Good morning! Today we’re going all the way up to the very top of our usual price range, five thousand dollars. It’s a sum that seemed like a lot once upon a time, especially if you were a cable-access TV host, but really isn’t much to spend on a car, especially these days. But I’ve found two old German sedans for that price that actually sort of seem like… good deals?
Yesterday we were in the bargain basement, looking at two title-less, non-running projects for only a grand each. And it seems like most of us are of the same mind: the Simca is interesting and kinda cool, but the chance at a Rampside for that price is just too hard to pass up. And that seller seems like they’d be a lot more interesting to talk with, too.
And by the way, yes, I know the Corvair is a six-cylinder. I had a bit of a brain fart, and I actually did spot it while I was previewing the post, but then I forgot to go back to the editor and fix it. I do regret the error, and I apologize, but hey: The world is an imperfect place.
Now then: Cheap German cars get a bad rap, but I often wonder if there aren’t some of them out there that are worth the money. I mean, the Germans manage to keep them on the road, so why shouldn’t we? All it should take is a caring owner, and lots of preventive maintenance. Right? These two look pretty good; let’s see if either of them meet with your approval.
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL – $5,000
Engine/drivetrain: 5.5 liter overhead cam V8, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Tacoma, WA
Odometer reading: 195,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Superlatives are dangerous things. Declaring something the biggest, or the fastest, or the best only invites challenges; whatever you come up with, someone is always going to try to top it. But what happens when you set your sights not on making something the best that has ever been, but the best you can possibly make it? You get something like this, the Mercedes-Benz W126 S-Class. Designed by engineers unencumbered by marketing balderdash, and built to a standard rather than a price, the W126 may not be the best car ever, but it is very, very good.
The W126 was available with a variety of engines, both gasoline and diesel, but this one has the biggest one available: a big honkin’ V8, just like a proper luxury sedan should have. It displaces 5,547 cubic centimeters, or 338.5 cubic inches, a nice decadent size befitting this car’s standing. This one has nearly 200,000 miles, but has been well cared for, and has a stack of receipts to prove it. Everything works, and the air conditioning has been upgraded to R134a. Its only fault is in the self-leveling suspension; one side has an air leak in the rear. The seller has been driving it as-is. It’s an expensive fix, but the system can also just be deleted and replaced by normal shock absorbers.
Inside, it’s just about perfect. Looking at this interior compared to more recent luxury models really shows how the definition of “luxury” has changed when it comes to automobiles. Instead of being flashy and gadget-laden, this car’s interior is understated, refined, and comfortable. They literally don’t make them like this anymore–at least not in Germany.
It’s beautiful outside as well, finished in a nice shade of blue. The seller does say it has some failing clearcoat, but it must be minor; I sure don’t see it in the photos. I’ve always really liked the looks of these cars. It’s such a timeless style. Fitting, for a car that lasts so long.
1998 BMW 740i – $5,000
Engine/drivetrain: 4.4-liter dual overhead cam V8, five-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Fairfield, CA
Odometer reading: 200,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Meanwhile in Munich, BMW was placing its faith in inline six-cylinder engines, after a brief dalliance with V8s during the 1950s and ’60s. Eventually, BMW realized the sixes just weren’t cutting it, and brought back the V8. But the crazy part was that, in this E38-chassis 7-Series, the V8–with four cams, variable valve timing, and 268 horsepower–wasn’t even the top option. You could get a V12, too, just another sign that the days of BMW sedans of being simple, sturdy, driver-focused machines were coming to an end.
This E38 has covered 200,000 miles, and has been carefully cared-for in that time, it sounds like. The timing chain and guides, a known issue on this engine, were replaced recently, along with the water pump, so that’s at least two things that won’t go wrong on you. The transmission was recently serviced, and shifts smoothly. In fact, the only mechanical work this car needs are some new lower control arms; they are worn, and cause a little shimmy in the front end. The parts are cheap, and while front-end work is messy and physically difficult, it isn’t particularly invasive or complex. You could easily do it yourself, if you’re handy.
It has been well taken care of inside as well. There is a little wear, and the seller says the plastic trim on the driver’s seat is broken, but generally it looks good. Dead pixels in the gauge cluster are a common problem with these cars, but the seller says this one’s display has been repaired and none are missing. And as a high-end car, it has every option you could think of at the time – well, all right, not every option. I don’t think it has a remote control.
