1992 Mercedes-Benz 400E V8 (W124) - Motorweek Retro Review

[@ChristopheZ]

I currently drive a 1993 400E ( 275 HP compared to the 92)...also on HWY, I manage 26/27 MPG at speed limit ( 70 mph)...car now has 295K miles

[@tonychavez2083]

yes the fuel economy was very decent for an 8 cylinder car. M119 motor is a gem... I had a 92' in 1993 when it was still considered a new car.

[@raketjefsen]

I guess it's a US version. Has a 2,24 ratio on the differential. I have a german version with 2,65 ratio. Going about 1900 rpm at 80 km/h

[@meikelinde1623]

I still wonder why usa got 2.24 and germany 2.65. 2.24 is waaay more in useful on the Autobahn as i learned while driving 500se w126.

[@hellkitty1014]

The M119 is a workhorse!

[@fernandorocha-dx1wv]

@@raketjefsen I love this Mercedes 400E. The classic Mercedes is my favorites

[@ericfitzgerald9139]

Bought a dirt cheap 1 owner 400E in 2022 for $3500 from an estate sale in Connecticut. Always garaged with a full service history. You’ll never seem them this cheap again! If you find one, buy it!

[@RegionalRadioShackManager]

How many miles? I’m about to buy one for $2000 clean title 200k miles one owner

[@ericfitzgerald9139]

@@RegionalRadioShackManager had 127k miles on it. Not bad for a 20 year old car. I’ve since sold it to buy a 2008 Saab Turbo X, tho

[@JoshuasRecordings]

I just bought a E420 with 124k miles for $500. It was left at a repair shop near me and the person who left it didn't want to repair a low pressure power steering line that's leaking. So far it seems like a very solid car.

[@sariamubarak9804]

Not a wise decision was it 🥴​@@JoshuasRecordings

[@KingDevoneoGotBeats]

I need one

[@kingkat8080]

The car was really ahead of it's time. Nice.

[@fernandorocha8459]

Beautiful this Mercedes 400E

[@nkenchington6575]

its time

[@tonychavez2083]

I had one of these new in 92' it was $57,000 I felt like it pulled harder on the top end than my newer 97' E420 sport at the time. The M119 8 cylinder motor was one of the best MBZ motors of all time..

[@youtoobe169]

The funny thing is you can get roughly the equivalent to this car new for about the same $ amount today. This was nearly $120K in todays' dollars new.

[@boss12]

I still want one.

[@Sanpedranoazul]

Classy design, still on the road 🥳

[@automotivetv9861]

Bomb ass car

[@KingDevoneoGotBeats]

It is nice 💯

[@stratfordbaby]

Being $10k more expensive than the Lexus, I would say that the Lexus was not even a competitor. Anyone looking to spend that kind of money would never have looked at the Lexus unless they really couldn't afford the Merc.

[@bobl78]

286hp not 268 The radio is from Becker not Blaupunkt

[@wp8022]

US spec was 268hp.

[@439530]

The car Stu drove in Mrs Doubtfire lol

[@ashog1426]

My bro had one of these it was such a nice car 😢

[@WhateverItTakesLIVE]

i wish uk got this car

[@clothestravel]

Back when Mercedes meant something. The brand and cars had prestige and panache.

[@MercOne]

Did Motorweek ever test the 500E? For all the years I watched and still to this day I can't remember if they ever tested the 500E?

[@automotivetv9861]

Funny enough, they never even tested the 2002-2006 Toyota camry

[@RetroCarReviews]

I don't believe so, however they could have had a sneak peak/quick preview episode (with Lisa Barrow). I would have killed for a 500E / E500 review. OMG

[@rainbowwarrior2635]

It's a beautiful car, I can see at the time what in incredible status symbol it was at 55 thousand dollars. The one complaint with this car is it's terrible fuel economy, . 16city 21 highway, that's the same as our Toyota 4runner V6 with a 5 speed in 1997. I have a 2006 E320 CDI and that's what's up, 28 city 37 highway, and I get 40mpg. I would like to get a 500E, I just love old Mercedes, basically everybody who ever rides in one does.

[@the8419]

Fuel economy went up to 18/24 for 1993-1995 model years because the engine was revised with a higher compression ratio. In reality, most owners have reported getting far better mileage than these ratings. Low twenties in the city and 27-28 on the highway is pretty common in reality.

[@wavelength1970]

195 tires on a large V8 sedan...wow

[@charlesphiliparthurgeorgep4653]

It’s not large. It was always considered a midsized sedan, and is fairly compact by today’s standards.

[@HMATHION1]

​​@@charlesphiliparthurgeorgep4653 counting weight and power ??

