Honest John discussion on the W124

[grober]

Came across this interesting thread on the W124 on the Honest John site.
Mercedes Benz E-Class W124 Estates - Engine recommendations: Motoring Discussion forum

 

[Deleted member 11979]

Some unusually sensible comments on there! thanks

 

[bolide]

I disagree with most of it but it's a "Thread from the Dead" so won't go there

Cylinder Head Gasket failure common on W124s? Not in my experience - I know of two cars only where the gasket has failed

Nick Froome

 

[Seamster15]

That site is full of bumbling old gits that rabbit on about rubbish far too much.

 

[manalishi]

Cylinder Head Gasket failure common on W124s? Not in my experience - I know of two cars only where the gasket has failed

Nick Froome

Are you a different Nick Froome to the one who posted this on A N Other forum a few days ago?

(on M104 W124s). "Yes, the engine bay wiring loom may require replacement at some point. But so will the gearbox, head gasket, ... etc, etc, etc"

I'm confuddled.

 

[Sp!ke]

I disagree with most of it but it's a "Thread from the Dead" so won't go there

Cylinder Head Gasket failure common on W124s? Not in my experience - I know of two cars only where the gasket has failed

Nick Froome

I thought most W124 headgaskets go around the 100k mark. Thats been my experience anway.

 

[grober]

That site is full of bumbling old gits that rabbit on about rubbish far too much.

I don't think our Roger Jones and Number_Cruncher would take kindly to being described as bumbling old gits. It does also reference the autocar video link on the w124 featuring----- Bolide. Oops I think he was edited out of this final archive version Autocar Videos - Autocar.co.uk

 

[BlackC55]

I disagree with most of it but it's a "Thread from the Dead" so won't go there

Cylinder Head Gasket failure common on W124s? Not in my experience - I know of two cars only where the gasket has failed

Nick Froome

Thats strange. I have done at least 30 over the years

 

[Ade B]

Head gasket on mine went too at under 55k...

There is another comment which has come up a couple of times on here re the quality of pre 93 cars being better than later ones.

How can this be given they share pretty much the same body panels interior and running gear...

I obviously agree though as my 91CE is far superior to later cars

Ade

 

[stumpy1]

My CHG failed at 125k. 96 280

 

[bolide]

Head gasket on mine went too at under 55k...

Went as in blew all the water out or went as in leaked a bit of oil?

Realistically the M104 280/320 engine is no more prone to CHG failure than the M103

Yes, all M104s have a head gasket replacement in their future - but so do all cars. There are far more important things to worry about on a W124 than CHG failure

Like front wheels disappearing up into the arches due to (£13) balljoint failure

Nick Froome

 

[Ade B]

Went as in blew all the water out or went as in leaked a bit of oil?

Realistically the M104 280/320 engine is no more prone to CHG failure than the M103

Yes, all M104s have a head gasket replacement in their future - but so do all cars. There are far more important things to worry about on a W124 than CHG failure

Like front wheels disappearing up into the arches due to (£13) balljoint failure

Nick Froome

went as in oil in coolant expansion tank.. agreed not a terminal issue but not a £13 fix either.. Sadly

Ade

 

[219]

An awful lot of scaremongering in that thread , to my mind .

I've run two W124 estates and a W123 before them - ALL 3 suffered from corrosion of the SLS pipes in the vicinity of the rear suspension components - I've had the same with fuel and brake pipes on other older M-B's - this , I would say is the Achilles' heel of these cars . The parts are very cheap but a lot of labour to fix properly , unless you can DIY .

Yes , W124T's do suffer from corrosion issues : front wings ( inner and outer ) rear side panels below the load bay windows but such faults can be easily spotted if you know where to look - I personally have never had CHG failure on an M-B ( have lived with 'slight' oil leaks on M110 , M103 and M104 3.0 models and have avoided the engines prone to wiring loom failure .

I have replaced springs , dampers , brake components , ball joints , PAS/SLS pumps , propshaft do-nuts , water pumps , radiators and numerous other components over the years on various models but all has been easy DIY and none of it bankrupting .

None of my cars has cost me a fortune to run or to maintain and all have given a great deal of pleasure in ownership . My 430,000 mile 300TE-24 was a paragon of reliability .

