MERCEDES BENZ E 500 (W124) 1993-1995 Photos, engines & full specs

The 500 E from Mercedes-Benz was one of the first attempts to tackle the performance luxury sedans. It appeared in 1991 and it was developed and built by Porsche in their factory, in Zuffenhausen and it was continued after 1993, in the E 500 facelift.

The short story is that the Mercedes-Benz board had decided to build a performance vehicle out of the well-known W124 E-Class. It took the biggest engine, a 5.0-liter V8, and somehow installed it in the engine bay. But to do this the engine bay had to be enlarged. As a consequence, the front track and the whole car was wider by 56 mm (2.2”) compared to a 300 E. To keep the outside look of the vehicle and cut costs, the car had almost the same body panels except the front where the wheel-arches were flared. On the outside, there were minor changes for the exterior, most noticeable being the clear side indicators instead of the orange ones from the pre-1993 models. A new, plastic bumper, was installed.

Inside, the car had many luxury features such as automatic climate control, an electrically adjustable right side-mirror, dual airbags and an advanced sound system that could be fitted with a CD-changer.

From the technical point of view, the engine was mated to a 4-speed automatic gearbox that had a winter program, when the snow-chains were installed. This program told the car to start directly in the second gear instead of first. The brakes were upgraded to support the heavy vehicle. The 500 E was heavier than a 300 E with 380 kg (837.7 lbs).