500E
MB Enthusiast
Hello all - I thought it'd list out the MB W124 E500E's I either missed or didn't end up buying for various reasons, sort of like sharing my journey to finally buying one. Might have been one or two I missed off as I saw quite a few and can't recall them all / didn't take any photos. In no particular order and just a few words about each one. I hope you enjoy reading 
1. 1995 E500 Limited - silver / black
Right now this car was described as cosmetically poor but mechanically perfect. Drove up nearly 300 miles each way to view this at Performance Legends in Lathom. He mentioned the car needed "tidying" on the phone but nothing really wrong with it. Turned up bright and early ready to drop a deposit on it. Started fine but needed a full repaint, headliner collapsed, sunroof dead, wiper dead, Ltd seat inserts painted over, side A pillars collapsed and falling off, interior rattling, fans didn't work etc etc. Once warmed up misfiring badly and cutting out. ASR light on. Car then struggled to start and was dead! HID kit fitted (badly), engine wiring loom replaced but home-made. Tyres, brakes, components, everything knackered! Also the bumper at the front didn't line up so I think it'd had a front end accident. Also no spare wheel, or any boot accessories for that matter. Speakers fitted all over the place. I was pretty annoyed and I walked away...
2. 1991 500E - silver / grey
Posted about this one earlier last year. Nothing actually wrong with it but it was overpriced at the time and had spots of rust around the body and wings. Few bits and pieces needed doing. Seller did not know when it had last been serviced and oil cap was jammed right. Knock from the suspension and all the interior trims repainted black. AMG split alloys with poverty-spec tyres. Been face-lifted to an E500 but with the correct Hella headlight lenses, not done perfectly though. Bonnet star replaced and S600 style grille fitted. Had nice road presence and was lowered, probably on H&R's.
3. 1993 500E - black / mushroom
Now this car went unsold on eBay and I got in touch with the seller to see if he'd be interested in selling it. He did, it checked out pretty well and had a recent £1500 service at MB main dealer. I called them and they confirmed it's a nice car. Seller guaranteed the car was in very nice condition and was "molly cuddled". So drove 350 miles each way to view. Arrived to a rough running M119 with a very very noisy water pump. Car was not picking up well on the test drive and misfiring under load. Wasn't too bothered but the underneath was so badly rusted, diff was covered in rust! Was not far from the sea tbh. Front end badly stone-chipped, windscreen damaged, front wing dented etc. Another wasted trip.
4. 1992 500E - black / black
Now this car used to belong to my father - he sold it in 2005. Was advertised locally by the brother of the guy we sold it to. Unfortunately the guy we sold it to passed away and the car had been sitting around. It was at a good price but the entire body was covered in rust including all the insides of the doors. Engine not running right, passenger foot-well wet, bad wind noise through the drivers door, passenger rear door seal gone, armrest missing, car leaking through the roof making the interior damp, etc etc. I walked away as the drivers side sill showed a poor previous repair. Did have new brakes and tyres though.
5. 1992 500E - black / black
This car was offered to me at a decent price but needed way too much work. Gearbox was gone, interior was filthy with missing pieces, history kinda put me off as it was actually abandoned and then was claimed by the current owner. Took him 6 years to go through DVLA to get the paperwork but I think he got it in the end and had a V5. Previously registered in Lithuania. Needed lots of maintenance, engine bay parts, hoses etc. Full repaint, new wheels and tyres, grilles etc. Just stood out as a bad example so I didn't buy it. Had 80k on the clock which was not genuine...
6. 1992 500E - white / black
This car was advertised in London and was being sold by a well known LHD car dealer. He is a nice guy and has some beautiful cars. Anyways I went to check it out. It was higher than my budget but a white example is pretty rare and I was getting keen to get into one at this stage. It had AMG split rims, AMG twin square exhaust pipe and an entire interior re-trim. I guess in the end the high asking price, aftermarket rims and exhaust (leaving a nasty cut out of the old one) and lots of random gauges showing water temp etc inside put me off buying it. For the £15k mark I'd like a nice lovely original example and probably not a modded one and the seller refused to move on the price. I think it had low miles but as the car was from Japan this is difficult to verify. Few receipts but no service book or any other booklets.
