Titivating my Mercedes 124
Discussion
I’m a bit biased but I’d say some of the roads in Northern Ireland are spectacular. Although having driven up around the top of Scotland in a day in 2002 I can’t deny it’s majesty.
If you ever get the overpriced ferry over let us know there’s plenty of people to give you recommendations of favourite places.
Quite a few beaches you can park n surf from.
However lots of spectacular scenery in Republic of Ireland also especially ring of Kerry and west Atlantic coast road called the wild Atlantic way.
Credit to you on maintaining your fleet and the smoke silver is a marmite colour but I like marmite. :-)
If you ever get the overpriced ferry over let us know there’s plenty of people to give you recommendations of favourite places.
Quite a few beaches you can park n surf from.
However lots of spectacular scenery in Republic of Ireland also especially ring of Kerry and west Atlantic coast road called the wild Atlantic way.
Credit to you on maintaining your fleet and the smoke silver is a marmite colour but I like marmite. :-)
The car has carried us home, coming to rest on 376,000 miles precisely. But it was not a journey without adventure. We came via Fetlar, population 64, a very pleasant place to visit and I would think to stay. It was home to the eminent surgeon and bacteriologist Sir William Watson-Cheyne, hence our visit was a bit of a pilgrimage.
Tresta beach:
And down by Brough House pier:
On the ferry, a very well kept w126 300 SE parked up behind us.
At Aberdeen this morning I noticed the driver's side headlamp was askew. I figured someone had bashed it with a bag. Five minutes later, the indicator assembly fell out. Balls.
But worse was to come! As we hit the new Queensferry Bridge, the exhaust blew. I stopped on the Edinburgh bypass. The centre section had separated between the silencer and the pipe. A little aggro and it dropped. I discarded it behind the Shell garage at the Dreghorn services. There is nothing much wrong with the end section (Eberspächer, to boot), but I could neither separate it nor accommodate it in the car. A noisy journey back, but the car was as normal above 85.
Free to anyone willing to collect:
So that is a bit of a ball ache. New exhaust parts are hard to come by. I can get Eberspächer from Germany by the end of next week which leaves little time to prep for the Mercedes club w124 day on 16 September. I have the diesel leak to fix. And the indicator, which is the least of my worries. How far do I go with this car? My wife and I discussed chopping this estate and the silver saloon for a s210, but they just do not seem to exist anymore. Or a s211. But they are so dull and characterless. Or a Jap-import s124 E320? We concluded we'd just fix the one we have got. The new exhaust bits are sub-£300 delivered, so it is not the end of the world.
Tresta beach:
And down by Brough House pier:
On the ferry, a very well kept w126 300 SE parked up behind us.
At Aberdeen this morning I noticed the driver's side headlamp was askew. I figured someone had bashed it with a bag. Five minutes later, the indicator assembly fell out. Balls.
But worse was to come! As we hit the new Queensferry Bridge, the exhaust blew. I stopped on the Edinburgh bypass. The centre section had separated between the silencer and the pipe. A little aggro and it dropped. I discarded it behind the Shell garage at the Dreghorn services. There is nothing much wrong with the end section (Eberspächer, to boot), but I could neither separate it nor accommodate it in the car. A noisy journey back, but the car was as normal above 85.
Free to anyone willing to collect:
So that is a bit of a ball ache. New exhaust parts are hard to come by. I can get Eberspächer from Germany by the end of next week which leaves little time to prep for the Mercedes club w124 day on 16 September. I have the diesel leak to fix. And the indicator, which is the least of my worries. How far do I go with this car? My wife and I discussed chopping this estate and the silver saloon for a s210, but they just do not seem to exist anymore. Or a s211. But they are so dull and characterless. Or a Jap-import s124 E320? We concluded we'd just fix the one we have got. The new exhaust bits are sub-£300 delivered, so it is not the end of the world.
Very much my thoughts, dbdb. Also, whatever a new car would cost would go a hell of a long way in maintenance.
