RE: SOTW: Mercedes 230TE
Discussion
Hellbound said:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C267025
Looks a bit tatty and probably needs a ridiculous amount of money in parts etc but it's AWD.
That's a rare model the 4-matic, and ideal for the snow months.Looks a bit tatty and probably needs a ridiculous amount of money in parts etc but it's AWD.
It's the equivalent of the E34 522iX Touring models.
Although, the E34 would prob be a better drive, not as smooth necessarily, but more involved.
johnpeat said:
I don't want to start a habit of posting alternative SOTWs but then I saw this
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C266840
THAT
I mean, cmon...
Love the S124.http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C266840
THAT
I mean, cmon...
The W126 looks good, but the replica wheels spoil it.
Itsallicanafford said:
...not sure that an old estate works for me...in an estate I want as much safety as possible for kids...
At the shed price point (£1k), I can't think of many cars that would offer better crash protection than a W124 Merc, other than perhaps a big Volvo or an even bigger Merc.
Dapster said:
SuperHangOn said:
Is that a 'proper'/official Mercedes website?
Indeed - a Mercedes factory programme using original parts, and restored to literally new spec. You won't find a better one. You should expect to pay 20 to 40 thousand Euro.johnpeat said:
I don't want to start a habit of posting alternative SOTWs but then I saw this
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C266840
THAT
I mean, cmon...
Uber rare in black with cream leather. Thats a fine barge, everybody should own a W126; a proper motor car.http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C266840
THAT
I mean, cmon...
johnpeat said:
I don't want to start a habit of posting alternative SOTWs but then I saw this
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C266840
THAT
I mean, cmon...
When I was 22 I had one of those, great car.http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C266840
THAT
I mean, cmon...
RedWhiteMonkey said:
Not really complaining about this particular car as it seems stonkingly good value for money but it does irritate me when adverts describe cars as being in perfect condition then proceed to give a long list of damage or faults.
Well 'Goose' is a trader so I assume he knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to selling a car. 
Some "in-laws of in-laws" of mine are very much in the old-money camp.
We once ventured down from "The North" to a gathering and 'supper' of theirs in the Home Counties. Most cars were estates and a few were old Merc estates. A few were old-ish Range Rovers, without any footballers' wives accessories.
My ostentatiously-non-ostentatious, tree-sap-and-road-grime-encrusted Mondeo estate that looks extremely pleasingly low-rent in my office car park fitted in almost perfectly with the other cars. Not quite perfectly due to it being both a Ford ...and a Ghia X (how distateful).
Coupled with my unfashionable, but functional clothes and collection of well-worn anecdotes I was almost able to pull off the old money act, without any of the money.
We once ventured down from "The North" to a gathering and 'supper' of theirs in the Home Counties. Most cars were estates and a few were old Merc estates. A few were old-ish Range Rovers, without any footballers' wives accessories.
My ostentatiously-non-ostentatious, tree-sap-and-road-grime-encrusted Mondeo estate that looks extremely pleasingly low-rent in my office car park fitted in almost perfectly with the other cars. Not quite perfectly due to it being both a Ford ...and a Ghia X (how distateful).
Coupled with my unfashionable, but functional clothes and collection of well-worn anecdotes I was almost able to pull off the old money act, without any of the money.
Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 25th November 11:58
irish boy said:
Mum bought one of these new in 1990, specced it well with leather etc....still has it and still pretty much as new even the drivers seat despite living outside it's whole life. Great cars.
I now understand why MB decided to reduce the quality of their cars. They need people to build new ones.... 
A couple of summers ago my brother bought a £500 230e that had sat for three years in a garage. He washed it pumped up the tyres and mot'd it a week before he with missus and three kids caned it down to The Ardeche(about 900 miles from us)I also went in my 3 year old diesel Grand Espace. One of us drove back in a hire car then had to fly back a week later and pay 1200 euros for an alternator! I don't think I need to say which one,or who made a profit when selling the next year.
mcdk2 said:
I saw a 5th gear episode where they ran an old diesel merc like this on chip oil. Always been tempted to buy a banger and try it.
No, older diesels like the engine in the w124 cope fine with the more viscous vegetable oil. Newer stuff, especially anything common rail won't work. The other danger is the pump, I think there are two versions with the 300D engine and one is more robust than the other. Sort of a moot point anyway because fresh vegetable oil is as expensive as diesel, and there is some change to tax rules making recycling chip oil less viable. There was a crowd in London selling it, for about 10p/litre less than Diesel IIRC, and selling mainly to fleet vans and taxis but they said the tax changes were putting them out of business.We bought an 1988 230TE about 8 years ago. £1100, 160,000 miles, years MOT and Full Service History, lovely looking car. It was absolutely the worst car I have ever had the misfortune to own! On the rare occasion it was drivable it was lovely.
