Titivating my 300CE-24
Discussion
I'm now tootling about in the 300CE-24 and so far:
(1) My neighbour's cats waited a whole day - ONE DAY - before scratching it, on the roof, when they slid off, and on the side above the door, as they slid off. Apparently these scratches will easily polish out - the Man is doing it tomorrow - but I was in the mood for fresh cat-blood last night. I've bought a solar powered sonar cat scarer and some garlic/cayenne pepper pellets to go on my back garden (which I park next to). The alternative is I lock the car away in a garage, but there are none for hire or sale near here, so it will be far away and then I'll forget I own it and won't drive it. Hopefully some cat re-education and/or a less slippery car may prevent more of this. Or, as there are three of the b
ds, a cat crucifixon?
(2) Because it's new and shiny, I'm terrified of bashing it and assume that everyone else on the road wants to bash it. It has picked up a microscopic chip on the offside wheel arch, probably inflicted by one of my work colleagues, many of whom suffer from poor spatial awareness (and poor self-awareness, come to think of it). The Man is dealing with that chip, and again, I have to decide whether I want to use it and take the risk of this stuff, or lock it up and forget about it.
(3) The badge dilemma. The badge comes in 2 parts, the 300CE 24 part and then the hyphen. I was slightly disappointed that anyone can buy the badge - surely you should have to prove you own the car, and its installation should be supervised by that bald man with the moustache and the paint thickness meter from Mercedes Classic magazine? Anyway, the fitting instructions did not reveal where the hyphen should go and, brilliantly, the hypen is not symmetrical - it has a short side with rounded edges and a long side with square edges. You can imagine how many engineering meetings there were at Stuttgart in the late 80's to determine the design of the hyphen. I've spent the last 6 months screeching to a halt every time I see a C124 and running over to see if it is a 300CE-24 and if has the badge on. Twice, both times in Spain, I've found 300CE-24's with missing hyphens. Eventually I found this on the internet and thought that given the lack of lunatics other than Jonathan and myself wanting to retrofit 300CE-24 badges, it was probably original and right.
So the Man was given orders to follow the pic, and here it is:
Well, now it's on, I'm not sure. Dangermouse and Penfold are both of the view it's wrong, given the Baister's Mercedes-whispering ability I'm now wavering, and Jonathan thinks it's too high, and is muttering darkly about writing to the Mercedes Classic Center. The Man says it's easy to move if necessary. Anyone got an original 300CE-24 with the badge on, and a camera?
(4) The car is running very well - I whizzed down to see the parentals in Yorkshire yesterday and it was pretty amazing. I normally smoke around in a W140 S420 which makes pretty much everything else feel like a small, flimsy, low-slung, ride-on-rotavator, but the 300CE-24 is not lacking in refinement. It certainly feels more like you're driving a car and less like you're relaxing in the boardroom of the Bundesbank than the W140, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially when corners are involved. Much as commonsense would say keep W124 as a "high days and holidays" car, I know perfectly well I'm going to drive it all the time for the immediate future. There's a lot more to do, especially in relation to the interior, so I'm writing lists, but a period of bedding in before it disappears back to the Lovejoy of the Mercedes world's shed.
Sunday morning:
90 miles later:
(1) My neighbour's cats waited a whole day - ONE DAY - before scratching it, on the roof, when they slid off, and on the side above the door, as they slid off. Apparently these scratches will easily polish out - the Man is doing it tomorrow - but I was in the mood for fresh cat-blood last night. I've bought a solar powered sonar cat scarer and some garlic/cayenne pepper pellets to go on my back garden (which I park next to). The alternative is I lock the car away in a garage, but there are none for hire or sale near here, so it will be far away and then I'll forget I own it and won't drive it. Hopefully some cat re-education and/or a less slippery car may prevent more of this. Or, as there are three of the b
ds, a cat crucifixon?(2) Because it's new and shiny, I'm terrified of bashing it and assume that everyone else on the road wants to bash it. It has picked up a microscopic chip on the offside wheel arch, probably inflicted by one of my work colleagues, many of whom suffer from poor spatial awareness (and poor self-awareness, come to think of it). The Man is dealing with that chip, and again, I have to decide whether I want to use it and take the risk of this stuff, or lock it up and forget about it.
