Videos A tribute to one of the greatest cars ever made.

[Kowalski]

Behold the last needlessly over engineered, built for life car.



My father had a 1990 300E Saloon W124 for just one year. He bought it used, the car was already three years old at the time.

*The W124 gave its life to save my parents life in a serious accident. If it wasn't for Mercedes engineering, my parents wouldn't be alive and well*.

Danke Mercedes-Benz!
​

 

[bmer]

Aaarrrggghhh!!! It hurts my eyes! No more, please!


Edit:

Just noticed the part below the video. The old Mercs were propably the safest cars in the market. Today I would still feel more safe inside a M-B than inside a Volvo.

 

[bum-man]

The last of the over-engineered Benz's (until recently) was the W140 not the 124. Thanks for the video.

 

[LaArtist]

the S class seems to be overly engineerd once again..

by the way love this car to death..still looks so good on the street..its crazy

PS
MB´s are still the safest cars..

 

[bum-man]

PS
MB´s are still the safest cars..

Amen to that.

 

[Dayi]

i think it was my first post on this forum which i had about my w124...

Really i still miss that car, so safe and comfortable i felt in it. I think the best ones are made in between 94-96, then you have the "Turbodiesel" ones, i had it

 

[Mr. M]

Shall be laying my hands on one soon, as my first car...

 

[SDNR]

Aaarrrggghhh!!! It hurts my eyes! No more, please!

Are you kidding me ...it's ten time better looking (for its age) than the current E class.

 

[Merc1]

The W124 E500 is still likely my favorite 4-door Benz of all time, a tall honor in the days of the CLS and W221.

M

 

[bum-man]

Are you kidding me ...it's ten time better looking (for its age) than the current E class.

Or any 5er for that matter.

 

[ateekt]

No doubt, one of the best MB production ever ...!

 

[Tarek]

That car is a tank,but seems that MB returned to the over engineered cars with the new S and CL

 

[Mr. M]

The W124 E500 is still likely my favorite 4-door Benz of all time, a tall honor in the days of the CLS and W221.

M

It's interesting, why is the W124 more significant than its W126 counterparts? I've always thought that the S-Class was the one on the pedestal.

And, isn't the W126 one of the over-engineered Benzes as well? Or is there something special done to the W124 to make it the 'last' over-engineered Benz?

I'm always astounded by the respect and recognition given to the W124... It certainly is an amazing car.

 

[Kowalski]

The W124, R129 and W140/C140 were the last overengineered Mercedes-Benz cars.

I would say Mercedes downfall in quality started in the mid-nineties with the C-Class W202. While it was a reliable car, the first C-Class scored only two stars in the first ever EuroNCAP crash-test in 1997. Quite a fiasco for a legendary brand that always valued the safety in their models.

The V-Class was severely slated because of its poor ride and handling, the cheap interior, the uncomfortable seats, but mostly because why Mercedes should be bothered making a big MPV, when they are traditionally a luxury car maker?

Then in 1997 the A-Class W168 came along. It was vastly criticized for its (again) cheap interior, coarse engines and to make matters worse, it proved to be dynamically dodgy when it failed miserably at the elk-test.

In the same year, Mercedes introduced the American built ML-Class W163. The ML was criticized for its (again) cheap, lumpen dynamics and rather impractical rear-seats arrangement. Mercedes admitted the ML-Class was a rival for the Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Blazer. But a Mercedes going after these lowly American SUVs? Hmm...that does not sound the right thing to do.

Plainly then, there was something (very) wrong with Mercedes-Benz.

And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, Schrempp bought Chrysler and that's exactly when Mercedes quality started to slide into oblivion.

I hope and even though I'm not a religious man, I pray that Mercedes fix all this mess done by Schrempp and his scum of sleazy bean-counters and now left in Zetsche's hands.

The road ahead to improve the reliability is long and tough. But hey! They are Mercedes-Benz. They are the brand that invented the car in the first place, don't forget that.

