The car from a time when Mercedes were expensive because of build quality rather than because their customers are dumb enough to pay the inflated price.
Ian loves this car so much that the triangle of doom at the bottom of the windscreen is not a triangle of doom. It's a 'lovely little heart pattern.' 🤣❤
Mercs of this era often retain a certain smell in the cabin that is very evocative - in many ways these are far better built cars than the models that followed them.
That's down to Merc using horse hair padding in the seats which does give, as you say, a very distinctive interior smell even in vehicles with leather or MB Tex upholstery...
@@gosportjamie Thanks didn't know that. I (briefly) had a old 190E with this upholstery and if the concept of quality can be said to have a smell then this was it.
@@SilverSurfer5150 Got out of bed on the wrong side, did you? A few years ago a Mercedes commercial in the USA showed a seminar presented by Mercedes engineers, touting their accomplishments over the years. The audience were engineers from other carmakers. The Germans held forth ... "... in 1908 we introduced the supercharger ..." (the others all murmured); "... in 1937 we standardised on independent suspension on all axles ..." (more murmuring); "... in 1954 we introduced direct fuel injection ..." (yet more murmuring); "... and in 1959, the disc brake ..." (same response); "... also in 1959, the occupant safety cell and progressive crumple-rate end sections ... (more murmurs); "... in 1961 we made seat belts standard equipment ..." (ditto response); "... and in 1964 we went to four-wheel disc brakes as standard equipment ..." (mumbles from the audience); "... in 1965 we introduced side protection rails in the doors ..." (murmurs again); "... in 1972 we improved and strengthened our side-impact protection system ..." (mumbled responses); "... and in 1975 we added ABS to our braking systems ..." (increasingly bored murmurs); then the speaker gets a twinkle in his eye and says with a slight smile "... and last year we even added a cupholder ..." and with that the Americans jumped up, shouting "We had that first!"
I read back in the day that Mercs became less well engineered so Merc drivers would discard their cars sooner and buy a new one. In the 90s, people were still driving their cars from the late 70s and early 80s. Bit of planned obsolescence there.
@@stevesrover Yup, that's the profit-at-all-costs mentality of bean counters. Ruined the marque! I've owned 17 Benzes covering series from 1955 to 1992; currently drive an '83 500 SEC. No interest in electronic cars because I can't fix them; their obsolescence is inbuilt.
Absolutely fantastic cars and always loved them in almandine red like that one I was proud to be a Mercedes junior tech and work on them for a short time they were so well engineered and proper Mercedes engines which go on forever Well done Ian a great test Ps correct re seat fold and central locking both are vacuum
Over the years we’ve had many good hubnut filiming scenes, but showing us the suspension setup while filming the front bumper is by far my favourite. Never change mr hubnut, never change.
Absolutely beautiful example of a wonderful Mercedes. These were built to last forever. Nice comfortable family saloon, very attractive Coupe and enormous estate. Even the muscular E500.
@@glennpowell3444 I think that record belongs to Volvo P1800. But there is a w124 on Mercedes Museum that has little over a 1M miles, a taxi from Portugal If I’m not mistaken
18 months ago, I managed to buy a 1995 W124 E220 with 100000 miles on the clock. In 1994/95 MB had switched to the biodegradable wiring harness. Fortunately I managed to find a company in Germany that makes replacement superior quality wiring harnesses. The harness cost more than what I paid for the car. It’s now my daily driver commuting 120 miles a day in comfort with no beeps and buzzes, and with a proper key to start the car.
Years ago I bought a mk2 Astra with 90 something thousand on it. When the time came, I was dead excited to watch it click over to 100k (it was a really boring car). As the first digit started to move the speedo needle dropped to zero.. The cable had broken. I was denied the highlight of Astra ownership. I bought a new cable but before I got round to fitting it I put the thing on it's roof. Now _that_ was the highlight..
My dad had a 230TE back in the day. Remember pretending it had electric windows in the back by winding them down as smoothly as I could. He paid extra for the upgraded Blaupunkt head unit and rear speakers.
A car designed and built by engineers and not by accountants. That's why that car is still with us today. I don't think the modern Mercedes cars will do 30 years because of all the technology inside that is why to expensive to repair.
I’ve had a C Class with MB Tex (or did it get renamed as Artico?) Nasty - ruined an otherwise very impressive car, and made it akin to sitting in a 70s Cortina on a hot day.
@@simonhodgetts6530 Goodness no. Artico (artificial cow) is plain vinyl or simulated leather. It has been known to split & crack on fairly new cars. MB-Tex has never pretended to be anything but a durable, hard wearing synthetic covering & always perforated / ventilated in the middle, with natural padding under the cover, so it never gets hot & sweaty in summer.
Makes me miss my '88 260E saloon. It was an old car when I had it, but just the best I've ever had. I feel privileged to own one, especially in this new age of electrical vehicles.
I bought an 18,5 year old 190E 2.0 automatic in 2010 and I'm still using it as my daily driver. People say I'm nuts to drive a car almost 30 years old with 200.000+ miles on the clock, but it's simply too good to get rid off. It still feels so tight, almost like new !
