Another W124 Mercedes
Discussion
Seeing as there seems to be some love on here for the W124 Mercedes I thought I´d add mine into the mix.
An E280 came up for sale near to me so I toddled off to have a look. I think most people would have run a mile. The seller was from the travelling community and had taken as P/EX against something else. It was sitting on fake SLR 18” rims and was filthy. However, it was almost entirely rust free – 1 little scab on the bottom of the tailgate, and engine loom was newish. It started on the button but had a horrendous misfire under load and what I assumed to be a bad ride on the hideous wheels. Run away? HG on its way out? Not a chance – I like to gamble.
Some serious negotiation ensued over the next 2 weeks and we eventually settled on €700.
Not my desired spec - especially the doom blue exterior. However, it has leather which was virtually unmarked, an uncracked dash top (rare in hot countries), AC and somewhat oddly ASD. This option is very rare and consists of a hydraulically locking rear diff which is driven off the SLS pump. This makes wet roundabouts lots of fun! The diffs are highly prized by drifters as you can vary the amount of lock by line pressure. They can take lots of power too.
More updates to follow - there are quite a few
An E280 came up for sale near to me so I toddled off to have a look. I think most people would have run a mile. The seller was from the travelling community and had taken as P/EX against something else. It was sitting on fake SLR 18” rims and was filthy. However, it was almost entirely rust free – 1 little scab on the bottom of the tailgate, and engine loom was newish. It started on the button but had a horrendous misfire under load and what I assumed to be a bad ride on the hideous wheels. Run away? HG on its way out? Not a chance – I like to gamble.
Some serious negotiation ensued over the next 2 weeks and we eventually settled on €700.
Not my desired spec - especially the doom blue exterior. However, it has leather which was virtually unmarked, an uncracked dash top (rare in hot countries), AC and somewhat oddly ASD. This option is very rare and consists of a hydraulically locking rear diff which is driven off the SLS pump. This makes wet roundabouts lots of fun! The diffs are highly prized by drifters as you can vary the amount of lock by line pressure. They can take lots of power too.
More updates to follow - there are quite a few
Edited by magno on Friday 17th November 10:09
I don´t have any photos of the car as I bought it unfortunately. I daren´t post them up here if I had any though!
The only visible sign of rust.
Spanish parking isn´t a delicate undertaking.
Anyway, a secondhand set of OE 15” wheels were sourced and fitted with new Goodyear tyres. The ride was still sh*t. Ah, the suspension accumulators. Apparently a pig of a job on UK cars as most of the hydraulic pipes are rusted and the nipples seized. Fortunately, as some of you may have noticed, my car is from Spain and was like new underneath. So a Saturday morning was spent on this job, including renewal of the hydraulic fluid, and the ride was restored to the usual 124 suppleness.
All good but what about the misfire? 3 x coils (these engines use 1 coil for 2 plugs), 6 x sparkplugs resolved this. It was still running rich however, so much so you could smell it. Fault codes were read and cleared. A new water temp sensor, MAF, Lambda and fuel pressure reg were fitted together with an air filter. I used all genuine Bosch items as I´m sick of inferior stuff that never really works properly and lasts maybe 6 months. This improved the overall running and power was restored. It passed the very scientific sniffing the tailpipe test. So, it was running well and the ride was nice.
We´re not done yet however.
The only visible sign of rust.
Spanish parking isn´t a delicate undertaking.
Anyway, a secondhand set of OE 15” wheels were sourced and fitted with new Goodyear tyres. The ride was still sh*t. Ah, the suspension accumulators. Apparently a pig of a job on UK cars as most of the hydraulic pipes are rusted and the nipples seized. Fortunately, as some of you may have noticed, my car is from Spain and was like new underneath. So a Saturday morning was spent on this job, including renewal of the hydraulic fluid, and the ride was restored to the usual 124 suppleness.
All good but what about the misfire? 3 x coils (these engines use 1 coil for 2 plugs), 6 x sparkplugs resolved this. It was still running rich however, so much so you could smell it. Fault codes were read and cleared. A new water temp sensor, MAF, Lambda and fuel pressure reg were fitted together with an air filter. I used all genuine Bosch items as I´m sick of inferior stuff that never really works properly and lasts maybe 6 months. This improved the overall running and power was restored. It passed the very scientific sniffing the tailpipe test. So, it was running well and the ride was nice.
We´re not done yet however.
.
The list of jobs continues to grow following the last round of works:
Replace combination switch as dipped beam works when it wants. Flicking the stalk about does make the lights work eventually.
Order a new aux belt tensioner rod as some muppet has been in there before me and stripped the threads.
Attend to the usual M104 timing cover oil leak (really looking forward to that one)
Work out which wheelarch liners are missing and order some replacements - it looks like the area in front of both front wheels should have some sort of liner to stop muck getting up behind the headlights but I haven´t checked on another vehicle yet.
Replace the busted electric aerial.
Replace combination switch as dipped beam works when it wants. Flicking the stalk about does make the lights work eventually.
Order a new aux belt tensioner rod as some muppet has been in there before me and stripped the threads.
Attend to the usual M104 timing cover oil leak (really looking forward to that one)
Work out which wheelarch liners are missing and order some replacements - it looks like the area in front of both front wheels should have some sort of liner to stop muck getting up behind the headlights but I haven´t checked on another vehicle yet.
Replace the busted electric aerial.
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