What is most reliable modern MB?

[mykulmerc]

My W202 has been neglected but still is the most reliable car I have ever had.

Everything still works, no rust, a few dents and looks good.

Thats excellent!! My 1999 W202 is quite rusty.

How does anybody rate the W209??

 

[DSB SL AMG]

guys - the most reliable bomb proof MB model must surely be a SL R129 (pre -facelift) 1989 - 94, which i own...

 

[ian11]

I saw a 08 Plate Aston Martin DB9(?) last year on the M-Way and some of the led lights had failed in the brake clusters....I know it's a 'nothing' fault but it looked just sooo wince inducing.

I heard an urban myth that during the S-Class service schedule, all of the minor parts with life expectancy are changed (bulbs, filters etc) so that our wealthy bretheren never experience a crisis like a faulty vanity light...any truth in this?

 

[Adam230K]

Thats excellent!! My 1999 W202 is quite rusty.

How does anybody rate the W209??

I had a w209 for a week after my c230k because one of my dealer mates let me borrow it. It was very smooth and the engine was a cracker, but the build quality is questionable... it had a very 'cheap' artificial feel to it, hard to describe, but I know I didnt like it, could be just that one though!

 

[Vlad]

I always used to think that diesels were more reliable, but in the last 5 years, I've been changing my mind on that. Modern diesels have so much complex kit on them to cope with emissions that my thoughts now sway back to petrol as being the most reliable, certainly in terms of long term ownership. The list of EGR valve problems, injectors, turbo's, inlet manifolds, particle traps etc etc puts me off.

Interestingly with the latest advancements in petrol engines, there seems to be some concensus in the motoring press that diesel engined cars will become too expensive to sell due to the continued issues with emissions which will continue to be tightened up in the coming years (particulates being the main issue), whereas petrol engined cars will start to recapture the ground they have lost to diesel engined cars in the last 10 years or so.

As for which Merc....you cant go wrong with a W124, W202 (if you keep on top of the rust) and one of my favourites the W208 CLK (again if you keep on top of the rust), especially when fitted with the 320 engine, although saying that, the 230K is pretty much bomb proof engine wise, albeit a bit rough sounding. The R129 SL also has to be one of the best made Mercs ever, and as has been said, I also think the pre facelift ones are better built than the later ones.

Re the question on the W209 CLK....I like them, but you have to be careful on some of the early ones. I'm currently driving a 500CLK for a couple of weeks and what a car...and surprising economy when you're not giving it the beans!

 

[MPG]

My only experience of Mercedes is the W126 sitting in my garage now & I've got to say its given me 20k faultfree miles in the past two years, which is a lot better than the BMW 745i (E65) I had before it.

What I like about the W126 is the ease of maintenance & the fact that the car was designed with being taken to bits for maintenance in mind. By way of example I changed the radiator on it a couple of months back & the whole job start to finish took under an hour - you don't need anything other than a basic toolkit & everything can be reached without the need to jack the car up - lovely job!

 

[kole301]

Electronics and electrical components are the weak parts of MB...
Less electronic is always better...
Which means old cars... Earlier then 2000...

 

[jaymanek]

Thanks Jay for the vote of confidence. ;

ahh but you are lucky enough to own newish cars... so who cares eh!

I was referring more to older W220's and W215's...

 

[dinoy]

my mercedes contact tells me the new e class is built like the w124 over engineered and built to last and he mentioned C class after 2005 also never had anything younger than 1996 w124 as after that it chyrsler quality not mercedes anymore i pray that my w124 will last 10 years more and the new e class is as the guy described then i will get one then as it would be classed as classic again.

i wonder if anybody had any thought on w124 convertible and with the new e class convertible coming out and replacing the slk and clk would that mean w124 convertible prices will drop i am seeing alot for sale lately.

laways fancied one as i will not bring myself to pay alot of money for w111 convertible, although i had couple of near misses with w123 convertible and they are ok but very very rare and even rarer than that w114 convertible

 

[buccal]

I woudnt say a CLK they always have problems

I ran my previous CLK for four years and it never even needed a bulb.

Zero faults. Zero rust.