I remember Mercedes of this era feeling absolutely bomb proof, even the switchgear felt indestructible. We had a first generation diesel C class at work and although it felt underpowered, it was definitely built to last. When it went into the competitor tear down department and was reduced to its component parts it was clear how. Everything was top quality and beautifully engineered. Sadly I think everything went downhill for MB from then on.
I had a C220 (base spec N/A diesel with auto, a hubnut Mercedes if ever there was one!) and miss that car dearly. It did save my life in a pretty bad black ice crash though and the original 1996 airbags still worked. Can't beat a pre-2000s Mercedes in my opinion.
Yes, and there's literally nothing similar about the cars (at least pre-2000 Benz), except the names. A friend had a Mercury Mystique that was so bad, she rechristened it the Mercury Mistake. 😅
Well, there you go - the entire planet uses the term Merc for a MB, except for Americans who use it for a brand that doesn't exist any more and was never really exported outside the US because it was, like most US market vehicles, crap.
@@iatsd Ah, the grumpy old man with a chip perched delicately-on-shoulder and persecution complex is alive and well in the UK I see! VWestlife was pointing out an interesting fact, that's all. Lighten up! And Mercury was a Ford derivative/badge engineered vehicle in its later days, so it most certainly WAS exported outside of the US, except for the badge. 😁
@@frazzleface753 Not old, am American, and just don't (usually) like the vehicle products that are put out in the US. The US car market is terrible, even though it's better than it was in the 70's - 90's. Limited brands, poor vehicles, and horrible infrastructure for buying and servicing. I'm sorry that you are so defensive that you can't consider any criticism of the US. I know and understand how common that failing is in the US, but I live in hope that one day the country will grow up a bit and get over that.
@@frazzleface753 Oh, and as an aside, the Ford models sold in the US (and their Mercury badge versions) were seldom sold outside the US. It's only in the last ~10 years or so that Ford has genuinely gone to global models. Even the models with the same names outside the US were seldom the same actual vehicles as inside the US.
I agree the 6 cylinder ones feel more like a proper engine for a grand tourer car. This era of Mercedes was when they were eye wateringly expensive, especially if you delved into the option list in any way. I think that price differential kept them special at least in the UK (unlike being perceived as a taxi brand in Germany). It meant when you saw one it was a bit of a treat and they were typically driven by someone who had treated themselves to the car and justified the price differential as "worth it" to get those over engineered touches and long term durability. Unfortunately today they actually do mass advertising to everyone, endless promotion of credit and sure enough they are now driven by everyone. I think they've lost their cachet and exclusivity now that they're outside every other house in a town. A great review Ian.
Excellent review Ian! Love these cars. I've had a W123 230E, and a W124 230E. I now drive a W124 230TE. Talking about attention to detail, I only had two complaints with the 123. First, I kept on losing things down the side of the seats, and second, if you hit a deep puddle the water would splash on to the power steering belt and make it slip. When I got the 124, there were little blocking plates to stop things falling down the side of the seats, and a splash plate under the engine which is easily removed. It's obvious that they listened to customers using the cars in the real world, and found solutions to minor inconveniences
Very different to the typical Mercedes you see today, with a 1.5 Renault Diesel engine under the bonnet and a 32” TV screen in the middle of the dashboard 😅
You can never go wrong buying a W 124, or even W 123. Over here in Germany, the price is getting higher each year. No good W 123 below 4000 Euro, no good W 124 below 7000 Euro right now.
The car industry is moving into the electronic devices market and even though they are less complicated the manufacturers are guaranteed to send one of these automatic updates to the car that will start causing issues. A bit like a smartphone update really, since my last update from Samsung my phone hasn't been as responsive and the battery is now losing power, my phone is only about 5-6 years old
I own a 1988 560SEC for the last 13 years and agree with all of what you said but more, and that 5.6l engine is just great and fast enough, this is an unrestricted one as well, fantastic vehicle. Drove a 2000km trip in Oz (Brisbane to Melbourne) in one go and when I got home I felt like going another 1000, just a fantastic car to drive, effortless and super comfortable, and looks it as well. BTW fuel eco was around 11l/100 km and that's the V8!
This is a proper Mercedes from when quality and engineering were king and not profit. I love these - unlike the brash, plastic fantastic crap they sell today. The new cars are not even in the same league as this beauty. Only negative is the gruff note of the 4 cylinder where a silky 6 would be far more fitting but still a wondeful car. Great review Ian
Great vid! Finally we are able to see how the windscreen wiper in action slow-mo. Mercedes then was truly an engineer heaven. I think those wipers on W126 are equally remarkable.
That car has the regular cloth interior, MB-tex is type of vinyl that looks like leather. Being a cabdriver back in the 90s I'm quite familliar with it....
From all of the Mercedeses I drove this is by far my favourite. I don't get why they went so wrong in the nineties, there's just no comparing a 90's and 2000's merc to this.
I briefly owned an '87 300E. I had a real love/hate relationship with that car. It was exceptionally solid, well-built with high-end materials, and lovely to drive. I bought it with 103k miles and sold it at 108k miles. It was extremely unreliable. At the time of purchase the cruise control, stereo, 1 power window, 1 power lock, the rear headrest release, and a couple of motor and transmission mounts were all failed. That's a heck of a lot to go wrong in 103k miles in what was a very clean car. Almost immediately after repairing these issues, the automatic transmission started slipping and being undrivable. So I sold the car to my neighbor, who had the transmission rebuilt for $2,500 U.S. After that, I switched to Volvo of the same era and never looked back. They weren't as opulent, but far more comfortable and far more reliable. I will gladly trade in real wood and chrome bits for a powertrain that lasts twice as long. We had 4 of them in our household over several years of the 200, 700/900 series ranging from '85 to '95. None had half the problems my Mercedes had.
