Maybe you’re lucky, and it’s sunny and warm where you’re reading this. Or, perhaps you’re stuck under a rock – or in the case of Buffalo, several feet of snow. But like it or not, winter is upon us a bit early this year, and if you are in Buffalo you probably need some sort of snow-cat to get to the local store. Hopefully, that’s not the case for most of you but I wondered what sort of all-wheel drive car you could get on a $10,000 budget. As it turns out, you might be able to get a little more than you expected – so here’s a few offerings from the different manufacturers, starting with the folks that started it all:
Tag: e500
Pulling together enough legendary names to nearly create it’s own “Justice League”, the Mercedes-Benz 500E saw the combination of two of the most storied names in German automobiles – Porsche and Daimler-Benz. The 500E was sure a serious car out of the box with 320 horsepower and torque to match; but for some, that wasn’t enough. For those enterprising individuals with deep pockets, their Stuttgart superhero saw the introduction of a third legendary name; AMG. AMG had been placing larger displacement engines in Benz models for years, and the 500E proved no different. It even became an official product since Daimler owned a major stake in AMG; the merger would see a new range of high performance out of the box Mercedes models like the SL60 and E60. With a 50 horsepower boost in horsepower and 75 more lb.ft of torque, the 6.0 brought the 500E to another level of performance, chopping nearly a second off its 0-60 times and giving close to Porsche 911 Turbo levels of straight line performance. But while the E60 and SL60 models are pretty rare, it was more common to do what this owner did – ship the car to AMG for a motor swap after purchase:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 Mercedes-Benz 500E 6.0 AMG on Classic Driver
6 CommentsThe Mercedes-Benz 500E is one of those cars that was fairly affordable for a long time, but dwindling supply and greater awareness has raised values considerably. I knew it was a matter of time before this legend started to increase in value. We often see these four-door hot rods with Porsche DNA in black or silver, but this metallic blue example for sale in Florida bucks that trend. This car is closing in on 150,000 miles but has had the same owner for the last 18 years.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E on eBay
4 CommentsThe Mercedes-Benz 500E is a car which needs no introduction to the fans of GCFSB. We feature the model on a regular basis; as one of the most popular super-sedans produced by Mercedes, we’re always glad to see a very mint condition, low mileage model and hopeful for a steal when we see less pristine examples. The possibility always exists that one will sneak in at a cut-rate – a model that has higher miles and a small list of needs, for example, that will allow for a more reasonable purchase price. But as we pine and search for values on the 500E/E500 market, ironically we seem to ignore the model which replaced it in spirit; the E55 AMG. Part of that comes down to both the real and perceived gap in quality between the W124 and the W210 chassis; however, what is undeniable is what that equates to in the real world. Find a not-perfect, higher mile 500E today and you’ll be looking at around $10,000 or more while a mint condition, low mile E55 AMG is available for around the same amount. Which is the better proposition?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E on eBay
6 CommentsIt’s been over a decade since I last hopped behind the wheel of one, but I still remember my last encounter with a Mercedes-Benz 500E. Harmless enough though it looks, it packs a big bite. Acceleration, braking and handling were a revelation for a luxury sedan of its day, even if this car had serious sporting intentions imbued in it by Porsche. For a while, these special W124s were somewhat affordable but values have been on the climb, even for those with more than 100,000 miles on the clock. This 500E, replete with monoblocks, has 136k miles on the clock but looks to be well cared for.