[@charlesphiliparthurgeorgep4653]

@@HMATHION1 Yes. It has a long gear ratio, meaning traction isn’t too much of a problem. The car overall was designed for power and efficiency, especially at higher speeds. Many have gone to wider tires/wheels and have said there’s no noticeable difference.

[@bck0001]

Good old days…

[@liamseanking23]

60k for a mid range Benz in 1993 is wild.

[@druf.]

4:46 there is plenty of room…….. for the legs, not head

[@micujus1]

Its becker not blaupunkt

[@DrCharlesMontague]

Correct, and it was worse because of it 😂.

[@jlr194]

Back when Mercedes was a Mercedes.

[@arthurdardalis]

Bruno Sacco at his best, classy, elegant, timeless, prestigious, best car ever made Wtf has happened to Mercedes today?

[@السعوديةالعظمى1]

مرسيدس اصبحت استهلاكيه وفقط تهتم بالاضائات والشاشات وتم نسيان الجوده والاصاله

[@rainbowwarrior2635]

I'll also say my 1989 Volvo 760 Station wagon with the 2.3 turbo intercooled motor did 0-60 in 8 seconds and got 26mpg on the highway. It cost 30 or 40,000 at the time so Volvo was really tight competition on Mercedes. It had a better interior, better acceleration, better fuel economy, it was cheaper, easier to maintain, but it didn't have the top speed.

[@charlesphiliparthurgeorgep4653]

The 1993-on 400E got around 26 on the highway, did 0-60 in under 7 seconds and had incredible top end power. I don’t believe the Volvo had a better interior, but it may have possibly been easier to work on mechanically. So of course the 400E was the better car, but for much more money.

[@bck0001]

I also love Volvos of that era, we had a 740 wagon, but I currently own a 1992 300D and the degree of engineering and solidity in the Mercedes is unmatched. The Mercedes isn’t my main car now but I’d happily drive Volvos, Mercedes and BMWs of this era (pre FWD volvo) for the rest of my life.

[@ce9345]

In 1994, Motorweek tested a Buick Roadmaster with the LT1 350. 0 to 60 was 6.9 seconds. And it was less than 25,000 dollars. Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick?

[@tylermacconnell217]

Is that some kind of a joke? The Roadmaster was an absolutely hideous vehicle with a terrible interior and poor handling but happened to have a powerful engine. The Benz V8 here was also far more durable than the old 350.

[@Zach-td5mb]

⁠@@tylermacconnell217I’ve had both cars. Neither handle well. The Merc is well built and nice to drive, but the Buick is much more comfortable. The Merc is also an electrical nightmare. The LT1 is fairly bulletproof, and the only problem with them is an easy fix. And the aftermarket is huge.

[@the8419]

@@Zach-td5mbElectrical nightmare? You must have had a bad one. The only real known electrical issues would be the original engine wiring harness, which is quick and easy to replace.. and never has to be done again. The W124 is considered one of the best cars ever made. That wouldn’t be the case if it was an electrical nightmare

[@the8419]

@@Zach-td5mbalso, yours must have worn suspension parts if it doesn’t handle well. They’re supposed to be tight and responsive

[@Zach-td5mb]

@ neither handle well compared to my BMWs. The Buicks can be made to handle pretty well because of the huge Impala SS aftermarket. There’s not a huge aftermarket for the Mercedes.

[@mervinprone]

You can tell they were really annoyed with Lexus because just four years later, they redesigned it again. Practically unheard of, for other Mercedes like the S class sedans, which were redesigned only every decade or so.

[@davidparkin9017]

I would have liked to see a 400E or equivalent as a 4Litre inline six cylinder. Too bad that back in the 1990s, there were no six or eight speed automatic transmissions. Would have hit 30mpg or better.

[@damilolaakanni]

Lexus was targeting the S class when they made the LS400, so it's weird to see that Mercedes decided to respond with the E class and not redesign the S class. Just an opinion.

[@musicman5299]

Lexus LS only copied body style of the S coupe! In the traditional Asian fashion! But on the inside 0 ride quality 0 build quality 0! Not even close! Just a cheap imitation literally a glorified avalon!

[@RomanJockMCO]

They did respond with a redesigned S-Class. The W140 came out for the 1992 model year stateside. It was a giant leap over the 1970s designed W126. It was bigger and much more expensive, too. The E-Class was more in line with the LS400 price wise.

