Image courtesy Mercedes-Benz
We previously took a look at another Mercedes-Benz in the Class of 1986, the 560SL, a new car for that year, though one based on an aged chassis. In the same year, Mercedes-Benz also introduced another new car, but this one entirely new: the 300E.
Based on the W124 chassis, the 300E brought the contemporary aero styling – flush headlamps, raked windshield, lower nose – to Mercedes-Benz’s mid-size sedan. However, the real focus of Stuttgart’s development came under the skin, with a focus on durability that has caused some to call the 300E the best sedan in the world. With a revised front and rear suspension, along with standard anti-lock brakes and a 200-pound lighter curb weight, it offered crisper handling than its predecessor. Meanwhile, the M103 3.0L overhead-camshaft multi-point fuel-injected straight-six engine that also bowed in 1986 made 177hp, or 22 more than the 3.8L V-8 that preceded it. For oil-burner fans, the OM603 3.0L turbodiesel, good for 148hp, was available in the sibling 300D. Zero to sixty came up in 8.3 seconds for the 300E, a respectable time for the era. Initially available only as a four-door sedan, two-door sedans and four-door station wagons were made available a couple years later.
So would you agree with the assessment above – that the W124-chassis 300E is the best sedan in the world? If so, does it deserve collector-car status? That is, would you place one in your garage dedicated solely to vehicles from 1986? Or is it just another Teutonic tank?