Lovely car, neighbour had one but he was a little to old to maintain at the end alas he died and the car disappeared on a trailer - Merc these days seem to produce so many versions of cars I don’t think even their sales staff can keep up plus, on some models, they use ahem…..Renault mechanicals, could you imagine that in the 90’s.
That's not MB Tex, MB Tex was Mercedes' faux leather (vinyl) before it was called Amtico. In fact I think they still call it MB Tex in the US. Thats cloth.
Ian, this is not MB-Tex (MB-Tex upholstery is Mercedes-Benz creation that is a more affordable supplement for leather. The material is actually made up of Viny, also nicknamed MB-Tax) but the standard upholstery for a C124 and W124. Nice video.
On the transmission; these, the W123 and W201 normally pulled away in second; but, if you were halted, in Drive, slid the lever to "2" and then back to Drive, it would then pull away in first. Even my 2.5D W201 would be pretty good from the lights - to the surprise of others - when I "selected" first to pull away. I think Hubnut accidentally did this action at the start of his driving, hence his surprise of a first gear pull away. Of course if you put your foot down hard on pulling away, it would do so in first.
I have a 1994 202 c220. the interior looks like this but it's butter leather. I can live my life without this generation of Mercedes. impossible. they are so good for Nigerian roads
I have a C230, it's a wonderful car, identical, but slightly larger engine, a sort of very high-speed armchair. Mine is a metallic green, sort of stealth car. The electrics are all bi-wired! No chassis return like on British cars. I had an indicator lamp fail (there is a warning on the dash for any lamp failure), it turned out that the only problem was that the solder had worn away from the back of the *original* bulb. I put a new blob of solder on the bulb and the original bulb is still working. Great review, chaps. PS. The only remark I'd have is that the sponge on the steering wheel, designed to save your ribs, is becoming sticky, so I can understand why your owner has fitted a cover.
Completely agree about the late 90's mercs. On a quiet night you could hear them rusting. But the w210 gave us one of the best diesels ever made. The om606. That engine was probably the last truly over engineered thing mercedes made
Been waiting for some w124 wiper action on this channel. One thing you missed is you can pull the levers on the bonnet hing to lift it completely vertical and out of the way when working on it. truly delightful cars Edit: also while very effective the wiper does fling the water of the windscreen quit far so best not to leave the wiper on intermittent in a drive through as i found out.
I'm getting a saloon with this engine tomorrow with 156.000 on the clock for a grand, everyone is asking why but they don't know what I know so they can keep their I pads on wheels lol
Every time I use my mono-wiper on my 190E I think of HubNut 😎 Great to finally see you review one of those 👍 This coup is a dream of mine, maybe one day I'll upgrade
Another great video hubnut! Yes. The Mercedes back in the day were by far the best. My Grandad owned a couple of these back in the day. Used to love seeing the mono wiper in action! No triangle of doom on that one! He owned a 1995 E200. The engines were bulletproof and would last for ever. I still remember the distinctive sound of the 4 speed automatic gearbox! Great stuff.🙂
"E" is for Economy, "S" is Standard, not Sport. Also on that box, if you want to pull away in 1st just snag the lever back from D to "2", then back into D and it will move off in 1st. These boxes always use 2nd to move off unless you do this, or mash the pedal.
Hmm. From what I know, the “E” meant fuel injected (Einspritzung) originally. The S indicated the S-class then (I think they only had 2 sedan groups then) The numbers indicating engine displacement. The 190 came along and ruined everything. So the 190 really was the body type, so you ended up with 190E 2.3, for example Nomenclature has since changed and in the recent past, letters indicated category. “E” for Executive “C” Compact, “S” Special (Sonderklasse). Today the categories are clear but the numbers don’t mean much anymore.
If you have s for standard will pull off on first , economy pulls off in second unless you floor it.belt tensioner on that one needs replacing, starting to make some noise.now on my 31st merc, bought up with Benz, worked on them nearly 40yrs now.Last of the proper mercs.but a good w210 or w202 are not as bad as some people say.w211 is where the problems start in my opinion.
Ian, a cracking review of a cracking car. I've fond memories of factory stretch W124 taxis in Northern Cyprus back in 1992. Rolling through the countryside, I'd feel like a president. (The contemporary S-Class being full dictator spec) That wiper was used by little known French sports car maker Venturi. I want a 124,. Well two actually. This coupé and the estate.
Alan Partridge would call it the "German Lexus" ..... some people will get this (Lexus , it's the Japanese Mercedes)... Ahaaaaaaaaa! Peace and love brother 👍🏻☮❤(that's me not Alan) ...
