1985 Mercedes-Benz W123 Reviews

Slight vacuum leak caused the cruise control to go out -- getting repaired in two weeks.

Jiffy Lube guy claims there is a slight transmission leak. I've never bothered to get it checked out by my Mercedes technician, because the transmission shifts as smooth as silk. Besides: I park in the driveway every single night and have yet to see a SINGLE DROP of oil or tranny fluid on the ground.

Turn signals went out. $160 to rewire.

Both centre A/C vents stopped working, however, ice cold air conditioning still blows through the outer left and right vents!!

Leather pulled away from the frame of the passenger seat a bit. Seat is still comfortable and intact, so I never fixed it.

Stereo/cassette player went out. Replaced it with a CD/MP3 player. Also, the power antennae stopped working so I had to replace that.

Passenger door lock broke, so the doors can only be locked/unlocked from driver's side.

Glove box door lock broke. Latch closes but won't lock.

First aid kit storage lid cracked and broke off. The part is no longer manufactured, so I bought a used replacement on eBay for $35.00.

Some douche bag tried to steal my hood ornament by cutting through the grille screen while I was inside a restaurant. Upper driver's side section of the plastic screen is missing. Cost me $100 to replace the whole grille (only comes as an entire assembly), but the original hood star is still there!

I owned a 1988 Mercedes-Benz 300SE from 2002 to 2005, and put 60,000 miles on it before I had to sell it. The transmission went out and it needed an alternator. At the time I was in a jam and couldn't afford to spend $3,500 to repair it. Instead, I sold it to my neighbour AS-IS for $1,800 (only $1,000 less than I paid for it!).

This 300D Turbo Diesel is FAR AND AWAY a better vehicle than the 300SE ever was -- HANDS DOWN!!! And that's saying something... the diesel purrs like a kitten, and from the looks of it, I should be able to pull another 240,000+ miles out of it!

Frankly, I don't see myself EVER driving anything BUT this or another Mercedes diesel ever again, for the rest of my life.

Basically the suspension needs a rebuild, to be expected from a car this heavy at this age..

Starts rusting on rear fenders..

This car is one of a kind, I just love the way it sounds, drives, everything just seems to be perfect..

The engine is a high performer, responds nicely and the manual shifting is also smooth..

Mine has a mint interior, no cracks, no nothing whatsoever, just perfect..

Needs higher compression to give more response in the low end revs..

The fuel injector return lines were old and porous, slight leak when car was running, easy fix, ordered lines from M.B. and changed them myself.

The W123 model is the best 4 door touring car Mercedes Benz has ever built. 1985 was the last year for the W123 and it was at the height of German engineering.

This car was a one owner car when I bought it, and the owner kept every record of service and repair from day 1.

It started right up after the glow plug light went out, and the temperature was 10-12 above zero and colder in New York.

She is a pleasure to drive, handles great, love cruising on the highway and can go all day and night. Very happy with this beauty.

Very little has gone wrong with the car.

Welded a hole in the floor pan.

Replaced alternator (open on winding).

Replaced right rear CV shaft.

Replaced old exhaust mid-pipe.

Replaced 24 year old suspension bushings.

Replaced 24 year old guide rod mounts.

Replaced 24 year old shocks and struts.

Replaced front and rear rotors (normal maintenance).

Rebuilt calipers (normal maintenance).

Replaced pads (normal maintenance).

Excellent car. Extremely overbuilt. 3rd owner. Bought from 2 second long term owner for $400 cad. Needed new rotors and pads, a small hole in floor pan welded up and an exhaust mid-pipe. Living a snow belt will do this..

Daily driver for the past two years. Incredibly reliable. Starts with one flash of the glow plugs. Seats are excellent build, one can sit in them for hours on end and NOT feel fatigued. Sturdy MB Tex material looks great even after 24 years of service.

Virtually everything is user serviceable. Lack of electrics is a wonderful thing. Car handles quite well for a car it's size. Its turning radius is amazing to say the least.

Parts are not as expensive as one may be led to believe. Tons of aftermarket support for this car. I haven't stepped into a dealership for years.

It's not as quick as one would expect - 125hp diesel pushing a 3600 lb sedan does not equate extreme "off the line" speed. Once turbo spools up, it moves quite nicely.

It is critical to make sure, if one was to buy one of these fine cars, that they make sure they get some sort of maintenance history on the car. It is very important. A cheap Benz can turn out to be a very expensive Benz if one is not mechanically competent.

As long as the maintenance has been kept up, these cars will run for years..