Generation Distribution for 036 Ownership

[Ntrepid]

Sometimes when I read posts, I find myself identifying with other members as they make references to non-036 things (such as music) and I make an assumption on their age in relation to mine. So now I'm curious to understand if there is a changing ownership dynamic for these cars. Given they are nearly 30 years old for US-purchased models, it would be interesting to see what generation is buying them.

Here is the current generation breakdown:

Generation ​	Years of Birth​
Silent​	1928 - 1945​
Baby Boomer​	1946 - 1964​
X​	1965 - 1980​
Y (Millennial)​	1981 - 1996​
Z​	1997 - 2012​

 

[JC220]

@Ntrepid is it OK for members to post a short summary here of who they are and when / why they bought their 500E?

 

[Ntrepid]

Of course! It would be great to know. I used the generations in case people were worried about disclosing their age.


Robert

 

[gsxr]

I forgot the pre-boomer gen was the Silence! I suspect mostly millennials and Z's will get this reference:

 

[ace10]

My wife gave me a quiz the other day... it was 25 pop culture references from Millennials that Gen X'ers wouldn't know.

I got 11. Which scared me because I'm convinced that some of them were simply made up words and sounds.

 

[gsxr]

My wife gave me a quiz the other day... it was 25 pop culture references from Millennials that Gen X'ers wouldn't know.

I got 11. Which scared me because I'm convinced that some of them were simply made up words and sounds.

Got a link to the quiz? I'm curious how far out of touch I am with kids these days.

 

[JAB12]

Xer here: When I was settled into college in the early 90s, one of my best classmates who also shares my birthday, was a Spaniard and his father was a diplomat in the capital's Spanish Embassy. They had brought as one of their diplomat's household cars both a W124 and an Opel Corsa. First time I saw an Opel in my life. At the time I had a Mitsubishi lancer Evolution which was a land rocket, or so I thought, and I always wondered why my buddy in the rare occasion his dad let him drive the Benz could always keep up with me. It just hit me many years later (at least 20) that they had brought a 500E into the DR as their house estate car and since a few years ago I can recognize it as Bornite. I never put much into it as back then I only saw it as an old Benz since the W124 trim had been around for 5 or 6 years at the time and the new Square (Big Box) 140 S class was the staple of affluent families. I hit him up last year on our collective Birthdays with a photo of my .036 car and he couldn't believe it. He now lives in Spain and is wishing they had kept that car.

My personal experience, I started looking at 500E/E500 in and around 2014 when the last AMG Benz I drove back then was absolute plastic crap. IMO. Then I read the history and the Porsche relationship, which at the time my daily was a Panamera GTS, then I did some more research then I kept looking and here we are. This is a good thread. Looking forward to others' stories.

 

[bb1]

I grow up in w126/124 cars... later my Dad got a E320 Convertible (I still own this Car), next to the Daily Drivers.. in 2009 I was looking for a 500E and found one, first owner, just perfect, low Kilometers.. All my friends where looking in the time for the new Volkswagen Golf, I bought a Taxi v8 and still own it! will never go..

 

[PJmak]

I dont own a 500e but I was born in 87.


I love all amgs but I prefer classics.

 

[Ntrepid]

Like @JAB12, I am an Xer as well. I grew up in a family where Mercedes was almost part my DNA. My dad's first car was a Mustang (the original) and he traded that for a Mercedes. With the exception of a Datsun 280ZX, all of his cars have been Mercedes. In my time growing up at home I saw the family cars bought in chronological order of: W123 (744 - Brilliant Silver), W126 (929 - Nautical Metallic Blue), W124 (702 - Smoke Silver), and W201 (199 - Black Pearl Metallic) - all sedans with MB Tex, powered by diesel, delivered via the European Delivery Program, and manual transmission where available (not for the W124 or with W126). My dad got into putting the W124 and W201 on shorter springs as he had seen in Germany and something I had not seen anywhere domestically.

As for the 500E, one conversation I remember is my dad coming back from a business trip to Stuttgart where he had taken time to visit Mercedes (or maybe Mecca by another name) and excitedly telling me about this new W124 where the engine FILLED the bay. I distinctly remember "There is no place to put your hand and if you poured a glass of water on the engine, I'm not sure it would ever make it to the ground." Remember that his reference was a diesel engine which did not fill the bay. Unlike today where we just open a browser, when he told me about this, I had to wait until a car magazine hit the rack at the local grocery store to confirm the existence of such a beast, get the specification, and finally the model name - the 500E.

So my Mercedes ownership started in August 1999 where I bought a 1986 190E 2.3-16 (702 - Smoke Silver). That was then followed by a 2000 ML55 (189 - Black Opal). Both I still own today. My 3rd Mercedes started my 036 ownership. I joined this Board in 2014 and quickly purchased a 1993 example in 199 out of Wahoo, Nebraska. I later purchased a MY1992 (189 - Anthracite) out of Southern California which I'm continuing to curate as time permits which necessitated the sale of the 1993.

