How good (or bad) are the old W124 + W210 AMG wagons?

[y2blade]

and




Thank you in advance

[y2blade]

Too add, were the W210s right in the middle of Mercedes rust problem years?

[Krikkit]

w210's are in the era when it was worst, but w124's still have a tendency to rot (although that is their biggest foible).

[lowdrag]

I sold my W124 estate at 150,000 miles in superb condition and have always regretted it, but moving abroad I bought a T202 LHD diesel new at a sale price of £15,000 in the UK. I still have it, but just loved the space and solid feel of the 124. The last of the true Mercs really in my book. No expensive electronics to go wrong, not too thirsty, but the ideal spec would for include auto and specifically cruise control since the accelerator got heavy on a really long run, like Gibraltar to France in a day! Find a good 300D and it will go on for ever, but beware of thieves. They all go to Africa as taxis.

[Fubar1977]

I`m no expert but I`d always heard the W124 was about the best of the bunch overall.
It`s much better looking than the W210 imo.

That black one in your first pic looks fantastic, the silver 210 just looks bloated and blobby.

[y2blade]

It is the older W124 I'm more drawn towards tbh.

I'd Need to get the tape measure out and see how long my garage is!

[TwistingMyMelon]

Whilst the W124s have no expensive electrics, their looms do turn to dust, with "interesting" electronic results as I found out

[excel monkey]

Krikkit said:

w210's are in the era when it was worst, but w124's still have a tendency to rot (although that is their biggest foible).

I'm in the minority, but I actually like the looks of the W210.

Is it possible to find a good condition (pensioner-owned) W210 and spray a ton of Dinitrol or whatever on the underside, for less than the cost of a good condition W124? Or is it impossible to keep the rust monster at bay?

[Goatboy]

Impossible to keep rust at bay. To have even a chance of stopping it the costs are significant and not guaranteed.

[Negative Creep]

I have a W124 7 seater estate that im selling. Very comfy, a great cruiser and feels really well put together. you do get rot on the wings but it's normally cosmetic. On 226k but you'd never know, so the old cliche does ring true. Not great on fuel though

[BGarside]

W210s were rustbuckets I believe. W124s probably better but older too, so likely to have problems of their own. The later W124s from 1993 onwards don't seem to be as well-built as the earlier cars and the later 24v engines has wiring loom issues and the 5-speed auto 'box is apparent less reliable than the 4-speeder.

There's some W124 buying advice in the Honest John car review for the W124 and maybe worth checking out the Merc forums.

[y2blade]

Hmmmmmmm I think I'll forget about them tbh.
I do love my S4 but was really taken with the old AMGs I saw at Trax yesterday so just thinking out loud tbh.

I think I'm just missing the comfy seats of my Volvos...The S4 seats are like rock for any distance!
Time to look on Ebay for some different seats for it I think.


cheers all.