Titivating my Mercedes 124

Titivating my Mercedes 124

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Discussion

matthias73

2,883 posts

149 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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I'm disappointed that the interior is in such a state! I was expecting brand new upholstery sewn with the hair of virgin princesses given the attention to detail on the exterior wink

Did you get it steam cleaned?

E65Ross

34,847 posts

211 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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r129sl said:
Actually, I think I'm going to give up on engine bay detailing. This is a well-used car. The engine is clean and dry and out of sight and that's that.
That's the only issue with older engine bays, whilst it might be good you can "see the oily bits" they are a bugger to keep clean. I suspect the "staining" on your exhaust may well be carbon deposits caked on....in which case no amount of degreaser is likely to get that off.


LouD86

3,278 posts

152 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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This thread made me buy a W124 E220!! Good man, I have to say, im extremely impressed at how comfortable they are!

Pentoman

4,814 posts

262 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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That air intake must weigh kgskgskgs!!! I note most modern cars have moved to plastic...

Looking good there.

I found a wire brush effective for removing the metal corrosion on my 1990.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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Today I loaded up the lunatics and we had a run out to Holy Island. For an old banger, it certainly attracts a lot of looks.





Then this evening I stumbled across two brand new wheel centres while tidying my garage and used them to replace the worst two on the car.

Tomorrow it goes for a MOT and the roof box goes in to be painted smoke silver, gloss finish. I've just spent half an hour picking the decals off it, removing the glue residue with meths, and also removing the little screw covers. It just fits in the boot. Which may beg the question, why have you got a roof box in your boot?

The light was nice but I just couldn't be bothered to do proper car photography and it wasn't perfectly clean anyway. To be honest, I just can't wait for the coming weekend. I have some fine steel wool which I may use to have a go at the intake manifold again. It would be nice to get that back to silver. It is actually a complex moving part so I can't just take it off and get it blasted and powder coated.

Still, tell me the 124 this isn't the best estate car of all time:




E65Ross

34,847 posts

211 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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r129sl said:
Still, tell me the 124 this isn't the best estate car of all time:



Great shots.

As a series, perhaps yes. But if you said right, you've got to drive either a W124 estate for a long road trip or one of these....



hehe

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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I'd probably take the 124 and, with double the range and police car invisibility, I suspect I'd get there just as quick. Despite being a confirmed speed merchant, I find myself eschewing my 129 for the long-legged comfort and low-key guise of the 124.

idiotgap

2,112 posts

132 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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r129sl said:
Still, tell me the 124 this isn't the best estate car of all time:

I love that shot thumbup

E65Ross

34,847 posts

211 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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r129sl said:
I'd probably take the 124 and, with double the range and police car invisibility, I suspect I'd get there just as quick.
It's not about arriving, it's about the experience along the way. I've experienced that V10 a few times now, it's nothing short of a masterpiece.

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

127 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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Personally, I reckon swapping the engine/trans from a rotten W210 E55 AMG into a W124 (preferably a 4-cylinder base model) could create the ultimate sleeper.

Not that I'd turn my nose up at an E61 M5 for one moment... V10... 9000rpm... *I think I've just wet myself*

BTW R129SL, my memory is failing me, was it you or another PHer whose restored '124 was supposed to be at M-B World at Brooklands for yesterday's Sunday Service?

E65Ross

34,847 posts

211 months

Monday 21st April 2014
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RoverP6B said:
Personally, I reckon swapping the engine/trans from a rotten W210 E55 AMG into a W124 (preferably a 4-cylinder base model) could create the ultimate sleeper.

Not that I'd turn my nose up at an E61 M5 for one moment... V10... 9000rpm... *I think I've just wet myself*

BTW R129SL, my memory is failing me, was it you or another PHer whose restored '124 was supposed to be at M-B World at Brooklands for yesterday's Sunday Service?
It was him, and Sunday Service is this coming Sunday hehe

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

127 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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E65Ross said:
It was him, and Sunday Service is this coming Sunday hehe
Oops, getting a week ahead of myself...

