PMSL! Absolutely spot on! They are built to last though those old W124's, I had a 220TE with 260000 miles on the clock, engine ran perfectly, pulled well, handled quite well, well equipped, AC, etc.jtbo wrote:Steering in older Mercs is like steering jellyfish with rubberband, seats are like sitting on wooden park bench but ride is not so bad eventually, specially after you put cushion under pants or something.
And V6 Man is indeed correct, I never though it was possible to find a better seat than a 300, but the 960 is like being in an armchair! I'd never noticed it before, but a 300 seat you sit on, and seem to be perched, where as the 960 you sit deep within it and it hugs you. May explain why passengers tend to grip on for dear life in a 300 driven in a spirited manner!
And back to Steve, there are a lot of cars out there, but none will fit your criteria exactly I don't think, just go window shopping until it feels right. Think well outside the box though, there are some cheap cars to be had, some with a lot of kit for very little money. TBH, if you're not going to drive it like you stole it every day, dare I say it, FWD isn't so bad, I've been FWD the majority of the time recently, and yes, I miss RWD for the interesting side of things, but it isn't the be all and end all. It is less likely to catch you out when near the limit, but on the other hand, grip and handling suffers, along with turning circle and understeer rules the day, plus mine is eating tyres!

Don't rule out a T5, having done 350 miles or more of driving in less than 6 hours, I can honestly say it's an amazing car, needs more traction, less understeer would be good and I think the rear end needs the suspension sorting on mine, but otherwise, the noise and performance are spot on, and handling wise it's pretty good.
Pete