Battle of the Bads: ’93 Mercedes-Benz 500E
The 500E has been surfing under the radar for years. Just recently it made a list on Yahoo Auto of cars that you need to own which triggered a second round of Mercedes vs. BMW here on Mint. The 1st round between the M3 and the Mercedes 16V Cosworth resulted in the sale of the Mercedes. So lets see what happens with the big guns. The M-B 500E is a freaking German hot rod in the Pontiac GTO tradition. It looks plain on the outside but watch out. The press called it “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”. How unimaginative. It’s Walter White from Breaking Bad. When his wife , Skylar, asked if he was afraid when someone knocks at the door. White responds “I am the one who knocks”. How cool is that line! Back to the Benz. It is a monster with a top speed limited at 160 mph. They made 1,596 of these bombers. More appropriately Porsche made them. Yup. In a spirit of camaraderie, Porsche assembled the 500E engines for Mercedes. Today’s contender lived almost all of its life on Hawaii. I don’t know if that is a good thing so let’s call it neutral. It was last serviced by an authorized Jaguar dealer in Honolulu and somehow made it to a dealer in Pennsylvania. You can ask them how. The car has relatively low mileage and the interior, with 4 comfy, leather buckets and loads of real wood, looks great. You will be a huge hit at a Mercedes Club event but other than that, the folks at the local Car-B-Que will walk on by. You can smirk at them with the knowledge you can waste most of the hot rods there anyway. The ask is $17,950. Click here for the eBay auction.