1992 Mercedes-Benz 500E

Mercedes-Benz sold a high-performance version of the W124 from 1990 to 1995, called the 500E. They were built in close co-operation with Porsche with each example being hand-built by Porsche. The cars were transported back and forth between the Mercedes-Benz plant and Porsche's Rossle-Bau plant in Zuffenhausen, Germany, during assembly. Each car took 18 days to complete.

Just 554 examples (some sources say 633) of the limited-production Mercedes-Benz 500E were built in 1992. Power was from a 304-cubic-inch V8 engine offering 322 horsepower and 332 ft-lbs of torque. It was derived from the 500SL (R129) engine and braking performance was also sourced from SL components. It came with a four-speed automatic transmission, power recirculating-ball steering, and four-wheel disc brakes.

The body styling was aggressive, with a 1.5-inch wider track, lower profile, flared wheel arches, side skirts, wider tires, and front air dam.

The 500E was a four-seat saloon in left-hand drive configuration only. Recaro supplied the leather seats with the frons being electrically operated and heated. The performance was impressive, taking just 5.5 seconds to go from zero-to-sixty mph. Top speed was achieved at 161.5 mph with the engine speed limited to 6000 RPM.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2019