Collectible Classic: 1992-1994 Mercedes-Benz 500E/E500
Beating the Porsche Panamera to the punch.
Few people realize that the forthcoming Panamera won't be the first V-8-powered sport sedan to come out of a Porsche factory. Back in the early 1990s, Mercedes-Benz didn't have a car that could run with the BMW M5, so it turned to Porsche to help develop and build a supersedan. The result was the 500E.
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The theory was simple: stuff the Mercedes 500SL's wheels, brakes, transmission, and 322-hp V-8 into the W124 E-class. The build process was less simple. The 500E's flared-fender body shell was assembled at Porsche's Zuffenhausen facility and then shipped to the Mercedes plant in Sindelfingen for painting. After that, it was sent back to Porsche for final assembly. In this magazine's original road test of the $80,000 sedan, we said, "Call us drugged by speed, but we think the 500E is a vision of automotive excellence. "But is it still a vision of excellence sixteen years later? We recently spent an afternoon in a 78,000-mile, 1993 500E (courtesy of car collector Sam Cummings of Grand Rapids, Michigan) to find out.
No keyless entry or push-button starting here - just a lengthy twist of the ignition key and the burly V-8 fires up. Immediately, the amazing build quality and rigidity of this E-class is apparent. But it's also clear that Mercedes-Benzes from this era feature slow, recirculating-ball steering and lazy throttle response. It doesn't help that the automatic transmission has only four speeds and second gear is the default for starting off. After the Benz warms up, a stiff prod of the throttle against the carpet shows why the 500E is special. It pulls hard - no, make that really hard - and feels pretty much the same at 120 mph as it does ambling along at 60 mph.
The Porsche-built Benz stuck around for three model years. In 1994, its last year, the 500E was renamed the E500, and it also received a few minor upgrades, including larger front brakes. Overall, the sedan is built like a tank and should last forever. But, as with all expensive-when-new German cars, maintenance and upkeep can be very costly. Maybe the fact that you'll be able to tell Panamera owners that you possess Porsche's first V-8 sport sedan will keep you smiling, even as your 500E's repair bills add up.
VITAL INFO
What to pay
High-mileage examples can be had for $10,000, but you'll pay between $20,000 and $25,000 for a low-mileage, well-maintained version.
Body style
Four-door, four-passenger sedan.
Production
1505 (U.S. market).
Watch out for
Wiring harnesses and throttle bodies, both of which have high failure rates. Also, body panels and trim pieces exclusive to the 500E are expensive.
READ MORE
Mercedes-Benz E-class (W124) Owner's Bible: 1986-1995 by Bentley Publishers
SPARES & DEALERS
Any Mercedes-Benz dealer
OUR CHOICE
We like the 1992-93 500E, if only for the old-school nomenclature. The 1993-94 cars put out seven fewer horsepower (due to emissions requirements). Still, the 1994 E500 is attractive for its larger brakes and updated front fascia.
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My grandfather worked for Marathon Oil in Western Michigan. He tested gasoline. He’d connect small glass jars of fuel to the 390 cubic inch V8 in his Ford Galaxie, checking if the refined dead dinosaurs were up to snuff. Sounds safe. My father helped my grandfather build a La Darwi Coachcraft kit car. My father later outran a tornado with that La Darwi. When I was nine years old, I convinced my dad to buy a Volkswagen Rabbit GTI instead of an ex-driver’s training Ford Tempo. I don’t think he fully appreciates how important that decision was.
Every job I’ve ever had intertwines with the automobile. Working at a car wash transitioned into odd jobs for a car collector. Sweeping the shop floors and detailing his eccentric mix of vehicles transitioned into something more. When I graduated from college, I went career hunting but a conventional job reminded me of someone who drives a Ford Tempo. Instead, my car-collecting boss asked me to go racing with him. That developed into a position that sent me all over the world managing (and co-driving) a fleet of historic rally cars and IMSA GTP/Group C prototypes.
After eight years of wonderful adventures in auto racing, I married a lovely lady I met while living in England and had a daughter on the way, which led me to drop Jean Jennings an email about a job at Automobile Magazine. I was looking for something that kept me home a bit more yet still utilized my passion for cars. We met for lunch at Old Town Tavern in Ann Arbor and Jean told me I was stupid to want to work for a car magazine. Luckily, Jean—and a cut in pay—didn’t scare me away and I became the magazine’s road test editor.
Four years later, an opportunity arose where I could move back to my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and continue to write for Automobile Magazine. I took it.
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