>>28545796
>the last Mercs with decent engines rust like shit
The W210 E-Class is not the last "decently reliable" Mercedes. You can get the indestructible M112 V6, M113K V8 and their AMG variants in many cars up until around the late 2000s (you don't want the ones after those).
>the oldest Mercs with decent rust protection have bicycle chains for timing chains
Which ones, the OM616 and OM617 diesels that will literally run for a million miles on the original chain? Or are you talking about the ugly duckling "380" V8 that had the single/double row timing chain issue?