Should I change my 124s for w210 on safety grounds

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

philiggy

Active Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Messages
449
Location
Yorkshire
Car
C180 Estate & C220 CDI
Hi all,
I could do with some advice,
We have two late 124 E300 diesels, my wifes is superb, 94, 140k fsh drives fantastic, except it has no rear headrests or pass. airbag.

The problems is safety, my wife travels about 500 miles per week with our 2 children and is worried after her friend and child both got injured in a crash.

So my question is would an early W210 E300 Diesel (which will have the same engine but a 4 star ncap rating) be a lot safer?

If I did start looking for a W210 how much worse is the build quality than a 124, I've heard some horror stories about rust?

Finaly which car would you keep;
94 E300 diesel 140k in red
or
95 E300 diesel estate 215k in silver

What do you think guys?

Phil
 
I would feel much safer is a W12* car than any W2** cars... not sure why but they are just so much better built..
 
Passenger airbag is fairly pointless if the person in the front is wearing a seatbelt.
 
passenger airbag is no good for kids or anyone below 5' tall in a W124 so be careful on that one.

Keep the kids in the back and make sure they are wearing seat belts

Which would I keep?

Both, we have a late model W124 estate for ferrying our two kids and two dogs around and wouldn't consider swapping it for an early W210

Andy
 
Thanks for that,
its the rear headrests that bother me most as my kids are teenagers, I spoke to Ian walker about it a while back and decided it was too big of a job, maybe I should look at that again

Phil
 
Last edited:
Passenger airbag is fairly pointless if the person in the front is wearing a seatbelt.

Not true, A -pillar,curtain and side airbags are a massive advances in safety as are improvements in pre-tension seat belt technology since the days of the W124.

adam
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that,
its the rear headrests that bother me most as my kids are teenagers, I spoke to Ian walker about it a while back and decided it was too big of a job, maybe I should look at that again

Phuil

Unrestrained objects in the back car are a problem in high speed deceleration particularly if there are no headrests.
It's always advisable to have the headrests half way up to the top of your ears.

adam
 
Not true, A -pillar,curtain and side airbags are a massive advance is safety as are advances in pre-tension seat belt technology since the days of the W124.

adam

not sure that you get all of those in an early W210 apart from seat belt pre-tensioners that the late w124s have got

One thing that is worth considering is the "service life" of these components. i believe they are supposed to be changed every ten years to guarantee them functioning properly.

So, how many cars with a full MBSH show new airbags and seat belt pretensioners?

Andy
 
This is what I'm concerned about, Its the tech. advances, I looked at NCAP ratings for a c class designed after the 124, they only got 2 stars the 210 got 4,

my wife may have a point about older cars such as 124 seeming strong but maybe not in the correct places, as was the case with my wifes friend in her 11 year old volvo:confused: .

Phil

Not true, A -pillar,curtain and side airbags are a massive advances in safety as are improvements in pre-tension seat belt technology since the days of the W124.

adam
 
A -pillar,curtain and side airbags are a massive advances in safety

I was talking about the standard passenger airbag in the dash.
 
I have a vague recollection of reading some real life safety data that showed the W124 was actually the safest car on the road at that time. It took into account actual fatalities and injuries from accidents. Problem is I don't know how old it was, can't belive a 124 is safer than the latest E class, or even Renault Clio. One thing with ref to the W210, how does rust in a cars structure affect it's crash performance, can't improve it can it? Is the well publised rust problem on the the W210 more than just flakey wings?
 
Rather than swap to a 210, I think your money would be better spent on driving technique courses. I'm not saying your wife can't drive but some good lessons on defensive driving techniques to avoid a crash in the first place would be a better bet than swapping cars.
 
Would a W210 be safer? More than likely

Would I swop a late W124 for an early W210? Don't be silly


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk
 
I would hope that a W210 is safer, given that it is a development of the earlier car, although disintegrating spring perches and cross-members probably wouldn't help in an accident ;). A W211 should be safer still. It doesn't mean a W124 is unsafe though. In my opinion, there are too many other reasons not to change to a W210.
 
The big change in safety came in about 1998 when the crash tests were revised.

The current E class came out as the safest slaoon car in the US based on actual injuries and deaths per mile driven.

People in 4x4s are 50 times less likely to be killed in crashes with another car than those of small and medium-sized cars, according to the Department of Transport.
The safest cars for drivers are the Land Rover Defender, Mercedes ML class, Toyota Landcruiser and Isuzu Trooper.
The cars with the worst records for driver deaths and serious injuries are the old-style Mini, the Fiat Panda, pre-1993 Nissan Micra, Daewoo Matiz and Suzuki Swift.
The DoT looked at police reports of more than 138,000 crashes from 2000 to 2004. Drivers of small and medium-sized cars involved in collisions with another car had a one in 200 chance of being killed, compared with fewer than one in 10,000 for drivers of people-carriers and 4x4s.
Just three per cent of 4x4 drivers were killed or seriously injured in collisions, compared with seven per cent of small-car drivers.
The figures were published on the DoT's website but the study has not been publicised. Some small cars bucked the trend and showed it was possible to combine fuel efficiency with safety.
The Citroen C3, which weighs less than a tonne and travels 48 miles to the gallon, is twice as safe as the Honda CRV 4x4 which weighs 1.5 tonnes and gives 31mpg.
Some models have improved markedly over the past 15 years as makers have added features such as air bags and side-impact protection.
The Mini showed the biggest improvement with 14 per cent of drivers killed or seriously injured in collisions involving the original model, compared with five per cent of the new, BMW-produced version. The new Mini is twice as heavy, as well as taller, wider and longer.
Other models, such as the Nissan Sunny, Vauxhall Astra and Rover 200/400 and 25/45, improved little or not at all over the years.
The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety said that the figures did not take account of how a car was driven.
The council's director, Rob Gifford, told The Times: "Younger drivers, who take more risks and have more crashes, are more likely to drive smaller, older cars.
"The big problem arises when a large and small vehicle collide. The high bumper of a 4x4 may override the structural reinforcement of a small car and smack into the interior where the occupants are sitting.
"We would all be safer if we all drove around in small or medium-sized cars. But the total car fleet is becoming more incompatible, with sales growing fastest in the biggest and smallest categories."
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom