Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

Mercedes E320 Coupe rarity

5K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  SickFinga 
#1 ·
I have notice that E320 Coupes are extremely rare to find. Convertibles you find plenty. Is there a reason ? Am considering to bring one from Europe.
 
#2 · (Edited)
the couple late coupes I've seen for sale were badly trashed, like they'd been driven hard and put away wet.

cabs are not really very common, and I live in convertible central (west coast), but people generally took better care of them. most of the sevreal I see around town belong to my indy mercedes mechanic, who has a soft spot for all things w124. he's got a AMG black wagon, and a stock white wagon, both with his store logo, and I think 3 124 cabs in his fleet.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I have notice that E320 Coupes are extremely rare to find. Convertibles you find plenty. Is there a reason ? Am considering to bring one from Europe.
There is no reason to bring one in from Europe for several reasons. The glory days of bringing in grey market cars ended in 1985 when the Feds and MB USA slammed the door shut on that enterprise.

1) The coupes, especially the later ones, did not sell any better in Europe.

2) IF you do manage to find one, it will likely be powered by the rather gutless 2.0 or 2.2 liter 4 pot motor

3) US spec cars came far better equipped, such as standard A/C, cruise and automatic.

4) Finding spare parts for grey market cars can be tough, especially if you have a drivetrain that was never offered in the US version. Example: try finding a non eco junk wiring harness and/or throttle body for that 2.2 after that car lands in the USA
 
#5 ·
yeah, on equipment. ALL US 124's came pretty loaded, with mbtex or leather seating (most euro cars are cloth seat), sunroofs on all sedans/coupes, full climate control, all 4 windows powered (many euro cars have hand crank rear windows), cruise control, convenience feature, power locks, ATA, premium alloy wheels, etc etc were all standard on US models. obscure things too, like the hot weather chiller on the fuel return line, to prevent vapor lock, and the heater coil in the windshield washer fluid to prevent it from freezing.
 
#6 ·
2 other things to watch out for on Euro spec cars that lived there for the majority of their lives.

1) Rust. Particularly on UK, German, Austrian, Swiss and Scandinavian vehicles. A good telltale sign is by checkng the jacking points/holes.

2) Odometer roll back. A particular bad problem with cars in Germany, where about 2 out of 3 privately sold vehicles have odometer roll back. Some countries, such as Belgium, have fought this problem by using a electronic database whereby the car's odometer gets logged with each service interval even tire swaps.
 
#9 ·
^This. And that is also why they are even rarer in Europe, especially with a decent drivetrain (6 cylinder and automatic). It's hard to justify the extra cash outlay for a car that is half as functional as the 4 door sedan or the 5 door wagon.
 
#11 · (Edited)
That craigslist car looks more like lipstick on a pig. The wing, cheapo Chinese tires, the wrong trunk mat, the redone interior (different leather dye), rewrapped steering wheel rim, driver seatpad and/or seatframe looks twisted or deformed, the stuck speedo needle, the collapsed window switches, etc.

A big giveaway are the clouded/dull headlights.
 
#13 ·
This looks to be a great DD for someone. This car cost approx. $60k in 1995. Condition looks very nice, great color combo and fresh tires. For only $4k. What a genuine bargain. It is a 22 year old car, but a great modern classic.
 
#12 ·
Body looks straight, paint ok, stated mileage more than fair for the car and if all checks out fine, not a bad deal over-all... plus cash in hand you'd be able probably to negotiate couple of hundreds from the price.
If the guy has the smog done and paperwork for the work done on the car (more like the transmission maybe still under warranty if it was rebuilt) then even better.
Not a big fan of shiny engines or recently washed engine bays before sale, usually this is sign of potential hidden leaks, but whatever, you'll have leaks from a w124 no matter what.
.... and the small stuff in and around the car can be easily and cheaply fixed, ebay and junkyards are still full of good used w124 parts.
For $4000 there is no way you can expect a perfect car.

I paid $1700 for a 94 coupe i used as a base for a wide body conversion and it had 350k miles, tired interior, shot tires, and both bumpers cracked with chunks missing...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top