Mercedes W140 titivation

[r129sl]

Damned fancy wiper doesn't work. A bit of googling suggests the plastic cogs will have smashed. This is a result of lack of use. The friend from who I took this car is a car enthusiast yet the neglect makes me want to cry. How can anyone let a car get like this? The outstanding defect list (excluding the bodywork) is as follows, at least as far as I can recall:

(1) air con does not work,
(2) wiper does not extend and retract,
(3) parking sensors are mad,
(4) rear sun blind extends but does not always retract,
(5) rear head rests do not fold,
(6) headlamp wipers do not work,
(7) transmission stutters when coming to a halt or on part-kickdown (bit of a worry, this one),
(8) left hand cat missing,
(9) shimmy at 55-60mph (possibly permanently flat-spotted tyres caused by lack of use),
(10) occasional miss at idle (I might change the plugs over the rest of the weekend).

Grrrr. Anyway, the wiper bits are available on eBay.

And the stereo sounds fantastic.

[Spinakerr]

r129sl said:

And the stereo sounds fantastic.

Definite motivation right there. Good luck with the renovation.

As for the shimmy - have you had a Hunter alignment?

[BGarside]

r129sl said:

Damned fancy wiper doesn't work. A bit of googling suggests the plastic cogs will have smashed. This is a result of lack of use. The friend from who I took this car is a car enthusiast yet the neglect makes me want to cry. How can anyone let a car get like this? The outstanding defect list (excluding the bodywork) is as follows, at least as far as I can recall:

(1) air con does not work,
(2) wiper does not extend and retract,
(3) parking sensors are mad,
(4) rear sun blind extends but does not always retract,
(5) rear head rests do not fold,
(6) headlamp wipers do not work,
(7) transmission stutters when coming to a halt or on part-kickdown (bit of a worry, this one),
(8) left hand cat missing,
(9) shimmy at 55-60mph (possibly permanently flat-spotted tyres caused by lack of use),
(10) occasional miss at idle (I might change the plugs over the rest of the weekend).

Grrrr. Anyway, the wiper bits are available on eBay.

And the stereo sounds fantastic.

Oh dear, those W140s are unreliable rubbish aren't they. Why not trade it in against a secondhand LS400?;)

[r129sl]

Or maybe just throw it in a skip?

I put a couple of hours into polishing it today, just an aggressive compound followed by good old Auto Glym Super Resin Polish and, with the windows cleaned inside and out and the hematite trim all buffed up, it is starting to look pretty good, even if every wheel arch is mottled. It can go back to Baister for round two of mechanical attention and then maybe next winter I'll do the bodywork.

[aww999]

BGarside said:

Oh dear, those W140s are unreliable rubbish aren't they. Why not trade it in against a secondhand LS400?;)

Haha, I had the same thought reading this. My LS400 is the same year, with 50% more miles on it, and is immaculate on the body and faultless mechanically / electrically.

I love the old Mercs, and it's great to see one being restored like this, but it's certainly a labour of love!

[r129sl]

It's lack of use that has done for it; that and owner neglect. This car has sat unused for most of the last year: it just kills everything, especially anything electrical. My 129 has been in constant use with 250,000miles on it, never had anything other than routine attention, and it is ten times better than this 140 car.

[jke11y]

I completely agree; on both counts (cars). 5 years with my 129 and it's been pretty solid yet the 140 is alarmingly niggle- filled.

I haven't seen it since I dropped it at the garage a week ago, and I secretly hope someone's stolen it or set it alight

[anonymous-user]

r129sl said:

It's lack of use that has done for it; that and owner neglect. This car has sat unused for most of the last year: it just kills everything, especially anything electrical. My 129 has been in constant use with 250,000miles on it, never had anything other than routine attention, and it is ten times better than this 140 car.

At the risk of breaking some unwritten rule relating to your posts, this did make me frown and chuckle simultaneously. I agree completely that regular use keeps cars going, and neglect- of driving them- almost as much as neglect of maintenance is a killer. In fact, regular use really is maintenance. But to suggest that your lovely 250k SL has only ever had routine attention is a bit much! I admired your 124 at Brooklands, have spent hours in your threads, and because it was possible to lose so many days in the reading of your attention to these lovely old cars, I call custard on your "routine attention". Please take a picture of a time when the odometer was not reading 129, 119, 500 or 4973 on a day when rust wasn't being tended to by "the man" and a nicely written vignette was not submitted to PH. Non routine ownership is about the essence of what we know and appreciate you for!

PS, sorry to hear of your woes with the 140. A fine looking car but possibly in existence to confirm how right the 124/129 combo is for your life?

[Lagerlout]

Most of these cars descend into a poor condition because the owner either can't afford to pay for the costs of the parts, or they choose not to because of the low value of the cars. Both are understandable as these old expensive cars become out of favour with age. The W140 is famed by Mercedes dealer service as being a car that costs £1,000 no matter what part you have to fix. Mercedes poured over a billion dollars into developing this car, and it's incredibly reliable as my S500 is, but any car that's poorly maintained will be a poor investment. Always buy a good example otherwise you're paying for other peoples mistakes or lack of care and attention.

[r129sl]

Poly, thank you for your kind words. You're right: the 201/124/129 combo is perfect for my life and that is the conclusion I have drawn, too. One very important factor: three cars can be accommodated in my yard with ease, with thoughtful parking, any of the three can be withdrawn without moving the others. Not so with four cars, especially when one of the four is the size of the others put together.

