Thandor wrote on 2021-07-31, 10:07:Join the club! My daily driver is an original Dutch '94 E280 AUT that I have known since 1999 when my parents bought the car. Mi […]
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Join the club! My daily driver is an original Dutch '94 E280 AUT that I have known since 1999 when my parents bought the car. Mileage can be relative indeed... I've got 334.000KM on the clock so engine-wise no worries at all 😉.
However, rust is indeed the biggest enemy. Every once in a while I'll check for rust around the car and remove every speck of rust I come across so it doesn't spread out. For a W124: front wings, corners of the windshield/roof (sometimes also at the rear window), underneath the covers that hide the threshold (especially front, back and jacking points), rear wheel welds and the round rubber caps inside the welds, subframe mounting towards chassis, and the chrome trim at the back of the car that is mounted on the bumper. If you don't see rust around the chrome trim... then it's still under the chrome trim. They always form rust over time (like almost any car does eventually) 😉.
Do you also have the oval NL-sticker? 😀
And yeah, these cars used to be around everywhere. Especially when tax-regulations were ideal for these cars in the past. Once they changed that rule I feel like I'm the only one still driving a W124 ... on highways I rarely see one.
And what a coincidence...talking about W124's in my 124th post at Vogons 😜.
Oh an E280 automatic is probably a totally different car to drive. In mine you need to work. 😄
My 200D has less than 206.000 km, which makes it quite an unicorn. It's a Mopf2. Yes, it has the NL sticker!
From what I've read the Mopf3 seems to be less reliable (e.g. excessive wear on wiring harness). I wouldn't buy one, also because of the facelifted exterior, but I understand the nostalgic value if it used to be your parents' car.
Me and my mechanic have pretty much checked every inch of the car for rust. The welds with rubber cap inside them, also on the bottom floor, are spots to check every now and then. They need to be kept rust free. In the past someone has already welded a piece of metal in the floor where one such rubber cap used to be. My car needs a few additional rust repairs in the future like on the front wings, but it's by no means your average worn and rotten W124. Every single one I see for sale now under 10k is not as good looking. In fact this is my first car for which I get compliments about the condition and questions whether it's for sale from random strangers. 😄
Even though it's a diesel financially this 200D is not more expensive, in fact slightly less than a comparable petrol version at already 10k km/year.
Emission zones are not a problem where I live. I never go to Amsterdam and the few other emission zones in the Netherlands are only city center cores.