Interesting observation I recently made is that all of the Mercedes I have purchased I was the 2nd owner - by chance .

One other thing, the W123 was picked up at the factory and was one of 16 MY1977 240Ds delivered in Brilliant Silver - a new color on the W123 for Mercedes at the time and all rolled of sequentially. Mercedes documented this in a letter which was delivered with the car. My dad kept that car and sold it to a family who's son went to high school with my brother

In case you are wondering, my dad has always been a huge fan of diesel and drives a W221 S350 Bluetec today. He loves 744. too. If Mercedes adopted Henry Ford's philosophy on colorways for the Model T, he would be in heaven as long as it is 744. Some of you who were at the 2019 Legends of the Autobahn met him.


Robert

 

[Jlaa]

Like @JAB12 and @Ntrepid, I am an Xer as well. I grew up in a family where automobiles were not part of my DNA. At all. Not even a little bit. Not even a microscopic bit.

My folks valued economy and practicality. Cars were disposable tools. In my family, think - 1980 Oldsmobile G-body Cutlass Supreme, 1985 Subaru GL-10 Wagon, 1989 Pontiac Bonneville, etc. Mostly these cars turned into rust as my folks and the word “maintenance” share no headspace whatsoever. I think I mentioned once that my dad’s one tool of his set of maybe 10 tools he owned that I remember was a $9.99 electric drill he bought from K-mart.

Sometimes the apple falls into an entirely different universe away from the tree.

This explains my fascination with notoriously unobtanium 1990s automotive machinery from Germany. And Citroens.

 

[maw1124]

X-er here... cars were in my DNA but not Germans... in high school I got into cars working for a rustproofing shop where I actually got to touch and (gasp!) drive them, work on them too... college continued this fascination amid the onslaught from Acura, Lexus and Infinity... just when I had too much time on my hands, magazines were a vacation and the internet gave me the world as my personal library... by the time I finished grad school I had "advised” my mom into Honda Accords and Nissan Maximas, reliability and performance respectively... meanwhile some of my older friends were introducing me to performance Germans — these, S8s, S55s (naturally aspirated), E55s, E38 Dinan, etc... I met Satish back then, when he was just starting out, which didn’t help matters... my wife got the first one to haul the kids around in, the Audi Allroad 4.2, and after that I had permission to upgrade my own vehicle... thats when the S55k “family limo” came along and I got into the whole AMG racing history of MB, BMW Motorsport, Alpina, DTM, etc... I just HAD to have a classic and was blessed with two iconic cars from the period ‘95-‘05, the E5E and E46M... strange that in retrospect I think the E5E launched a period of performance Germans that ended with the horsepower wars from ‘03-‘07 (MB AMG won that one hands down, BTW), and the rest of my cars are products of that war... an ‘04 Audi, an ‘05 BMW M and an ‘06 MB AMG... I’m not sure things have gotten any better since then, but I spend more time thinking about older 6.3 and 6.9 cars than newer performance Benzes... also still love the pillarless coupes, growing up spending tons of time in FL... so that’s me and cars in a nutshell.

maw

 

[Jlaa]

I dont own a 500e but I was born in 87.


I love all amgs but I prefer classics.

Even this one?



and even this one?

 

[JC220]

I grew up alongside our family w124 saloon which was purchased by my Dad new in 1987. I have fond memories of being in that car and it was also passed to me as my first car as a teenager. That w124 effectively started the MB disease I have now

I also recall reading Mr Bean / Rowan Atkinson's article "Wolf in sheep's clothing" on the 500E and becoming aware of the wide body 500E V8 mythical beastie from a teenager. So naturally it was a dream car of mine. Fast forward until 2016 and when on holiday in London a very random gumtree add popped up in my phone whilst in the Tube - of a 500E for sale in Wembley! We decided that the next morning I might just go and see the car since I had never laid eyes on a 500E before.

When we arrived to see the one 500E, there turned out to be 3no 500Es at the same location! It was amazing to finally see not 1, but 3 of these wide body machines in the flesh and at that moment I knew I HAD to have one.

So a couple weeks later I had chosen another 500E in England, got a one way plane ticket and met the seller On a Saturday morning. He was a very nice dude and took me to see the car parked in his garage. It needed work as I knew beforehand but some issues like the engine bay wiring harness were of immediate concern since it was threadbare of insulation.

A deal was struck, I transferred him the £ and I started the approx 5 hour drive to the Ferry towards Dublin then + 2 hours home. The weather started out OK but turned to torrential/ biblical rain. Whilst sitting at 75mph+ pressing on to the ferry I could not help but worry about the threadbare wiring on the engine.

