anyone own an E500(94ish, the Porsche one)

Don't own one, a friend has had one since new. THe car is awesome. Surprisingly stealthy, quite the Q car. Puts down good power (torquey), but be prepared - a lot of techs will be a bit dumbfounded working on the car, so find a good independant.

From what I recall, they've depreciated quite a bit, so a pristine example can be had for ~25.

--Dan

 

Excellent car! I don't own one. Like Dan I have a friend who has a 95 model that he will never get rid of. The last of the hand built Mercedes IMO. Craftsmanship is excellent, the motor is excellent and the car drives wonderfully well. Even with it's age it will hold it's own against many modern cars. He has had problems, but none that were catastrophic. Mainly electrical and I think some suspension bits, but that's it. Good examples are tough to find and the price range is very wide. You can buy one for $15,000 that has stories or you can easily still pay $40,000+ for a perfect car. FYI, my friends has 45,000 miles on it and has been offered $35,000 to $40,000 several times from serious buyers.

A great site with lots of info on them. www.mercedesshop.com

I'm wanting to add one to the stable one day.

 

I got 1 for my parents. the engine is awesome, it will blow a 348 into the weeds. Back then nobody was used to seeing an MB that fast. It surprised a lot of people. We still have it & I always borrow it when I am in CT

Only problem we had was the front tires rubbed on the brake lines so we had to replace the front brake lines.

Now if I could just get my father to take it to a serious mechanic

 

I'll give you a brief (long) story of my love affair with this car. I have a bright silver/black leather 1994 E500 with 33,000 miles on it. I've had it since 96 or so. I was never a fan of the car at first as I thought it was way too expensive for an "E-class". Why in the heck should I pay $80,000 for an E-class when I can get an S-class instead. Realize this is 1994 money, you can buy the new M5 today for the nearly the same amount 11 years later. Well I finally drove one and I instantly saw why this car is so special. Around that time there was rumors of an AMG C36 coming out and I thought well, I'll get the same kind of car at a much lower price, well I didn't get the same feel, not the same performance and longed for an E500. The C36 was a great car, but it just didn't have the feel the E500 had. So the next step was the procurement of a used E500. It took about 6 months of searching including having a test drive of Bobby Rahal's car at Mid-Ohio. He had for sale 1 of 2 of the rare "Frankfurt Editions" This car was previously owned by an MB executive in Germany and Bobby got his hands on it. Its brother was shown at the Frankfurt Auto Show. It was black opal with special factory leather that had a purplelish swirl to it. Neat, but you can tell the car was run pretty hard, so I passed. I ended up finding one at Hatch & Sons who specialize in Benz and bought it in 1996.

How can I describe this car. It feels like a tank, a heavy feel, nothing like a standard 300E or 400E at the time. Drive a standard E-class and E500 back to back and your amazed its the same car. The car is longer, lower and it had to have those beautiful flared fenders just to squeeze the big V8 in it from the SL. I decided a few years ago to leave it at my Vegas home and drove it cross country from Ohio. What an unbelievable pleasure. The car is absolutely designed to go long distances and an incredible rate of speed. I remember going through Colorado at 130mph and the car felt like 60mph, plus I can carry 4 passengers and luggage and pull it off. Its hard to put into words, you just have to feel the limitless torque it produces. Passing anyone at will is a great power to have. I've been lucky to drive and own a lot of great cars in my time and the E500 still holds up today.

Porsche did both the engineering and nearly built all of it. Porsche's Rossle-Bau plant did the assembly nearly by hand at a rate of 8-12 E500's a day. If you don't know, Rossle-Bau was at the time known for having Porsche's best workers. Their best old-world craftsman were normally stationed there for very small volume production output. The E500 was assembled by hand and pushed on pallets by hand from station to station, no automation here. They then were trucked to Mercedes for paint and then back to Porsche again for more assembly and the finally sent back to Mercedes for final inspection.

Given the fall recently of Mercedes quality, its my personal opinion that the E500 maybe last of the great Benzes. They used to have a slogan, "engineered like no other car in the world" and after driving this car, you know they mean it. Its like driving something you've never felt before. Theres everyday cars, theres extreme luxury cars and then there are cars that transcend what you thought cars could be and thats what I feel an E500 is. Strong words I know, but its cool when you have real car guys see your car and approach you and want to talk about it. Its a true sleeper that I think I will never get bored with. Its rare to find a good used one as a lot of these cars were driven hard, but if you can find one with low mileage go for it. Theres a reason it was the choice of F1 drivers back in the day.

Phil

 

None other than the Porsche 959. Its cool to know my car was built by the same guys building that legend.