@@TheKnobCalledTone. He drives it in This Time too. It’s often seen in the VT segments. I don’t think an Insignia is necessarily out of character for Partridge. He did drive a Rover 800 back in the ‘90s, and an Insignia is about the same size. Mainstream manufacturer running costs, but comfy and plenty of space. Plus Alan seems to want to have an Everyman image these days - a big Vauxhall’s perfect for him, especially as the current car-buying trend is for crossovers, and a big family/executive car is a bit of a dying market segment. An Insignia, while a sound purchase, is a little bit unfashionable - just like Alan. One thing Alan wouldn’t drive is a modern Mercedes - far too blingy. Back in the ‘90s though, I reckon he would have considered a W124. Then gone for the slightly more mainstream Rover 800 anyway.
I believe the switch on the gearbox is S for Summer, and W for Winter. The difference being Winter mode starts off in 2nd gear. Also, the auto box for kick down… there’s a button under the throttle pedal. Fully press the throttle. Then press again. It will change down 2 gears instead of 1. Is anyone able to confirm both points?
You missed two things: 1. The bonnet has a separate catch that allows you to lift it and lock it vertically in place for even better access to the engine. 2. The wiper is shared by many exotic cars including Koenigseggs. Although it's actually not great when it rains heavily and is liable to failure and difficult to service. Some people have even gone to the effort to replace them with dual wipers! It looks super-cool though! Also, the transmission doesn't have a sport mode, it is (E)conomy or (S)tandard! Great car!
Is it just me or is there something a bit vauxhall about that switchgear. Especially the headlight and heating switch type and location...it definitely has the feel of my dad's old cavalier
Cars from this Period will be known as the best petrol and diesel cars ever built, because after this time governments started clamping down on admission and all the compromises robed them of their reliability because they became far too complicated and power was lost, as usual brilliant interesting video thank you very much
The windscreen wiper is a work of art, poetry in motion. The steering wheel cover, not so much.
I noticed that.
Lol yes. And the tack-on mirror
liquid football! ;)
The car from a time when Mercedes were expensive because of build quality rather than because their customers are dumb enough to pay the inflated price.
Oh, yes please !. Worked for Mercedes in the early 90s and always loved the 124. Last of the bulletproof Mercs.
You must've had a great time with that W124, Ian. That's the most jaunty "ptchooo!" I've heard.
This generation of Mercedes can't be beaten, had several myself and wish I still had them. Bulletproof engineering at its finest.
Ian loves this car so much that the triangle of doom at the bottom of the windscreen is not a triangle of doom. It's a 'lovely little heart pattern.' 🤣❤
I can imagine HubNut finding it hard to hand back the keys after his review😂😂😂
Lovely, everything designed and engineered for a purpose.
Absolutely and even to the extent of how easily they can be worked on. Proper engineering design.
@@robinwells8879 Йавукеëннннаув к года шеей дз
@@robinwells8879 йхп
@@ЖаркынайИсраилова-р7ш sorry I am not clever enough to understand this comment.
Mercs of this era often retain a certain smell in the cabin that is very evocative - in many ways these are far better built cars than the models that followed them.
That's down to Merc using horse hair padding in the seats which does give, as you say, a very distinctive interior smell even in vehicles with leather or MB Tex upholstery...
@@gosportjamie Horse hair? I think you'll find it was coconut fibre.
@@gosportjamie Thanks didn't know that. I (briefly) had a old 190E with this upholstery and if the concept of quality can be said to have a smell then this was it.
Can' t beat a bit of uncalled for abuse.
@@SilverSurfer5150 Got out of bed on the wrong side, did you?
A few years ago a Mercedes commercial in the USA showed a seminar presented by Mercedes engineers, touting their accomplishments over the years. The audience were engineers from other carmakers. The Germans held forth ... "... in 1908 we introduced the supercharger ..." (the others all murmured); "... in 1937 we standardised on independent suspension on all axles ..." (more murmuring); "... in 1954 we introduced direct fuel injection ..." (yet more murmuring); "... and in 1959, the disc brake ..." (same response); "... also in 1959, the occupant safety cell and progressive crumple-rate end sections ... (more murmurs); "... in 1961 we made seat belts standard equipment ..." (ditto response); "... and in 1964 we went to four-wheel disc brakes as standard equipment ..." (mumbles from the audience); "... in 1965 we introduced side protection rails in the doors ..." (murmurs again); "... in 1972 we improved and strengthened our side-impact protection system ..." (mumbled responses); "... and in 1975 we added ABS to our braking systems ..." (increasingly bored murmurs); then the speaker gets a twinkle in his eye and says with a slight smile "... and last year we even added a cupholder ..." and with that the Americans jumped up, shouting "We had that first!"
And then the accountants took over, just like they did everywhere else.
thats so true !!!
Indeed! Bean-counters cannot build decent cars!
They got kicked out again eventually but it took a long time
I read back in the day that Mercs became less well engineered so Merc drivers would discard their cars sooner and buy a new one. In the 90s, people were still driving their cars from the late 70s and early 80s. Bit of planned obsolescence there.
@@stevesrover Yup, that's the profit-at-all-costs mentality of bean counters. Ruined the marque! I've owned 17 Benzes covering series from 1955 to 1992; currently drive an '83 500 SEC. No interest in electronic cars because I can't fix them; their obsolescence is inbuilt.