(3) The badge dilemma. The badge comes in 2 parts, the 300CE 24 part and then the hyphen. I was slightly disappointed that anyone can buy the badge - surely you should have to prove you own the car, and its installation should be supervised by that bald man with the moustache and the paint thickness meter from Mercedes Classic magazine? Anyway, the fitting instructions did not reveal where the hyphen should go and, brilliantly, the hypen is not symmetrical - it has a short side with rounded edges and a long side with square edges. You can imagine how many engineering meetings there were at Stuttgart in the late 80's to determine the design of the hyphen. I've spent the last 6 months screeching to a halt every time I see a C124 and running over to see if it is a 300CE-24 and if has the badge on. Twice, both times in Spain, I've found 300CE-24's with missing hyphens. Eventually I found this on the internet and thought that given the lack of lunatics other than Jonathan and myself wanting to retrofit 300CE-24 badges, it was probably original and right.
So the Man was given orders to follow the pic, and here it is:
Well, now it's on, I'm not sure. Dangermouse and Penfold are both of the view it's wrong, given the Baister's Mercedes-whispering ability I'm now wavering, and Jonathan thinks it's too high, and is muttering darkly about writing to the Mercedes Classic Center. The Man says it's easy to move if necessary. Anyone got an original 300CE-24 with the badge on, and a camera?
(4) The car is running very well - I whizzed down to see the parentals in Yorkshire yesterday and it was pretty amazing. I normally smoke around in a W140 S420 which makes pretty much everything else feel like a small, flimsy, low-slung, ride-on-rotavator, but the 300CE-24 is not lacking in refinement. It certainly feels more like you're driving a car and less like you're relaxing in the boardroom of the Bundesbank than the W140, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially when corners are involved. Much as commonsense would say keep W124 as a "high days and holidays" car, I know perfectly well I'm going to drive it all the time for the immediate future. There's a lot more to do, especially in relation to the interior, so I'm writing lists, but a period of bedding in before it disappears back to the Lovejoy of the Mercedes world's shed.
Sunday morning:
90 miles later:
Edited by tianimu on Monday 23 March 13:01
cheddar said:
Am I right in thinking that, given enough road, these 24 valve spec 300's could crack 150?
The quoted top speed is 237kmh, so 147mph. I tend to get a bit queasy around 125mph, but no doubt a certain someone will do a high speed test on his special closed test track (aka the A1 north of the Morpeth turn-off) and report back.tianimu said:
cheddar said:
Am I right in thinking that, given enough road, these 24 valve spec 300's could crack 150?
The quoted top speed is 237kmh, so 147mph. 
A friend had one, in estate form, it got to 100 pretty sharpish, but, if memory serves me, it would always pull away in 2nd gear unless he mashed the throttle, then it went like hell.
cheddar said:
tianimu said:
cheddar said:
Am I right in thinking that, given enough road, these 24 valve spec 300's could crack 150?
The quoted top speed is 237kmh, so 147mph. A friend had one, in estate form, it got to 100 pretty sharpish, but, if memory serves me, it would always pull away in 2nd gear unless he mashed the throttle, then it went like hell.
The OP and I both owned a 320 TE (another story). The 300-24 engines develop more power but less torque (and at higher rpm) than the 320 engines. My impression is that the former are more raucous and peaky but there is not much in it. I certainly prefer the 300-24 to the old 320, it feels freer and more eager. But there's not really much in it.
Edit: no reply from the Classic Centre yet. So much for that fabled Teutonic efficiency.
Edit: no reply from the Classic Centre yet. So much for that fabled Teutonic efficiency.
r129sl said:
The OP and I both owned a 320 TE (another story).