It’s a sharp-looking car outside, too. You don’t see this dark blue too often; too many 7 Series BMWs are afflicted with earth-tone syndrome. The seller says the paint is original, and still shiny; it must have lived in a garage.
Yes, I know; just because these cars are running well now is no guarantee that they’ll be reliable in the future. But is worry over what might go wrong really enough to stop you from enjoying something really nice? As the saying goes, life is too short to drive boring cars. Get yourself a big German luxury car, and live a little. Which one will it be?
(Image credits: sellers)
I’m taking the Mercedes. That color is one of many perfect hues that Mercedes painted their best cars with. It will never not look classy.
While I love this era BMW, this specific BMW looks trashy by comparison. Look at those rocker panels.
The BMW interior looks highly functional, efficient. The Mercedes looks absolutely inviting. And even it it were in showroom condition, the BMW interior just can’t quite compare to MB-Tex, color matched to the exterior paint.
Further, the Mercedes is built on sorted mechanicals that can get expensive when they break. The BMW is built more on aspirations of greatness that get expensive when they don’t live up to reasonable expectations.
The Benz is probably the higher quality, slightly more reliable choice, but it’s so hard to pass up a decent condition peak 7er sitting on M Parallel wheels .
They’ll both be money pits. So I’m gonna go with the one that is more pleasing to my eyes… and in this case, it’s the BMW.
Black windows says no-no for me 🙁
This is a tough one…I was going to go with the MB, but the BMW seems like it’d be more fun to drive.
Same. I was so ready to declare the MB as can’t pass it up level of just good, but then came the BMW pictures. I think this vintage is probably their best-looking sedan they’ve ever made.
I love, love, love the E38 – to me it’s peak BMW. But… looking at the two examples presented here I had to go with the Merc. It looks incredibly good.
My spouse would want the Merc. I’m a 740iL kind of person.
I’ll vote for me. Partly because I can never see fewer gears as a good thing.
I can’t speak to long term maintenance costs, but these are shockingly nice vehicles at the price. I went with the Mercedes because I like its style more.
The rear suspension in the W126 is hydraulic, not pneumatic.
This would be a really, really tough decision *if* the E38 had the sports package. I really don’t see the point of owning an E38 sans sports package. I also think the W126 is in slightly better condition.
Having driven both, these cars are more different than you might imagine. With the sports package, the E38 is astonishing and shrinks around you. The W126 meanwhile is incredible at hiding road imperfections – even speed bumps and massive potholes are barely noticeable.
In the end, I voted for the W126. Parts might be more difficult to get than for the E38, but I still think it’ll be easier and more rewarding to maintain.
I generally lean pro-BMW and anti-Mercedes, but this is one Mercedes I really like and one BMW I would stay far away from. Those 7-series cars have contributed mightily to BMW’s reputation for poor reliability, and that’s a Mercedes from back when they were at least solid and nicely designed. No question for me – W126 all the way.
I know that the Benz is probably the correct answer, but I cannot say no to an E38. One of my favorite BMW designs of all time.
Wow, two really nice cars that have been cared for. Great colors as well. I enjoy driving hard a little more than being comfortable so I went BMW but I don’t think either car is a bad choice as long as you stay on top of any maintenance issues and do your own wrenching when possible.
I love small BMWs – I own both a 128i and a 328i.
But above that size, Stuttgart does it better than Munich, and ESPECIALLY when it comes to the full-size Panzerwagens, the S-Class is simply a much better bet than a 7-series. ESPECIALLY THAT S-class and that 7-series. The Mercedes V8 has minor dilemmas, the BMW V8 is a recurring disaster – BMW just sucks at V engines as a rule. The Mercedes is overall a much, much, much simpler car. Though personally, I would prefer the even simpler 300SEL. Which would not suffer from saggy butt since they generally didn’t have load leveling (neither do most 420SELs). Which is NOT an air leak – this is the Citroen-esque hydropneumatic system. Which is not THAT terrible to fix, but it’s not that cheap to fix either. I’ve owned two MB wagons with it, BTDT.
The 7 is lovely when it’s working right though, so you would enjoy it both days a year that it is 100% functional and not spewing fluids or bits of timing chain guides and interior parts.
