W124 Mercedes 300CE/E320 Cabrio

This is an enlighten me thread

I have fallen for these things recently although I have always liked them. I was young and impressionable in the '80s and I like overbuilt stuff:).

I would like to find a fixer upper (runner) for weekend cruising and road trips. I would spend about 3 years slowly fixing it up in preparation for an epic road trip like swank force one is taking.

All I know about them is that their wiring harness goes bad and weird stuff happens and that their vacuum controlled hvac can have issues. I also know they have the 3.2 24valve inline 6 and parts seem readily available.

I don't know how reliable that engine is or how durable the transmissions and top mechanisms are.

Can they be kept on the road for reasonable? By reasonable I mean E36 levels of care (this will not be a daily driver) or are they nightmares to own? Where I grew up they were very highly regarded and they are the only MB in my price range I will consider owning( because convertible). On an unrelated note, I did not see the point of convertibles till I moved to Minnesota. All that snow and cold makes me want to enjoy as much sun and as possible and after selling my Miata, I realize I miss open air motoring more than I thought I would.

I have never owned MB. But these seem new enough to be safe and old enough to be easy to work on.

Daughter (9) and I went for a test drive in one and both of us loved it. The one we looked at had 191k miles and drove like it had 91k--very solid car. I figure it will be a good family adventure vehicle plus if I buy well, I could theoretically own it for "free" if I sell it after a few years. And not too many miles.

So teach me what you know about them; especially the convertible mechanism.

They are very well made cars. I can't comment much on the convertible model other than they command a premium over all but the 500e's.

Here are the big $$$ ones: wiring harness and throttle actuator wiring (easy to check the wiring harness build date on the tag next to the battery), reverse gear craps out on the tranny, AC evaporators leak (big cash to repair as the dash has to come out). There are probably a lot of original suspension bushings front and rear that make a big difference in ride quality and could use to be refreshed.

Peach parts forum and benzworld w124 section has tons and tons of info about these cars.

Thanks a bundle for your insight especially about the reverse gear and throttle actuator. The forum links were also quite helpful.

You are right about how much of a premium they command. I found one semi-locally with 191k for 7k with almost all service records. Granted it drives really nice, but I think for a '93 it is probably 1.5-2k too much because of the mileage and minor cosmetic stuff it needs. I fell for it though.

It definitely pays to spend more upfront for a car with known maintenance. The issues I mentioned will wear a hole through your wallet in short order. I would not be concerned with the miles. Check the receipts that they have available.

With Mercedes and especially a convertible I would buy the best one I could afford. They tend to be very robust if looked after and an expensive nightmare if they aren't.

Oh, and make sure you thoroughly check the condition of the roof. I wouldn't want to find out how much those cost to replace.

Spent a couple of years in a indie Mercedes shop. The high points have been covered, but these things will also nickel and dime you to death. The oh so fun seatbelt automatic extender mechanism on the coupes and 'verts is practically unobtanium. The interior trim panels can look great but will have the strength of a Ruffles potato chip, I saw one which looked nice but had a neat round finger hole through it. The HVAC controls are all vacuum and they fail with alarming regularity, two of the actuators require dash removal for access. I did once order a top canvas, it was in the $1200 range not including installation. The distributor cap and rotor can be pricey for OE Bosch, and the knockoffs aren't real reliable.

A lot of the parts are available fairly inexpensively in the aftermarket but the quality is not there. A lot of the stuff comes from India and unfortunately that subcontinent has a ways to go.

Just because you can get into one in the $5-6k range does NOT mean it won't try to put you in the poorhouse, even well maintained cars can eat you alive. They won't go up in value either.

EDIT: The top mechanism is all hydraulic, it's great when working. I never saw a 300 top mechanism quit, but I did see more than one SL of that vintage do dumb things like spray hydraulic fluid out of the headliner as it decided not to work. The SL's had either 11 or 12 hydraulic cylinders depending on the year (I believe the 300 has a similar number) and even worse had an electro-hydraulic 'computer' which operated the cylinders in a specified sequence. The cylinders can be expensive as hell, but there's a guy in Kansas who can rebuild them if the rods aren't pitted or scratched (most of the rods do get pitted/scratched, though). That electro-hydraulic computer is outrageously expensive. It has a logic unit and solenoids, there's a separate pump.

Thanks guys for the tips. l knew you guys would bring me down to earth soon enough

Fun, reliable and cheap; It seems the miata is the only car l am interested in that does all three. I really miss mine; should never have sold it. Unfortunately, it does not have enough room for all of us.

The older I get the more l realize how cheap I am. l will admire them from a distance as I don't have room in the budget for a money hole third car -- cool though it may be.

maybe the wet noodle Solara convertible will suffice for what I need the vehicle to do.

Thanks again. You guys Are a great sounding board

If you want something reasonably priced with airbags, reliability, a rear seat for a small kid and want a convertible, but you (understandably) don't want a Solara or Sebring...What about a '94-'99 Celica?

I don't think a normal 300CE should be that scary. I would try to get one from 91 or older one so its less likely to have wiring problems, but other than that I can't imagine they would be too bad. I wouldn't be afraid to go out and pay $3k or so for one if I needed a new car and saw one I liked.

The wiring harness is not a big deal. Used harnesses are all over ebay for a few hundred bucks. It takes about 5 minutes to tell whether a car has a updated harness if you know where to look. I would take a harness repair over a tranny rebuild or AC repair a 100 times to Sunday.

Re the celica, not enough room in the back. l am not too opposed to the solara they just don't have a special feel about them. Anyway my ultimate goal in addition to weekend cruising is to take an epic road trip in one of a birthday gift to myself a few years from now.

In my dreams, this Is going to be one to show the grandkids so I am looking for Something with some specialness to it (for me). Having a few years to sort it out is why l am looking now. Here are some l am Thinking of.

Mercedes Cabrio Corvair convertible Mk3 supra t- Tops E46 convertible

This is a few years from now, so there is some time.

What about an E36 convertible? They are around the same vintage and price range, and maybe a bit less finicky than the benz. I only have direct experience with E46 convertibles though, which was all positive.

The w124 cabrio is probably one of the classiest convertibles ever made. If the car is just a w124 underneath there shouldn't be much to worry about and there are tons running around. I guess you just gotta worry about convertible specific part. I don't think 1200$ sounds bad for a convertible top, remember the cloth tops mercedes uses are actually known to work and stop rain. Guy on the mercedes forum said he knows someone with a 540k and the top cost 20,000$ to replace, whats 20,000 into $$$$ though. I actually saw some mexicans pull the head from a 320e with inline 6 24 valve m104?. Looks like a nice engine, that is the dream, get a mercedes r107 with good body and dead engine and put the 24V m104 with the 722.6 5 speed transmission. From what I hear the wiring situation and transmission sensors are the biggest obstacles.

The E36 convertible is a good suggestion. They just dont attract me as much as the E 46. Maybe I should try one. l do like the Audi S4, but I fear them for maintenance. I am realizing that the E46 manual is a good compromise of specialness, reliability and safety. Having owned an E36 l dont think they are hard to work on. On another note my former E36 M3 is the only manual car my wife enjoyed driving.