I had numerous annoying electrical problems which seem to be common, overheating problems due to the fan switch, again common, the most idiotic rear folding seat mechanism known to man which didn't work, again common, leaking sunroof didn't work along with the common non-working electric windows. The rear propshaft coupling disintegrated quite quickly although to be fair it looked like both front and back had failed before and the rear parts were not put back together properly. The heater didn't work properly as it was always hot (duo-valves). Guess what? Thats common too! Also the doors let water in when it rains heavily. The cloth seat fabric is poor and I don't just mean the drivers seat bolster.
Ours slowly broke parts randomly. The reversing lights would come on in time with the wipers, the sunroof motor packed in (outside the dealer!), it leaked from all sides, it rusted incredibly, the rear washer pipe detached it self and quietly dripped all the time, brake pad warning light suddenly decided to stay on constantly,bulb warning light suddenly decided to stay on constantly despite ALL the bulbs working etc, etc. Some things as I have said were age related wear and tear which is fine. Things such as suspension bushes, rusty self levelling pipes etc., but too many things are poor for a supposed quality car. Have fun when the self levelling goes!
If you had to go to the Mercedes Dealer Parts Dept, they were so inept it was comical. You had to say generally where on the car the part came from and they brought out printouts of their parts diagrams and got you to point! Luckily for most things there are specialists.
I only got the Mercedes other than another Passat because I always wanted a Merc and convinced my wife! By all means buy a W124 but check everything from top to toe especially interior items as taking the interior apart is no joke! 25mm nut to take the headlamp switch off?!?!? It is the most idiotically put together trim I have ever had the displeasure to work on! Only servicing is straightforward. Ours is in the scrappy now wasn't worth fixing. Bought a 1990 VW Passat 2.0GT16V. It's faster, more economical, much bigger inside, doesn't rust (as much) and is vastly more reliable. My wife has an 89' 1.8 GL Jetta, its a gem too!
I had numerous annoying electrical problems which seem to be common, overheating problems due to the fan switch, again common, the most idiotic rear folding seat mechanism known to man which didn't work, again common, leaking sunroof didn't work along with the common non-working electric windows. The rear propshaft coupling disintegrated quite quickly although to be fair it looked like both front and back had failed before and the rear parts were not put back together properly. The heater didn't work properly as it was always hot (duo-valves). Guess what? Thats common too! Also the doors let water in when it rains heavily. The cloth seat fabric is poor and I don't just mean the drivers seat bolster.
Ours slowly broke parts randomly. The reversing lights would come on in time with the wipers, the sunroof motor packed in (outside the dealer!), it leaked from all sides, it rusted incredibly, the rear washer pipe detached it self and quietly dripped all the time, brake pad warning light suddenly decided to stay on constantly,bulb warning light suddenly decided to stay on constantly despite ALL the bulbs working etc, etc. Some things as I have said were age related wear and tear which is fine. Things such as suspension bushes, rusty self levelling pipes etc., but too many things are poor for a supposed quality car. Have fun when the self levelling goes!
If you had to go to the Mercedes Dealer Parts Dept, they were so inept it was comical. You had to say generally where on the car the part came from and they brought out printouts of their parts diagrams and got you to point! Luckily for most things there are specialists.
I only got the Mercedes other than another Passat because I always wanted a Merc and convinced my wife! By all means buy a W124 but check everything from top to toe especially interior items as taking the interior apart is no joke! 25mm nut to take the headlamp switch off?!?!? It is the most idiotically put together trim I have ever had the displeasure to work on! Only servicing is straightforward. Ours is in the scrappy now wasn't worth fixing. Bought a 1990 VW Passat 2.0GT16V. It's faster, more economical, much bigger inside, doesn't rust (as much) and is vastly more reliable. My wife has an 89' 1.8 GL Jetta, its a gem too!
vidfletch said:
We bought an 1988 230TE about 8 years ago. £1100, 160,000 miles, years MOT and Full Service History, lovely looking car. It was absolutely the worst car I have ever had the misfortune to own! On the rare occasion it was drivable it was lovely.
I had numerous annoying electrical problems which seem to be common, overheating problems due to the fan switch, again common, the most idiotic rear folding seat mechanism known to man which didn't work, again common, leaking sunroof didn't work along with the common non-working electric windows. The rear propshaft coupling disintegrated quite quickly although to be fair it looked like both front and back had failed before and the rear parts were not put back together properly. The heater didn't work properly as it was always hot (duo-valves). Guess what? Thats common too! Also the doors let water in when it rains heavily. The cloth seat fabric is poor and I don't just mean the drivers seat bolster.
Ours slowly broke parts randomly. The reversing lights would come on in time with the wipers, the sunroof motor packed in (outside the dealer!), it leaked from all sides, it rusted incredibly, the rear washer pipe detached it self and quietly dripped all the time, brake pad warning light suddenly decided to stay on constantly,bulb warning light suddenly decided to stay on constantly despite ALL the bulbs working etc, etc. Some things as I have said were age related wear and tear which is fine. Things such as suspension bushes, rusty self levelling pipes etc., but too many things are poor for a supposed quality car. Have fun when the self levelling goes!
