[Viraat13]

Originally Posted by nandishpal

@ viraat,i have had a good experiece with my mercs,i have had the taste of it & can tell if the car is healthy or not by looking or cranking it,
authorised service centre can only get you scared by showing you the expenses & cannot help you take a decision on a good car,
i have had my share of goods & bads with them,
both the cars are healthy & have absolutely no problems,
the problem here is i am comparing them to my 280s & s320,they are much quicker then them,
that is where the problem is

You can do that with almost any car. Just as long as you have something to compare with!

They show the expenses. But like I said, it is completely your choice if you get it done or not. They will go exactly by the book and I quite like that. The final decision is always yours. And I have found that mostly they will tell you if it is advisable to purchase the car or not. And if you do get the work done from them, they will eliminate various things that even they think are unnecessary.

I'm assuming you are talking about a W126 280S produced somewhere between 1980 and 1985. Which does 0 - 100 in 10 seconds . Exactly as fast as the W124 E220.

You already have 2 petrol Benzes. Why not go in for a diesel one this time around? They are legendary cruisers. But if you are a fan of quicker cars. The E250D will most certainly cause you to yawn. But on the other hand, if the W124 is going to be your city car which you drive in bumper to bumper traffic, no point having the petrol. The FE is between 6.5 and 7. (Which I don't really mind.) So a diesel makes more sense that way. But if you are one of those that don't really car about FE. Then, well your choice has been made!

[V-16]

Guys this one is a no bummer. 4.85 is definitely a lot of money to ask for a car of that vintage and however well maintained, im sure will have its share of expenses.

Having owned a few myself ill just put done what to look for when buying an E220.
10 Just because the mileage is low does not mean the car is well maintained. I know of many low mileage cars left without use and in the end, one gets a huge cost of wire harnesses, injectors, brakes, etc etc. I could be a nightmare. So i would look for a well used car or rather a car well kept, whatever the mileage.

Go for one without an overcoat or any extensive body damage. These 124s were built like tanks and are very very reliable, not to mention they dont cost an arm and a leg to fix. Parts are relatively easy to find and so are mechanics who would be qualified to work on them.

Look for rust around the rear light cluster and on and around the windscreen rubbers. The rear light surround is one place that really rusts. Also in the boot at the wheel well. Remove the rubber matting and check. Mostly all the rubber matting hides is the rust below with water seeping in and settling below the mat.

Check the windscreen rubbers and if hard, have them replaced. Will save you a lot of leaks and future rust headaches.

Things to check mechanically.

Check for idling and as in all mercs the Oil level when revved.

Get the wiring harness checked from a qualified electrician. This can get expensive to replace and was known to be a problem area with all Indian spec W124s.

Check for any warning lights conterminously on and dont believe the talk that its only a minor wiring issue. more often than not its not so easy.

Check that when the ign. is on before cranking the oil, srs, engine check (and heater in case if the 250D) etc all come on and go off when the car is fired. Many fly by night dealers will just cut supply to any check light...no light so the problem is fixed....right???...Well WRONG!!

Drive the Merc. The steering is a bit hard, so dont expect Honda City type soft steering. This is not a EPC, its a pump driven thing. Check for noises when turned clock to clock and held there.

Most 124s also had a recurring problem of the fan belt tensioner going bad and making strange sound. Check fo rthat noise.

Check the brakes for sponginess or pad/disc wear. Drive and JAm hard, feel if the ABS kicks in, there should be a pulsating feeling on the pedal when jammed, this means the ABS is working.

Check all the buttons in the car are there and working. These can me hard to find.

Check for the Vaccum system that operates the locking by operating the central locking which should be working coz replacing this is expensive again and Autocop is certainly not an option. The drivers lock goes in forst and subsequently the other three, so dont worry if they all dont go down together, thats the way it was meant to be. Upon locking and holding the key in a left position for a few seconds, the car should lock itself and if any windows are down, they should all come up. Check in the manual for the details on this.

If there is a vibration the car, check the mounts. Even the Diesel was relatively vibration free. Noisy yes but vibration free.

Automatic variants of the E220 are very rare but the E250D was quite common. Check for anything other than smooth gear shifts and the kickdown.

Suspension was almost invulnerable but thats a minor point and is easily detected.
Other than this the car had few niggles.

The quality of the interior will tell you lots about its usage. Any changed interiors should be questioned.

Basically get someone who knows his Mercs to come and have a look. That will be worth a lot. I would not really go 100% with these authorized dealers diagnosis, they will more often than not present a gloomy picture with a lot of expenses, rather get it checked from a good garage whom you trust.

After this strike the deal and enjoy this beauty for years altogether!!

[Viraat13]

Alright. So a lot of people have been asking me details of my car often. So here goes.

