If you follow Mercedes-Benz cars at all, you know the W124 line is considered one of the high watermarks in the company’s history. With ridiculously stout drivetrains and well-documented track records of deep six-figure odometer readings, it’s a terrific choice for a starter classic you can own for reasonable money. The 300E was the bread-and-butter sedan for many years, and to this day, it remains one of the most reliable Mercedes ever made. This 300TE here on eBay is the desirable wagon variant equipped with the 4Matic 4WD system and features great colors with low mileage.
Low mileage in this case is 120K, which is considered just barely broken in by the standards of the W124 line. The W123 is often thought of as the longest-lived Mercedes made in recent memory, and while it certainly has a reputation for withstanding untold amounts of abuse, the W124 is right there with it. You can easily put 300K miles or better one on of these with a fairly disciplined maintenance regimen, but don’t read that to mean that it requires exotic levels of upkeep. This is a car that in Europe would have the same identity as the Chevy Caprice and the Ford Taurus do in the U.S.: a bread-and-butter sedan that will dutifully serve you as a daily driver.
The interiors were another highlight for Mercedes of this era, carrying on the legacy of the W123 for incorporating notoriously hard-wearing materials that look good decades after the car rolled off the lot. The leather seating surfaces can still look and feel supple with amateur level detailing, meaning you just need to hit them with leather conditioner every so often and not park the car in the sun for years on end. The seller’s car looks excellent inside, with carpets, door panels, wood trim, and the upholstery all in excellent condition. It seems safe to say this wagon was loved before going up for sale.
The M103 and M104 engine families represent some of the best motors Mercedes has ever built, with excellent torque and superb highway manners. Really, Mercedes products from this era were legendary for their long-distance cruising abilities, and I’ll bet you could drive this wagon home across the country without much issue. The seller reports that the brakes were recently gone through but doesn’t disclose any other recent maintenance in his care; the Autocheck report doesn’t offer much more detail, either. Still, a pre-purchase inspection makes sense for any older European car purchase, so be sure to get a shop to eyeball this pretty 300TE if you’re bidding from afar.
I too proclaim the 300TDI wagon’s remark-ability (even if only made w/auto and having merica as target) so that the 4matic 4WD is the only reason to forsake it in favor of that slot in the garage. The OM617 isa life time motor. This having the 4matic is the cherry on top but toa lesser cake.
Can I get more photos please. Thank you!
Go to eBay- all the information is there. Click on the link in the article. Barn Finds doesn’t have any more information about this vehicle than that contained in the eBay listing. If you want more photos still, contact the seller through eBay. Barn Finds merely lists vehicles being sold elsewhere (unless it is a BF auction).
These are fine cars. I am a very old retired mechanic with many years of Mercedes experience and factory training. M103 engine usually leak oil at the upper timing chain cover and early the head gasket. The W104 engine on the other hand is notorious for oil leaking head gaskets but rarely coolant. 124 in the earlier years ate front drive shaft flex discs. The fix is to install rear discs in the front. If let go to long the drive shaft will disconnect with serious damage. I once had in my bay a 300E that had set off all the SRS air bags and destroyed the exhaust system. It beat the crap out of the floor. Nice cars? Yes indeed. But maintenance is required. What do I drive? An S210 E320 Wagon. 250k miles and zero engine problems. My wife drives the same with 40k miles.
Very carefully cropped pix of the front seat bottom, needs a better photo.
If you go to the eBay listing, there’s some photos showing a few spots of mild cracking/crazing in the vinyl on the driver’s seat bottom. However, being very hardy MB-Tex vinyl, IMO this is unlikely to be of serious concern for years to come, or of course you could just apply a vinyl patching compound as a preventive measure (there’s tutorials for this on YouTube and elsewhere online).
Having seen other examples of MB-Tex (of this and older vintage at least) cracked far worse, the backing substrate appears to be a dense, felt-like material rather than the usual thin, woven fabric backing of cheaper vinyls, so as cracks get worse they just expose the felt backing that may start to rend apart somewhat, yet without completely separating into an open tear for quite a long time.