Buying a W124 Mercedes-Benz 260E

Since then, I have been attending the Sunday morning drives to ogle at some of the stunning automotive examples that turn up consistently all year long.

BHPian ///RMan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Like most threads I've penned down, this one too is probably going to be too long and with too many photos. That kind of gets boring, or so I've been told.

I try to be as detailed because these threads then become a one-stop repository for the topic.

This particular thread is special, to me at least:

• It is about a brand that has fascinated me since I can remember.
• It is about the childhood car-bug manifesting into reality.
• It is about a very Starry dream coming true.

A not so short prelude to the actual story

The vintage and classic car bug caught onto me sometime in 2012, when I chanced upon the Classic Drive thread here on Team-BHP. Since then, I have been attending the Sunday morning drives to ogle at some of the stunning automotive examples that turn up consistently all year long.

Being around these yesteryear beauties, talking to their owners and learning about their upkeep, maintenance, the costs involved, the do's and don'ts, as well as the who's and how's et al was very 'enlightening'. Just like that, the seed of owning a classic car was sown.

Sometime in late 2015, with a (very) limited budget, I began the search for a vintage/classic car. Thanks to my already low budget, the number of bona-fide classics were automatically restricted. The only cars coming my way, in the price range I was looking at, were Morris Minors, Austins, Baby Hindustans, Fiats 1100s, Ambassadors and the likes. Needless to mention that all these cars needed different levels of TLC, which was alright since I wanted to do up the car and preferred that over getting a ready car.

The aforementioned cars are great in their own right, no disrespect to them. However, my personal reasons why they did not make the cut were:

They lacked creature comforts of any kind.

The Austin's and Morris' were too cramped for someone with my height and heft.

After experiencing some of these first hand, it became amply clear that I would not have the patience to take them on a highway run, neither were they meant for daily use. That was the single biggest reason for giving these cars a miss, since I intended to use the car as much and as regularly as possible.

Ergo, we were back to where we started.

The segment of young classics, popularly known as Youngtimers these days, seemed the next best bet. These Youngtimers were somewhat forgotten these past few years, but are now getting back into the limelight, with some absolutely mind-blowing restorations coming to the fore. With car events especially being curated for them, meant that it was only going to be onwards and upwards for these cars.

In comparison, to the classics I mentioned earlier, these cars were definitely better equipped to be used regularly, since they were basically mass-produced cars from roughly 2.5-3 decades ago and thus relatively modern. While being modern, most of them are fairly mechanical and do not have the electronic sensor-based wizardry.

This meant any workshop with an understanding of mechanical workings would be able to work on them without much fuss. Keeping all these points in mind, the focus now turned towards these cars and I actively started looking around for a Youngtimer.

Before getting into what cars I considered and why I did not end up getting them, I shall quickly note down what were the rough pre-requisites I was looking for in any car:

• Drivability - Fairly easy to use in the city, even on a daily basis, should the need arise. And a good, if not a great highway cruiser.
• Uniqueness - Since I do not see myself buying another one of its kind in the foreseeable future, I wanted to have something unique. Be it the body-style, or the engine.
• Affordability - On the maintenance front, something that won't break the bank every time it visits the workshop.
• Registration - After calculating the taxes and transfer costs on non-MH registered cars, it was a no-brainer that the car had to be registered in MH only.
• Fuel - Petrol ONLY. Diesel cars from that era are robust, but the petrol's were just sublime.

As the search ensued, a whole lot of cars came my way. Have penned down some which had been seriously considered as well as the reasons why I let the car go/the deal did not work out.

BMW E21 316 Coupe - The E21 ticked all the above factors and how! But the asking price was nearly double my budget, with little or no room for negotiation. To add to it, a lot of bodywork was required. The car had a lot of rust and the added cost of bodywork meant the car was a complete NO-NO. Was really bummed to let go of this one.

BMW E36 318i Cabriolet - Another BMW that came my way, this one was not MH registered and the quote from the RTO agent for taxes and transfer was enough to scare me away.