7. 1995 E500 - silver / black
This was probably one of the best examples I've seen. Very nice condition, one of the last E500's and a fully stamped service history. Unfortunately the car had quite a bit of over-spray around the body and it wasn't all a perfect job. There was also a spot of two of rust and the alloys did not look perfect. I don't think it had been used much but it was nice and smooth. On the short test drive it did drive well with no apparent issues. We tried to negotiate on price but at the top end I did want a very nice near perfect car which this one was not. IIRC the interior trims also has begun peeling back and the headlight lenses were not original.
8. 1994 E500 Limited - black / black
Now this car seemed ideal and it had high miles but these engines can handle it. I think it had 332k on the clock but an original E500 Limited which appealed to me. In reality it was a wreck. Lots of rust, total interior needed re-trimming and wood redoing, various switches etc missing, wiper didn't work, rough idle and misfire, boot full of old car engine spares (wtf!!!), intake hoses wrecked, heater blower didn't work, alloys needed redoing, rear suspension knocking, cross member in engine bay rusted through and so on. I could still see a nice motor but at the price the seller wanted I walked away...oh yeah and it had plastic front wings.
9. 1992 500E - black / black
This car had recently come up from Japan and was advertised near brighton. Body wise it was in OK condition (not mint) but mechanically it was struggling and after a short drive I opened the hood and smoke from oil was overwhelming. Car stank of oil inside, potentially a big oil leak. Seller assured me that the car was just serviced and some oil split behind the block. Could be but the car in general was rough, 17" AMG alloys and the interior was dull. Could potentially make a nice car but I met the owner in a car park and found the whole deal dodgy. He did say he has an E60 AMG on the way and I think I saw it on eBay at a silly price. Didn't get any pics of this one as I simply didn't bother / forgot at the time.
Hope this makes for an interesting read! I know I've seen at least 2/3 more cars around the London area but can't find any photos of them. One was a lovely silver UK spec car which needed some work and the seller wouldn't let me drive it without a deposit. Wouldn't move on the price either and it was wearing cheap tyres, wrong headlight lenses etc.
Anyways there you have it - long search but finally happy with my lovely Lorinser example. My car does also need quite a bit of work in addition to what I've already done but the price was right and the car is solid. It just felt "right" when I bought it
Cheers
B
1. 1995 E500 Limited - silver / black
Right now this car was described as cosmetically poor but mechanically perfect. Drove up nearly 300 miles each way to view this at Performance Legends in Lathom. He mentioned the car needed "tidying" on the phone but nothing really wrong with it. Turned up bright and early ready to drop a deposit on it. Started fine but needed a full repaint, headliner collapsed, sunroof dead, wiper dead, Ltd seat inserts painted over, side A pillars collapsed and falling off, interior rattling, fans didn't work etc etc. Once warmed up misfiring badly and cutting out. ASR light on. Car then struggled to start and was dead! HID kit fitted (badly), engine wiring loom replaced but home-made. Tyres, brakes, components, everything knackered! Also the bumper at the front didn't line up so I think it'd had a front end accident. Also no spare wheel, or any boot accessories for that matter. Speakers fitted all over the place. I was pretty annoyed and I walked away...
2. 1991 500E - silver / grey
Posted about this one earlier last year. Nothing actually wrong with it but it was overpriced at the time and had spots of rust around the body and wings. Few bits and pieces needed doing. Seller did not know when it had last been serviced and oil cap was jammed right. Knock from the suspension and all the interior trims repainted black. AMG split alloys with poverty-spec tyres. Been face-lifted to an E500 but with the correct Hella headlight lenses, not done perfectly though. Bonnet star replaced and S600 style grille fitted. Had nice road presence and was lowered, probably on H&R's.
3. 1993 500E - black / mushroom
Now this car went unsold on eBay and I got in touch with the seller to see if he'd be interested in selling it. He did, it checked out pretty well and had a recent £1500 service at MB main dealer. I called them and they confirmed it's a nice car. Seller guaranteed the car was in very nice condition and was "molly cuddled". So drove 350 miles each way to view. Arrived to a rough running M119 with a very very noisy water pump. Car was not picking up well on the test drive and misfiring under load. Wasn't too bothered but the underneath was so badly rusted, diff was covered in rust! Was not far from the sea tbh. Front end badly stone-chipped, windscreen damaged, front wing dented etc. Another wasted trip.
