I have 2 w124 estates - a 1995 E300D auto and a 1989 250TD manual.
I twice fitted Michelin Pilot Primacy on the E300D for about £270, and got over 20,000 miles wear each time. The tyres were quiet and very hard wearing - I found them excellent. Unfortunately, they no longer make these for a 195 65 15 inch wheel. I read reports that the alternative Michelin Economytyre was both noisey and poor in the wet, and so I went over to Continental Premium Contact IIs at £260. These make the car handle beautifully, and are comfortable and quiet and feel very grippy in the wet, but they are down to 3-4mm tread after just 10,000 miles. Their wear is disappointing, but I will probably replace with the same because I do not think that there is anything better.
My 250TD has run on Goodyear NTC 5 tyres and I am down to 4-5mm tread after 10,000 miles. These tyres have been very good but as Nick says, are noisier than the Michelins and Continentals- but wear less well than the Michelins. The walls are now cracking on the rear tyres (but then this car was not used so much last summer and sat in my garage for weeks at a time).
I put this manual car onto Continental Winter Contact tyres (£286) for the winter, and these are fantastic in cold, wet, icy and snowy conditions - I commute a 30 minute journey from 1000ft to sea level and back here in North Wales each day. These tyres are exceptionally grippy and allow me to get up the steep roads in snow, which was not possible on my Goodyear summer tyres. They feel soft - the car seems to move around more on them around corners, and they are not surprisingly noisier due to the deeper tread. However, I strongly recommend them - they make a heavy rear wheel car possible to drive in these conditions. I will put them on the E300 auto next year too, for sure.
