W124300E's Recent Reviews and Comments

The 1989 Mercedes Benz W124-Series 300D would have to be overall the world best car. Ever. I have owned about 35 cars, including a 300E W124 I have read countless reviews on the W124, aquired club knowledge and spoken to MB mechanics who used to service them. In terms of engineering excellence, practicality, nimbleness, ecomony and super-longivity and not to forget class and character the W124 300D rates supreme. All of the comments here on the rferred to 300E are applicable to the 300D, yet the 300D is not a fast car. 0-100km/h takes 13.7s, 9.8 for 300E 2.6 and 8.8 for 300E 3.0L (all SOHC engines- see text). Next would be the 1991 300E W124 3.0L 1991 SOHC, followed by the 1992 300E 2.6 W124. Despite what you might be hearing it is a fact that MB overengineered cars ceased in 1992, not the mid 90's. While the W140 and W124 still retained much of the overengineereing in the compenentry and structure it is in the engine and gearbox department that quality was lacking post 1992. According to the average of opions of MB mechanics I have spoken to DOHC units used in the W124 series cars created higher underbonnet temperatures, were not as smooth or quiet as the earlier SOHC engined cars. From personal experience their acceleration and torque while linear is not as enjoyable nor designed where you need it. The 300E 1986-1991 (1991-1992 for the 2.6 litre car ) are simply facsinating in their drivability and engineering. And I make this statement objective of any obsessed enthusisatic opinion. Aside from my learned and aquired knowledge is my own personal experienc with the W124. I brought a 300E 2.6 in 2008. It was run down, had oil leaks and collant leaks yet I drove it from Adelaide South Australia to Darwin Northern Territory, (then I have the leaks fixed) then onto Alice Springs where I lived for 2 years driving the car about in near 47 degree celcius weather during the summer months and minus 4 degree celcius weather in winter. It would happily sit on speeds of 180km/h, on remote undulating desert roads, like it wasnt even happening- and this is the smaller of the two engines (125kW 2.6 135kW 3.0L)! I then drove the car to Sydney via Adelaide and victoria. The car has done 238,000kms now, yet still drive like new. You can thrash it in th city yet everytime I get in it it was like th day I brought it. Yet I respect the car now as it is just so beautiful. To give you some sort of comparison about the cars quality, drivability and ecomony I recently brought a 2003 BMW 750iL, after owning it for 6 months I am selling it to aquire an immaculate 300D or 300E. My 300E is quieter at speed that my 750iL and the latter has double glazed windows! When I used to get out of my 750iL and into the 300E it was amazing. Its just beatiful to drive. It is also a perfect size being easy to park and manouver, yet big enough for long distance trips. To give you some sort of comparison my dream car used to be a 2002 BMW M3, now it is a 300E. Most of my friens do not understand why I dont buy a new car, but they have either 1.) Never owned a 300E or 2.) Are genetically resistent to the identification, feel and appreciation of the engineering possessed in the 300E. You couldnt ask for better steering, and the multilink independent rear suspension is facinating, amazingly comfortable and it cant half go around a corner. Another point to mention are the seats people say they are too hard. Crap! I think that the seats are designed to integrate in with the beautiful suspension and after driving for 6 days in my 300E from Darwin to Sydney (4,500kms) I had no discomforting neck or back pain. I drove my bosses new 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid and the 300E had better steering, balance and ride. It is so comfortable yet handles really well indeed. The 2.6 litre car is very economical- I reckon 9litre/ 100 km on the highway and 11 in the city. When you drive it hard it seems to kick down to first as if it realised you want to get moving, yet it dosent when your taking it easy- I didnt think Benz had adaptive transmissions till the mid 1990's! I should note I brought a run down example for $5000, but I liked the colour Gunmetal grey and have now spent $12,000 on thcar in 12 months. My next W124 will be the 1989-1992 diesel SOHC Non-turbo (Turbos did not come to Australia in W124 series). I located a white one with 350,000kms but it has been resprayed looks as new and has all the options I insist on save leather, including cruise control, power windows, sun roof, outside temperature guage- dont know about power seat or factory alarm. Standard features on all W124's from 1988-1991 were ABS, central locking, power steering, air conditioning (primitive version of climate control, but arguably better as you can save fuel stting it yourself and you dont have that annoying high powered fan comming in when your trying to concentrate on the road or converse with occupants). The diesel is capable of 5.8L/100km and nearly 2 million miles, requiring the oil is changed every 5000kms and coolant every 2 years. These cars are 20+ years old now and are getting scarce. People complain about parts but they are readily available and as cheap or cheaper than a commodire or your chevrolette, toyota or VW. What I have found to be a bug bear are mechanics and the cost of servicing- they rip you off because of the mark, but once you have found a good mechanic, who knows about them it can be very reasonable and worth it. If you want one after reading this honest and objective as possible. I recommend get one if this review interests you, you wont regret it. As a guide dont pay more that $8000 for sedans (petrol or diesel) and $15,000 for the 300CE if you want the same experience in a coupe with the increase in value. Me I like the sedans for their usefullness and yes looks :/ ! '300E... Long Live the Legend!' Mark, Sydney, Australia Aug/ 2010. (Disclaimer-This review does not seek to promote sales and is a based on personal opinion) Link