The Golden Barge! What a story that was! I should write a book! And funnily enough, another car where the purchase price was but a minor triviality when it came to the final tally of what was spent on the finished article.
But golly, it was worth it, its low key just-dropping-the-kids-off-at-the-gymkhana-before-going-to-pick-up-the-new-sofa-from-Laura-Ashley looks belied the fact it went like stink. I can remember fondly being given a clenched fist salute by a 230E in the slow lane of the fabled Morpeth bypass as I hooned past at the speed of a well known 1970's Inter City train. It was a real Q car.
It's obviously not very fair to compare something the bigger than the 3rd smallest storage unit at the Big Yellow Storage Company with a coupe, although they were both 5 speed Sportlines, but the 300CE-24 has a lovely rorty, raspy howl that I can't remember the Barge having. Performance wise they seem pretty similar, although I'm still really getting to know the 300CE-24. Jonathan of course turned it up to 11 within about a mile of his house last week and as the passenger I certainly wasn't wishing we could go faster.
tianimu said:
r129sl said:
The OP and I both owned a 320 TE (another story).
The Golden Barge! What a story that was! I should write a book! And funnily enough, another car where the purchase price was but a minor triviality when it came to the final tally of what was spent on the finished article.
But golly, it was worth it, its low key just-dropping-the-kids-off-at-the-gymkhana-before-going-to-pick-up-the-new-sofa-from-Laura-Ashley looks belied the fact it went like stink. I can remember fondly being given a clenched fist salute by a 230E in the slow lane of the fabled Morpeth bypass as I hooned past at the speed of a well known 1970's Inter City train. It was a real Q car.
It's obviously not very fair to compare something the bigger than the 3rd smallest storage unit at the Big Yellow Storage Company with a coupe, although they were both 5 speed Sportlines, but the 300CE-24 has a lovely rorty, raspy howl that I can't remember the Barge having. Performance wise they seem pretty similar, although I'm still really getting to know the 300CE-24. Jonathan of course turned it up to 11 within about a mile of his house last week and as the passenger I certainly wasn't wishing we could go faster.
I was waiting for Geordie to re-fit my skirting boards this afternoon, and, as the minutes turned into hours, to while away the time I reached for the April 1991 edition of Mercedes Benz's classic of the horror genre, "Recommended Price List for Cars and Factory Fitted Extras", and totted up the options for the 300CE-24.
This is what Danie Visser would have paid for the car had it not got it for basically nothing by rocking up to Stuttgart to hit balls over a net and drink Gerste Wasser des Robin Von Sohn. Bear in mind that he won the doubles cup, so he only had to do half as much work.
So, £50,746.94 (excluding delivery and road tax) and no radio. There was also an option code 362 for "Hermes Communication Module LTE" which isn't in the price list and I don't know what it is. The car wasn't fully loaded. Had Danie a bottomless pit of money rather than merely a twinkle in his eye and his innate skills with catgut on felt, he could have added such wonders as Acceleration Skid Control (£2,063.96), Automatic Locking Differential (£944.42), a two tone horn (£167.33), self-levelling rear suspension (£674.33), orthopaedic seats (£399.24 each), sump shield (£106.28), fire extinguisher (£92.32), a 90 litre fuel tank (£72.46), a rear blind (£374.99), electrically adjustable steering column (£380.95), console boxes front (£165.43) and rear (£105.84) and a passenger airbag for Mrs Visser (£1,059.48), and told Faldo to go swivel. He could have even had a detachable ball neck tow bar (£721.73). But harsh economics meant, I think, that he took what Mercedes would give him and flogged it to the pride of Welwyn Garden City (yes, I now appreciate that Faldo isn't Scottish).
If £50,746.94 seems like an enormous amount of money, here are some base prices for other Mercedes models: a 500E was £57,220; a 500SEC £60,790 and the 560SEC another £9k on top of that; a 500SL was £70,090 and that didn't include airbags, rear seats or a radio.... (hilariously, a detachable ball neck tow bar was again available as an option). But how cheap are those 500SL's now? My fingers are itching.
