Modern day MB’s are nowhere near the quality of the old ones.
This.
In germany there’s an easy way to figure out whether or not a particular Mercedes (at least in regards to limousines) is good or not.
Ask a Taxi driver. 95% of Taxis in germany are C and E-Classes. The last Mercs unilaterally loved are the W201/W202.
That said: simpler times. All old cars are more reliable than modern ones, simply due to the fact that there was less to go wrong electronically (downfall of all mercedes’ since the 2000s). In terms of build quality, i actually wouldn’t go so far. At least my only Mercedes i’ve ever owned, a second generation S-Class (W126 MY1981, bought used in around 1995). Everything worked, and everything felt “heavy” or “quality”, but panel gaps, creaking (and rust) certainly were issues.
Not many electronics in it, so nothing to go wrong with them either. The “big shift” came with the “fisheye E-Class” (W210, ugliest E-Class ever built imho), which had constant issues with electronics. Taxi drivers despised them.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.