4. 1992 500E - black / black
Now this car used to belong to my father - he sold it in 2005. Was advertised locally by the brother of the guy we sold it to. Unfortunately the guy we sold it to passed away and the car had been sitting around. It was at a good price but the entire body was covered in rust including all the insides of the doors. Engine not running right, passenger foot-well wet, bad wind noise through the drivers door, passenger rear door seal gone, armrest missing, car leaking through the roof making the interior damp, etc etc. I walked away as the drivers side sill showed a poor previous repair. Did have new brakes and tyres though.
5. 1992 500E - black / black
This car was offered to me at a decent price but needed way too much work. Gearbox was gone, interior was filthy with missing pieces, history kinda put me off as it was actually abandoned and then was claimed by the current owner. Took him 6 years to go through DVLA to get the paperwork but I think he got it in the end and had a V5. Previously registered in Lithuania. Needed lots of maintenance, engine bay parts, hoses etc. Full repaint, new wheels and tyres, grilles etc. Just stood out as a bad example so I didn't buy it. Had 80k on the clock which was not genuine...
6. 1992 500E - white / black
This car was advertised in London and was being sold by a well known LHD car dealer. He is a nice guy and has some beautiful cars. Anyways I went to check it out. It was higher than my budget but a white example is pretty rare and I was getting keen to get into one at this stage. It had AMG split rims, AMG twin square exhaust pipe and an entire interior re-trim. I guess in the end the high asking price, aftermarket rims and exhaust (leaving a nasty cut out of the old one) and lots of random gauges showing water temp etc inside put me off buying it. For the £15k mark I'd like a nice lovely original example and probably not a modded one and the seller refused to move on the price. I think it had low miles but as the car was from Japan this is difficult to verify. Few receipts but no service book or any other booklets.
7. 1995 E500 - silver / black
This was probably one of the best examples I've seen. Very nice condition, one of the last E500's and a fully stamped service history. Unfortunately the car had quite a bit of over-spray around the body and it wasn't all a perfect job. There was also a spot of two of rust and the alloys did not look perfect. I don't think it had been used much but it was nice and smooth. On the short test drive it did drive well with no apparent issues. We tried to negotiate on price but at the top end I did want a very nice near perfect car which this one was not. IIRC the interior trims also has begun peeling back and the headlight lenses were not original.
8. 1994 E500 Limited - black / black
Now this car seemed ideal and it had high miles but these engines can handle it. I think it had 332k on the clock but an original E500 Limited which appealed to me. In reality it was a wreck. Lots of rust, total interior needed re-trimming and wood redoing, various switches etc missing, wiper didn't work, rough idle and misfire, boot full of old car engine spares (wtf!!!), intake hoses wrecked, heater blower didn't work, alloys needed redoing, rear suspension knocking, cross member in engine bay rusted through and so on. I could still see a nice motor but at the price the seller wanted I walked away...oh yeah and it had plastic front wings.
9. 1992 500E - black / black
This car had recently come up from Japan and was advertised near brighton. Body wise it was in OK condition (not mint) but mechanically it was struggling and after a short drive I opened the hood and smoke from oil was overwhelming. Car stank of oil inside, potentially a big oil leak. Seller assured me that the car was just serviced and some oil split behind the block. Could be but the car in general was rough, 17" AMG alloys and the interior was dull. Could potentially make a nice car but I met the owner in a car park and found the whole deal dodgy. He did say he has an E60 AMG on the way and I think I saw it on eBay at a silly price. Didn't get any pics of this one as I simply didn't bother / forgot at the time.
Hope this makes for an interesting read! I know I've seen at least 2/3 more cars around the London area but can't find any photos of them. One was a lovely silver UK spec car which needed some work and the seller wouldn't let me drive it without a deposit. Wouldn't move on the price either and it was wearing cheap tyres, wrong headlight lenses etc.
Anyways there you have it - long search but finally happy with my lovely Lorinser example. My car does also need quite a bit of work in addition to what I've already done but the price was right and the car is solid. It just felt "right" when I bought it
Cheers
B
