Ride quality W124 vs W126 vs W140

[d w124]

Have you ever tried to work out how many Mercedes you've driven? Are you in four figures yet?

Nick Froome

Come on Nick,considering his conection to Mercman.It's like asking you how many 124s you've driven

Hope no one asks my 5 year old son how many washing machines you've seen

 

[d w124]

:bannana:

By coincidence I was in East London this morning and was indifferent as to route home so popped in to Dash's premises just off the South Circular. Apart from really admiring his beautiful black car, he very kindly let me take out his W140 S320. It feels big to start with, but the ride is lovely and soft, no crashing about at all, even with 18s on. I was reminded quite what a huge number of buttons in the W140 and it is very much of that era of MBs I love. I think a V8 would be required though - you have to work it a bit but nice car.

Now I need to try a sorted 126 and a larger engined 140.

Good to catch up Charles and glad I could help you
I told you the 140 ride is like Aladins carpet without the need of a genie haha
As for my saloon,thank you for the kind words

 

[stwat]

I'm sorry if I misled people I should have used the more accurate modified Macpherson strut term. I was focussing on the aspect of the design which uses the strut as part of the mechanism by which the front hub swivels. This has camber implications in terms of suspension movement unlike the twin parallel arm set up of the W126 and W140 suspension. As you correctly point out most people associate Macpherson strut with the combined shock absorber and spring arrangement. I would also agree the W126 suspension is a generation behind the W140.

sorry I didn't mean to come across as a tw@t heh heh. Good comeback in any case

 

[Deleted member 37751]

There's something just so 'safe' about buying any S-Class, more so with a V8.

I love the W140 partly because it's the most imposing of all of them, and also because it looks like the W202/124's big bad brother.

Relatively rare too.

 

[Charles Morgan]

:bannana:

Good to catch up Charles and glad I could help you
I told you the 140 ride is like Aladins carpet without the need of a genie haha
As for my saloon,thank you for the kind words

It was much appreciated. About the only thing I couldn't replicate in my test drive was the shockingly awful potholed roads round here.

 

[grober]

sorry I didn't mean to come across as a tw@t heh heh. Good comeback in any case

We can certainly agree that unitary front end construction [ sans subframe] with struts and the 5 link rear suspension developed initially for the 190 was a brave quantum leap for MERCEDES at that time and represented a radical departure from their tried and tested subframe front / and traditional rear trailing/ diagonal arm suspension.

 

[V12]

Have you ever tried to work out how many Mercedes you've driven? Are you in four figures yet?

Nick Froome

Easily into 4 figures, probably over a thousand in the last 5 years alone.

 

[jaymanek]

W140 is most comfortable for sure... but it will never be a looker and they do have their issues.
W126's are far simpler, a lot more elegant looking and the ride comfort is pretty close...

 

[WDB124066]

So, what you are all saying is that I need to go have a look at this C/- Mr Charles....

Mercedes-Benz S500 L 1993 | Trade Me

 

[Charles Morgan]

Probably a bit far away for me!

I am cogitating a lot at present, so I shan't be buying anything for some time.

 

[V12]

Just to clarify, are you after ride quality alone or overall refinement?

It's things like sound proofing and smoothness of engine that really set apart the W140 from the W126 to create a complete experience.

 

[Charles Morgan]

In the first instance I have chosen ride quality simply because the roads here are rotten. I hope to test as many of both as possible in these conditions as the ability to cope with potholes and poor road surfaces is number one priority

 

[MPG]

Apologies for the delay - just saw this. My C140 was a 420 CL with the standard 18 inch alloys, my 600 CL has the staggered 19" set with ABC suspension. Being the 600 the ABC suspension settings comfort/sport are [I think] approx. 25% softer than those of the AMG. Personally I tend to drive it with the suspension set to comfort as I'm only really pressing on when I'm on fast A roads & dual carriageways. By way of comparison, I'd say the 18" shod C140 was marginally more compliant over your average UK road than the W215. Considering it's got a standard suspension I think its quite staggering how well the C140's ride. Incidentally, back in the day I had a 1986 SIII Jaguar Sovereign. Admittedly it rolled a little in the bends, but in a straight line the suspension on that was magical.

 

[EdwardCheckley]

I may have come to this conversation a little late in the day to be helpful but I will add my thoughts on the matter never-the-less.

I own a 124 E320 coupe as well as a 140 S500 coupe. I have had recently had a friend's 126 560 SEC on loan for a few weeks.

In terms of pure ride comfort the 124 is unquestionably the most comfortable, and by some margin. It has the softest ride and seems to have the longest suspension travel.

The 140 comes second - noise suppression and damping is truly superb but in terms of pure ride comfort the car is a little firmer than I would like. The coupe certainly feels firmer than the equivalent saloon but then it has a less rigid shell and different spring rates. I've recently driven a 140 400 SEL and although softer than the coupe, still rode less well than the 124.

The 126 is the firmest but the difference between it and the 140 is minimal. 560s have a different set up from lesser engined SECs and I have yet to enjoy a 500 or 420 as a coupe. I've driven 126 saloons in pre and post facelift spec and the best riding of the lot was a post facelift 300SE.

 

[grober]

One thing to bear in mind when comparing cars of that vintage that its highly unlikely that any are riding on "factory springs" anymore. Even if fitted with bona fide Mercedes replacements even MERCEDES have reduced their spring choice from when the car was new. When faced with eventual spring replacement many owners are tempted to go down the aftermarket "sports spring" route with increased spring rates and/or shorter travel for that slightly lowered look. For that reason it becomes difficult to make comparisons based on individual cars????

 

[ianrandom]

Definitely the case with the W126, they all seem different and one spring/pad set up doesn't work on another example necessarily.
They are all going to be a bit on the firm side though really because the dated suspension requires that compromise to get the stability.