Jonathan, no doubt, can consult his massive library of car mags and tell us what £51k would have scored from Merc's competitors in 1991. Presumably it could have also got you a 2 bedroom flat in SW6...
This is what Danie Visser would have paid for the car had it not got it for basically nothing by rocking up to Stuttgart to hit balls over a net and drink Gerste Wasser des Robin Von Sohn. Bear in mind that he won the doubles cup, so he only had to do half as much work.
| Item | £ |
|---|---|
| Base Car | 39,750.00 |
| Driver airbag | 1,433.15 |
| Driver's electric memory seat | 954.70 |
| Passenger's electric seat | 506.01 |
| OST gauge | 123.10 |
| Leather | 1,728.81 |
| 5 Speed auto gearbox | 723.37 |
| Sportline | 1,762.46 |
| Less credit for standard alloys | -691.64 |
| Sportline steering wheel and gearshift | 166.25 |
| Less credit for standard wheel and gearshift | -124.70 |
| Aerial and front loudspeakers | 398.05 |
| Rear speakers | 226.32 |
| Air con | 2,270.21 |
| Cruise | 348.58 |
| Heated seats | 414.42 |
| Illuminated vanity mirrors | 73.65 |
| Metallic paint | 684.20 |
| 50,746.94 |
So, £50,746.94 (excluding delivery and road tax) and no radio. There was also an option code 362 for "Hermes Communication Module LTE" which isn't in the price list and I don't know what it is. The car wasn't fully loaded. Had Danie a bottomless pit of money rather than merely a twinkle in his eye and his innate skills with catgut on felt, he could have added such wonders as Acceleration Skid Control (£2,063.96), Automatic Locking Differential (£944.42), a two tone horn (£167.33), self-levelling rear suspension (£674.33), orthopaedic seats (£399.24 each), sump shield (£106.28), fire extinguisher (£92.32), a 90 litre fuel tank (£72.46), a rear blind (£374.99), electrically adjustable steering column (£380.95), console boxes front (£165.43) and rear (£105.84) and a passenger airbag for Mrs Visser (£1,059.48), and told Faldo to go swivel. He could have even had a detachable ball neck tow bar (£721.73). But harsh economics meant, I think, that he took what Mercedes would give him and flogged it to the pride of Welwyn Garden City (yes, I now appreciate that Faldo isn't Scottish).
If £50,746.94 seems like an enormous amount of money, here are some base prices for other Mercedes models: a 500E was £57,220; a 500SEC £60,790 and the 560SEC another £9k on top of that; a 500SL was £70,090 and that didn't include airbags, rear seats or a radio.... (hilariously, a detachable ball neck tow bar was again available as an option). But how cheap are those 500SL's now? My fingers are itching.
Jonathan, no doubt, can consult his massive library of car mags and tell us what £51k would have scored from Merc's competitors in 1991. Presumably it could have also got you a 2 bedroom flat in SW6...
Edited by tianimu on Tuesday 24th March 01:27
cheddar said:
tianimu said:
cheddar said:
Am I right in thinking that, given enough road, these 24 valve spec 300's could crack 150?
The quoted top speed is 237kmh, so 147mph. A friend had one, in estate form, it got to 100 pretty sharpish, but, if memory serves me, it would always pull away in 2nd gear unless he mashed the throttle, then it went like hell.
I managed to get that to indicate 145 once, it was 500rpm into the redline & still pulling. I bottled it as I didn't want to blow it up. No idea how far out the speedo was, but it was shifting quite well.
olly22n said:
tianimu said:
o while away the time I reached for the April 1991 edition of Mercedes Benz's classic of the horror genre, "Recommended Price List for Cars and Factory Fitted Extras", and totted up the options for the 300CE-24.
That sounds so good I have just bought my own from eBay.That's Fridays train journey with the missus sorted.
That price list is fascinating though.
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