Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to daily drive a car that isn’t 38 years-old and has such luxuries like airbags, ABS and a modern climate control system. Don’t get me wrong, I love my W116 Mercedes-Benz 300SD, but sometimes I yearn for heated seats and a tire selection greater than three different brands. Once in a while I will see what kind of options are out there for more modern replacements for my W116 and today’s car, a 1998 E300, might just be a perfect combination of modern amenities and the old school diesel feel. This W210 hails from the Northeast with only 100,000 miles and in what should be a total shocker to almost everyone reading this, has no rust. Is this the answer to all my wildest dreams and fantasies?
Tag: E class
The more I look at the Mercedes-Benz W124 Coupe, the more appetizing it gets. I checked out a really nice 1994 painted in Tourmaline Green a few months ago for what I thought was a really fair price considering what it is. These C124s are not going to get any cheaper and the clean ones are shooting up in value with the facelifted 1994 and 1995 models leading the charge. Today’s car, a 1994 up for sale in Seattle, Washington, has some upgrades that you usually don’t see on these sleeper coupes. The thing is, I’m not a really a big fan of them. Let me explain.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 Coupe on eBay
4 CommentsUpdate 11/29/18: Although it was listed as sold a few weeks ago, this E320 4Matic has been relisted with a Buy It Now of $2,950. Maybe another good chance to get a cheap winter beater if you have access to a steam cleaner!
Update 11/16/18: This E320 Estate sold for $1,757.
Winter is mere weeks away and I’m still on the hunt for a new-to-me winter vehicle to battle the snow and ice. My current winter beater, a 1997 Land Rover Discovery that I’ve had for the past 13 years, is on life support. Both front fender wells are rusting away at an alarming pace, the 4.0 liter V8 that has been around since the mid-1960s (!) is sounding awfully crunchy and I swear it gets around 11 mpg. I told myself I was going to buy something reliable to replace it, so I started hunting for a Toyota Land Cruiser/Lexus LX470/GX470 only soon to find out that you can’t buy one for $2,200 like you can Land Rovers. They aren’t all that plentiful on the used market thanks to people taking them to their graves. Well, the time is ticking and I might have to consider options. One of those options is a Mercedes-Benz W210 4Matic because I might as well stick to what I know. Even better, an E320 4Matic Estate would fit the bit quite nicely with the extra cargo space and no one would confuse it with my E55 if I bought one in silver. Well, wouldn’t you know this 1999 popped up for sale that would fit my needs quite well. The only problem is that it is 2,600 miles away. Such is life.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1999 Mercedes-Benz E320 4Matic Estate on eBay
6 CommentsYou’ll be hard pressed to find a more perfect representation of late-1980s and early-1990s Mercedes-Benz than the W124 500E/E500. Mercedes did everything in their power to make the best sports sedan possible and then simply said ”Here you go” to the keen Mercedes buyers who yearned for something as special as the W124.036. No crazy marketing, no limited edition plaque in the center console, no neon colors, just an understated brute of a machine the .036 was and still is. In 1994, the United States market saw the ”E” jump to the front of the line to become the E500 and the front fascia become refreshed with new headlights and a new grille. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think any less of the pre-facelift 500Es, but the 1994 (and handful of 1995s not in North America) looks nearly perfect in my eyes. Not too small, not too large, just the right size. The interior was much of the same story with an array of buttons and switches laid out in just a way that isn’t overwhelming or cluttered. Under the hood was the mighty M119 that made just the right amount of power for this car for its everyday uses. Add all this up and you have classic the day the rolled out of Sindelfingen. (Side note, I love this photo with them in Zuffenhausen next to 964s.)
When you sit down and do the car math on the E500, it adds up to something that no other Mercedes can boast with its low production, Porsche DNA, hand-built status and more than respectable performance numbers. Naturally, this has kept these cars cared for and now as we are into the 25th birthday for some .036s, their prices remain very healthy. This 1994 E500 comes to us from Denver, Colorado with just over 60,000 on the odometer and my favorite wheels of all time, AMG Monoblocks. Yes, I’m biased because I have a set of these wheels, but you aren’t going to find many people that disagree with me when I say that Monoblocks look right at home on E500s. The extra chunky spokes compliment the entire body of the E500 that not many wheels can pulled off.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 Mercedes-Benz E500 on Denver Craigslist
8 CommentsI’ve said numerous times that the W124 Mercedes-Benz 400E/E420 is one of the forgotten gems from Mercedes in the past 35 years or so that won’t cost you a ton of money to buy or live with. It still is modern enough to be a daily driver if you wish and since it is a W124, you won’t hate your life driving it. The .034 E420 offers the punch of the torquey M119 V8 without having to spend $25,000 on a .036 500E. The facelift version, like this 1994 we have today up for bid in New York, is especially attractive with its two-tone paint and really clean appearance for having almost 176,000 miles. This example has some heavy maintenance items already completed and is actually a one-owner car. Question is, are you willing to pay the slightly higher asking price for this example?