Absolutely fantastic cars and always loved them in almandine red like that one I was proud to be a Mercedes junior tech and work on them for a short time they were so well engineered and proper Mercedes engines which go on forever
Well done Ian a great test
Ps correct re seat fold and central locking both are vacuum
Over the years we’ve had many good hubnut filiming scenes, but showing us the suspension setup while filming the front bumper is by far my favourite. Never change mr hubnut, never change.
😂 so true!
Absolutely beautiful example of a wonderful Mercedes. These were built to last forever. Nice comfortable family saloon, very attractive Coupe and enormous estate. Even the muscular E500.
A W124 with only 100000 miles?! It hasn’t even reached puberty yet!!
@@glennpowell3444 I think that record belongs to Volvo P1800. But there is a w124 on Mercedes Museum that has little over a 1M miles, a taxi from Portugal If I’m not mistaken
The ride on the W124 was like a magic carpet, that was a fantastic car.
18 months ago, I managed to buy a 1995 W124 E220 with 100000 miles on the clock. In 1994/95 MB had switched to the biodegradable wiring harness. Fortunately I managed to find a company in Germany that makes replacement superior quality wiring harnesses. The harness cost more than what I paid for the car. It’s now my daily driver commuting 120 miles a day in comfort with no beeps and buzzes, and with a proper key to start the car.
Years ago I bought a mk2 Astra with 90 something thousand on it. When the time came, I was dead excited to watch it click over to 100k (it was a really boring car). As the first digit started to move the speedo needle dropped to zero.. The cable had broken. I was denied the highlight of Astra ownership.
I bought a new cable but before I got round to fitting it I put the thing on it's roof. Now _that_ was the highlight..
My dad had a 230TE back in the day. Remember pretending it had electric windows in the back by winding them down as smoothly as I could. He paid extra for the upgraded Blaupunkt head unit and rear speakers.
Slo mo wiper action to music! We've broken new ground here 🤗
"If you like windscreen wipers as much as I do." Nobody likes windscreen wipers as much as you do. :)
Great review and great looking car, have to agree with you that Mercedes have lost the way a bit. And I could sit and watch that wiper all day!
A car designed and built by engineers and not by accountants. That's why that car is still with us today. I don't think the modern Mercedes cars will do 30 years because of all the technology inside that is why to expensive to repair.
My w203, 2002 model, 200CDI manual: 525000km yesterday. Horrible to look at, works like a swiss army knife. That is 328000 miles :)
Lovely car in a gorgeous colour. Interior is cloth though, MB Tex being the hard wearing, perforated vinyl upholstery.
I’ve had a C Class with MB Tex (or did it get renamed as Artico?) Nasty - ruined an otherwise very impressive car, and made it akin to sitting in a 70s Cortina on a hot day.
Drat. There always has to be a mistake somewhere!
@@simonhodgetts6530 Goodness no. Artico (artificial cow) is plain vinyl or simulated leather. It has been known to split & crack on fairly new cars. MB-Tex has never pretended to be anything but a durable, hard wearing synthetic covering & always perforated / ventilated in the middle, with natural padding under the cover, so it never gets hot & sweaty in summer.
@@nigelbryanmee My 79 240D with MB Tex still looks brand new. A nuclear bomb could go off under the car and the MB Tex would survive 😀
@@bobbbobb4663 Totally agree. I have a 96' 320 with MB Tex on 75k miles. It's immaculate.
Well, all I will say is, if you're gonna have an old car - then this is the one to sink your hard earned cash into....!
Makes me miss my '88 260E saloon. It was an old car when I had it, but just the best I've ever had. I feel privileged to own one, especially in this new age of electrical vehicles.
Considering that the design of this car goes back to the early 80's, it's crazy how ahead of the time it was.
Last of the great Mercs . Now it’s quantity over quality.
Back from the time when BMWs and Mercedes were quite different...and both probably made some of there best cars ever
A W124 is very high on my want list.
They just look so right, like they're carved out of granite ❤️
Don’t waist time and get it because you are going to enjoy the drive every day and more
Peak Merc. Lovely. Although, personally I prefer the 190. In fact I’d still have a 190 as a daily now.
Making me miss mine now, why did I get rid of it, must have been stupid that day.
I bought an 18,5 year old 190E 2.0 automatic in 2010 and I'm still using it as my daily driver. People say I'm nuts to drive a car almost 30 years old with 200.000+ miles on the clock, but it's simply too good to get rid off. It still feels so tight, almost like new !
Minor tidbit, this is not MB Tex, it's cloth. MB Tex looks like synthetic leather :)
I remember Mercedes of this era feeling absolutely bomb proof, even the switchgear felt indestructible. We had a first generation diesel C class at work and although it felt underpowered, it was definitely built to last. When it went into the competitor tear down department and was reduced to its component parts it was clear how. Everything was top quality and beautifully engineered. Sadly I think everything went downhill for MB from then on.
For a 1994/5 registered car, it still doesn't look too
shabby.
Too shabby???
U mean it is somewhat shabby!!!
I had a C220 (base spec N/A diesel with auto, a hubnut Mercedes if ever there was one!) and miss that car dearly. It did save my life in a pretty bad black ice crash though and the original 1996 airbags still worked. Can't beat a pre-2000s Mercedes in my opinion.
