You need to ask Andy K - he has both cars
Greedy sod...
Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk
tee hee
We have an e55 saloon and the ride is considerably firmer than our W124 E320 estate running on 16" rims which in turn make it a bit firmer (but in our opinion far better) than one running on 15" rims.
If you are driving on reasonable roads then you'll probably find the e55 tighter through the bends and any body roll (no matter how slight) you've got used to in the W124 will disappear.
Overall there's very little difference. On smooth roads, they both give the same smooth ride, on rougher roads, the e55 will very quickly become tiresome and any loose fillings you have will be falling out.
Other things to consider....
If you are tall, then the W210 seats are far better, the seat squab is a couple of inches longer than on the W124. for all the miles we've done in our W124 that was the one thing that made it less than perfect for me. However, if you are short (5' or so) you may find the W210 seats uncomfortable as the edge of the seat will catch on the back of your shins.
There's more room in the back seats of the W210 - back seat pasengers suffer a bit in W124s if the driver is tall and the lack of rear air vents means it can get stuffy in the back if the car is fully loaded.
Build quality? They are both good and they both go rusty and they both seem to have similar weak points. Wings, door edges, wheel arches and subframes/cross members. I'm not sure which has the most "known issues" but it must be pretty close. On the W124 watch out for knackered wiring looms, cylinder head problems, corroded rear sub frames, brake pipes and suspension components on W210s look out for rust. There's not much to choose on interiors but the avantgarde trim on our E55 is just a bit nicer than the interior of the E320.
Finding a good W124 these days can get a bit tricky (ask Nick) as a lot of them fell off the dealer network a good few years ago. Some will have been well maintained, some neglected. It's hard to tell them apart because they just carry huge mileages and lack of care so well. E55s are different, most of them seem to have a full service history and (so far) up until recently have been expensive enough to put the "idiots" off
Shop around and see what your money will buy. Six thousand will get you a decent W210 e55 estate with full MBSH but at the same time, that money will buy you two (or even three) W124 estates if you shop around
Which would I choose? Both (as Nick says, Im a greedy sod
), but in my opinion the e55 has the edge just because it's so much fun to drive. If you asked Annie (my other half) she'd say the E320 as she's only 5ft tall but she's no judge because she'd actually prefer the W123 280E Ian's buying off us which I think handles like a sofa
Andy
)
:bannana:
, mate, pal, buddy. Fancy a beer or two?