It hesitated a number of times at speed going totally dead then taking off again - I associated this with the engine harness but had no time to stop and check. Then before the Ferry it began to get very dark and I noticed the instrument cluster wasn't lighting up when I turned the headlamps on. I assumed then that there was am issue with the headlamps and made sure I made the earlier Ferry opening up the taps on the V8!

I was pretty much the very last car that boared the Ferry, parked up, ate and slept until the Ferry bumped into Dublin Port. Since it was now dark I discovered the headlamps were actually on and a twist of the dash cluster dimmer brought the cluster illumination back to life. Headed out of the Ferry Terminal in my Left Hand drive beastie and tossed the coins over the passenger seat into the motorway Toll station

Properly floored it up the road since I was now in my home country and due to an ABS / ASR fault it did a rolling burnout which assured me it was worth the effort. It was when home that I discovered why the car was cutting out momentarily at speed.... the PO had just set the battery terminals on loose

All issues were fully addressed in my first couple years of ownership and it will stay with me for life hopefully

 

[ace10]

Got a link to the quiz? I'm curious how far out of touch I am with kids these days.

View attachment 130929

No luck on a linky.

But I suspect that you referencing a 40 year old Millennial as a "kid" likely speaks volumes on your out-of-touchedness.

 

[Jlaa]

No luck on a linky.

But I suspect that you referencing a 40 year old Millennial as a "kid" likely speaks volumes on your out-of-touchedness.

40 year olds are Millenials now??!?!!?!?!

 

[gsxr]

40 year olds are Millenials now??!?!!?!?!

According to the chart above... yup.

 

[szvook]

I refuse to join any generation that would have me as a member...

 

[ShaneR]

I'm a GenXer - just turned 50 last month. I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania where we didn't really have many European cars so I always found them very exotic. There was a doctor in town who got a new Mercedes every year so that was about the extent of what I would see in person. When I first saw a W124 on a school trip to Europe in 1985 I immediately fell in love, it was such a departure from the W123 and just a stunning modern design - an instant classic I thought. I then became obsessed with the AMG Hammer, supercar performance with 4 doors, what could be better. Turns out the AMG Hammer Wagon could be better - still my ultimate object of car lust. I dreamed of one day owning a standard W124, for whatever reason the Hammer somehow just seemed out of reach.

When I read about the 500E in the December 1990 issue for Car and Driver I was instantly obsessed! It was even more handsome than a standard W124 and so fast! It seemed like the ultimate secret super car to me - you had to know what it was to know what it was. The 500E then became the W124 that I wanted and I dreamed of owning one into my adult life. Fast forward to 2005 and I was finally ready to buy my perfect 500E - I prefer the belt buckle grill of the original design so I was only searching for 92s and 93s. I was dismayed to find that most of the 500Es available were in what I considered boring, although classic colors. One day I found a 1993 500E in Nautical Blue, I had never seen one in such a pretty color and it was local to me - in my mind it was meant to be my car. I agreed to buy it sight unseen and sent the seller a deposit.

A few days later I arrived to pick up the car, it was in running condition but every light was on in the instrument cluster which of course was red flag but I was so in love with the car and the color I became the third owner and drove it home. I may have shed a tear or two of joy on the way home - such a long term dream come true. I ended up immediately spending about 1/4 of what I paid for the car to address all of the issues but it was worth it!

Currently my car is with Jono at Blue Ridge MB - home of the above mentioned AMG Hammer Wagon - getting some much needed maintenance and love. I am hoping to be able to pick it up sometime very soon and have a very pleasant road trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway back to DC.

This site has been such a great resource and a fun way to connect with other 036 enthusiasts, thank you to all who contribute. I feel like I learn something new every time I visit the site!

 

[Ntrepid]

Some of us got together a couple of years ago at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington (VA) courtesy of @8899 and got to see @ShaneR's beautiful example. The Nautical Blue colorway is a sight to behold on the 036 shape and so much better than if it was Nautical Blue Metallic as the flake I think takes away from the shape.

Great story and glad to hear it is in good hands Shane!


Robert

 

[Jlaa]

I'm a GenXer - just turned 50 last month. I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania where we didn't really have many European cars so I always found them very exotic. There was a doctor in town who got a new Mercedes every year so that was about the extent of what I would see in person.

I can relate so much to this. Growing up incthe midwest, a Mercedes was an uncommon sight. Cutlass Supremes, Celebrities, Cavaliers, Tauruses (Taurii?), Berettas, Luminas, K-cars, Pontiac 6000s….. these were the automotive fabric of the landscape. Except the plastic surgeon who parked next to my doctor’s Toyota van. He had an anthracite grey market monochrome early 80s w126 AMG 500SEL. WOWWWWE

When I first saw a W124 on a school trip to Europe in 1985 I immediately fell in love, it was such a departure from the W123 and just a stunning modern design - an instant classic I thought.