Benz – it seems fresher and happier in spite of the saggy butt.
That 740 is one of the best looking sedans ever pressed into metal. Which got my vote. Also my 01 M3 is the same graphite color. Looks black everywhere but sunlight, and the blue flake shines through.
Brain says the Merc is the smart choice.
I picked the Merc because they were built like vaults and it would be rock-solid in case of an accident. However, both would drink gas like a fish drinks water, so it would get re-sold after my imaginary mandatory purchase. MBs were, in my life experience, something amazing to strive for. BMWs were for the spoiled offspring of the upper middle class. I wouldn’t want either one long term, because repair costs would make them an economic basket case, especially with 200K miles and their best days behind them.
Oh goodness.
Part of me is screaming that used – especially 20-30-year-old top-of-the-line – German cars are a neverending money pit.
The other part is charmed because of what these cars are.
That era of BMW design and builds are the high point of the brand, and look so. darn. good, even decades on. To date I’ve only flirted with the idea of purchasing a BMW solely from that roughly 12-14-year span of the late 1980s until the bangle-butt era of the early 2000s. No other BMW has yet captured my interest nor had such appeal. The 5- and 7-series specifically look like the automotive equivalent of a well-tailored suit (but starting off the rack, not entirely bespoke). Handsome, stylish, nearly timeless.
That era of Mercedes is emblematic of the reputation they still carry today that allows them to continue to foist underwhelming and disposable lease specials and poser cars to folks who want to try to buy cachet that they themselves don’t have. Solidly built, technologically advanced in clever and effective ways, not with new gimmicks that stop working or cause more problems than they solve (air ride issues notwithstanding).
Would I actually buy either? No, I already have a 2007 European vehicle, I don’t need to backtrack and go to something older with even more-brittle plastics and degrading rubber and such. But I respect and appreciate both of these. Neither seems like a terrible buy (though the Mercedes-Benz seems a smidge high given its age), and while I prefer the comfortable mobile bank-vault qualities of a top-tier M-B, I think I’d choose the newer and more stylish 7-series this time.
Agree that era was probably peak BMW design. The have been chasing it ever since. That 1988 may also be peak Mercedes quality. They were vaults on wheels.
High point of BMW looks – definitely NOT high point of mechanical or electrical integrity.
Yeah, the E38 is truly beautiful. It’s such a cool driving experience too, and fairly easy to maintain compared to its successor, especially since the M62 has had the timing chains taken care of.
I like both of these cars, but I’ve always loved the looks of this generation of 7-series thanks to Tomorrow Never Dies.
Enjoy it for a couple years then sell it for $2500 to avoid the inevitable failures to come.
Love the look/power of the BMW but I also know that at that time, that S class Benz was arguably the best built and engineered automobile available for sale anywhere in the world. Going Mercedes, the standard of the world.
Then the LS400 came along. The big Toyota improvement was ‘design for reliability’ and the Toyota Production System. The Benz WAS better, but cost so much more to keep running in tip top shape. The Lexus had nearly all the intrinsic quality (but not quite the bank vault build) but could be maintained on a Toyota budget.
I have never seen the point of a luxury car with all the ambiance of a Camry and the driving experience and sense of occasion of a Buick. And you see a LOT more well-maintained and still looking great Mercedes of this era than you do Lexus, despite that vaunted “quality”. Part of that is that the Mercedes was always worth more so people were willing to put money into them, part was the sort of people who bought them, and part is that they really are at the end of the day, better, IMHO, even if they cost more to run.
Though I would also say based on the experience of Lexus owning friends and family that they are only cheaper to run until they aren’t anymore. An old Lexus will screw you just as badly as an old German car will, while being a lot less DIY-friendly. I see nice ’80s Mercedes nearly daily – when was the last time you saw a nice early LS? And they sold like hotcakes back then (far outselling the S-class, and nearly matching the E-class), so there should be plenty of them around.
The Merc is probably the smarter choice but I loooooooove E38s, especially with M Parallel wheels. Sounds like the big ticket V8 items have been addressed but def a good idea to get this guy checked out by a pro. Also fix the control arms ASAP. I had the same problem on my E46 when I first got it and the slight shimmy under braking that results from the worn bushings is incredibly unnerving. Shouldn’t be too hard to fix.