Quality car and quality review Ian. Noticing the filming and editing have gone up a gear too (dare I say it very professional! :D ) 👍
Hubnut at his absolute best. Best car reviewer on UA-cam in my opinion.
wow it only weights 1360kg.. I can't believe it, it looks like a 1600kg car
In the USA, a Merc is a Mercury. The short name for Mercedes-Benz is Benz.
Yes, and there's literally nothing similar about the cars (at least pre-2000 Benz), except the names. A friend had a Mercury Mystique that was so bad, she rechristened it the Mercury Mistake. 😅
Well, there you go - the entire planet uses the term Merc for a MB, except for Americans who use it for a brand that doesn't exist any more and was never really exported outside the US because it was, like most US market vehicles, crap.
@@iatsd Ah, the grumpy old man with a chip perched delicately-on-shoulder and persecution complex is alive and well in the UK I see! VWestlife was pointing out an interesting fact, that's all. Lighten up! And Mercury was a Ford derivative/badge engineered vehicle in its later days, so it most certainly WAS exported outside of the US, except for the badge. 😁
@@frazzleface753 Not old, am American, and just don't (usually) like the vehicle products that are put out in the US. The US car market is terrible, even though it's better than it was in the 70's - 90's. Limited brands, poor vehicles, and horrible infrastructure for buying and servicing.
I'm sorry that you are so defensive that you can't consider any criticism of the US. I know and understand how common that failing is in the US, but I live in hope that one day the country will grow up a bit and get over that.
@@frazzleface753 Oh, and as an aside, the Ford models sold in the US (and their Mercury badge versions) were seldom sold outside the US. It's only in the last ~10 years or so that Ford has genuinely gone to global models. Even the models with the same names outside the US were seldom the same actual vehicles as inside the US.
You need to have the engine running to drop the headrests, they work on vacuum :D
Ah! Like the seat locking. Didn't think of that.
@@HubNut the many quirks of the 124, had 2 and hope someday to have one again. Sitting in an old merc is like walking into your living room
W124 was peak automobile if you ask me. All downhill since.
I've owned three W124s, including my current daily driver. Two saloons and one estate, all of them diesels. Fantastic cars.
Nice review. Slight correction: Those are not MB-TEX seats. They are the lower cost fabric option. For Diesels there were 2.0, 2.5, 2.5T, 3.0, 3.0T.
I agree the 6 cylinder ones feel more like a proper engine for a grand tourer car. This era of Mercedes was when they were eye wateringly expensive, especially if you delved into the option list in any way. I think that price differential kept them special at least in the UK (unlike being perceived as a taxi brand in Germany). It meant when you saw one it was a bit of a treat and they were typically driven by someone who had treated themselves to the car and justified the price differential as "worth it" to get those over engineered touches and long term durability. Unfortunately today they actually do mass advertising to everyone, endless promotion of credit and sure enough they are now driven by everyone. I think they've lost their cachet and exclusivity now that they're outside every other house in a town. A great review Ian.
Excellent review Ian! Love these cars. I've had a W123 230E, and a W124 230E. I now drive a W124 230TE. Talking about attention to detail, I only had two complaints with the 123. First, I kept on losing things down the side of the seats, and second, if you hit a deep puddle the water would splash on to the power steering belt and make it slip. When I got the 124, there were little blocking plates to stop things falling down the side of the seats, and a splash plate under the engine which is easily removed. It's obvious that they listened to customers using the cars in the real world, and found solutions to minor inconveniences
Back in the day when Mercedes cars were actually a quality product, instead of just a prestige vehicle.
One of my favorite cars along with W123 D turbo.
Well done Mr Nut!
Very different to the typical Mercedes you see today, with a 1.5 Renault Diesel engine under the bonnet and a 32” TV screen in the middle of the dashboard 😅
My Grandad had a W123 & 124 in the 80s 90s i loved them both.
Beautiful cars. Great video Ian as always.
Keep on driving and keep safe.
Used to think they were a bit dull then my cousin got one and gave me a lift, I was wrong.
A quality motor car. Unlike the dreadful turn of the century offerings....
From a time when engineers built them and not accountants.
You can never go wrong buying a W 124, or even W 123. Over here in Germany, the price is getting higher each year. No good W 123 below 4000 Euro, no good W 124 below 7000 Euro right now.
What a coincidence, you and Jayemm just uploaded at the exact same time with "Best Merc ever" in the thumbail, very bizarre. 👻
Ha! Entirely unplanned, but two very different vehicles.
When all modern cars have gone, including battery powered, cars of this era will still be running. Good old Mercedes hey Mr HubNut.
The car industry is moving into the electronic devices market and even though they are less complicated the manufacturers are guaranteed to send one of these automatic updates to the car that will start causing issues. A bit like a smartphone update really, since my last update from Samsung my phone hasn't been as responsive and the battery is now losing power, my phone is only about 5-6 years old
I own a 1988 560SEC for the last 13 years and agree with all of what you said but more, and that 5.6l engine is just great and fast enough, this is an unrestricted one as well, fantastic vehicle. Drove a 2000km trip in Oz (Brisbane to Melbourne) in one go and when I got home I felt like going another 1000, just a fantastic car to drive, effortless and super comfortable, and looks it as well. BTW fuel eco was around 11l/100 km and that's the V8!