Price paid - RS 4,00,000.
Expenditure for repairs etc - RS 2,00,000.

Work carried out on the car -
(All the prices are approximates as I don't remember the exact figures. Include laubour. In no particular order. If someone wants the EXACT figures for a particular item, let me know, I can dig the bills out and inform you.)

Front suspension overhaul - 25,000
(This includes all the shockers, pads, mounts and the steering components.)

Rear suspension overhaul - 25,000
(This includes everything. From pads, to shockers, to hydraulic bushes etc)

Entire brake system - 20,000
(This includes front break pads + rotors and rear pads + rotors)

Engine mountings replacement - 3,000

Power windows repair - 2,000

New radiator - 12,000

Coolant bottle - 1,600

Front and rear bumper rail replacement - 5,000

New windshield - 5 or 6,000
(Not original. Taiwanese stuff. Same as the Benz stuff.)

Tyres - 18,000
(Yokohama A drive. 195/65/R15)

Wiring Harness - 48,000
(Also called engine harness.)

AC relay switch - 5,000

Boot's rubber linings - 2,000

Interior roof material replacement - 5,000

Idle control valve - 5,000

Air mass sensor - 11,000

Side view mirror boots - 8,000

Headlamp control switch - 4,000

And HOW could any one forget the famous 3 pointed star - 1,200

Of course there are various other small things that used to crop up on a daily basis. Things like washing the headlamps, or replacing the wiper.
A complete service also took place. All fluids were changed. And when a car is being worked on, a 100 small small things crop up. Which don't cost much individually, but put together they cost big bucks. Stuff like minor repair for the exhaust, or replacing a hose or the fuel lines or injector cleaning. Etc etc.

The things I have listed itself nearly cost 2 lakhs. So like I said. Lots of small small things which end up costing like 10,000.

I have attached 2 pictures of the car. (First time posting pics. Hope it works!)

[ayushagarwal26]

I just voted on this really old thread - nice poll, GTO. This is a baffling choice between sheer performance and economical sense! My vote, thought, doesn't really reflect which one I *would* buy - I just got myself a '96 E220

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by Viraat13

Alright. So a lot of people have been asking me details of my car often. So here goes.

Price paid - RS 4,00,000.
Expenditure for repairs etc - RS 2,00,000.

Work carried out on the car -
(All the prices are approximates as I don't remember the exact figures. Include laubour. In no particular order. If someone wants the EXACT figures for a particular item, let me know, I can dig the bills out and inform you.)

Front suspension overhaul - 25,000
(This includes all the shockers, pads, mounts and the steering components.)

Rear suspension overhaul - 25,000
(This includes everything. From pads, to shockers, to hydraulic bushes etc)

Entire brake system - 20,000
(This includes front break pads + rotors and rear pads + rotors)

Engine mountings replacement - 3,000

Power windows repair - 2,000

New radiator - 12,000

Coolant bottle - 1,600

Front and rear bumper rail replacement - 5,000

New windshield - 5 or 6,000
(Not original. Taiwanese stuff. Same as the Benz stuff.)

Tyres - 18,000
(Yokohama A drive. 195/65/R15)

Wiring Harness - 48,000
(Also called engine harness.)

AC relay switch - 5,000

Boot's rubber linings - 2,000

Interior roof material replacement - 5,000

Idle control valve - 5,000

Air mass sensor - 11,000

Side view mirror boots - 8,000

Headlamp control switch - 4,000

And HOW could any one forget the famous 3 pointed star - 1,200

Of course there are various other small things that used to crop up on a daily basis. Things like washing the headlamps, or replacing the wiper.
A complete service also took place. All fluids were changed. And when a car is being worked on, a 100 small small things crop up. Which don't cost much individually, but put together they cost big bucks. Stuff like minor repair for the exhaust, or replacing a hose or the fuel lines or injector cleaning. Etc etc.

The things I have listed itself nearly cost 2 lakhs. So like I said. Lots of small small things which end up costing like 10,000.

I have attached 2 pictures of the car. (First time posting pics. Hope it works!)

Hey Viraat. Your car looks awesome. I know these pics are of 2010 and I hope she looks the same now. I have been closely watching all the W124 threads on the forum since I am planning to acquire one myself. The pricelist of the parts/expense you have mentioned is a lot cheaper than I had thought or read somewhere else. For example, the front and rear suspension overhauling costs Rs.50,000/- where as in a different thread it says the full suspension overhaul will set you back by a cool 1 lakh. I hope these prices will not have changed much. Will definitely open a thread when I get mine (will take sometime though before l I gather the funds for the purchase and the initial fixing/restoring expenses).

Thanks for the pictures again, it did re-fuel my plans to get a W124.

BTW, which year is your W124. Looks like it has steel wheels instead of alloys.

