What is the most reliable Mercedes in the last 25 years ?

When you're dealing with a car up to 25 years old, how it has been driven and maintained by its previous owner(s) has a lot to do with current reliability.

But, very generally speaking, the W123, W124, and W126 chassis models with either the M617, M602 or M603 diesel engines (such as an '85 300D or 300SD turbo diesel or a '90-'92 300D 2.5 turbo) would get my vote as the most reliable.

EDIT: @ Baron, I do disagree regarding the 602 and 603 engines. While I would say that the 616 and 617 engines are the more robust, the 602 and 603's are definitely not bad. On the plus side, they are much smoother in operation compared to the previous generation 616 and 617's. They are also cleaner and do last a very long time as well. The only real issue was the 3.5L version of the 603 engines found in the 350SD and 350SDL (W126 chassis) as well as the 300SD and S350 in the W140 (from 1992-'95). The 2.5 and 3.0L versions have very few problems with the aluminum heads. I remember seeing an '87 300SDL that had been used as a limo. When it was retired from the limo service, it had 1.1 million km on the clock. It still ran fine and it was picked up by a Benz technician. I don't know it's ultimate fate but that technician had that car for a while.

Since the original question asked specifically for decent gas mileage, I ignored the gasoline engines and mentioned only the diesel models.

I read what these guys are saying and totally disagree. 25 yrs means 1985 or newer, and the diesels esp after 85 are really not all that great. They first of all starting putting aluminum heads on them and started putting electronic controls on the fuel injection pumps and turned into a nightmare.

Any of the V8s with the duplex timing chains were pretty good, so the 420SEL and 560SEL, or the SL with the same engine was pretty tough too.

Anthing with the 2.6 or 3 liter inline sohc 6 (M103 engine) was a good choice and there are tons of those around, just stay away from the early AWD "4MATIC" cars, absolute nightmare. But the M103 as found in the 260E, 300E, 190E2.6, all pretty reliable. The 190E2.3 4cyl cars, eh, not so bad, the 6 was better.

The C Class cars were pretty good right from day one. With the dohc M104 inline 6, not as good as the M103 for reliability, known for blowing head gaskets and wiring disintegrating (more so in the E Class than the C class). But the FOUR cylinder C Class, I would nominate for being the most reliable Mercedes in the last 25 yrs. So the C220 or especially the C230, BUT only before they put the "Kompressor" engine in it. For just a couple years (I think 97 and 98) they had the C230 (no Kompressor (supercharger) and those were really really reliable. A little underpowered but was a helluva good engine and reliable. The earlier C220 was pretty good little car too, but I liked the C230 a bit better. The C230 later on with the "Kompressor" was "OK" but still would get weird problems with the induction system that never happened on the ones without the Kompressor

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It depends on the model, I had an 01 ML 55 AMG and had some serious issues with the transmission, twice it left me stranded and also had an issue with the driver's window it stay open and would not close. The issues were resolved, but I ended selling it anyway. I then bought an 03 C230 Kompressor for my wife, we still have it (74K miles) and have not had any issues, I also have the best car I have ever bought which is a 05 G500 Grand Edition, no issues with it at all, great truck and has just hit 60K miles. Last year we bought an 08 E350 4 matic, the verdict is still out on it, the one issue so far was the gas cap, it locked and it would not unlock, the dealer had to break it and replace it. I hope that is all the issues we will have. Good Luck.

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Have to agree with the Bandit. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the 602/603 motors, as long as they haven't been abused. On the 603's delivered to the US, it's important that the trap oxidizer was removed early on, as this contributes to head troubles. These were replaced by Mercedes on recall. Other than the 350, the surviving motors should be trouble free.The 602 is simply a fortress of a motor, absolutely bulletproof if simple maintenance is observed. I have 300K miles on my 190D, and going very strong.

Probably the '80s 300D

To me, the 300D is pretty much the quintessential Mercedes Benz sedan. (I prefer the "dog-dish" MB star hubcaps and the European market headlights)

It's a big comfortable car (with the Good ol' springy boingy Mercedes seats) gets 30+ mpg and I seldom see one go less than 300,000 miles.

It's not fast, but IMO it's almost as good as the BMW 524td 0-60 (or any of the Lincolns that used that BMW diesel) and vastly better than the 240D was.

I think the MBz 280TD with a turbo diesel engine would be a bit more practical for both city and Autobahn driving where you have to have acceleration, traffic situations, and economy of operation. Reliability will depend more on how you maintain your services and inspections.

M103 Engine

W124 and W202. I've seen these cars on 400-600k miles and still working fine. Great cars...