1987 Mercedes-Benz W124 300 E review from South Africa

This was an old car, so it understandably did have a few problems:

Wear in the leather upholstery.

The air conditioner high pressure switch was broken when I bought the car (but was bypassed easily)

Excessive free play in the steering due to bearing wear.

The rear power windows did not work (a common fault, apparently)

I loved this car.

The seats were like laz-e-boys. On three occasions I had to do a 1600 Km drive in a single day, and each time I got out of the car still feeling quite comfortable.

As an old car, the rear end was a bit squashy, so the handling was a bit off, but it was still very comfortable.

It is an excellent long distance, high speed cruiser, easily bowling along at 160 - 190 Km/h all day, and still returning around 11 Km/Litre (it is very aerodynamic) at those speeds.

It is much heavier on fuel in town, obviously (around 5 Km/litre), as it weighs almost 2 tons.

Despite its '80s origins, the beige leather/cream carpet cabin in my car was beautiful and a very nice place to spend time in.

Again, although old, I think the car still looks great, with just the right balance between classic Mercedes and modernity.

I reluctantly sold the car at almost 300,000 Km (180,000 miles), and it was still going strong.