Fifth Gear puts the Mercedes Benz W124 to the limit
Yet another British car show tries to destroy a car. This time, the victim is the Mercedes Benz W124, but the motive is very different. Much like what Top Gear did to the Toyota Hilux some time back, Fifth Gear intends to test how much abuse the W124 can take before giving way, instead of trying to destroy it because they dislike it.
It’s interesting to note that you can still buy a stretched version of the W124 E-Class brand new today, badged as a Ssangyong Chairman.
Video after jump!
Video: Fifth Gear puts the Mercedes Benz W124 to the limit - 1
Video: Fifth Gear puts the Mercedes Benz W124 to the limit - 2
Video: Fifth Gear puts the Mercedes Benz W124 to the limit - 3
Video: Fifth Gear puts the Mercedes Benz W124 to the limit - 4
April 9, 2007 @ 6:13 am
You could probably add the video where one Fifth Gear presenter (the spikey haired one) pits the Mercedes 250D in an endurance run from the west to east coast of Britain purely running on chip fat.
Top Gear have done a similar test with another diesel Mercedes Benz in the past. Chip fat or used vegetable oil can be purchased from small retail eateries for a cheap price and used as diesel fuel once the engine has been properly converted and the chip fat filtered.
This has been in practice for a couple of years in Britain but not as widespread as you think it is.
Heres a link to the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYzsqyIcXQU
April 9, 2007 @ 9:32 am
Mercedes used to be a perfectionist when it comes to cars. Sadly after this version the quality starts to fall and suffer a lot of electronic problems. I guess there was a period when they slacked and focus more onto profits instead of quality.
Luckily Mercedes had woken up and the quality is getting better in the current new models.
April 9, 2007 @ 11:03 am
my granpa had one of these… solid as rock car… give me la dun waste
April 9, 2007 @ 11:52 am
Did anyone spot Viki say how much they bought it for? 695 Pounds, that’s Rm4700!!
April 9, 2007 @ 12:39 pm
haha very impressive! now imagine an iswara be put to the same test, heheh..
April 9, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
Astounding, very impressive! I don’t think new Mercs could stand that torture though. On another note, it was heartwrenching to watch the first few minutes if this video, when the still perfect car was being ruined, it turned to fun later on :p
April 9, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
Walau, Paul on a kill-the-car-vids posting spree!!
Good, let’s see what’re they gonna say now. “It doesn’t matter, it’s not our car, so they must be bad, we must be good.”
April 9, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
mattyboy, yes that was 695 pounds, too. But I guess that a Mercedes of this age and mileage is considered useless crap over there.
April 9, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
Which one is tougher, you guys reckon? My vote’s on this car I suppose!!
What James May shud’ve done is to put the Toyota right at the basement of the building, oni then will their test be perfect!! Else, I find their final test a bit soft.
Bt this Merc, is simply impressive!! I think their tests are fairly as cruel as TG’s, except that she used a baseball instead of a sledgehammer. One thing in common: they are both still alive after all the tortures.
April 9, 2007 @ 2:29 pm
crapped out merc! i think the lose its value in europe………..
April 9, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
Just a slight correction. Jeremy Clarkson did not hate the Hilux. It was abused because Jeremy saw an Aussie Hilux commercial showcasing the strength of the truck, and also noticed that the insurgents everywhere are always in a flatbed Toyota, so therefore he wanted to see how much damage can the Hilux take. This was mentioned in the Top Gear episode where they showed him destroying the Hilux.
April 9, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
lp640: yup, ive already pointed that out in my post.
April 9, 2007 @ 3:32 pm
Amazingly.. the engine still running..
April 9, 2007 @ 4:20 pm
its had 9 lives!
April 9, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
guess which other car can withstand such test ?
a VW Passat ?
a Audi A6 ?
a BMW 5 ?
what else ?
April 9, 2007 @ 4:41 pm
Oh well. Off you go lads. Go get one today. 695 quids in M’sia? I don’t think so.
April 9, 2007 @ 6:05 pm
the E34 BMW 5 series which was built around the same era is widely known as the most reliable BMW ever made. and i agree to that.
my dad wanted to get a W124, but instead ended up with the E34.
these were the days before environmental laws and regulations was introduced.
these cars were built to last a lifetime instead of the current car lifespan of 10 years.
April 9, 2007 @ 6:58 pm
Thank god it is not the w124 500E..
April 9, 2007 @ 9:02 pm
Just shows 80’s merc are built to last forever
April 9, 2007 @ 9:22 pm
merc are tough!
April 9, 2007 @ 10:12 pm
Jeremy has better way to show how to test until to destroy a car..
This woman is not suitable for this job. Not entertaining at all.
Unless she open up her clothing at the end of the show.
April 9, 2007 @ 10:43 pm
very very impressed! i guess the merc can take a lot of punishment. and that is really cheap for 695pounds!
April 10, 2007 @ 12:32 am
695pounds, we cant even get a toyota seg for that amount of money here! :`-(
April 10, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
I think the old spare parts of this car (before destruction) in Malaysia can sell more than that…..
April 10, 2007 @ 7:09 pm
Hi transformer, do you still remember the Proton Savvy add two years ago? There was also this big monster truck going over it in the add and the car wasn’t even scratched. You could buy one, take your monster truck, drive over it and if it really gets a scratched return under warranty, or what? So I would add to your list of undestructible cars the Savvy, yes!
So your list is:
Passat
Audi A6
BMW 5
Proton Savvy
Something wrong here?
April 13, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
i think this is simply stupid and meningless. if d old man jeremy has nothin benificial to do. u balik kampung & tanam jagung(went bak 2 ur hometown and plant corn) to test how tough the car is simply crap. if really want to test toughness, send the car to laboratory, put few dummies inside and langgar the wall @ 60/kmh. more meaningful, some more got result how severe the people might get injured. rather than this stupid, meningless, humiliating British act. with no result but a few laughter.
April 22, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
Yeah i kinda agreed with this show… I have 1 merc w124 sedan E220 and it really last… Sit in it and it still runs like a brand new car… so comfortable again… Love this car… It’s worth the money…