 

[Merc1]

It's interesting, why is the W124 more significant than its W126 counterparts? I've always thought that the S-Class was the one on the pedestal.

And, isn't the W126 one of the over-engineered Benzes as well? Or is there something special done to the W124 to make it the 'last' over-engineered Benz?

I'm always astounded by the respect and recognition given to the W124... It certainly is an amazing car.

Yes the W126 one of the over-engineered Benzes too. The "last" of them are as Kowalski says in the above post. The R129 and early (1992-1994) W140s in particular. The W140 I read one time had the most parts of any production car ever created. Don't know if that was true, but my goodness that must have been and engineering nightmare or delight depending on how you look at it.

I wanted a 560SEC back in the day, but there was just some a little more special about the "300E" to me. The W126 cars were just as cherished by the faithful though, but the 300E was the car that got my attention from Mercedes. Then they came out with the 300CE Coupe and I nearly died when I first saw it, so you can imagine my reaction to the legendary 500E when it appeared.

For me in the MB hall of fame (recent times) it is the W124, R129 and W126 in that order. All brilliant and sorely missed.

M

 

[FC123]

Yes the W126 one of the over-engineered Benzes too. The "last" of them are as Kowalski says in the above post. The R129 and early (1992-1994) W140s in particular. The W140 I read one time had the most parts of any production car ever created. Don't know if that was true, but my goodness that must have been and engineering nightmare or delight depending on how you look at it.

I wanted a 560SEC back in the day, but there was just some a little more special about the "300E" to me. The W126 cars were just as cherished by the faithful though, but the 300E was the car that got my attention from Mercedes. Then they came out with the 300CE Coupe and I nearly died when I first saw it, so you can imagine my reaction to the legendary 500E when it appeared.

For me in the MB hall of fame (recent times) it is the W124, R129 and W126 in that order. All brilliant and sorely missed.

M

If I recall correctly Mercedes had major quality problems with the W124 for the first years of production. Anyone?

To me the W123 feels much more of a machine than the W124. I believe a W123 230E weighs 100 kilograms more than a W124 230E. The W123 and the W116 give a feeling of truly being supremely solid whereas the W126 and W124 in small steps appear to have started the trend of being designed to appear extremely solid, if that makes sense.

My personal list of Benz'es (modern ones) would contain the W123, W116, W124 and W126 I honestly don't know in which order. Guess I'll have to buy a couple of each

 

[Merc1]

If I recall correctly Mercedes had major quality problems with the W124 for the first years of production. Anyone?

To me the W123 feels much more of a machine than the W124. I believe a W123 230E weighs 100 kilograms more than a W124 230E. The W123 and the W116 give a feeling of truly being supremely solid whereas the W126 and W124 in small steps appear to have started the trend of being designed to appear extremely solid, if that makes sense.

My personal list of Benz'es (modern ones) would contain the W123, W116, W124 and W126 I honestly don't know in which order. Guess I'll have to buy a couple of each

I hadn't heard that about the W124s, but then again they were the first Benzes I ever cared about at the time. I didn't see many W123s and if I did I didn't pay them much attention, again at the time. I think the single most coveted Benz for me is the W124 E500. Even with the CLS, current SL and new CL there is still something missing compared to the W124 cars, it'll take Rob to tell you exactly what it is though because I can't.

M

 

[LaArtist]

I have one of these..
a 300D i bought it some weeks ago.. just for fun.. im gonna use it.. and fix some small things on it..
and then eventually sell it..when it becomes a classic.. (30years in sweden)
its a 78-- automatic.. works like a damn charm.. i love it
even has electric moon roof.. haha nutts

the pic sucks..took it in bad weather..and with the cell phone..anyways..this is how she looks.. pretty nice for 30year old eeh?

 

[Mr. M]

Sigh, I wish we had the freedom to buy cars that easily here... Artist, you're a lucky man.