After working on my 93 300e a month and read numerous posts, I am going to write a comparison with my BMW 525i (e34) which I work on it a lot as well. Both cars were built in the early 90s and liked by many people. I have love & hate relationships with both cars. This comparison is just my own opinion. At the moment, I like to drive the e34 more.
w124 2.8 vs e34 525i
Engine: e34
This is easy win. BMW's 2.5L DOHC 24v (M50) is basically maintenance free. No oil leak, motor mount or wiring harness issues. Very reliable. After market performance chip is also available.
Performance: e34
Probably because my e34 is chipped. e34 is faster.
2nd gear start just makes the w124 slower.
Transmission: tie
I don't like w124 starts at 2nd gear but I hate BMW doesn't provide a trans fluid check dip stick. To check the trans fluid on e34, you have to open the fluid fill plug under the car. What a pain. Other e34 model (540i) does provide a dip stick though.
Cooling: w124
The e34's radiator has a design problem. almost every one leaks. We have 4 e34 at the place I work and 3 of them leaked coolant! It's minor leak but kinda annoying.
Brake: e34
W124's brake is just too soft. I had changed the pads (Mintex) and bleed the system with dot 4. Still soft. Read a suggest in this forum to change the brake lines. I'll give it a try.
AC: e34
Haven't heard of any condenser problem in e34.
Electronic: e34
e34's OBC (onboard computer) monitors many sensors and provides 13 faulty messages from a LED screen on the dash. More advanced than the w124. Though it could be annoying sometimes when the sensor fails.
Chassis: tie
Both cars have solid chassis.
Interior quality: w124
The only thing broke on my w124 is a motorized head rest. Otherwise, everything still looks good (leather, wood trim, dash) and works well. The e34 has a few common problems like headliner falling off, door panels falling off, door hinge cracks.
Head light: e34
The original w124 headlight is too dark. I am ordering SilverStar bulb. See how it goes.
OVP: w124
The Over voltage protection in w124 seems like a good idea. I couldn't find it in e34. The e34's electronic sensor system is very sensitive to voltage change and could result in wrong fault messages when the battery is getting old. Adding an OVP to e34 will be very helpful to maintain the stability of the voltage and could eliminate some of the fault messages.
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79 450 SLC
93 300E 2.8
93 Toyota MR2 T-top 5sp
06 BMW 325i (hers)
92 BMW 525i (sold)
Though, the 300e was essentially the same car as the one that premiered in 1986 and was designed starting in the late seventies. meanwhile the bmw was first introduced in i believe 1990(?) and obviously designed starting in the eighties. a later engineered car will probably have some more of the current conveniences. It does seem that i see a lot more w124's still running vs those old 5 series.
not a bimmer hater, in fact the current M5 is probably my most desired vehicle currently sold.
Do you have switchable auto transmission? This allows you to accelarate away in first and overrides the default second gear start.
You have the US headlights and not the ones originally designed for the car so not so good.
The E34 is a great car though and BMWs straight sixes are a joy and very robust.
As a drivers car I think they do outscore the W124 but the Merc has that indefinable something that gives it the edge which is why as thedudley says you see so many more W124s on the roads than the E34.
I read about the switchable auto trans but I don't have one. Why Merc makes 2nd gear starts? Does 1st gear ever being used?
One thing I noticed is that it's possible to find a low mileage w124 but not e34. I bought my w124 with 68k miles last month and I saw a couple others with 100k miles. But it is almost impossible to find a e34 with less than 100k miles. e34 owners seem to drive their cars a lot.
After I fix the heavy oil leak on my w124, may be I will like it more.
Like the others have said, two of those negatives would be eliminated if USA had left the W124 alone. We would've got the euro headlights and the S/E transmission switch.
ride quality.
over bumpy streets and so on. just about a tie with the benz having a slight edge
long distance comfort.
benz over bimmer for his one. bimmer handles better but is more twitchy and "nervous" when affected by such things as crosswinds
interior volume. about the same. both have big trunks
fuel economy.
BMW. easy. also doesnt require premium fuel.
amenities.
BMW. has a standard trip computer thing. benz has standard climate control, dash button to lower rear headrests. BMW wins with better (upgraded version on both cars) factory stereo.
aftermarket parts and modifications.
BMW. not even close. wheels, brakes, suspension, engine tuning, LSD, exhaust parts.
durability.
benz. not even a competition. that BMW transmission you like will go boom at some point.
the BMW is better in many many objective ways. the benz gets the nod in that subjective thing we call "tank like quality."
my twin brother had a titanium (a grey brown metallic colour) 525i that i drove regularly enough to compare to my champagne (metallic beige) coloured 300E 2.6. same year (1990) . his had leather, mine has MB Tex. his interior was falling apart; headliner peeling off, drivers seat backrest at a permanent angle, tattered leather, sticking switchgear, but its still went like a dream. beautiful transmission, shifted as though it read your mind, immense brakes, killa lights, phat stereo that just thumped and thumped, not a round the block window rattler but it stirred your soul. it was great in many ways.
it just needed a whole new interior and better engineering. it started nickel and diming him to death and he got rid of it.
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'O=00=O' BMW 2002. long live the legend.
Last edited by neanderthal : 09-11-2007 at 07:32 PM.
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