This is a proper Mercedes from when quality and engineering were king and not profit. I love these - unlike the brash, plastic fantastic crap they sell today. The new cars are not even in the same league as this beauty. Only negative is the gruff note of the 4 cylinder where a silky 6 would be far more fitting but still a wondeful car. Great review Ian
Great vid! Finally we are able to see how the windscreen wiper in action slow-mo. Mercedes then was truly an engineer heaven. I think those wipers on W126 are equally remarkable.
That car has the regular cloth interior, MB-tex is type of vinyl that looks like leather. Being a cabdriver back in the 90s I'm quite familliar with it....
From all of the Mercedeses I drove this is by far my favourite. I don't get why they went so wrong in the nineties, there's just no comparing a 90's and 2000's merc to this.
Loved this road test one of the last truly great over engineered Mercedes especially the front wiper great job
I briefly owned an '87 300E. I had a real love/hate relationship with that car. It was exceptionally solid, well-built with high-end materials, and lovely to drive. I bought it with 103k miles and sold it at 108k miles. It was extremely unreliable. At the time of purchase the cruise control, stereo, 1 power window, 1 power lock, the rear headrest release, and a couple of motor and transmission mounts were all failed. That's a heck of a lot to go wrong in 103k miles in what was a very clean car. Almost immediately after repairing these issues, the automatic transmission started slipping and being undrivable. So I sold the car to my neighbor, who had the transmission rebuilt for $2,500 U.S. After that, I switched to Volvo of the same era and never looked back. They weren't as opulent, but far more comfortable and far more reliable. I will gladly trade in real wood and chrome bits for a powertrain that lasts twice as long. We had 4 of them in our household over several years of the 200, 700/900 series ranging from '85 to '95. None had half the problems my Mercedes had.
What a lovely machine. The build quality was insane during this era of Benz.
Lovely car, neighbour had one but he was a little to old to maintain at the end alas he died and the car disappeared on a trailer - Merc these days seem to produce so many versions of cars I don’t think even their sales staff can keep up plus, on some models, they use ahem…..Renault mechanicals, could you imagine that in the 90’s.
Had a E220 sportline. So wafty. Pity about the wiring loom though.
I think that was mainly an issue on the late DOHC engines, whoever thought biodegradable plastics alongside such a bulletproof car was a great idea?
Yup the start of Merc's downfall.
That's not MB Tex, MB Tex was Mercedes' faux leather (vinyl) before it was called Amtico. In fact I think they still call it MB Tex in the US. Thats cloth.
Ian, this is not MB-Tex (MB-Tex upholstery is Mercedes-Benz creation that is a more affordable supplement for leather. The material is actually made up of Viny, also nicknamed MB-Tax) but the standard upholstery for a C124 and W124. Nice video.
On the transmission; these, the W123 and W201 normally pulled away in second; but, if you were halted, in Drive, slid the lever to "2" and then back to Drive, it would then pull away in first. Even my 2.5D W201 would be pretty good from the lights - to the surprise of others - when I "selected" first to pull away. I think Hubnut accidentally did this action at the start of his driving, hence his surprise of a first gear pull away. Of course if you put your foot down hard on pulling away, it would do so in first.
Mbtex is a vinyl, these are just normal cloth. People often confuse MBtex with leather though.
I have a 1994 202 c220. the interior looks like this but it's butter leather. I can live my life without this generation of Mercedes. impossible. they are so good for Nigerian roads
I have a C230, it's a wonderful car, identical, but slightly larger engine, a sort of very high-speed armchair. Mine is a metallic green, sort of stealth car.
The electrics are all bi-wired! No chassis return like on British cars. I had an indicator lamp fail (there is a warning on the dash for any lamp failure), it turned out that the only problem was that the solder had worn away from the back of the *original* bulb. I put a new blob of solder on the bulb and the original bulb is still working.
Great review, chaps.
PS. The only remark I'd have is that the sponge on the steering wheel, designed to save your ribs, is becoming sticky, so I can understand why your owner has fitted a cover.
Completely agree about the late 90's mercs. On a quiet night you could hear them rusting. But the w210 gave us one of the best diesels ever made. The om606. That engine was probably the last truly over engineered thing mercedes made
Been waiting for some w124 wiper action on this channel. One thing you missed is you can pull the levers on the bonnet hing to lift it completely vertical and out of the way when working on it. truly delightful cars
Edit: also while very effective the wiper does fling the water of the windscreen quit far so best not to leave the wiper on intermittent in a drive through as i found out.
Every thing looked high quality .....until you smashed the go peddle , suprised how much engine noise it produced .
I'm getting a saloon with this engine tomorrow with 156.000 on the clock for a grand, everyone is asking why but they don't know what I know so they can keep their I pads on wheels lol
Every time I use my mono-wiper on my 190E I think of HubNut 😎 Great to finally see you review one of those 👍 This coup is a dream of mine, maybe one day I'll upgrade
Ian, one of your best reviews so far. Always enjoy watching you enjoy a car. Keep it up.
Another great video hubnut! Yes. The Mercedes back in the day were by far the best. My Grandad owned a couple of these back in the day. Used to love seeing the mono wiper in action! No triangle of doom on that one! He owned a 1995 E200. The engines were bulletproof and would last for ever. I still remember the distinctive sound of the 4 speed automatic gearbox! Great stuff.🙂
You've inspired me Ian, to find one and lovingly take care of it. I am an old school Merc fan.