If you had to go to the Mercedes Dealer Parts Dept, they were so inept it was comical. You had to say generally where on the car the part came from and they brought out printouts of their parts diagrams and got you to point! Luckily for most things there are specialists.
I only got the Mercedes other than another Passat because I always wanted a Merc and convinced my wife! By all means buy a W124 but check everything from top to toe especially interior items as taking the interior apart is no joke! 25mm nut to take the headlamp switch off?!?!? It is the most idiotically put together trim I have ever had the displeasure to work on! Only servicing is straightforward. Ours is in the scrappy now wasn't worth fixing. Bought a 1990 VW Passat 2.0GT16V. It's faster, more economical, much bigger inside, doesn't rust (as much) and is vastly more reliable. My wife has an 89' 1.8 GL Jetta, its a gem too!
Seems like an abused example before you purchased it then. There are common issues with these cars, as with most cars.I had numerous annoying electrical problems which seem to be common, overheating problems due to the fan switch, again common, the most idiotic rear folding seat mechanism known to man which didn't work, again common, leaking sunroof didn't work along with the common non-working electric windows. The rear propshaft coupling disintegrated quite quickly although to be fair it looked like both front and back had failed before and the rear parts were not put back together properly. The heater didn't work properly as it was always hot (duo-valves). Guess what? Thats common too! Also the doors let water in when it rains heavily. The cloth seat fabric is poor and I don't just mean the drivers seat bolster.
Ours slowly broke parts randomly. The reversing lights would come on in time with the wipers, the sunroof motor packed in (outside the dealer!), it leaked from all sides, it rusted incredibly, the rear washer pipe detached it self and quietly dripped all the time, brake pad warning light suddenly decided to stay on constantly,bulb warning light suddenly decided to stay on constantly despite ALL the bulbs working etc, etc. Some things as I have said were age related wear and tear which is fine. Things such as suspension bushes, rusty self levelling pipes etc., but too many things are poor for a supposed quality car. Have fun when the self levelling goes!
If you had to go to the Mercedes Dealer Parts Dept, they were so inept it was comical. You had to say generally where on the car the part came from and they brought out printouts of their parts diagrams and got you to point! Luckily for most things there are specialists.
I only got the Mercedes other than another Passat because I always wanted a Merc and convinced my wife! By all means buy a W124 but check everything from top to toe especially interior items as taking the interior apart is no joke! 25mm nut to take the headlamp switch off?!?!? It is the most idiotically put together trim I have ever had the displeasure to work on! Only servicing is straightforward. Ours is in the scrappy now wasn't worth fixing. Bought a 1990 VW Passat 2.0GT16V. It's faster, more economical, much bigger inside, doesn't rust (as much) and is vastly more reliable. My wife has an 89' 1.8 GL Jetta, its a gem too!
It does also seem annoying that a car of this calibre should have those annoying gremlins. But still, the engines are good, and a decent, sorted example, will be fine for many reliable years of motoring!
pSyCoSiS said:
Seems like an abused example before you purchased it then. There are common issues with these cars, as with most cars.
It does also seem annoying that a car of this calibre should have those annoying gremlins. But still, the engines are good, and a decent, sorted example, will be fine for many reliable years of motoring!
What should you do when buying a car? Look for full service history, an MOT? It had Main Dealer history up to 120,000 miles and then specialist servicing after that. Couldn't have done much more. In all the cars I have owned I have never had something so badly built and I have had Citroens, Fiats and a Rover Metro! A basic function such as lowering the rear seats in a car designed to carry loads didn't need such a ridiculous method to perform that task. Utterly stupid it was. If they lock upright and don't go down then most owners would be screwed. I still see W124s now and again and my heart says I'd have another. My head says otherwise.It does also seem annoying that a car of this calibre should have those annoying gremlins. But still, the engines are good, and a decent, sorted example, will be fine for many reliable years of motoring!
Nigel Worc's said:
Superb shed, I've never owned a merc (just because of the rust issues compared to E34 & E39 beemers), but I'd love to one day.
The rust issues Mercedes suffered from were with the replacement for this model, the w210. The w124 has about the same long term corrosion resistance as the e34.vidfletch said:
What should you do when buying a car? Look for full service history, an MOT? It had Main Dealer history up to 120,000 miles and then specialist servicing after that. Couldn't have done much more. In all the cars I have owned I have never had something so badly built and I have had Citroens, Fiats and a Rover Metro! A basic function such as lowering the rear seats in a car designed to carry loads didn't need such a ridiculous method to perform that task. Utterly stupid it was. If they lock upright and don't go down then most owners would be screwed. I still see W124s now and again and my heart says I'd have another. My head says otherwise.
Fair play, sounds like you had a right bad experience.Still though, I know what you mean about the heart vs head argument!
FSH doesn't necessarily mean it's a peach, if the common issues have been addressed and there a documents proving this, then should be all good.
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