Phil

 

Great write up. I always admired those cars, but I must confess to thinking time had passed them by with all the power and gadgets in the latest Benzes. Good job pointing out that there is one very important feature they lack-- rock solid quality.

 

i had one for, o, 30 days.... then had a little incident.....

however!!!! a very very very very very very awesome car... i saw it was faster than a 348? ha, probably is, on the highway it was scary..... it is faster than a basic carrera porsche, and handles like one too! i loved that car.... at least i got to put on 5000 miles b4....

also the prices on them is awesome, at least for a buyer, they keep falling every year, and for such a nice car its insane... i got mine with 80,000 miles for $20K. and every thing was perfect, i think i was the 3rd owner.....

cant say enought about the car!!!! i would reccommend the car over ANY new car, if u want something fast and fun, just get a cheap 500E/E500.... you will not regret it...

also how rare they are too... there were only 1500 brought into the US, and i think around 11,000 total made... so spotting one is rare.. i have only seen 2 ever (including mine) and my mechanic (30 years working on MB's) had never seen one

i also have some good pics comparing the E500/E320 with the fender flares and ride height

 

I few pics from the cross country trip. The E500, the only way to travel
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Is the second picture from near Saint George UT?

 

If memory serves me right, you're probably pretty close. I'm guessing now, but I'd say 100 miles or so outside of St. George, Utah. That area has grown quite a bit the past few years.

 

I told my parents if they ever want to trade I will buy their car

 

yup, that's it. Going from Nevada to Utah, you cross that mountain pass.

 

here some pics, u can see the fender flare real nice, and those yummy yummy rims, and the awesome tint i had to get my game on,

dear god i loved that car..........
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I've got a '94 E60 AMG and that thing is a missle. It's the only car that I own that I will probably not ever sell.

 

F-chatter Cannoli (Norman) has an E500. Sweet cars. The only Benz I'd consider owning.

 

It's definitely a tank. A good friend of mine owns one and runs a 500E forum.

www.500ecstasy.com

 

Noel, thanks for the link!

 

Great link.

--Dan

PS: When did you come back from the dead?? PM me rock star!

 

Here is a link to one for sale with a ton of pictures and a good write up on the car as well(it takes a little while to load since there are so many pictures). I found this link off an ad on autotrader.com

http://www.theauctiongenie.com/mercedes/

 

I've owned a 500E for 3 years now and would not trade it for anything twice it's value. I also have a 1970 300sel 6.3, it's grandfather and that is an awesome car as well. You can't beat it's looks, handling and power. It matches up to any new 4 door sedan (except the super sedans being mfg today). I love it and use it every day.

I need to get my 83 Mondial QV fixed: stripped timing belt and some bent valves I fear, anybody know a reliable REASONABLE mech to take on task, leisurely perhaps over the winter to keep cost down, NYC area?

I love hese cars but can't seem to afford to keep them running!!

Wayne

 

Most of us have heard of the AMG "Hammer" cars, you know, the cars that AMG built with MB's 5.6L engines and custom 4-valve heads ... well in 1991, the W124 chassis 500E was brought to market to respond to this little up-start company down the road from Stuttgart. As the Automotive Press named the AMG cars the "Hammer", they also named MB's model the "Velvet Hammer".

Though nothing could touch the Hammer cars during their reign, topping out at 180+ MPH, the 500E was electronically limited to 155. But it was 100K Dollars less!

... and after Porsche finished the run of 500E/E500s, they made the Audi RS2 at Rossel-Blau.

Phil, I enjoyed your first-hand description of the car - I too share your thoughts about the Q-ship, the Sleeper, the Tank.

I own one of the early production units (manufactered in 1991) that has the closed-deck block (322 HP, 354 FT-LB) (MB later changed the 4-valve all aluminum 5.0L M119 engine to an open-deck block).

As mentioned earlier, Porsche did a fine job integrating all the MB bits together - I am amazed how they shoe-horned the engine into the chassis.

I am one of the Forum Moderators (History/Pedigree) on 500Ecstasy.com and I encourage anyone interested in more information on this car to check out the site. It is quite informative, especially in regards to maintenance and mods.

Also, here is a good write-up as well - http://www.mercedesshop.com/500e.htm

BTW, this car CAN BE SERVICED at any MB Dealership, for many of the systems are similar to the R129 SL. I take my car to the neighborhood MB Dealership all the time - the car is well documented within MB.

The car sports a Bosch LH EFI, ABS, and ASR (guardian angel), all controlled through a CAN bus (controller area network). The was the first MB model to have this system.

Bottom line is, the W124 500E/E500 is a great second car (or daily driver for me) - I highly recommed it. It surely is not the fastest sedan today, but it can easily earn some respect.
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Time for bed!

Sunny

 

LOL!!!!