[vikramv007]

I overhauled the full suspension and differential of my 300D and it costed me 1.75L. All done with original DB spares. Will post pictures soon.

[Viraat13]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Hey Viraat. Your car looks awesome. I know these pics are of 2010 and I hope she looks the same now. I have been closely watching all the W124 threads on the forum since I am planning to acquire one myself. The pricelist of the parts/expense you have mentioned is a lot cheaper than I had thought or read somewhere else. For example, the front and rear suspension overhauling costs Rs.50,000/- where as in a different thread it says the full suspension overhaul will set you back by a cool 1 lakh. I hope these prices will not have changed much. Will definitely open a thread when I get mine (will take sometime though before l I gather the funds for the purchase and the initial fixing/restoring expenses).

Thanks for the pictures again, it did re-fuel my plans to get a W124.

BTW, which year is your W124. Looks like it has steel wheels instead of alloys.

Hey DudeWithaFiat,

Thanks a lot. The car looks much the same. Maybe even better now. It's taken a few polishes to get the real shine out of the original (!!!) paint.

It's not the expensive for the people who know how and where to get the work done. Otherwise it can drain your resources like no ones business.

Just a reminder, the prices I mentioned are for Delhi. I don't know how much more expensive or cheaper it'll be in Kochi.

Mine is a 1996. It has steel wheels. :-)

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by vikramv007

I overhauled the full suspension and differential of my 300D and it costed me 1.75L. All done with original DB spares. Will post pictures soon.

I believe the 300D has a different/advanced suspension setup since the engine is heavier. Does 300D have a trim with manual transmission? AFAIK, 300D comes only with automatic transmission.

[vikramv007]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

I believe the 300D has a different/advanced suspension setup since the engine is heavier. Does 300D have a trim with manual transmission? AFAIK, 300D comes only with automatic transmission.

300D W124 came with a manual transmission though it is very rare. Mine is 5 speed manual transmission. The suspension is not all that different from the E250's that were sold here except for a very few parts.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by vikramv007

300D W124 came with a manual transmission though it is very rare. Mine is 5 speed manual transmission. The suspension is not all that different from the E250's that were sold here except for a very few parts.

May be its those few parts that is making such a huge difference in the price? Or it could be at the Mercedes Authorized service center a suspension overhaul can cost 1.75L and the 80k-1L price could be from one of the specialist service stations.

No offense, but almost every other forums says a suspension over-haul for W124 costs between 80k-1L, not more than that.

BTW, I had test-driven a 300D automatic W124 about a month back. The speedo showed around 40kmph (in Km, not Miles) while I am sure that the car was doing well over 60. Possible ODO tampering huh?

[vikramv007]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

May be its those few parts that is making such a huge difference in the price? Or it could be at the Mercedes Authorized service center a suspension overhaul can cost 1.75L and the 80k-1L price could be from one of the specialist service stations.

No offense, but almost every other forums says a suspension over-haul for W124 costs between 80k-1L, not more than that.

BTW, I had test-driven a 300D automatic W124 about a month back. The speedo showed around 40kmph (in Km, not Miles) while I am sure that the car was doing well over 60. Possible ODO tampering huh?

Please read my post properly the differential has also been overhauled and that alone was 40K and the parts were procured from MB but work was done outside. I have an E250 also it came upto 1.2L to overhaul the suspension. Cant say about the ODO tampering nowadays its become impossible to find out the tampering.

[vikramv007]

As promised I have posted the pictures of my 1989 300D. The car has been completely restored. I am trying to source the center console wood panel. I dont mind a used one also if anybody can locate it please let me know.

[vikramv007]

Originally Posted by GTO

I have to agree. The supply quality of W124s in the used market has seriously deteriorated in the last 5 years. Not that surprising though, as the older a car is, the more it switches hands. On a 10+ year old car, owners do tend to skimp on maintenance. After all, who will spend Rs. 50,000 on properly repairing an air-conditioning unit, when the car's book value is Rs. 2.25 lakhs?

What you have said is 100percent true and people get 2nd grade spares so cheap but no one knows about the reliability or the safety of the spares used.

[pganapathy]

I voted for the 220 purely because of its performance. Have a friend in Mozambique who still has a 220 and been in it many times. Very impressive car.

Will say that in India in general and Bangalore in particular, diesel is ridiculously priced. Today there is almost a 30 rupee difference per litre, so when I do buy one, it will probably be the diesel for this reason only.

However, the diesel is a very impressive cruiserlike most Merc diesels, so that is a plus for that car.

[dudesam24]

A dream comes true... Picked up a pristine 1995 made W124 E250D imported into India in 2005 from UK. She is just the thing I always wanted. We call her the Baby Turtle due to the stance of her new 225-60 tyres. Runs like a dream and such a darling.