Last of the bullet proof tanks
"E" is for Economy, "S" is Standard, not Sport. Also on that box, if you want to pull away in 1st just snag the lever back from D to "2", then back into D and it will move off in 1st. These boxes always use 2nd to move off unless you do this, or mash the pedal.
Hmm. From what I know, the “E” meant fuel injected (Einspritzung) originally. The S indicated the S-class then (I think they only had 2 sedan groups then) The numbers indicating engine displacement. The 190 came along and ruined everything. So the 190 really was the body type, so you ended up with 190E 2.3, for example
Nomenclature has since changed and in the recent past, letters indicated category. “E” for Executive “C” Compact, “S” Special (Sonderklasse).
Today the categories are clear but the numbers don’t mean much anymore.
That's true on the outside of the car but the original post is about the gearbox.
@@HubNut oops. My bad. Not sure what I was responding to in my mind.
If you have s for standard will pull off on first , economy pulls off in second unless you floor it.belt tensioner on that one needs replacing, starting to make some noise.now on my 31st merc, bought up with Benz, worked on them nearly 40yrs now.Last of the proper mercs.but a good w210 or w202 are not as bad as some people say.w211 is where the problems start in my opinion.
Built up to a standard, not down to a price. I especially like the coupe. Never a common car in this country.
You could say this is peak Mercedes
Classic beautiful design inside and outside
Great engineering
Great cars
Lovely car apart from that vomit inducing steering wheel cover.
Super! The older 230ce is better. Sound better and smoother.
To be fair, I’ve been waiting a long time for you to test the W124 wipers. Great video as always.
Anyone else looking at the classifieds?
Ian, a cracking review of a cracking car.
I've fond memories of factory stretch W124 taxis in Northern Cyprus back in 1992. Rolling through the countryside, I'd feel like a president. (The contemporary S-Class being full dictator spec)
That wiper was used by little known French sports car maker Venturi.
I want a 124,. Well two actually. This coupé and the estate.
I love Merc's and would love another one, I used to own a C320 cdi years ago and it was such a fantastic car.
Alan Partridge would call it the "German Lexus" .....
some people will get this (Lexus , it's the Japanese Mercedes)...
Ahaaaaaaaaa!
Peace and love brother 👍🏻☮❤(that's me not Alan) ...
I'm still not convinced by current year Partridge. The Vauxhall Insignia he references in From The Oasthouse just sounds wrong.
@@TheKnobCalledTone. He drives it in This Time too. It’s often seen in the VT segments.
I don’t think an Insignia is necessarily out of character for Partridge. He did drive a Rover 800 back in the ‘90s, and an Insignia is about the same size. Mainstream manufacturer running costs, but comfy and plenty of space. Plus Alan seems to want to have an Everyman image these days - a big Vauxhall’s perfect for him, especially as the current car-buying trend is for crossovers, and a big family/executive car is a bit of a dying market segment. An Insignia, while a sound purchase, is a little bit unfashionable - just like Alan.
One thing Alan wouldn’t drive is a modern Mercedes - far too blingy. Back in the ‘90s though, I reckon he would have considered a W124. Then gone for the slightly more mainstream Rover 800 anyway.
Majestic wiper action
Awesome car, Teutonic class and quality, nice shots👊😎
I believe the switch on the gearbox is S for Summer, and W for Winter. The difference being Winter mode starts off in 2nd gear.
Also, the auto box for kick down… there’s a button under the throttle pedal. Fully press the throttle. Then press again. It will change down 2 gears instead of 1.
Is anyone able to confirm both points?
No, the switch is definitely S and E. I can't confirm the kickdown sadly.
Criminal what Mercedes became in the mid 90's the W210 was an absolute disgrace for a supposed premium manufacturer.
One of the last “proper” Mercedes Benz before they started to become sadly less reliable and rust buckets 🪣, you look suited to the car Mr HubNut
Hi Ian what a lovely car and a great video again take care and hubnut family 😊👍🏻
Oh how the mighty Mercedes Benz has fallen.
You missed two things: 1. The bonnet has a separate catch that allows you to lift it and lock it vertically in place for even better access to the engine. 2. The wiper is shared by many exotic cars including Koenigseggs. Although it's actually not great when it rains heavily and is liable to failure and difficult to service. Some people have even gone to the effort to replace them with dual wipers! It looks super-cool though! Also, the transmission doesn't have a sport mode, it is (E)conomy or (S)tandard! Great car!
You should try an M104 i6 engine.
Nice example - amazing nearly 30 years old now!
Is it just me or is there something a bit vauxhall about that switchgear. Especially the headlight and heating switch type and location...it definitely has the feel of my dad's old cavalier
@Alfred Wedmore may well be...may well be
Cars from this Period will be known as the best petrol and diesel cars ever built, because after this time governments started clamping down on admission and all the compromises robed them of their reliability because they became far too complicated and power was lost, as usual brilliant interesting video thank you very much
MB Tex is the famous Mercedes leather substitute made of a superior grade of vinyl, not some type of woven fabric as you stated. Right?
Right. My error.
Great vid Ian, today's ptschoooo was epic 😊👍
MB Tex is the vinyl, AKA 'rhino hide'.