billywhizzzzzz

1,983 posts

142 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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r129sl said:
Still, tell me the 124 this isn't the best estate car of all time
It's lovely, and I'm full of admiration for a fellow old german wagon enthusiast, but I'm afraid I think THESE are the best (estate) cars of all time!:






billywhizzzzzz

1,983 posts

142 months

Tuesday 22nd April 2014
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r129sl said:
I haven't added everything up. But I did go through my records last night and I'd say that the total cost, including purchase (almost £1,076 the cheapest bill of them all), all mechanical work, 47,000miles of servicing and tyres and such like, and the recent bodywork is about £14,000, maybe a bit less. I could (and should) have saved about £2,000 of that by buying things more wisely. I should have made more of my wrecked 320 TE (I sold it for £500 then bought it back in bits for about twice that). I wasted a few hundred quid on a Mercedes-Benz Exquisit head unit and CD-changer which I very quickly replaced with the Becker Indianapolis 7950. I shouldn't have bothered getting Mercedes-Benz Inverness to fix the vacuum pump: it would have been better to tough it out until we got home and left it with Baister. There's a small mountain of unused parts in my garage which I have bought just in case they come in handy. And I should have learned how to do more myself.

Now, no doubt you're thinking, that's insane. But what else could I have bought for that kind of money? As a bare minimum, any alternative would have cost me £2,500 to run doing the mileage I do. So say I had £12,000 to spend. I couldn't have leased a new Merc for that; and even had I done so I would have nothing to show for it now. I could have bought a car from one of the specialist dealers but, with the greatest of respect to them, my experience suggests they all need work, no matter how pretty they are. I could have bought a Golf. Or a Passat. Or a Sierra or whatever they call them now. I could have bought a smarter one and put up with its faults.

OK, it is irrational. But I couldn't care less. I love the car and I have enjoyed doing it up. I've learned a lot of mechanical skills that I didn't have previously. And now I am going to enjoy using it for the next five years or more.
It's not at all irrational. I bought my e30 325i touring and blew £5k immediately making it as I wanted it. Then a few years later another £5k. And then recently another £5k. Outside of any servicing of course or any consumables, and outside of the initial purchase price. Oh, and I forgot - another £3k after a transit sideswiped me and I knew the insurance co would write it off so I didn't even bother telling them. So that's £18k on an E30 that still is to most people just a £1000 23 year old car, that certainly doesn't look like it's obsessed over, and looks utterly standard in every way (see pic above of the old black thing - there's nothing worse than looking like you care too much). Lots of more interesting newer cars have come and gone and none give me the pleasure of that old touring. The daily z4 3.0si snotter certainly doesn't inspire any devotion or interest from me whatsoever. The old S4 V8 Avant gave me a little pleasure - probably more than any car other than the e30. I never really got super cars, don't like 'sports' cars much, so compared to what many others spend, £18k on an old bus is pretty good value for the pleasure it gives me.

Edited by billywhizzzzzz on Tuesday 22 April 19:18

AudiWurst

4,544 posts

226 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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Looks great OP. Kudos to you for making such a commitment (both time and money) to an old car.

Nice to see someone being honest about the cost of keeping an older car in tip top condition. I find the "man maths" employed by others really irritating.

Would Merc be interested in featuring this car in their owners club magazine?

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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Sailed through the MOT without any advisories and the air con seems OK again.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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A lot of titivating tonight. First, I fixed up the loose boot trim with the new screws specially ordered from Germany. Then I replaced the missing wheel arch/bumper trim. It just pushed into place so probably will fall off on the M1 on Friday. And finally I replaced the rear wiper arm. Although I didn't know it, my life was incomplete before this.

Old one:


New one:


Then I had another go at the intake manifold and this time I got results. Using a combination of Surfex HD (mixed about 1:4 with water) and fine steel wool plus a brass brush, I really got a big improvement. I am a bit wary of the steel wool, lest some tiny fragment enter the engine (unlikely) or the electrical system (there isn't one) or foul up the poly-v belt. But what the hell. If I had time, I think I could get this really very tidy indeed. Presumably the next stage would be to polish it up with some aluminium polish?





Finally, and this is really tragic, I cleaned up the tail pipe and back box (which is very visible on the S124) using the the Surfex HD and the steel wool. I will not be polishing that.

E65Ross

34,847 posts

211 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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Good effort. Surfex is a good cleaner. A metal polish is what you ultimately want for that though.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
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I've got Autosol Metal Polish (hasn't everyone?) so I might give that a go. I need to get some little brushes and sticks for the nooks and crannies. In my dream world I'd get one of those passivating kits to re-do all of the plated stuff, that always looks the business. But it isn't going to happen.

E65Ross

34,847 posts

211 months

Wednesday 23rd April 2014
quotequote all
r129sl said:
I've got Autosol Metal Polish (hasn't everyone?) so I might give that a go. I need to get some little brushes and sticks for the nooks and crannies. In my dream world I'd get one of those passivating kits to re-do all of the plated stuff, that always looks the business. But it isn't going to happen.
you have a PM