Another old 124 Mercedes
Discussion
As it seems it's been at least 48 hours since an old nineties Merc was mentioned around here I thought it time to introduce my latest toy. It's a January '91 300E-24 valve auto resplendent in slightly lacquer peeled diamond blue metallic with blue leather.
I've actually owned it since July 2015 when it came in to my work place (I just happen to work for Mercedes) having issues with running once warm. From cold it drives fine but as soon as it's warm it dies and struggles to restart. Anyway, to cut a long story short I offered to settle the owners bill and take over ownership of the old girl. When the previous owner brought the V5 in he also had box file of all the history, every MOT from new, various bills and a fully stamped up service book until 2012 (all MB main dealer!) when she stopped being used regularly. Quick quote on Shiply and £60 got her transported from Cambridge to near home 25 miles away towed behind a Dodge Ram! Since then the only time I've driven her is a quick early morning dash to my local Mercedes independent whose yard she's been sat at since, luckily without a breakdown.
Hopefully things should start to progress now as the garage she will be going into will be free within the next month, so I plan to get her MOT'd and useable then home and into the nice warm garage! I've wanted a 6-cylinder 124 for a very long time now, and thought I'd better get one soon as they only seem to be going one way value wise. We also have a W201 190 so this is like it's bigger brother!
Short term I need to get the running issue sorted, MOT, big service with all fluids changed and I think it's in desperate need of engine mounts. I also think a new set of plates will freshen her up a bit, although I like her original S.M.A.C Continetal Southend plates she still wears after 25 years! Long term I'd like to get the paintwork sorted out as there's some lacquer peel on the roof and some minor rot on the front wings (surprise!), maybe fit Sportline springs and shocks, plus the slightly wider 15 hole alloys. I'm pretty certain it's also got the wrong springs on the front as it's sitting with it's nose in the air. The good news is that when I tried to insure her my insurance company requested an agreed value, which after seeing the photo's, sent me an agreed valuation of £2,000! So by using a bit of man maths I've got £1,800 to throw at her before I even make a loss, considering what it cost me in the first place!
Fingers crossed it'l be up and ready for the next Barge meeting!
Apologies for the awful pictures, there exactly as she arrived!
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![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/AZQ4eDOs.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/vAhotvPJ" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/vAhotvPJ.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/JoPj1tDf" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/JoPj1tDf.jpg)
I've actually owned it since July 2015 when it came in to my work place (I just happen to work for Mercedes) having issues with running once warm. From cold it drives fine but as soon as it's warm it dies and struggles to restart. Anyway, to cut a long story short I offered to settle the owners bill and take over ownership of the old girl. When the previous owner brought the V5 in he also had box file of all the history, every MOT from new, various bills and a fully stamped up service book until 2012 (all MB main dealer!) when she stopped being used regularly. Quick quote on Shiply and £60 got her transported from Cambridge to near home 25 miles away towed behind a Dodge Ram! Since then the only time I've driven her is a quick early morning dash to my local Mercedes independent whose yard she's been sat at since, luckily without a breakdown.
Hopefully things should start to progress now as the garage she will be going into will be free within the next month, so I plan to get her MOT'd and useable then home and into the nice warm garage! I've wanted a 6-cylinder 124 for a very long time now, and thought I'd better get one soon as they only seem to be going one way value wise. We also have a W201 190 so this is like it's bigger brother!
Short term I need to get the running issue sorted, MOT, big service with all fluids changed and I think it's in desperate need of engine mounts. I also think a new set of plates will freshen her up a bit, although I like her original S.M.A.C Continetal Southend plates she still wears after 25 years! Long term I'd like to get the paintwork sorted out as there's some lacquer peel on the roof and some minor rot on the front wings (surprise!), maybe fit Sportline springs and shocks, plus the slightly wider 15 hole alloys. I'm pretty certain it's also got the wrong springs on the front as it's sitting with it's nose in the air. The good news is that when I tried to insure her my insurance company requested an agreed value, which after seeing the photo's, sent me an agreed valuation of £2,000! So by using a bit of man maths I've got £1,800 to throw at her before I even make a loss, considering what it cost me in the first place!
Fingers crossed it'l be up and ready for the next Barge meeting!
Apologies for the awful pictures, there exactly as she arrived!
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harrykul said:
That looks good, with the right engine, and with a great sounding history too. Good purchase!
Best of luck with it. Bookmarked.
I wondered how long it would be before one of the 1-5 guys spotted this! Hopefully I'll remember to update this as I go!Best of luck with it. Bookmarked.
Edited by harrykul on Monday 28th March 15:38
bmthnick1981 said:
Very nice, warm running issue doesn't sound like it could be anything too serious.
And another! I believe the running issue is related to possibly a fuel issue, it's already had a new crank position sensor. Seems the worst thing you can do is leave them lying around for long periods!MOT passed! Initially failed on a non-working rear foglight, so not exactly the end of the world!
My Merc guy has now replaced all the fuses and the distributor cap and had her running sweetly for ages. However she broke down at the fuel station today and refused to start for a while, so is currently awaiting more fettling!
On the plus side it's apparently very good underneath, having recent brake pipes and springs, so at least it's worth sinking a few quid into.
My Merc guy has now replaced all the fuses and the distributor cap and had her running sweetly for ages. However she broke down at the fuel station today and refused to start for a while, so is currently awaiting more fettling!