I am referring to the 1987 Holden Commodore VL Turbo (1986-1988). These are a terrific underrated Australian performance car and in their day were very underrated. The engine coded by Nissan RB30ET Powertech inline six cylinder turbocharged is extremely rugged and sports the same block as the R32 Nissan Skyline GTR. Rumour had it the Australian engineers at Holden took the micky out of the Japanese and kept on sending the engine back to Japan claiming it was not good enough and the poor Japanese kept improving on it unnecessarily. Perhaps thats why the bottom end is good for almost 600HP if the engine is worked. It had 150kW standard and weighed only 1290kg in executive form, was capable of 226km/h in manual form and 0-100km/h 7.78 seconds (8 seconds in automatic). Turbo installation was garret which has an excellent reputation. While the turbo charge was not intercooled make no mistake this thing moved amd on boost you could hear the wheels chirping as the car gathered spped midway accross an intersection and up to 80km/h. I loved to see the shocked faces of HSV owners and Brock VK's when I lost them at the lights. And the noise of the thing was incredible, it sounded like a jet engine as the turbo wound up and turned heads during rush hour! Some said the turbo has too much lag, but get it in its on boost range and the VL Turbo was faster than a Lamborghini Countach from 60-90km/k (Modern Motor Upwardly Mobile Vl Turbo Calais 1987) and would enielate a TurboS DOHC SAAB! It was refined and high tech. The engine is so smooth at idle I still reckon it is ine of the most refined rngines I have ever known. It is also more refined than the non-turvo VL Commodore. Most turbos come with FE2 sports suspension. If you want the ultimate get one with LSD and the upgraded brakes- these use corvette calipers. Most Police pursuit vehicles used had these options on their VL Turbos and these cars are stamped BT1 on the compliance plate. The uktimate versions of these police pursuit specials were Yellow Manual Executive Turbos as they were badgedon the bootlid. Some of these cars were cooked as people were alien to the requirements of turbo care and failed to wind down the turbo charger after a pursuit by leaving the vehicle running. It was primitively believed that turbos were unreliable as opposed to V8's, when the real trouble was a lack of turbo care and understanding.VL Turbos are also reasonably good on fuel as opposed to V8's. They are not good handling cars and will drift. At extreme speeds 200km/h + the front end has a tendancy to lift and gives a very unerring feeling the car wants to flip. This car alyhough greatly missunderstood was a hell of a package in the 1990's and is still deserving of great respect as being one of Australias true performance icons. Link

I brought an immaculate BMW 750iL V12 in 2009 (Oxford Green Metallic with ferrari tan leather) which I stored and really looked after. When I took delivery of the car I was shocked. It was literally immaculate, like new. The interior is one of the most sumptuous I have ever seen and the quality of the seats is just beautiful. The back seat is just incredible in its beauty, quality and attention to detail and I guess it should be as royalty and heads of state occupy them (you didnt get much change out of $300,000 for the 750iL V12 the upper luxury flagship). You smell of leather for half a day after having occupied the seats! The car has traction and stability control with override. With it off it is capable of burning rubber up to 60-100 feet in automatic! Yet the way it does it is amazing there is no fishtail like take off the diff must be remarkable. The car has extreme power yet due to its massive weight 2200kgs it simply cant overcome its inertia, even with massive low profile 18" tyres. The car has great acceleration once moving and will bullet to 180km/h in seconds growling up to a frenzied demonic like roar leaving most everything trying to get moving on the motorway in its wake. XR6 Turbos and most V8's simply arent in the race against a 750iL midrange. 0-100km/h takes 6.6 seconds and the car has 240kW, but given its weight it feels more like 270kW. Probably due to BMW's supreme gearbox units. Put your footdown even at low speeds and you feel your kidneys compress- it has massive torque in certain ranges. But this does not satisfy me in the car. Get the car sideways and while it drifts fairly gently you get a sense of the weight and it almost feel a little like its scating on water in a decent drift. That says it requires more concentration and input, which is another thing I dislike about the car. At speed it is a very controlled car on most relatively smooth highway/ road surfaces. Get undulating or rough and it feels dangerous, unlike a 300E or 300D Mercedes Benz sedan. The suspension is hard and jittery and you get the sense driving it that whoever brought these cars new were extremely rich people, as rich people you would think dont want to go fast. So you get the sense that a really cool person buys a BMW 750iL, no really. The car turns heads, especially with the low profile tyres and M Sport alloys the previous owner had fitted over the standards. Though while looking great, these tyres have made it loose what nimbleness and directional ability in the steering it mat have had. The car goes through roundabouts at great speed. But the traction and stability systems seems to intervene to early spoiling the fun, unlike R32 / R33 GTR. However being a petrol head I thought I needed to drive with traction and stability off. You dont! The tyres still chip through the sesess transmitting the intended story to both outside world and driver, yet in a more responsible, civilised and legal manner. Its great! Braking is tremendous and this is not realised until it is REALLY needed. The sound. Seen James Bond Tomorrow Never Dies? The car park seen - thats the sound forget Michael Douglas in the Game - thats a 540i with an Einsonmann muffler. The 750iL has a lower more level yet increasingly frenzied sound. I would describe it as sounding evil. After all this honest reviewed information I dont like the car. It is too big to park and too long. While fuel consumption was alot better tahn my VZ SS V8 6 speed manual Commodore it is still up there. The steering is vague to the point of being worrying in tight city traffic. I would describe the BMW 750iL as a quality Commodore or Chevrolette sedan. The car feels and is like a waste resources. Its immense weight feels and like and does put extra stresses on componentry like wheel bearings, steering and suspension and to drive it at speeds feels like your accelerating wear and you probably are, the steels in many parts are the same as used in other BMW's and they are not titanium these days like the alloys of an E34 M5! As a big powerful ro staus symbol cruiser the car is elite, but its not a practical, fun or performance orientated car and economy is not its middle name. Horse for courses, but its not my kind of car. Link