Super relate to this as well! Mid 80s was the first time I went on a European trip! Wow!! To a kid from the midwest everything was so alien and so full of good taste! Yellow French headlights, Peugeot 205GTis, Renault R5 Turbos, Rover SD1s, etc etc …

 

[ShaneR]

Some of us got together a couple of years ago at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington (VA) courtesy of @8899 and got to see @ShaneR's beautiful example. The Nautical Blue colorway is a sight to behold on the 036 shape and so much better than if it was Nautical Blue Metallic as the flake I think takes away from the shape.

Great story and glad to hear it is in good hands Shane!


Robert

Fun times, we should get together again when things get back to normal! My maintenance project also let to a garage renovation so now Hans has a nice climate controlled home waiting for him.

 

[ShaneR]

I can relate so much to this. Growing up incthe midwest, a Mercedes was an uncommon sight. Cutlass Supremes, Celebrities, Cavaliers, Tauruses (Taurii?), Berettas, Luminas, K-cars, Pontiac 6000s….. these were the automotive fabric of the landscape. Except the plastic surgeon who parked next to my doctor’s Toyota van. He had an anthracite grey market monochrome early 80s w126 AMG 500SEL. WOWWWWE



Super relate to this as well! Mid 80s was the first time I went on a European trip! Wow!! To a kid from the midwest everything was so alien and so full of good taste! Yellow French headlights, Peugeot 205GTis, Renault R5 Turbos, Rover SD1s, etc etc …

I had a thing for Peugeots! I became friends with the the doctor as an adult, he always had cool cars even a Rolls Royce Corniche. I almost lost my mind when I saw him driving that!

 

[ShaneR]

I'm a GenXer - just turned 50 last month. I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania where we didn't really have many European cars so I always found them very exotic. There was a doctor in town who got a new Mercedes every year so that was about the extent of what I would see in person. When I first saw a W124 on a school trip to Europe in 1985 I immediately fell in love, it was such a departure from the W123 and just a stunning modern design - an instant classic I thought. I then became obsessed with the AMG Hammer, supercar performance with 4 doors, what could be better. Turns out the AMG Hammer Wagon could be better - still my ultimate object of car lust. I dreamed of one day owning a standard W124, for whatever reason the Hammer somehow just seemed out of reach.

When I read about the 500E in the December 1990 issue for Car and Driver I was instantly obsessed! It was even more handsome than a standard W124 and so fast! It seemed like the ultimate secret super car to me - you had to know what it was to know what it was. The 500E then became the W124 that I wanted and I dreamed of owning one into my adult life. Fast forward to 2005 and I was finally ready to buy my perfect 500E - I prefer the belt buckle grill of the original design so I was only searching for 92s and 93s. I was dismayed to find that most of the 500Es available were in what I considered boring, although classic colors. One day I found a 1993 500E in Nautical Blue, I had never seen one in such a pretty color and it was local to me - in my mind it was meant to be my car. I agreed to buy it sight unseen and sent the seller a deposit.

A few days later I arrived to pick up the car, it was in running condition but every light was on in the instrument cluster which of course was red flag but I was so in love with the car and the color I became the third owner and drove it home. I may have shed a tear or two of joy on the way home - such a long term dream come true. I ended up immediately spending about 1/4 of what I paid for the car to address all of the issues but it was worth it!

Currently my car is with Jono at Blue Ridge MB - home of the above mentioned AMG Hammer Wagon - getting some much needed maintenance and love. I am hoping to be able to pick it up sometime very soon and have a very pleasant road trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway back to DC.

This site has been such a great resource and a fun way to connect with other 036 enthusiasts, thank you to all who contribute. I feel like I learn something new every time I visit the site!

Jono sent me a picture of my car awhile back parked behind the Hammer Wagon.

 

[maw1124]

I can relate so much to this. Growing up incthe midwest, a Mercedes was an uncommon sight. Cutlass Supremes, Celebrities, Cavaliers, Tauruses (Taurii?), Berettas, Luminas, K-cars, Pontiac 6000s….. these were the automotive fabric of the landscape.

Same here... had it not been for a high school job that involved driving cars back and forth from the local Benz dealership (Wood Motors, Harper Woods, MI at the time), I might not be so addicted. I’m sure I would be, but I’ll blame it on them anyway. I certainly also drove my share of Ford, Chrysler and GM cars back and forth to local dealerships but the Wood Motors runs were a special treat. That, and the fact the the business owner used that business to run through his hobby losses... the detail shop was often occupied with his restoration cars — I recall most vividly a red ‘66 Chrysler 300, a black Batmobile Cadillac and a black Lincoln with suicide doors. That Chrysler took days to detail, and I hated having to move it. The vestiges of youth...



maw