On the plus side it's apparently very good underneath, having recent brake pipes and springs, so at least it's worth sinking a few quid into.
I love the colours and interior SilverStar. I'm also a H plate w124 4 door and 190 owner (and r129!) and they are great cars. I prefer the way the w124 drives to the others to be honest. They are great real world machines. I did a couple of hundred miles in mine today and will probably do another 500 over the weekend. It's also a bit rusty, but I've been through all the suspension and have sorted it.
Regular barge poster r129sl wrote the definite guide to what makes a real difference to the suspension on the w124 (and what's nice to have). I am sure I can find the link if this would be of interest to you?!
Regular barge poster r129sl wrote the definite guide to what makes a real difference to the suspension on the w124 (and what's nice to have). I am sure I can find the link if this would be of interest to you?!
Nice, the running issue sounds like something I had with mine. It's fine in regular use but if not used for 2-3 weeks it will start fine, run for a few miles then get a misfire whist revving and possibly cut out. I fitted a new dizzy cap as it was a mess but still get the problem, I now give the dizzy a good blast with a hairdryer if the car!s not been used for a while which cures any running issues.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
Bit of an update......
Collected her yesterday to give her a good clean inside and out, started first time, but then proceeded to die outside my house (less than a mile)! Anyway up early to give her the first clean since I've owned her. She's not come up to bad for the first go, although it has highlighted some areas that will need paintwork in the future.......
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/ZDD8tHND.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/zoOpwbHG" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/zoOpwbHG.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/bc5416tJ" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/bc5416tJ.jpg)
So after the clean I went to drop her back to my Indy, however she seemed to be running better, much smoother. The idle in P was still erratic, sometimes 900rpm, sometimes 1500rpm, but overall she seemed happier.
So I decided to risk a good run of about 50 miles and so far, so good. Idle is still a bit all over the place but she's running well. Pulls really well once you reach 3,500rpm which seems unnatural in a 124, being the normal lazy cruiser they are.
Tomorrow I'm off to Duxford for a classic auction and I think i'll be taking her, fingers crossed!
So far I'm loving 6-cylinder 124 ownership, along as it keeps going!
Collected her yesterday to give her a good clean inside and out, started first time, but then proceeded to die outside my house (less than a mile)! Anyway up early to give her the first clean since I've owned her. She's not come up to bad for the first go, although it has highlighted some areas that will need paintwork in the future.......
So after the clean I went to drop her back to my Indy, however she seemed to be running better, much smoother. The idle in P was still erratic, sometimes 900rpm, sometimes 1500rpm, but overall she seemed happier.
So I decided to risk a good run of about 50 miles and so far, so good. Idle is still a bit all over the place but she's running well. Pulls really well once you reach 3,500rpm which seems unnatural in a 124, being the normal lazy cruiser they are.
Tomorrow I'm off to Duxford for a classic auction and I think i'll be taking her, fingers crossed!
So far I'm loving 6-cylinder 124 ownership, along as it keeps going!
I wish I knew more about these cars (especially as I have one) but I thought the 300-24 was meant to be surprisingly revvy by compared to the later 320?
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Thats's what I keep hearing aswell. I keep expecting it to change by 3,500rpm but it doesn't, it just keeps pulling, 60-85 is actually quite impressive for such a bus!
Lovely car OP! 
I always fancied one of these since reading about the long-termer Autocar had back in the day, but theirs was a real rarity being a 300E-24 SportLine Manual!
When I do my Mum's shopping at her local Sainsburys there is an older fella (like me) that parks out the back of the car park (like me) in his 300CE-24. It's really tidy, but I don't know the colour - my best description would be a metallic with hints of mushroom, grey and violet which sounds gross, but it looks good in the flesh!
I hope you get it running properly - maybe frequent use would help.
Having been impressed by a W201 years ago (and seriously disappointed by the W202 that replaced it) maybe I should think about a W124 some time.....
ETA Shame I won't get to see it as I went to the viewing day at Duxford today!
I always fancied one of these since reading about the long-termer Autocar had back in the day, but theirs was a real rarity being a 300E-24 SportLine Manual!
When I do my Mum's shopping at her local Sainsburys there is an older fella (like me) that parks out the back of the car park (like me) in his 300CE-24. It's really tidy, but I don't know the colour - my best description would be a metallic with hints of mushroom, grey and violet which sounds gross, but it looks good in the flesh!
I hope you get it running properly - maybe frequent use would help.
Having been impressed by a W201 years ago (and seriously disappointed by the W202 that replaced it) maybe I should think about a W124 some time.....
ETA Shame I won't get to see it as I went to the viewing day at Duxford today!
Edited by Mr Tidy on Tuesday 19th April 23:27
Quick update.......
So far this week I've covered 250 miles, the most she's done in the last 4 years i believe! Idle is still erratic, occasionally ticking over in P at 2,000rpm, but dropping her into D so stops it. Vibrates a bit over 70 but thats sorting to look into.
Overall very happy!
So far this week I've covered 250 miles, the most she's done in the last 4 years i believe! Idle is still erratic, occasionally ticking over in P at 2,000rpm, but dropping her into D so stops it. Vibrates a bit over 70 but thats sorting to look into.
Overall very happy!
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