Titivating my other Mercedes 124
Discussion
A new chapter in one (already pretty sad) man's decline into lonely and impoverished middle age.
For some reason I am obsessed with Mercedes-Benz motor cars of the 1980s and 1990s: the w126, w201, w124, r129, w463 (there are more harmful obsessions, I know, I've had them, too). These cars represent peak car: what came before was undeveloped and inadequate and what came later was cheapened and vulgar. Apart from ESP and Bluetooth, pretty much nothing that came after the r129 is worth having. These cars have everything you need plus that which you really, really need: quality and longevity.
It dates back to 1992 when 16 year old me was one of five passengers in a borrowed w124 300 D that carried us to the Dordogne and then onto the French Alps for our first family holiday in eight years, a tedious shortage of family funds having precluded not only holidays but also ownership of anything other than a much-loved but truly rubbish Fiat Panda. The 300 D might as well have been a space ship. It was not fast, not in the slightest, but compared to my motoring experience up to that point, it could have been from another planet. It was so much better than any other car I'd known that it hardly seemed like a car at all. In particular, the interior architecture and ergonomics and build quality stood out.
I am nearly 46 now, and in the intervening years I have always driven what are now old Mercedes. We have a r129 which I have owned near two decades and which has carried me over 300,000 miles, mostly in excess of the speed limit. We have a s124 (that's an estate) which we have run for ten years now and which belies its 420,000 miles. My wife runs the Spartan, a bobby-basic 190 or w201, which epitomises the luxury of simplicity, being equipped with nothing more than an automatic transmission, ABS brakes and a long range fuel tank by way of extras: but what other extras do you really need? And we have the faintly ridiculous G350 CDI G-wagen which is every bit as good as it ought to be.
The r129 is increasingly too small for the four of us to ride in at once. I never warmed to the w210 E430 that is a really good car. And I lamented the sale of the 500 SEC eight years ago now. My favourite on the fleet is the s124 but it is not fast enough to be a personal car and it is a bit too utilitarian for taking people out for lunch in.
Which sort of explains how I came to buy a second 124 and fifth Mercedes, an E320 coupé. That and the colour scheme: green over tan. Or, more accurately, Malachite over Light Brown. What? Me? Fashion victim?
The car was offered for sale by a beef farmer in Somerset. He was ever so pleasant to deal with but had already made arrangements with JOB2.5-16 who swooped in to pip me to the post. But when Jack heard of my heartbreak at missing my chance he offered the car to me with a full account of its foibles at no profit to himself. And so its tenth owner owned it for two days.
What are the foibles? Well Jack replaced the alternator which had almost left him stranded en route from Somerset. That would have ruined my day, for sure, had it been me. What else?
Here it is on a trip to the curry house on Saturday:
Here is a rusty rear brake disk, this after approximately 500 miles in a week. Worryingly, the fronts were not much better.
I have dropped the wheels in to be refurbished in standard silver. £264. I have ordered this Continental stereo. £105. I couldn't justify the lovely Blaupunkt job at three times the price. It has Bluetooth for tunes and talking which is all I need. The speakers sound pretty good, although the current set only has a tape deck and I only have one Rod Stewart tape and the fader and balance buttons only work in one direction so it is all coming out of the passenger side front.
I have gone nuts at Autodoc, copping the Monday big discount plus an extra 1per cent coupon for discs, pads and accessories all round, shocks (Sachs) all round, front shock top mounts, rear subframe bushes and rear suspension links (Lemförder). Total for that lot was £580 including some filters for servicing. My local man should fit it all for about £400 (I don't know how he does it, either). I have in the basket with a finger hovering over the buy button steering links, front suspension arms and engine mounts but that's another £600 and I have to draw the line somewhere.
I have various bits of trim on order from the main dealer plus a lock set. I just can't be arsed having two different keys and no spares. The total cost of a lock set is £330 but it means all the locks are new and all are coded to the car and I will have a complete set of matching keys.
Watch this space. (Unless you have a life.)
Edit: this is a second attempt as I forgot to tick the box marked "Receive notification of replies". Apologies to Northbrook.
For some reason I am obsessed with Mercedes-Benz motor cars of the 1980s and 1990s: the w126, w201, w124, r129, w463 (there are more harmful obsessions, I know, I've had them, too). These cars represent peak car: what came before was undeveloped and inadequate and what came later was cheapened and vulgar. Apart from ESP and Bluetooth, pretty much nothing that came after the r129 is worth having. These cars have everything you need plus that which you really, really need: quality and longevity.
