W124 4Matic - to buy or not to buy - that is the question

[MBSteveP]

I am thinking of buying a W124 and was wondering as a non mechanic, would it be a good idea to buy a 4Matic, what are the potential pitfalls?

 

[DSM10000]

I am thinking of buying a W124 and was wondering as a non mechanic, would it be a good idea to buy a 4Matic, what are the potential pitfalls?

Rust, corrosion, more rust, repeat ad infinitum!

A 4matic will have greater complexity, higher fuel consumption, require more maintenance.

Why are you specifically looking for a 4matic?

 

[MBSteveP]

Rust, corrosion, more rust, repeat ad infinitum!

A 4matic will have greater complexity, higher fuel consumption, require more maintenance.

Why are you specifically looking for a 4matic?

I’m not, I saw one offered for sale, very nice condition. Im looking for my retirement daily use classic, and would intend to keep it long term, just wondered if maintaining it in the long run might be an issue. Im in no rush but am interested in a tidy W-124 estate, just started looking

 

[grober]

Your question reminds me of what Willie Nelson once said, "There are two types of men in the world: those that love Linda Ronstadt, and those that have never heard of her".
There are two types of 4-matic W124s -- those that have been lovingly restored by their proud owners at great effort and expense and which they would very rarely part with----and there are the others. Former forum member Bruce Miller RIP restored his 4-MATIC after many trials and tribulations which he detailed on this forum. If you're not a restoration mechanic I would suggest it's a project fraught with problems for the uninitiated. Unless the car is pristine and accompanied by a rebuild mountain of genuine paperwork I would avoid it..

 

[MBSteveP]

Your question reminds me of what Willie Nelson once said, "There are two types of men in the world: those that love Linda Ronstadt, and those that have never heard of her".
There are two types of 4-matic W124s -- those that have been lovingly restored by their proud owners at great effort and expense and which they would very rarely part with----and there are the others. Former forum member Bruce Miller RIP restored his 4-MATIC after many trials and tribulations which he detailed on this forum. If you're not a restoration mechanic I would suggest it's a project fraught with problems for the uninitiated. Unless the car is pristine and accompanied by a rebuild mountain of genuine paperwork I would avoid it..

Your question reminds me of what Willie Nelson once said, "There are two types of men in the world: those that love Linda Ronstadt, and those that have never heard of her".
There are two types of 4-matic W124s -- those that have been lovingly restored by their proud owners at great effort and expense and which they would very rarely part with----and there are the others. Former forum member Bruce Miller RIP restored his 4-MATIC after many trials and tribulations which he detailed on this forum. If you're not a restoration mechanic I would suggest it's a project fraught with problems for the uninitiated. Unless the car is pristine and accompanied by a rebuild mountain of genuine paperwork I would avoid it..

Wise words, thanks and love Willie Nelson BTW. The one I have seen for sale has all the paperwork / bare metal re spray etc etc. and is pricey, i just wasn’t sure if parts were available for specific 4Matic issues going forward. I am looking for something for long term ownership.

I think I’ll keep looking for the time being.

 

[Darrell]

Aren’t they all LHD?

 

[BTB 500]

A couple of Bruce's threads:

My 124 - 300TE 4Matic Restoration | Bodywork

My beloved 124 4Matic is now entering the final stages of her complete restoration. This has been a long journey, punctuated by me getting very ill and being unable to do anything. I promised myself that if I recovered then I would see this through. The mechanical bits were all done by Andy...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

Heading home. My 124 | Driving/Incidents/Roadrage

Well after a long period off the road as she had the engine & transmission removed (again) she is soon to be returning, hopefully to allow me to get her ready for BOTG. Well, that’s the goal here. Those who follow her will know that she developed a couple of annoying leaks. 1) The hydraulic...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

 

[Jobsworth]

Aren’t they all LHD?

No.

Bramley Motor Cars

Dealers of Land Rover, Mercedes, Porsche, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley and many other great brands in Surrey | Bramley

www.bramley.com

 

[Darrell]

No.