 

[The Boss]

my mercedes contact tells me the new e class is built like the w124 over engineered and built to last and he mentioned C class after 2005 also never had anything younger than 1996 w124 as after that it chyrsler quality not mercedes anymore i pray that my w124 will last 10 years more and the new e class is as the guy described then i will get one then as it would be classed as classic again.

i wonder if anybody had any thought on w124 convertible and with the new e class convertible coming out and replacing the slk and clk would that mean w124 convertible prices will drop i am seeing alot for sale lately.

laways fancied one as i will not bring myself to pay alot of money for w111 convertible, although i had couple of near misses with w123 convertible and they are ok but very very rare and even rarer than that w114 convertible

I really feel the w124 prices will stay steady and infact rise as the new e class cabrio is still flawed in many ways..

my reasons for the above are:

1. the new e class cabrio is based on the c class platform (unlike the w124), not that this is a bad thing necessarily.

2. the new e class cabrio, though larger than the current e class, feels cramped.

3. the interior of the new e class is trashy

4. the exterior styling looks too radical, and thus will date faster than the w124, and the w124 styling was so clean and timeless, that even today, the styling to me looks fresh, even with my "heritage" grill lol

5. the technology is advance, but as it is competing on the technology front, it will date faster. the w124 has little technology, and in being so simple, its not competing with others.

6. the quality of the integral components i feel have suffered in recent years, and this is something the w124 never suffered from.

7. the new e class is priced so well, it will be popular for todays image concious, but as it will date faster in my opinion, they will keep changing hands so the owners have the latest style. W124's dont compete with anything else...

8. the new e class cabrio competes with the 3 series. the w124 DID NOT have any competitors in its day, apart from the Bentley Azure in my opinion.

9. The w124 was significantly more expensive back in the days, thus the owners were not the kind to trash the cars around, and thus i feel that the very few that remain in low mileage, clean condition are pure bliss, and when one is out of the mindset of chasing the trend setters, one will realise that the w124 was and is in a class of their own, and nothing can ever change that.

They new audi A5 cabrios look wonderful and i feel might be following in the footsteps of the w124, but even this car is a little too radically styled to ensure a long existance.. but its got a chance to create an elevated level of respect..

 

[dinoy]

I really feel the w124 prices will stay steady and infact rise as the new e class cabrio is still flawed in many ways..

my reasons for the above are:

1. the new e class cabrio is based on the c class platform (unlike the w124), not that this is a bad thing necessarily.

2. the new e class cabrio, though larger than the current e class, feels cramped.

3. the interior of the new e class is trashy

4. the exterior styling looks too radical, and thus will date faster than the w124, and the w124 styling was so clean and timeless, that even today, the styling to me looks fresh, even with my "heritage" grill lol

5. the technology is advance, but as it is competing on the technology front, it will date faster. the w124 has little technology, and in being so simple, its not competing with others.

6. the quality of the integral components i feel have suffered in recent years, and this is something the w124 never suffered from.

7. the new e class is priced so well, it will be popular for todays image concious, but as it will date faster in my opinion, they will keep changing hands so the owners have the latest style. W124's dont compete with anything else...

8. the new e class cabrio competes with the 3 series. the w124 DID NOT have any competitors in its day, apart from the Bentley Azure in my opinion.

9. The w124 was significantly more expensive back in the days, thus the owners were not the kind to trash the cars around, and thus i feel that the very few that remain in low mileage, clean condition are pure bliss, and when one is out of the mindset of chasing the trend setters, one will realise that the w124 was and is in a class of their own, and nothing can ever change that.

They new audi A5 cabrios look wonderful and i feel might be following in the footsteps of the w124, but even this car is a little too radically styled to ensure a long existance.. but its got a chance to create an elevated level of respect..

i do agree in general on the w124 although i personally prefer w123 as it is really bullet proof having owned both models and used them too, but i can see the convertibles being dumped right now and the prices are getting lower but not lower than the clk which i personally do not think they are as good as w124. i am hoping i can catch a good one pre 1993 as the facelift models of all w124 was the the beginning of the downfall of MB and this even apply to diesel estates the older pre 1993 diesel are much better egines that the 24 v version although 24v version nicer to drive but it is plasticee the bumpers crack up not like the older versions, infact i am considering changing the bumpers to old version non colour coded grey as they are much tougher on mine but yes it will look very odd i will keep the colour coded in case when i come to sell it the buyer wants the original colour coded as well