It dates back to 1992 when 16 year old me was one of five passengers in a borrowed w124 300 D that carried us to the Dordogne and then onto the French Alps for our first family holiday in eight years, a tedious shortage of family funds having precluded not only holidays but also ownership of anything other than a much-loved but truly rubbish Fiat Panda. The 300 D might as well have been a space ship. It was not fast, not in the slightest, but compared to my motoring experience up to that point, it could have been from another planet. It was so much better than any other car I'd known that it hardly seemed like a car at all. In particular, the interior architecture and ergonomics and build quality stood out.
I am nearly 46 now, and in the intervening years I have always driven what are now old Mercedes. We have a r129 which I have owned near two decades and which has carried me over 300,000 miles, mostly in excess of the speed limit. We have a s124 (that's an estate) which we have run for ten years now and which belies its 420,000 miles. My wife runs the Spartan, a bobby-basic 190 or w201, which epitomises the luxury of simplicity, being equipped with nothing more than an automatic transmission, ABS brakes and a long range fuel tank by way of extras: but what other extras do you really need? And we have the faintly ridiculous G350 CDI G-wagen which is every bit as good as it ought to be.
The r129 is increasingly too small for the four of us to ride in at once. I never warmed to the w210 E430 that is a really good car. And I lamented the sale of the 500 SEC eight years ago now. My favourite on the fleet is the s124 but it is not fast enough to be a personal car and it is a bit too utilitarian for taking people out for lunch in.
Which sort of explains how I came to buy a second 124 and fifth Mercedes, an E320 coupé. That and the colour scheme: green over tan. Or, more accurately, Malachite over Light Brown. What? Me? Fashion victim?
The car was offered for sale by a beef farmer in Somerset. He was ever so pleasant to deal with but had already made arrangements with JOB2.5-16 who swooped in to pip me to the post. But when Jack heard of my heartbreak at missing my chance he offered the car to me with a full account of its foibles at no profit to himself. And so its tenth owner owned it for two days.
What are the foibles? Well Jack replaced the alternator which had almost left him stranded en route from Somerset. That would have ruined my day, for sure, had it been me. What else?
- It has Diavia aftermarket air conditioning which I suspect does not work. The heater meanwhile is either all on or all off with nothing in between. If anyone can offer any input on these two issues, it would be welcomed. The air distribution control did not work but I dismantled the controls and found the cables had become detached from he switch.
- The exhaust rattles around a fair bit under the car, I suspect missing a 61p rubber buffer between back box and body.
- It has two different keys, neither of which is original and neither of which operates the passenger door or the central storage box, I suspect the ignition barrel is aftermarket and the driver's door and boot locks are from a scrapper.
- The interior has been "chimped". The door cars could do with rehanging (perhaps with some felt to keep the rattles down) and the electric seat switches need rebuilding with some new bits. (For the next man: these are miles cheaper at the main dealer than anywhere else, those little head rest buttons that they ask £20 for on eBay are only £2 at the main dealer.) The seats curiously are missing those little velours-covered panels that go between the seat and the centre console.
- The original (dealer fit) Blaupunkt Casablanca CM62 barely works.
- Lack of use means the hardly used brakes are knackered. The discs are seriously rusty all round despite being unworn. Braking down from high speed is nasty.
- I suspect the suspension is worn. It's fine at normal speeds but it wanders in crosswinds and is a bit vague and discombobulated when really pressing on.
- The alloys are a bit grim. They are grey on one side and silver on the other and all of them are rotten.
Here it is on a trip to the curry house on Saturday:
Here is a rusty rear brake disk, this after approximately 500 miles in a week. Worryingly, the fronts were not much better.
I have dropped the wheels in to be refurbished in standard silver. £264. I have ordered this Continental stereo. £105. I couldn't justify the lovely Blaupunkt job at three times the price. It has Bluetooth for tunes and talking which is all I need. The speakers sound pretty good, although the current set only has a tape deck and I only have one Rod Stewart tape and the fader and balance buttons only work in one direction so it is all coming out of the passenger side front.
I have gone nuts at Autodoc, copping the Monday big discount plus an extra 1per cent coupon for discs, pads and accessories all round, shocks (Sachs) all round, front shock top mounts, rear subframe bushes and rear suspension links (Lemförder). Total for that lot was £580 including some filters for servicing. My local man should fit it all for about £400 (I don't know how he does it, either). I have in the basket with a finger hovering over the buy button steering links, front suspension arms and engine mounts but that's another £600 and I have to draw the line somewhere.
