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The Mercedes-Benz 500E to me, in many ways, is the ultimate Mercedes-Benz. It embodied everything that made this brand great over the years. Power, unflappable composure and durability in one discreet package. Sure, later AMG badged Benzes eclipsed it in horsepower, but there’s something special about these cars that the new AMG models don’t have. Perhaps it’s the connection with Porsche, the bespoke four-place interior or the flared fenders that captivate the mind. Whatever the attraction may be, this 500E is a rare sight on the roads of my ancestral home in Northern Portugal, in no small part that vehicles with larger engine sizes are taxed at a greater rate.
It was an interesting Wagon Week last month, featuring more utilitarian choices than normal. We began with a Mercedes-Benz 230TE equipped with a 5-speed manual and ended with a 1980 Volkswagen Passat L Variant. We’re back this week with another 230TE equipped with a third pedal, this time on the other side of the pond. This 1992 model is in much better nick, having covered only 30,000 miles. It might only be a four cylinder model, but good W124 estates aren’t getting any easier to find. If you know anyone in Europe who could hang on to this for two years until it’s legal for US import, keep reading…
Wagon Week is back here at GCFSB. We’ve decided to start off not with one of the high-horsepower hyper wagons the Germans are known for, but rather, a workhorse of sorts. With the end of W123 production in the mid 1980s, the W124, now named the E-class, would take over the middle of the lineup for Mercedes-Benz. The W123 estate was the first such mass produced vehicle for Mercedes-Benz, and the W124 range would include a successor for the 300TD. The W124 estate has now itself become a bit of an icon, representing the durability and magnificent engineering that Mercedes built their reputation on. This particular W124 estate was one that was not sold here, the 230TE. With a 2.3 liter four-cylinder engine, it won’t win any acceleration contests, but with the 5-speed manual gearbox, you’ll be able to make the most of the power it has.
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:
It seemed to be it was easier to keep up with vehicle changes year on year, mainly because there were less models populating manufacturer portfolios. As much as a petrolhead as I am, I can’t keep up with all the new model variants cropping up. Many seem to be a mashup of existing models meant to exploit every little automotive niche that might exist. But in reality, they are just variations on a particular modular platform. I still look back longingly to the days when the Mercedes-Benz lineup consisted of mainly the C, E, S and SL classes. It was simpler times and cars like this final year W124 E320 Cabriolet contained much of the DNA that made these cars popular with the monied set. This example for sale in Denver is a one owner car, showing under 50,000 miles on the clock.