A Mercedes-Benz 220E sedan, seen on a car market in west Beijing in the great summer of 2023. The old E was painted in a beige shade, and it looked remarkably well for its age, with a smooth body, shiny chrome, no rust or large busts, and most of its original wheel covers.
The W124 Mercedes-Benz E-Class was produced from 1984 until 1995 with updates in 1989 and in 1993. The car that I saw is an original 1984-1994 example. The W124 was not officially imported in China, but some cars arrived via the misty barter deals or diplomatic channels.
The car seemed abandoned. I asked around in nearby shops, but nobody knew anything about the great old Benz. It had been there for a long time, they said, and that is all I came to know. The beige color is typical for German taxis, but importing an old taxi into China seems weird. The front-right wheel cover was missing.
The interior was in reasonable shape. The cloth seats are original but in dire need of a proper cleanup. The wood panels of the stack are okay, but there are cracks in the wood panels on the tunnel. The radio is an after-market unit, likely from the early 2000s.
The rear seats look much better! This, it seems, kills the taxi theory. If it had been a taxi, the bench would look much worse. The wood strips on the doors are super classy.
It even has the original antenna!
The Mercedes-Benz W124 220E was powered by a 2.2-liter four-cylinder petrol engine with an output of 148 hp and 210 Nm. The engine was mated to a 4-speed manual transmission, sending all horses to the rear wheels.
A badge like they don’t make them anymore today.
Although it was not officially imported, there used to be quite a few W124 E-Class sedans in China. Most were operated by high-end hotels to ferry customers around town. Until the early 2000s, you could see one on the round fairly regularly, but most were gone and disappeared in the mid-2000s. This beige example is thus an ultra-rare automotive memory of great times gone by.