I have various bits of trim on order from the main dealer plus a lock set. I just can't be arsed having two different keys and no spares. The total cost of a lock set is £330 but it means all the locks are new and all are coded to the car and I will have a complete set of matching keys.
Watch this space. (Unless you have a life.)
Edit: this is a second attempt as I forgot to tick the box marked "Receive notification of replies". Apologies to Northbrook.
In danger of being boring by repeating myself, but a fabulous purchase!
Sounds like the titivation of suspension and brakes will be more than worthwhile, there's something very satisfying about replacing all the brake materials on a car and having it stop exactly as it should. It's become my first job on any new car acquisition, as it also tells a story about maintenance.
Sounds like the titivation of suspension and brakes will be more than worthwhile, there's something very satisfying about replacing all the brake materials on a car and having it stop exactly as it should. It's become my first job on any new car acquisition, as it also tells a story about maintenance.
It's a bit sad because the discs and pads have all been replaced in the last two years but, so far as I can tell, the car has been driven about 150 mies in that time.
For comparison purposes (to answer Northbrook's question in my first attempt at this thread) I took the E300 diesel T on the school run this morning. Boy one and I concluded that the suspension is much quieter and more controlled on the estate car and the braking is crisper. This all simply points to worn out rubber, tired shocks and rusty, out-of-condition brakes. While I am loathe to spend too much money, I think on Monday (when the Autodoc discount is at its height) I will spring for new front lower control arms (£300 for a pair) and new steering links, as well as engine and transmission mounts.
We also observed that the driveline of the E320 is smoother and quieter by far. It is almost silent in the cruise, whereas the E300 can be dinful above 80. I am surprised by how high revving the E320 is. While it is not geared as high as the diesel, it is still over 3,000rpm at 70mph. What this means is it only takes a slight flex of the right foot to add meaningful speed. The seating position in the coupé is much lower than in the wagon; frankly the coupé is not as comfortable as the wagon, the Recaro-manufactured sportline seats of the latter being really very, very good (their innards are not 420,000 miles old but more like 100,000).
Here is a gnarly looking front shock top mount. I don't think this is original but it doesn't look great. That definitely-not-original fuse and fuse holder I expect is something to do with the Diavia air con.
And for the engine bay fetishists out there, this is what a proper engine looks like:
For comparison purposes (to answer Northbrook's question in my first attempt at this thread) I took the E300 diesel T on the school run this morning. Boy one and I concluded that the suspension is much quieter and more controlled on the estate car and the braking is crisper. This all simply points to worn out rubber, tired shocks and rusty, out-of-condition brakes. While I am loathe to spend too much money, I think on Monday (when the Autodoc discount is at its height) I will spring for new front lower control arms (£300 for a pair) and new steering links, as well as engine and transmission mounts.
We also observed that the driveline of the E320 is smoother and quieter by far. It is almost silent in the cruise, whereas the E300 can be dinful above 80. I am surprised by how high revving the E320 is. While it is not geared as high as the diesel, it is still over 3,000rpm at 70mph. What this means is it only takes a slight flex of the right foot to add meaningful speed. The seating position in the coupé is much lower than in the wagon; frankly the coupé is not as comfortable as the wagon, the Recaro-manufactured sportline seats of the latter being really very, very good (their innards are not 420,000 miles old but more like 100,000).
Here is a gnarly looking front shock top mount. I don't think this is original but it doesn't look great. That definitely-not-original fuse and fuse holder I expect is something to do with the Diavia air con.
And for the engine bay fetishists out there, this is what a proper engine looks like:
I have been awaiting the commencement of this thread with baited breath. It was only right for that car to find its home with r129sl, if only he'd called before I made the trip to Somerset it would have saved me the breakdown!
We ended up swapping the dead battery from the E320 C with the good one from my E300 Diesel in order to limp us home. Being an old Mercedes Diesel and therefore the undisputed greatest vehicle in the history of human kind (this thread feels like a safe space to make that bold statement) can run itself and all of its ancillaries with no battery at all. Other than one electric shock and being unable to use the seat heater in the green car, we made good progress.
Aside from the colours, which are off the friggin chart cool, the highlight is without doubt that powertrain. I have an SL320 which admittedly I haven't had chance to drive much yet, but I wouldn't consider it an especially brisk car. This however, well it's not modern car fast but it feels absolutely superb during full throttle slip road accelerations. Good noise too.
