W124 - advice sought

[phoenix_nights]

Great site!

So have researched all about these W124 and wonder if someone could summarise for me the following:

Which mileage of a car would it be best to go for. I was thinking about the work needed at around 100,000 for the auto box, 150,000 for rear suspension, 170,000 for the gasket.

Are these good estimates..

What would you recommend ?

I am guessing a high mileage 95 facelift model somewhere after the 100,000 mark with the auto box done.

Would really appreciate any advice. Gonna try to get the estate but they are rare.

 

[bolide]

Recommended

I'd recommend the latest car you can find, in the spec you want, with the best service history

Quite a few cars have had the cylinder head gaskets done at Mercedes dealers if they have FMBSH. I've seen a number like that

Rear suspension I don't see as an issue. It's not expensive and it generally happens at very high miles, round 200k

Gearboxes are another matter. They don't tend to just fail - they progress to the point that they're annoying then eventually you lose drive. This process might take 2 or more years

So I'd buy the car you want but be fussy about the box. You can replace or rebuild a box but it is expensive. If it happens at year 4 of ownership and you keep it for 8 years then it's not a problem - it's a running cost as it is with any other car. You just don't want to be buying a car that needs a box replacement in the first 18 months. Most of the time you can achieve that by buying carefully

Nothing to stop you buying a warranty and claiming on it if the box does go. But the warranty company could, with a fair amount of justification, (see above) argue that it is wear & tear. Even Mercedes W124s suffer from this!

There are plenty of estates around. Not that many really good ones, but plenty about


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Vlad]

You would have to be very unlucky to suffer from gearbox problems at 100,000 miles on a w124.

As long as the autobox oil has been changed every 36,000 miles they should last well past 150,000.......I've never had a problem yet on a W124 with the gearbox.

You're more likely to have head gasket problems around the 100,000 mile mark, especially if its a later 2.8 or 3.2 with the M104 engine....bank on £600-£800 to get this done.

Re rear suspension, its all pretty tough stuff on the W124, but shocks will probably be past their best at 100,000 and springs will probably last to 150,000....on the front ......and longer on the back

The front springs on my 300d were done at 145,000 and the rears were still fine.

Great cars and if it gives you any comfort, there's a W124 250D taxi that gets serviced by my local indi and its upto 550,000 miles and the only thing its needed doing in that time is a new head gasket at 330,000 miles and the gear box held out to 300,000.........not bad going!

 

[Apial]

Head gaskets can go at 50K miles or maybe even earlier-who knows? Mine went at 50K and cost £1100. I probably caused the problem by switching to fully synthetic. A drippy engine caused by head gasket failure, not by a coroding warped head.

 

[phoenix_nights]

Thanks for all the advice. Gonna check out a 91 200TE 7 seater i see for sale with 150,000 miles and see what kind of work has been done on it. If the auto has been serviced and the head skimmed might be a sweet deal.

Might seem a stupid question but the T in TE is not turbo is it. If it is not what does the T stand for . (assume these are 8 value 4 cyclinder engines)

Thanks and hoping soon to join what i consider to be one of the best cars ever made by mercedes.

 

[Dave Lewis]

Thanks for all the advice. Gonna check out a 91 200TE 7 seater i see for sale with 150,000 miles and see what kind of work has been done on it. If the auto has been serviced and the head skimmed might be a sweet deal.

Might seem a stupid question but the T in TE is not turbo is it. If it is not what does the T stand for . (assume these are 8 value 4 cyclinder engines)

Thanks and hoping soon to join what i consider to be one of the best cars ever made by mercedes.

If it's a '91, it may be a M111 16-valve. This gives 136bhp, same as 8-valve 2.3. My M111 had the head done by a stealer at 110,000 miles, including new timing chain. Nothing's been done to the gearbox apart from fluid and filter changes. My current mileage is 155,000.
The 'T' stands for Touring, ie estate car. E stands for electronic injection. Check the history - if you have a full set of bills, you can tell what's been done when. Don't buy one of this age without - there are plenty about if you take a bit of time.

 

[MangoMan]

Hi....

Personally I would go for the 300te of around the same year/mileage. They have more power, so usually the engine hasn't been worked so hard. The 200 is a bit sluggish, being a heavy car, nothing wrong with the motor. I used to have an old 200 w123 sedan, it gave me no problems. I used to travel from Harare (Zim) to Johannesburg (SA) lots of times, never worried about breaking down, which would have been a nightmare!

I've also owned a 300te, lovely powerful car for it's age. 235,000miles.

There are quite a few around, but you will get what you pay for. I paid £960.00 for mine.

Cheers, Bill.

 

[phoenix_nights]

When was the plastic body moulding first put on the W124 ?

 

[imadoofus]

When was the plastic body moulding first put on the W124 ?

That came on the "phase II's" in 1990. Also, body-coloured door mirrors and chrome accents to the bumper tops.

PJ

 

[phoenix_nights]

Did the 16V come with Phase II

That came on the "phase II's" in 1990. Also, body-coloured door mirrors and chrome accents to the bumper tops.

PJ

 

[imadoofus]

I think 16v's for the 200 and 220 came along in '92.

24v for the 300 was released in 1990 at the time of the phase II.

PJ

 

[petef]

Whatever you decide you will to have to spend money on it, and it could be very expensive...just be prepared...any secondhand car, whatever its reputation at mileage over 100 thousand will cost you money in maintenance....
Good luck with your purchase
Pete

 

[Pierre Levegh]

you just know there are a load of people waiting with stories about old cars going on for ever at little cost.

My 230TE (the T is not for turbo, might be for injection) cost £1,000. 160k and is now well into the second year of service. Replaced a steering damper and a broken spring to get through the first MOT. Changed the brake pads for the second one.

Done an oil change and replaced the plugs, leads, rotor arm and dist cap. Only other thing was a wheel bearing. The cars are easy to fix yourself. The rear suspension is very easy to fix.

 

[neilrr]

Thanks for all the advice. Gonna check out a 91 200TE 7 seater i see for sale with 150,000 miles and see what kind of work has been done on it.

How much are they asking?

 

[MangoMan]

't'

you just know there are a load of people waiting with stories about old cars going on for ever at little cost.

My 230TE (the T is not for turbo, might be for injection) cost £1,000. 160k and is now well into the second year of service. Replaced a steering damper and a broken spring to get through the first MOT. Changed the brake pads for the second one.

Done an oil change and replaced the plugs, leads, rotor arm and dist cap. Only other thing was a wheel bearing. The cars are easy to fix yourself. The rear suspension is very easy to fix.

Hi Pierre, just thought I would let you know the 'T' is for Tourer (Estate, Station Wagon, etc) the 'E' is for Injection.

Cheers, Bill.