Lagerlout: I am one of those people who cannot afford the upkeep on a 140! The attraction of this one is that I know it, it was available to me very cheaply, and it has a superb spec.

It is growing on me. The mistake I made over the weekend was to use it for knocking about with the kids. It really is not that kind of car. But when I took my wife out for dinner in town, a 60mile round trip down and back up the A1, a little time pressure, her choice on the amazing stereo, it really shone. At 100mph it is rock solid, engine turning at 3,000rpm, conversation at ordinary volumes, one hand on the wheel one hand in hers, total comfort and control. Great lighting, too.

[Lagerlout]

I'd say you just got unlucky that's all. Lost count of the number of sheds I've bought in the past. These days you have to be an enthusiast to want to fix something like a W140. There's a few places out there like Carl at W140 spares which makes repairing things a lot cheaper but it's still a very expensive car to fix. It's worth shopping around to find the right one. Unfortunately prices have been going up for really good ones. A S600 made 20k euros last week in Germany.

[r129sl]

I'm persevering with it. Tonight I changed the plugs on the right bank. This was a surprisingly easy job: the hardest part was getting the air box back on. I would have done the left bank as well, but it had become dark by that time. I reckon I spent an hour on it tonight and it will take me at most 30 minutes to finish the job. The old plugs had been in there a while, I even wonder whether they weren't the originals. They were the right shade of brown, however.

[r129sl]

It didn't take long to finish the spark plugs and now the car runs smoothly without occasionally missing.

I changed the cabin air filter, too, very easy, just lift up a panel under the bonnet and slot it in.

New engine air filters arrive tomorrow.

But what a fk on I had with the climate control. The auxiliary fans runs constantly. I ascertained that this is because the climate control ECU erroneously thinks the engine is hot so it switches them on to cool it down. It is so minded because it is not receiving any sensor data from the instrument cluster. I worked this out by replacing the engine temperature sensor (to no avail), reading the fault codes (which told me it wasn't talking to the instrument cluster) and then noticing that the climate control had no other sensor data. So I pulled the instrument cluster in order to have a look at the connections. Oops, cracked the binnacle in the process. Thankfully I have a spare but what a pisser. Then I connected up the wiring wrong and nothing worked. After a sleepless night I worked out the problem, all fixed. I swapped the climate control unit for two different ones, but still the same problem. Then my third spare climate control unit, which has broken buttons, works perfectly (apart from the broken buttons). So I think there must be some coding or software issue which is preventing two of the spare climate control units from talking to the instrument cluster. Anyway, the solution is to take the working buttons from a non-working control unit and fit them to the working control unit, a matter of very carefully prising apart plastic clips that were never really intended to come apart:



I took the car for a short drive to ASDA. Filled it up. 88 litres. Ugh. 18.1mpg. Still, it is driving beautifully and the transmission is sorting itself out. Baister will service the transmission next week and I think that will make it perfect again. He's going to change the front upper control arms, clear the sunroof drains and sort a couple of tiny niggles and then I really think it will be back in fine fettle.

I don't really love it, though, unfortunately.

[r129sl]

A midnight brainwave stimulated me to google "w140 climate control unit code". Which search lead me to this thread: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w140-s-class/17125... which in turn caused me to get up early, fit the original climate control unit with working buttons, and code it to the car. Result: everything works and there is no need to cobble together a Heath Robinson solution. Why are these cars so damned complicated?

[Stegel]

If nothing else, it demonstrates that without the wonders of the internet, there would be far fewer old Mercedes on the road right now!

[tobinen]

Excellent work there and deduction. I am not looking forward to removing my centre vents to investigate the middle parking sensor display which isn't illuminated. I've managed to procure WIS so hopefully should be relatively straightforward.

[r129sl]

I am feeling on a big high about the 140 today. I have turned a corner with the climate control victory, the successful cabin filter swap and the astonishingly pain-free spark plug change. To compound my wellness, I have bought front upper control arms at an astonishing discount. The upper ball joints are creaking like a galleon rounding the Cape of Good Hope, Captain Bligh at the command. The ball joints are part of the upper control arms, MB part numbers A1403307607 and 7707 and cost from MB just over £250 each. They are made by Lemförder. A bit of chance googling and Lemförder 11004 02 and 11005 02 are available on Amazon for £32.49 and £38.75 each including delivery. Man maths tells me I am £428 up and free to spend that on tat of my choosing, probably including a replacement instrument cluster binnacle for the one I boffed up with my amateur climate control investigations.

[ajmcampbell]

Sounds like you're turning a corner on this one!
These cars are hard to love when they aren't working properly, but get a sunny day when all is going well and they are fantastic.
Interesting about the ball joints... mine needs one too so you've saved me £££ as well!
Many thanks,

A

[r129sl]

The Amazon price didn't last: I notice they're back up to proper money. One of them arrived today, however, and it looks genuine.

I'm definitely getting there with this car. With a transmission service, these upper arms fitted and an air con re-gas (I don't think it's leaking), it should be tip top mechanically at least. There are then a couple of niggly things the parking sensors, rear blind, rear headrests. And a couple of service jobs for me (engine air filters and the cabin recirculating air filter, nothing difficult). But I'm still not sure it's for me: just too big.

[r129sl]

I'm sort of hiding from this car at the moment. It is at my mechanic's. I think all of the mechanical stuff has been done. Just the bodywork now. If anyone wants to buy it, I'm open to offers!