 

[Deleted member 11979]

Re the comment about the face lift cars being inferior quality, I think that the later cars seem to be more rusty, this is just my thought based on the 7 w124's I have owned, anyone else agree? My head gasket went at 128k, well the cars did on an e220. Wiring loom went on 280te and e320, gearbox went on e320, but they are fabulous cars, but the ones that "might" be cheap to run (as in low milage well maintained ones), are now hideously expensive to buy! There's a lot of luck involved in buying any old car with the idea it will be cheap to run.

 

[bolide]

Define "Cheap to Run"

One gearbox failure per 150,000 miles isn't bad. But if you have the car two years and it's one gearbox failure per two years of ownership it looks expensive

Prop doughnuts, engine mounts, ARB bushes & etc are expected costs, IMHO, and spread over the term of ownership are not expensive. Over the long term - say 10 years - they are very cheap cars to run. Buying one now you face costs if the car has not been well-maintained previously. This is why I typically replace balljoints, engine mounts, ARB bushes & etc and do a service before sale

Nick Froome

 

[219]

Define "Cheap to Run"

Well , with my cars , I tend these days to buy them cheap , attend to a few minor things I've found from experience tend to go wrong ( as above tyres , brakes , springs , ball joints etc ) , do some routine maintenance and just put petrol in the tank , drive them ........... and smile

 

[Deleted member 11979]

A new Fiat Panda diesel is cheap to run. Over 10 years it won't rust at all, the fuel cost will be low, depreciation will be as low as you can get on a new car, it will probably be pretty reliable and cheap to fix it if isn't, insurance road tax and tyres will be cheap etc.

A W124 will be more expensive, you might be lucky and have no major mechanical failures, but you will need to tinker and fuel tax etc will be higher than a small car, and it will rust if ungaraged and used all year. It's an old car, and it's a big car! It's not going to be cheap to run if used everyday. It will however be cheaper to run than a brand new Merc.

But it's a different proposition altogether and I know which one I would prefer.

 

[grober]

Re the comment about the face lift cars being inferior quality, I think that the later cars seem to be more rusty, this is just my thought based on the 7 w124's I have owned, anyone else agree? My head gasket went at 128k, well the cars did on an e220. Wiring loom went on 280te and e320, gearbox went on e320, but they are fabulous cars, but the ones that "might" be cheap to run (as in low milage well maintained ones), are now hideously expensive to buy! There's a lot of luck involved in buying any old car with the idea it will be cheap to run.

I tend to agree that the later car's paintwork isn't as good as the earlier cars and I still think this is to do with the solvent v water based paint issue. Early cars don't have the biodegradeable wiring looms and have less electronic dependency also. However they will be 4-5 years older and will probably have more miles under their belt together with several more winters salt to combat.
The one thing perhaps to take into consideration also is that forgetting age/reliability/prestige/performance etc is that a well maintained one is an astonishingly accomplished car to drive in terms of comfort and refinement. They easily better many of the newest mass market models in this respect. To be honest unless you run one of these of 6 months you will never know just how good a car they are. After 6months you will search along time to get anything to match it. They really take a lot of beating as a car to travel enormous distances and emerge at the other end refreshed.

p.s. the new fiat PANDA is a very good car in its own right and would probably be cheaper to run but I know which one I'd rather be in for pounding the motorways of the UK/Continent

 

[219]

The way I look at it is someone buying or leasing a new S Class will probably have MONTHLY payments similar to the amount I paid to buy my W126 outright - and they might never even own their car in the end !

That's a HUGE difference .

I wouldn't even compare my S Class with a Fiat Panda as I don't even consider such a car to be an alternative .

 

[Deleted member 11979]

The way I look at it is someone buying or leasing a new S Class will probably have MONTHLY payments similar to the amount I paid to buy my W126 outright - and they might never even own their car in the end !

That's a HUGE difference .

I wouldn't even compare my S Class with a Fiat Panda as I don't even consider such a car to be an alternative .

You are absolutely right, of course they are not at all, not in any way other than both will transport people and stuff, but I was defining cheap to run.

Some people I imagine would think when looking at an Autotrader, wow, a 20 year old Mercedes 500se for £3k, "I'll have that instead of a new whatever, Mercs go on for ever don't they"?
Well they do, but only becasue people like us love them and spend fortunes maintaining them in a lot of cases.