Titivating my Mercedes 124

[r129sl]

bolidemichael said:

Any self-deprecating reference to your wildly successful younger brother should hitherto be accompanied by a photo - take your pick:

a) his chartered private jet
b) or helicopter
c) the latest leased McLaren
d) his girlfriend in her leased McLaren
e) another girlfriend attracted by his mercurial brilliance, keen to capture d)'s McLaren

In fairness to PR, the Mclarens were purchased cash and the wife has been with him since he had nothing, indeed, less than nothing. His is actually a heartening tale. Everyone charters the jet, though. And nobody with an ounce of common sense goes near a chopper.

[r129sl]

Petrolism said:

Stuff

Thank you for this! I would love to hear (and see) more, especially about the audio system.

[r129sl]

[r129sl]

[r129sl]

It was in good shape when I put it on, documented somewhere in this thread way back in early 2015, but it has had a pounding over the last 150,000km. We're up to approximately 653,000km. The next landmark, 750k, is not so far away now.

[r129sl]

I've got the bug for this car again. I have added new front calipers (ATE), parking brake shoes (Brembo), a new poly-v belt (Continental) and a belt damper (Stabilus) to my shopping list at Autodoc. Rear calipers were just too expensive, though I might check Euro and Euro-by-another-name CarParts4Less. And I am starting to plan the next body work renovation.

Unfortunately my domestic oil tank split last week and I had to spring £3k on a new one at short notice so the car budget has a nasty hole in it. (Top tip: you can temporarily plug a leaking oil tank by stuffing soap into the hole: kept it dry for a week.)

[r129sl]

Rear end shouldn't cost you too much.

I am pretty confident I could do it all myself but it would take a whole day, possibly more, so I may just consign it to the Man.

We're all dismal failures in this life. Especially me. Sob, sob.

[r129sl]

The story is told here!

The fleet this evening. I cleaned them all up last night, got it down to 40 minutes for all four.

[r129sl]

406,000
288,000
183,000
63,000
___

910,000


I need a w126 500 SE.

And a 986 Boxster 2.7.

[r129sl]

rjg48 said:

Rear number plate bulbs gone. 1 spare I thought I had is too big and almost impossible to read what type of bulb they should be.

Any ideas? I think they are Osram.

1990 Coupe.

Sorry I missed this. They are festoon bulbs. Pretty universal, I think, type C5W or 239.

[r129sl]

No pictures, I am afraid, but a lot of work. All new brakes all round: pipes, flexis, calipers, discs, pads and, of course, fluid. What else? New poly-v belt and belt damper, a precaution after the r129's shredded itself; the damper must have been needed because there is a lot less clatter at start up. As well as the usual oil, oil filter and fuel filter, I replaced the minging air filter (this after a mere 16,000 miles). I also have a fuel pre-filter to go in. The cost of all this was sub-£500. The car is on 409,000miles and the brakes have not been overhauled since 250,000.

New winter tyres should arrive this week. That ought to make the car fit for a while. The bodywork is starting to show its age again. When funds allow there will be a trip to the Man.

[r129sl]

Northbrook said:

Having read the whole thread a few times, the pace of updates in the real world surprises me. But, then, I've posted more updates in fewer miles, considering this car has done 20,000 miles since last July.

Nice to see it's still getting good use!

Quick question please: what's the part number for the 'hand'brake pedal pad.

Thank you, sir.

Is the pace too slow or too fast? TBH, I have less and less time these days, less time for cars and less time for writing up my time with cars. I have a year old stack of unfiled car invoices and papers, for example: I used to be so meticulous about that sort of thing.

Anyway, parking brake pedal rubber is A 124 427 03 82. Available on eBay for £6.50 I have it in mind they are about £1 at the dealer.

[r129sl]

Time for the winter wheels and tyres... Some of them are new. I like these TS830s because they are not directional, so when the inevitable puncture comes along, the spare fits instead of inevitably being the wrong way around.



The job took me about 20mins, I am getting good at it! It also offered a chance to inspect the new brakes, discs, pads, calipers, hoses all round:

Edited by r129sl on Saturday 21st November 20:16

[r129sl]

I cannot shed any light here but have the following observations. The wiring through the hinge does not seem to be a common cause of problems; I cannot remember it coming up much in the various places where these cars are discussed. There is an earth to the bootlid; the heated rear window definitely earths to the lid and it may be that other things do, too. I can't help but suspect in your case something loose in the motor, such that when the boot is down a short occurs. It is relatively easy to strip the trim off the boot lid and the inside of the boot although I assume you have already done this.

[r129sl]

Yes, I always find everything is much clearer after having it off.

[r129sl]

Decent pressure washer with long hose.

5L plant sprayer with Bilt Hamber Surfex HD mixed 1:6.

1L spray bottle with Auto Finesse Iron Out neat.

Spray down all wheels with the Iron Out.

Set up pressure washer.

Spray down all cars with Surfex HD.

Pressure wash wheels.

Pressure wash cars.

Dry with silicone blade thing.

Dry with huge Auto Finesse green towel cloth.

Put everything away.

I'm always puffed out by the end but I do work very quickly, especially when drying. It helps if the cars are well waxed. Bilt Hamber Surfex HD is amazing. No need for bucket and sponge.

[r129sl]

At the risk of coming over all crazy car detailer, I put a couple of coats of Auto Finesse Mint Rims on my wheels and they come clean very readily, especially if done once a week.

[r129sl]

If you can cope with LHD, I image the 400 E or E420 is the perfect saloon car. Plenty of go by any standard (who really needs 600bhp?) and plenty of refinement, too. All in the perfect w124 package. I spent last night browsing mobile.de looking for a nice 400 E but there is not much on the market right now.

It is quite alarming that the standard tyre on the 400 E (with 275bhp) was 195/65 R 15.

[r129sl]

They've gone up in price rather with the Covid effect. This Spanish one (I mean, it is in Spain, not it has a manual transmission) looks rather spifferoo. Also, being Spanish, presumably there is less rust. Spot the dodgy armrest and wrong-size tyres, though.

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id...

[r129sl]

Cons:

• Speedo will under read.
• Acceleration will be (even) slower.
• In theory it may struggle up hill when very, very heavily laden or towing (although I suspect that in practice not, because third will run to 85).

Pros:

• Slightly better mpg.
• Better refinement at speed (because lower rpm).
• No worn-out diff noise.

I have pondered this a lot because I think my car's diff is worn and because I like to run at 90 to 100mph. The main thing that has held me back (apart from chronic shortage of time) is the speedo error. I would want to get a speedo from an E300 diesel saloon, have it overhauled and have the mileage corrected (in my case that means adding 300k).