I will keep my eye out for progress updates.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
We ended up swapping the dead battery from the E320 C with the good one from my E300 Diesel in order to limp us home. Being an old Mercedes Diesel and therefore the undisputed greatest vehicle in the history of human kind (this thread feels like a safe space to make that bold statement) can run itself and all of its ancillaries with no battery at all. Other than one electric shock and being unable to use the seat heater in the green car, we made good progress.
Aside from the colours, which are off the friggin chart cool, the highlight is without doubt that powertrain. I have an SL320 which admittedly I haven't had chance to drive much yet, but I wouldn't consider it an especially brisk car. This however, well it's not modern car fast but it feels absolutely superb during full throttle slip road accelerations. Good noise too.
I will keep my eye out for progress updates.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrWhat is the condition of the engine looms and throttle body wiring? They were all crispy and crumbly in my similar age cabriolet. The top loom replacement and throttle body rewire each brought an improvement in running, so from your description of running they may have already been done.
I have used the same radio - one advantage is it’s the only model in the range that dims its illumination, although the contrast full to dim is nowhere near as stark as it is in the dash lights.
I have used the same radio - one advantage is it’s the only model in the range that dims its illumination, although the contrast full to dim is nowhere near as stark as it is in the dash lights.
Stegel said:
What is the condition of the engine looms and throttle body wiring? They were all crispy and crumbly in my similar age cabriolet. The top loom replacement and throttle body rewire each brought an improvement in running, so from your description of running they may have already been done.
I need to check but I think the looms have been done.I'll snap some evocative interior shots when I have a chance. In the meantime, here are two from JOB:
r129sl said:
I need to check but I think the looms have been done.
I'll snap some evocative interior shots when I have a chance. In the meantime, here are two from JOB:
Oh dear, now I fear that I’m going to be browsing for a W124CE as well as my W201…but I have neither the space or the budget (so my wife tells me). Seriously, lovely colour combination and I can recommend that Continental radio which sounds better than it’s price would indicate and it particularly good when streaming from Amazon music in the iPhone. Looking forward to update and a suitable gratuitous companion photo with the rest of the R129 SL fleet. I'll snap some evocative interior shots when I have a chance. In the meantime, here are two from JOB:
I did not hold out very long on the not-buying-any-more-parts front. Parts in Motion were offering a further 20% off their already pretty competitive prices on eBay; the offer was limited to a maximum of £75 off, i.e. a basket worth £375, but I guessed correctly that if I split my basket in two I would get the offer across the lot. Their delivery is also a lot quicker than AutoDoc. I found everything I needed there apart from a steering centre drag link and a right lower control arm which two I ordered from AutoDoc anyway. The car is booked into the mender's in a fortnight so hopefully these two items will arrive in time. Total spend was sub-£500. And I get the VAT back in due course.
That covered the following:
Lower control arms x 2
Control arm bolt kit
Front anti-roll bar bush kit
Engine mounts x 2
Transmission mount
Fan clutch (I think it is stuck on all the time)
Steering centre drag link
Steering tie rods x 2
Wiper motor (it is a bit slow)
Everything is Febi, not genuine Mercedes, but on previous experience the quality looks good enough to me and the Merc price would be at least three times more. The Parts in Motion prices are extraordinarily cheap. The discount code is "LOVE20OFF". Who wouldn't? So I think for approximately £1,050 plus the labour (about £500), this car will have a whole new under carriage, all brakes, all suspension, all mounting bushes, engine and transmission mounts, the lot. It'll need a full alignment (about £150). And then it should drive perfectly.
That covered the following:
Lower control arms x 2
Control arm bolt kit
Front anti-roll bar bush kit
Engine mounts x 2
Transmission mount
Fan clutch (I think it is stuck on all the time)
Steering centre drag link
Steering tie rods x 2
Wiper motor (it is a bit slow)
Everything is Febi, not genuine Mercedes, but on previous experience the quality looks good enough to me and the Merc price would be at least three times more. The Parts in Motion prices are extraordinarily cheap. The discount code is "LOVE20OFF". Who wouldn't? So I think for approximately £1,050 plus the labour (about £500), this car will have a whole new under carriage, all brakes, all suspension, all mounting bushes, engine and transmission mounts, the lot. It'll need a full alignment (about £150). And then it should drive perfectly.
Edited by r129sl on Thursday 3rd February 10:52
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