an apt one). I used to scour Craigslist for these cars, in the vain hope that I would come across one being sold for cheap by somebody who didn’t know what they had. Sounds far fetched, I know. But Doug Demuro once found one for half price price at a dealer who mistook it for just another old Benz. Sadly, I think those days are over. The used market has since woken up to these cars and now they’re usually priced anywhere between $10k and $40k depending on condition and miles.
Author: Craig
The E12 was the first sedan from BMW to wear the 5-series badge. Available in the US only as a six cylinder model, it was sold here in two guises: the 530i (1975-1978) and the 528i (1979-1981). The classic, Paul Bracq-styled design was, and remains, a winner. However, the E12 is mostly remembered for its numerous flaws. Like a lot of European imports from the time, US market cars were burdened by less powerful, emissions-restricted engines and ugly, 5mph crash resistant bumpers. The 528 incorporated thermal reactors as part of its emissions control system and these had a tendency to overheat the engine bay, causing cracking or warping of the cylinder heads. The air conditioning was rubbish. The handling could be twitchy. The gas mileage was pretty awful. The bodies were particularly susceptible to rust, which is why most of them ended up in junkyards long ago. Still, I have a lot of time for these cars mostly because they are so handsome. Since there are so few of them left it’s always a pleasant surprise to find a nice looking survivor like this one.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1975 BMW 530i on eBay
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A couple of years ago this video of a murdered-out 560SEC AMG surfaced on Jalopnik and I fell in love. Not only did the car have tremendous, old-school presence, the film showed an owner who wasn’t afraid to smoke the back tires while driving it quickly and aggressively. Hooning the large, pillar-less brute looked like tremendous fun. Unfortunately, authentic AMG cars from the pre-merger period don’t come to market very frequently. And when they do, they are usually priced well beyond the means of mere mortals like myself (you can see examples we’ve featured before here, here and here). A cheaper alternative would be to find a regular SEC that has had some AMG exterior parts installed, like this one.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560SEC on eBay
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After I wrote up a nice looking W124 the other week, a few of our enterprising readers did some further digging and uncovered a number of discrepancies in the car’s history, suggesting it wasn’t such a great deal after all. To try to make up for it I’ve found three more examples of the venerable old E-class for consideration this week. What these cars have in common is that they all present nicely in the ads, appear to have been well cared for by their previous owners and are all priced very competitively. Hopefully at least one of these is a winner. First up is this white 400E.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1993 Mercedes-Benz 400E on Craigslist
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Only yesterday I was lamenting, once again, the dearth of nice condition E34s on the market. Well, as if to prove me wrong, another neat example has popped up on eBay. When these cars crop up in this kind of condition, they serve as a reminder of just how handsome an E34 can be when cleaned up. The lines are crisp and unfussy and the overall impression given off by the well-proportioned design is of a purposeful sport sedan. This particular example is an unusually specified 535i with ultra low miles. Unfortunately, it also has a rather ambitious price tag.