Opinions on a W124 1989 300TE - 4 Matic

[Bill_33]

I would be grateful to receive any owners views on the 300TE - 4 Matic.

I am looking for a W124 Estate - LHD to use in France and I have seen a reasonable one with 80,000 miles, one owner, service history for sale at £5K
I think that it is the normal not the 24 valve model.......180ps........1993 not 1989 as indicated in the title

I realise that they are heavier than the 2WD Estate and therefore use slightly more fuel, but apart from that have not seen many comments regarding the model

Cheers

 

[Vlad]

All I have ever read about 4 Matics is that they can be troublesome and that many of them have stopped working in 4 wheel drive and are not worth repairing due to the high cost of parts.....saying that the one you are considering is low mileage so you would hope that mechanically its up to scratch.

 

[dougal74]

Two words: -

Money Pit

However, in LHD form there should be more parts availability than there is for RHD so this should ameliorate this somewhat. You would need a good MB specialist nearby though with knowledge of the 4matic system.

A friend had a saloon one in Northern Ireland for a while and it was very good around the lanes but incredibly heavy on fuel...aka watch the needle drop time!

 

[Will]

At £5k why not consider buying a good LHD 124 estate in Europe?

I'm sure that this one would be ok at 80k (you'd like to think so!), but surely if you don't need/want the 4-matic system, it's just extra/unecessary complication?

Will

 

[Bill_33]

At £5k why not consider buying a good LHD 124 estate in Europe?

I'm sure that this one would be ok at 80k (you'd like to think so!), but surely if you don't need/want the 4-matic system, it's just extra/uneccesary complication?

Will

Thanks Will,

I am looking around, but the European W124s seem to have higher miles than the UK ones and France is such a big country to look in, (i.e. vehicles are dotted all over the place).
I would prefer a 2WD W124 Break, if I could find a LHD E300TD - I think that it was about 175bhp and only produced in LHD - that would be great.
I have seen a couple advertised in Germany, but Berlin is quite a distance to "go and look"
We now spend as much time in SW France as we do in the UK and it would be nice to have a W124 Break out there.

Cheers

 

[grober]

For a test drive just make sure that the L shaped handle switch in the engine compartment beside the wash bottle is not set to the "service position" which disengages the 4wd system leaving RWD Many owners who have problems with the 4matic system disengage it permanently rather than face the potentially expensive repairs. At the same time make sure all the warning lights ABS and 4matic triangle in the instrument display comes on when the ignition is switched on first. They should stay out unless the 4matic system operates. If the triangle is flashing as you are driving along a straight smooth road then this warrants further investigation.

 

[219]

The 24v engine was not available with 4 matic .

As Scotty would have said - ' she cannae take any more , captain '

BTW isn't £5K an awful lot for a W124 these days ?

Prices tend to range from a few hundred for a runner to about £2K tops for a particularly good one .

 

[Will]

I wouldn't be overly worried with mileage on such an old car - most 124s have done pretty high mileage these days and don't tend to suffer from it. My 1991 300TE is approaching 200k without fuss and the engine/gearbox/diff/interior etc are all fine. I suspect many are/were clocked 'back in the day' so buy on current condition IMHO. They tend to suffer worst from rust and lack of maintenace.

Some of the problem areas of the W124s don't seem to correlate directly with mileage anyway. Not wanting to single anyone out but I do know of some members who have had not insignificant problems with very low mileage cars. It's no guarantee of plain sailing

Will

 

[Mudster]

Two words: -

Money Pit

However, in LHD form there should be more parts availability than there is for RHD so this should ameliorate this somewhat.

I had to look that word up in the dictionary, what is this an epsiode of Countdown or something? I'll have a vowel please Carol.