Mercedes-Benz W123 230 - A LHD + Manual + Carb + Petrol combo, was a pretty nice combo this. Add to it, that the interiors were near pristine AND GREEN! This car was possibly the closest I got to closing in on a deal. But the fact that the car had not budged from its parking slot for close to a decade, and basically needed a scary amount of body-work. Got cold feet at the last moment and let this one pass.

The car however ended up being picked by a friend, and shall be restored in due course. Might even do a thread on it .

After inspecting the W123, I figured that it was THE car that I wanted. They had the classic MB look, build quality that would put a tank to shame, chrome bits and bobs harking back to the bigger Mercedes cars from the time, it was almost perfect. However, the lack of half decent petrol W123s around, meant that the next best option was the W124.

Mercedes-Benz W124 E220 - The Telco E220s came my way by the dozen, I somehow was not sold onto them. In all honesty, the fact that they are far too many around, kind of kept me from closing on a deal. However, the E220 was the one car that seemed like the best bang for buck and I kept an eye out for a good specimen, should nothing else materialize.

In all fairness to the car, having now used a friends E220 Automatic for a while, the car has made me eat my words and how. In hindsight, should have picked one up but thankfully there was something nicer that was in store.

A manual Toyota Celica, an E36 Coupe, a pristine W123 300D, a ₹70k W124 E250D and an E36 316i sedan, with a mouth-watering sub-15000 odometer reading were some other interesting prospects. But somehow, something kept the deals from going through.

Now, we plunge into the actual potboiler

Fast-forward to June of 2019, the search for a car had come to almost a standstill.

A friend who I met and interacted with on All Stars, a group of MB owners and enthusiasts, let's call him Mr. D, messaged that he had purchased a new car for himself.

Later that day, Mr. D sent me these pictures of the said acquisition - a 1990 W124 260E.

For starters, I had to Google what a 260E was.

After devouring a few Google pages, I came to understand that this was the entry-level 6-cylinder variant of the W124.

Sharing the same engine as the famed 300E, albeit making a little less power, the 260E seemed like a very interesting package. But the fact that Mr. D had just purchased it and had been sharing all plans for its restoration, meant that even if I liked the car, it would just be plain rude to ask if it was for sale.

Not the one to let go of an opportunity, when on a call with him, I nonchalantly asked to give me first right of refusal over this car, if and when he planned on selling it. He laughed it off, and that was that.

The Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Rally 2019

Every October, the number of classic Mercedes-Benzs on Mumbai streets goes up exponentially, as the owners prep their cars for the annual Starry carnival. On a call with Mr. D to discuss the work his other car needed before it participated in the event, he asks me if I wanted to pull out his 260E and prep it for the rally, and partake in the event - all by myself. Having not missed a single edition of the event as a visitor, it was a no-brainer to take up on this offer.

Called up my go-to man for all car-related problems - Loyal, from Loycarz, and briefed him about the car. The following weekend, a friend Karan, Loyal & I headed to the parking lot where the car was stored since being purchased. We were out in full 'josh' that night, and had made it a mission to drive it back to Loycarz that night.

Loyal's trusty Figo was our rescue vehicle for the day.

That is how 11-year-old rubber looks like! Two of the tyres would lose air regularly...

... but these portable tyre inflators are such a boon!

Plonked in a service battery....

.... and she fired right up, in typical Mercedes fashion!

The glorious (and dirty) inline-6 motor purred to life!

Loyal grinning ear to ear with the first classic/youngtimer Mercedes he was going to work on, having only worked with modern and regular cars before.

First fuel up. And on its way to the workshop!

Just as we hit the road after fueling up, a procession passing by started bursting crackers. Almost as if celebrating the car hitting the streets! Felt surreal.

Had to pick someone from the airport, and hence I let Loyal drive the car to his workshop. On successfully making the trip, he shared this picture from the destination:

All opened up and getting ready for the event.

My experience of getting the car prepped and participating in my first ever car rally, has been penned down here and you can read about it here.

Photographed exiting the event venue.

Few pictures from the rally:

The entire process of getting the car ready for the event was extremely satisfactory, and the whole experience only strengthened my resolute to get a Youngtimer.

Continue reading the ownership experience and ///RMan's thoughts on his W124. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.