I've Now Owned 4 Mercedes-Benz E-Classes

Last week, I informed you that I recently purchased a certified pre-owned 2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Wagon -- a lovely car that should serve me well as a daily driver for the next three years. This week, it hit me: I've owned four Mercedes-Benz E-Classes, all from different generations. How did this happen?!

My E-Class ownership experience started in 2011, when I purchased a 2001 E55 AMG -- one of my favorite cars I've ever owned -- in pristine condition from a Honda dealer. The salesperson, who I am still friends with on Facebook and who occasionally likes my posts, told me it was a trade-in on an Odyssey. I got it to replace a BMW M3. I was thrilled, and I still have fond memories of driving around in that car.

Then there was the 500E. Only a few months after I got that E55 AMG, a local FIAT dealership near Atlanta listed a 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500E that they had taken in trade (along with a boat) for a used MINI Countryman. The dealer received dozens of calls for the car, as the 500E is special -- it was built in a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, and only for a few years. But I showed up with cash, and I'm the one who got it -- and suddenly, I had two E-Classes.

In short order, I sold them both. Back then, I was just starting to make money, and I put it all towards cars -- I owned something like ten different cars in 2011 alone. I ditched the 500E for a sizable profit, as the FIAT dealer had no idea what they had, and I sold the E55 AMG a few months later to an attorney in Atlanta (who still owns it) in order to get a 2004 CTS-V sedan. I loved the CTS-V, but I still miss that E55.

The following year, I decided what I really wanted was an AMG Wagon -- so I became hyper-vigilant in searching for one. You had to, because the first-generation AMG Wagon was made in incredibly small numbers: roughly 193 E55 AMG Wagons from 2003 to 2006, and 153 E63 AMG Wagons from 2007 to 2009. I eventually found one of the 153, and I bought it in Indianapolis for $41,000. I owned that car for most of 2012 before an accident -- and a new career -- made me get rid of it. I bought a Range Rover, quit my job and started writing about cars.

And then, five years later ... this one. My fourth E-Class.

It's worth noting that, for every single version of E-Class I owned, I had the best one: The E63 AMG Wagon on the "W211" and "W212" body styles, the "W210" E55 AMG and the 500E from the "W124" era. So I wasn't just buyin' random willy-nilly E320s with 14-inch wheels, here. But as of this week, I am, officially, a four-time Mercedes-Benz E-Class owner, as if I'm some sort of reasonably successful attorney or dentist. I love variation, so I did not intend to go down this path, but here I am. And if I'm feeling downtrodden about this lack of imagination, I suppose I can always floor the accelerator in my new one.

Doug DeMuro is an automotive journalist who has written for many online and magazine publications. He once owned a Nissan Cube and a Ferrari 360 Modena. At the same time.

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