The Mercedes W210 Is Often Referred To As The Worst E-Class Ever Built - But Is It Really All That Bad?

The first generation of the Mercedes E-Class, codenamed W124, launched in 1984. Over the years it built up its reputation of being one of the best Mercedes ever built, thanks to it’s sleek design, it’s practicality, it’s diversity and - most importantly - it’s build quality. However, in 1995, there was a new E-Class on the market: The successor to the W124, codenamed W210 - which over the years became known for being one of the worst Mercedes ever built, mainly due to rust and quality issues.

I’ve made various experiences with both generations of the E-Class. From 2004 to 2009, my father owned a W124 Mercedes 250d sedan from 1992. Then, in 2009, we switched to a W210 E220 CDI estate, which we had until we got our first leasing car in 2012. My grandfather also had a W210 until two years ago: A fully equipped, black 320 CDI 4Matic estate.
And so, I thought I’d compare the two models, and answer the age-old question: Is the W210 really all that bad?

#1: It Looks Great!

Many people agree with me that the W124 is one of the best looking cars Mercedes ever built. Being from the 80s, it obviously came with a lot of straight lines and a boxy shape - but still, the design team has managed to turn it into one of the sleekest and most timeless cars from that era. It’s pure elegance on wheels.

The W210 however introduced a design revolution. It was the first Mercedes to go from boxy to curvy. A good example of this can be seen on the front: Gone were the rectangular headlights of the W124 -instead, the W210 came with four elliptic headlights side by side. These became a characteristic feature of almost all new Mercedes until 2010, with the W209 CLK being the last model to feature them. This is one of the reasons why the W210’s design has aged so well. Another reason is that, unlike most modern cars, it doesn’t look like a mean insect from the front - it just looks friendly, as if it’s smiling at you. In my opinion, this looks so much better than all these “pissed off” cars you see on the road today. Oh, and unlike modern Mercedes, this one still has got a star on the hood…

#2: It's Practical As Hell!

Take a look at the picture above. I know it’s not the best quality, but please remember that it was shot in July 2009 on a Nokia 6131 flip phone. It shows my Dad’s W210 estate, after we had picked up some wood briquettes for our stove at the local warehouse. Just look how many of them fit inside there! I count 42 packs, and there’s still room for more! And no, the back seats are not folded down - it’s just the trunk of this cars which is unbelievably big!

Another example to prove my point. On our first visits to Croatia a couple years ago, we had an inflatable boat with a 30 hp engine. The parts for the boat were stored in several big bags, and my parents then had to assemble it in the harbor of our little holiday village. For the first two years, we had the W210 E-Class. We stored all the bags in the trunk, and with half of the rear seats folded down, there was still enough space for our holiday luggage. But as said, in 2012, we got our first leasing car - an E90 BMW 320d Touring, which was TINY compared to the E-Class. We tried to use the same technique as in the last years, but not even all of the bags with the boat parts fit into the car. In the end, we had to rent a trailer for the bags, so that we could put our luggage into the car - crazy, right?

#3: It Can Be Anything!

You may not even notice at first glance how versatile the W210 E-Class actually is. You probably assume that its main focus lies on comfortable Autobahn journeys or long, relaxing trips. But there’s so much more which these things can be used for. I already gave you one example above: As a workhorse. With its giant trunk and reliable engine, this car is perfect for shopping furniture at IKEA or buying stuff from a warehouse. You could also go camping with it - fold down the back seats, put a mattress in there, and you’ve got yourself a king-size bed. The W210 also comes with 7 seats as an option, so it can easily replace your boring family car (at least if you don’t have a problem with your kids sitting in reverse in the trunk - this is fully legal BTW, although neither my Dad’s nor my Grand-Dad’s car had this optional extra). And if you’re more into sporty cars, try getting your hands on the V8-powered AMG version.

#4: It's Tough - Really, Really Tough!

To be fair: I just wanted to use this cool picture (which by the way was shot in December 2010), even though pretty much all vehicles can handle 30 centimeters of snow on their roofs. But the two W210s in our family have still proven their toughness in various situations. The best example is my Dad’s 220 CDI. After we got our leasing car in 2012, he obviously didn’t need it anymore, and sold it for very little money to his colleague. And he has been (ab)using it every single day for the last five years. To be fair, the car was already pretty old, and it wasn’t in the best condition either - the engine was fine, but the body was slowly starting to rust away, a common problem on this generation E-Class. Anyways, my father’s colleague often had to go into quarries for his work, and he didn’t take it slowly - but even after being hooned over gravel and loose dirt for years and having way over 200.000km on the clock, the car is still working perfectly fine. Aesthetically however, the car has seen better days. It’s rusting like hell now, way worse than when we gave it to him five years ago - main reason for that is a big scratch along the entire side of the car from when my Dad’s colleague lost control in a wet parking garage. Even if it looks like a beater from the outside, it still is comfy and nice to ride in on the inside, and the powertrain feels like new. It’s a Mercedes, after all!

#5: It's One Of The Cheapest Ways To Drive A Proper Mercedes!

So, on the evidence of what we’ve established so far, you can probably tell that this is a proper Mercedes through and through: A reliable, high quality, practical, safe and good looking car from a well-established German brand. It insulates you from everything that’s going on outside once you shut the doors, and looking over that star on the hood is just an amazing feeling. And whilst new E-Classes easily cost $50,000 and more, you can find decent W210s for as little as $1,000. In fact, when you’re looking through used car sites, and sort the “Mercedes” category by cheapest price, the first cars you will find are some beat-down A- and C-Classes, and once you reach about $500, you will see more and more W210s. Okay, admittedly these are in pretty rough condition, but you can find yourself some good examples for less than a grand. Tempting, right?

What are your experiences with the Mercedes W124 and W210? And which one do you prefer? Comment below!
Tobi aka The Stig’s German Cousin

BTW: I seriously started writing this blogpost on September 17th 2017… Took its sweet time to complete it!

EDIT: Please check out this update.

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