In the last few days I had a strong desire to replace my E34 with a W126 merc. I'm not a wordsmith, but let me try and explain my motivation.
I bought the E34 when I was in a desperate need for any car that works and works reliably. I bought it because it satisfied the needs, not because I wanted E34. And now I'm getting tired of it, because it's not focused enough. It's too slow and soft to be sporty, and it's too hard and badly equipped to be a cruiser. It has "compromise" written all over it.
What I ideally want in a car is not some specific feature, it's not the sportiness or comfort or practicality, it's overall experience. With my Caterham it's far more than light weight and handling. It's the concept itself, the history of the car, and even the fact that I've bolted most parts to this car myself. Part of the appeal is even the impracticality of the thing, the bucket seats, the strapping in procedure, the need to use ear protection and special shoes. It sets the mood right, reminds you it's not just transportation. I love it for its drawbacks and I
love it for its strengths.
W126, although in a very different way is also quite focused. It was always
the S-merc in my view. It has a whiff of classic Mercedes, but new enough to have reliable, daily-usable tech. Of course, this a car has to be equipped with as much toys as possible: power everything, leather, A/C, slushbox, etc. What I expect is the Mercedes luxury experience (of 20 years back
). Something completely opposite to the 7, but I hope you see what I mean. I was in the W126 search-mode for 3 days now, before I finally decided to go and test drive one. Not as a potential purchase but as a taste of W126.
This is the car I located nearby. A 300SE, 1988, powered and heated leather seats (although Jupix tells me it's not real leather?), but manual windows, mirrors and no A/C. So not good for me, but it has just the right engine (M103) and was advertised as being in excellent condition.
https://pic.armedcats.net/m/mx/mxm/2011/09/08/IMAG0677.jpg
Well.. It's not rusty, I give you that. But it's not excellent. The windshield has a crack, some quick fixes in various spots, and a pretty large dent in the right rear door:
https://pic.armedcats.net/m/mx/mxm/2011/09/08/IMAG0681.jpg
It's very obvious IRL, not on the picture. Inside it was OK, but still visibly worn in few places
https://pic.armedcats.net/m/mx/mxm/2011/09/08/IMAG0675.jpg
It did have an A/C button on the dash, but.. there was no compressor under the hood. Weird
https://pic.armedcats.net/m/mx/mxm/2011/09/08/IMAG0682.jpg
A typical finnish salesman car in "excellent condition" then... But anyway, I came here for a test drive, not to buy it, so I got the keys and set on. My first impression after settling in is not great. The car feels old, not classic and not very luxury either. The seat is just terrible... I almost forgot how water-bed like the old Merc seats are, but this was ridiculous. I was almost tipping over to the sides, it was so soft. If they are all like that, I would be very very disappointed. I expected little lateral support in a car, but come on, this is supposed to be like a couch, not like a rocking chair!
The 3L engine is great for this car. It's not exceedingly powerful, but it still makes the acceleration feel effortless, which is just what I was looking for. All the bigger engines are V8s, which would introduce other problems, like higher consumption, taxes, insurance, service costs, so the big I6 is optimal. I liked it, which I wouldn't say about the transmission. I can't say if it's the problem of this one, or my general dislike of automatics, but it doesn't make you feel like you're in control. The hesitation after pressing the throttle is just a bit too long, I find myself anticipating this effect and trying to correct it, which is not relaxing, and not what I want. Throttle response is in fact one of my biggest vices with the E34 (on low revs) and it is just so much more pronounced in this W126 with this auto box. It's a shame, I can't imagine this car with a manual, it's just wrong. Doesn't fit my ideal scenario.
What can I say about it overall... The car certainly left me a bit disappointed. It doesn't drive like I imagined, nor does it feel like I imagined. It feels old instead of classic, and heavy instead of luxurious. And that seat is just such an annoyance, it ruins the whatever remaining handling feel of the car. I would probably enjoy being driven in this car far more than driving it.
The impression I got from this car, is very similar to the one when I test drove the W124 just before switching to BMW. I'm willing to accept that both that and this car were not the prime examples, but I'm afraid the overall feel of the car will not be dramatically different even in a good W126. It's a shame. I like the way it looks inside and out, and I really wanted to like it, but it seems I can't accept the drawbacks of the overly soft feel and lazy box.
I'm switching my focus back to E28 now. It's a car I like for very different reasons, but it's also a car which I haven't yet driven. Handling requirements will be way higher, and if that disappoints me... then I just don't know. Maybe another E34 (ugh) with much higher specs, or maybe a 190E (not giving up on Mercs entirely yet). And when everything else fails, there's always E30...
Oh, and in the middle of the test drive I ran out of gas. The fuel light was not on until I did
Even after refilling it took like 10 minutes before the car ran somewhat smoothly, it kept stalling all the time. I'm afraid the fuel system is not all fine, or it's full of dirt.