Bramley Motor Cars

Dealers of Land Rover, Mercedes, Porsche, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley and many other great brands in Surrey | Bramley

www.bramley.com

Excellent. It needs to be bought.

 

[grober]

I’m not, I saw one offered for sale, very nice condition. Im looking for my retirement daily use classic, and would intend to keep it long term, just wondered if maintaining it in the long run might be an issue. Im in no rush but am interested in a tidy W-124 estate, just started looking

Although the model advertised above does appear to tick all the right boxes, the W124 four Matic model should always be regarded as a "work in progress".
I would suggest a well-kept 2wd W124 estate with a straight six engine/auto box would make an excellent daily conveyance. Shod with a suitable set of winter tyres it will deal with most UK inclement weather. With a bit of luck you might pick up one with an ASD [LOCKING REAR DIFFERENTIAL]

 

[Smiley]

£25k

 

[optimusprime]

Do a check .You will find out that ,,out of all the W124 4 Matics that were made, less than 100 are still on the road .

 

[MBSteveP]

Do a check .You will find out that ,,out of all the W124 4 Matics that were made, less than 100 are still on the road .

A rare beast.

The one I have seen offered is £24K.

It’s had a bare metal re spray which couldn’t have been cheep, maybe 5k and the history looks good.

So if you were to take an average car and improve it to the standard of he car offered, and considering the rarity, maybe £24k isn’t so bad, or is it still pricey?

 

[optimusprime]

Its what you are interested in . But the W124 4 Matic is a troublesome model. They are fantastic motors .But problems were the transmision pans failing and cos £5000 to replace.
They(MB), had a winner on their hands but they needed to address their transfer case issue......which was a complete failure to the original owner at 40,000-120,000 miles. A lot of the cars even failed under warranty. MB developed a good 'fix' early on but decided not to cover it. They left it in the dealers' lap on how much to cover the repair. Many dealers left it completely in the lap of the customer to the tune of over $5,000+(late 80's-90's money). That's when they first started showing up at the junkyards.
From another forum .

 

[MBSteveP]

Its what you are interested in . But the W124 4 Matic is a troublesome model. They are fantastic motors .But problems were the transmision pans failing and cos £5000 to replace.
They(MB), had a winner on their hands but they needed to address their transfer case issue......which was a complete failure to the original owner at 40,000-120,000 miles. A lot of the cars even failed under warranty. MB developed a good 'fix' early on but decided not to cover it. They left it in the dealers' lap on how much to cover the repair. Many dealers left it completely in the lap of the customer to the tune of over $5,000+(late 80's-90's money). That's when they first started showing up at the junkyards.
From another forum .

Appreciate the knowledge!

 

[optimusprime]

Well i dont know very little on other cars other than the W124 and thats only through working on my own car.
This information came up on my other forum in the USA.Because they have a larger number of 4 Matics cars over there . I can post other parts of the same conversation on the 4 Matic if you want to read it .

 

[MBSteveP]

Well i dont know very little on other cars other than the W124 and thats only through working on my own car.
This information came up on my other forum in the USA.Because they have a larger number of 4 Matics cars over there . I can post other parts of the same conversation on the 4 Matic if you want to read it .

Thank you for the offer, however I think as much as the idea of owning a rare machine, I think I’ll look for a very tidy non 4Matic version.

 

[optimusprime]

Best car i ever had was the W123 230e .In any flavour you can find , even the disel turbo . W126 is another nice car .

 

[DSM10000]

Thank you for the offer, however I think as much as the idea of owning a rare machine, I think I’ll look for a very tidy non 4Matic version.

The W124 is the iconic Mercedes model.

An elderly chap near to us has a 1993 model. It looks immaculate from the outside and inside,I was admiring it one day when he came over to chat.

He owned it from new, it has never had any accident damage or paint and it has been treated with anti corrosion treatment from new and has had a number of checks and reapplications where required.

From memory it had covered 79,000 late last year.

 

[optimusprime]

This is mine but with the medium size engine 2.6L At the show a few years back .