[@ScubaSteveM45]

Why should the original change itself to imitate the derivative? 🤨🤦🏻‍♂️

[@AlanForde-CheyneMS]

@@musicman5299 Ahh no...think again

[@musicman5299]

@@AlanForde-CheyneMS Man you JDM guys don't get it or understand! W140 ride quality was unmatched! and it's still unmatched till this day unless you're sitting in a RR! And the amount of engineering went into it is just unbeliable! to put in perspective the center console window switches & other control wood trim they motherfucking CNC'd that shit! Besides engine there is not a single component on your glorified Avalon that was engineered that way! And there is soo much more! you have to not only own it but work on it yourself and take things apart to see and appreciate and understand what kind of effort actually went into W140! Or else I am speaking to a wall cuz you don't understand and wont understand! You can literally point a corner in W140 and that corner has more engineering, thought process and brilliance went into than your entire LS400! I'm not kidding Germans could've build a LS400 in 1 day ground up! R&D and everything! Look up how long it took for the W140 and what kind of R&D went into it!

[@ravipeiris4388]

If you had to bet money which car you would see on the road now in 2025, would it be this 1992 Mercedes or the 1992 Lexus LS 400? Exactly...the Lexus.

[@dmer-zy3rb]

the mercedes was possibly the better car compared to the ls (especially on the smaller roads of europe and you had a much bigger dealer network) howewer the merc was a bit too expensive. although one should also consider that the big six cylinder could pretty much match the performance of the ls so that could be also be real alternative. also the merc had an actual coupe, whereas lexus only had the comparatively unrefined dud called SC.

[@rainbowwarrior2635]

The real deal is Mercedes had the inline 6 turbodiesel and lexus had no diesel. To this day the Mercedes runs on biofuels and give great economy. The lexus LS was a great car, and the Toyota V8 is considered one of the greatest V8's ever made, but none of these things compare to the diesel for longevity.

[@dmer-zy3rb]

@@rainbowwarrior2635 i am actually not that big of a fan of expensive cars with big diesel engines. for big money i expect a great engine, which the diesels really arent (though they have great reliability and mercedes truly made some of the only not horrible diesel cars) id take petrol 4 cyl. instead any day.

[@rainbowwarrior2635]

@@dmer-zy3rb A petrol is not a valid choice because it's not a sustainable source of power. Diesels run on vegetable oil making them carbon neutral. at 40mpg my car get's 5,000 miles per acer (MPA)on canolo, 50,000 MPA on palm oil, and 2,000,000MPA on algae. You can't beat oil for energy density . Consequently diesel can be tuned to high level of performance with increased boost and fuel without needing special high octane race fuels, plus they sustain or even increase in fuel economy at higher boost levels. t's possible to have a small algae pond in ones backyard, maybe 40ft square possibly 20 square feet that can easily produce sufficient fuel to power the car. It's not that hard it was done in the early 80's by the US DEPT of Energy aquatic species program, they just used alum as a floculant and hexane as a solvent. Diesel ultimately have a lot more power then gas motors. You can't drive a gas motor, where does the fuel come from. To get a biofuel gas motor you would need either natural gas, or some kind of syngas gas fischer and trophs fuel uprating and that requires hydrogen injection where as plant oils are hydrogen dense biofuels.

[@rainbowwarrior2635]

@@dmer-zy3rb Volkswagen made great diesel cars, the original rabbit diesel in 1978 was a revolutionary car, and they beat mercedes in a lot of respects. The motor was cheap, light, extremely high revving and peppy despite have incredibly low end torque, combined with the 5 speed some of those cars got 60mpg in the late 70's, plus the car handled very well. Currently the french have a HDI diesel, in Peugot and Citreon that is a 2 liter 4 cylinder with 200hp and 380lbs. Compared to petrol car it has so much more real power. It's the light quiet four cylinder casually turning over while the car burns rubber and takes off into the horizon. Peugot 508 is a very nice car. It is impressive how quiet and powerful the modern diesel is. These are serious muscle cars.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

I think quality wise, the Lexus 400 was the better car, in the long run.

[@dmer-zy3rb]

the many old mercs i see in germany beg to differ. nothing ages as well as an mercedes from before the 90s.

[@johanslabbert2869]

Video sound quality terrible. Excellent car however!

[@zillsburyy1]

AND STILL NO MATCH FOR A LS400

[@MercOne]

And where is the LS today? An also ran. Mercedes was on the right track. The E420 actually beat the LS400 in a C&D test.

[@bck0001]

I’ve driven both, and have had two W124s (have one still), the MB was and is so much nicer. The LS was nice but not very special.

[@Ysl_kidd]

You can’t compare the drive of a w124 vs a Camry …

[@wilsonhii2412]

Its strange how people said how great is a LS400 or LS430 in the western part of the world. In Malaysia, nobody will touch a LS400 & LS430 with a 20ft poll, LS460 depreciates worse than the same year mercedes or BMW.