I have ordered the Eberspächer centre and rear exhaust sections at a cost of about £250. Not bad.
My diagnosis of the diesel smell was correct. This is a rare thing. Tonight, after the kids were abed, I could wait no longer and removed the inlet manifold cross over pipe and the rocker cover. This is the kind of job best done in the dark, with a bad back, by iPhone torch, on a gravel drive, rain threatening. It all went to plan and, sure enough, number six injector pot is full of diesel.
Here is the engine, disrobed:
Number six, full of diesel:
And one to three, dry-za-bone:
It is a lovely engine to work on, this om606, so easy to access and disassemble. Nice chunky nuts and bolts all round, no plastic clips anywhere to be seen.
I have ordered the Eberspächer centre and rear exhaust sections at a cost of about £250. Not bad.
My diagnosis of the diesel smell was correct. This is a rare thing. Tonight, after the kids were abed, I could wait no longer and removed the inlet manifold cross over pipe and the rocker cover. This is the kind of job best done in the dark, with a bad back, by iPhone torch, on a gravel drive, rain threatening. It all went to plan and, sure enough, number six injector pot is full of diesel.
Here is the engine, disrobed:
Number six, full of diesel:
And one to three, dry-za-bone:
It is a lovely engine to work on, this om606, so easy to access and disassemble. Nice chunky nuts and bolts all round, no plastic clips anywhere to be seen.
No news on the exhaust. It seems to be languishing in a DHL warehouse in Köln. The diesel leak parts and the indicator have arrived at MB Newcastle and I will be picking them up later sand doing that work tomorrow.
In the meantime, I found this nice picture of the 124 next to my chum's 211 crossing the Yell Sound on the deck of the Ulsta to Toft ferry:
And also a fun video of the journey across Yell. OK, probably not that fun.
https://vimeo.com/user7667320/review/288704357/3dc...
In the meantime, I found this nice picture of the 124 next to my chum's 211 crossing the Yell Sound on the deck of the Ulsta to Toft ferry:
And also a fun video of the journey across Yell. OK, probably not that fun.
https://vimeo.com/user7667320/review/288704357/3dc...
RoverP6B said:
Isn't the '211 E500 powered by the naturally-aspirated 5.5?
The 211 was 5.0L until the facelift which then saw a 5.5L introduced, under the 211 designation also. The 212 relates to the next iteration of the E Class which also carried the same 5.5L.Funnily enough, mine is registered 04, but built 03 and has the 7G transmission which is excellent.
I came extraordinarily close to replacing the124 with this fabulous 5.5litre E500 Elegance Estate but just couldn't bring myself to abandon my old friend:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Driving up to Berwick yesterday (to collect a new wheel for the 129 of all things), I noticed we seemed to be spewing out grey smoke. I pulled up and my 7 year old leapt out and straight away identified a leak from the engine compartment. It appeared a garden hose was running under there. Bizarrely one of the diesel pipes, the one that runs from the fuel filter housing back to the injection pump, had detached itself. I clipped it back on and it remains secure. I was almost on the phone about the E500. Still tempted.
What particularly pissed me off is that for the last tankful I have been driving sedately in order to see what economy I can get. I reckon we lost about two gallons. It went from just-less-than-half for less-the-quarter in about five miles. Upon refilling I calculated that I had still got 28mpg despite so much of it running into the road.
What I need to remember is that whereas the E300 diesel can be fixed at the side of the road with a couple of sticks and some chewing gum, the E500 will burn £50 notes every time the airmatic decides it wants the day off...
What particularly pissed me off is that for the last tankful I have been driving sedately in order to see what economy I can get. I reckon we lost about two gallons. It went from just-less-than-half for less-the-quarter in about five miles. Upon refilling I calculated that I had still got 28mpg despite so much of it running into the road.
What I need to remember is that whereas the E300 diesel can be fixed at the side of the road with a couple of sticks and some chewing gum, the E500 will burn £50 notes every time the airmatic decides it wants the day off...
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