wiring loom & head gasket on W124 4cyls?

[mccrackenj]

Hi chaps

since it's been ages since I asked a question on here,I thought it was time for another.

The wiring loom and head gasket problems on post-facelift W124 24 valve engines are well known - but what about the 16V 2.0s and 2.2s? Are they suspect too?

[r129sl]

Yes, but they don't suffer as much because the under bonnet temperatures tend to be lower on the four cylinders. I had to put a new loom in my diesel recently, it was in a pretty shocking state with serious disintegration of the insulation around the glow plugs.

[mccrackenj]

Thanks for that Jonathan, I knew I could trust you to reply.

As you can gather I've been missing having a W124 in the fleet so going to look at one on Saturday. I need it like I need a hole in the head but can't help myself.

cheers

Edited by mccrackenj on Friday 24th January 20:35

[r129sl]

I wouldn't be without one: they're the best cars ever made.

[220te]

Mine went on my 220, My local indy who I trust replaced the damaged bits cheaply and it has been fine ever since.So in answer to your question....yes they do go on the 4 cylinder cars.W124's do get under your skin though, would I be without one in my life......no way!

[mccrackenj]

Why did I ever sell the last one, and the one before that, and the once before that, and the one before that?

I never effin' learn!

[harry kular]

Good luck with the purchase John.

How's the SEC repair going? Please keep us updated.

All the best.

[mccrackenj]

Hi Harry

Well, I bought it. It's a 1996 E220T in brilliant silver with grey cloth, walnut and non-functioning aircon & cruise and steel wheels. 125,000 miles.

Very good condition inside but a bit scruffy outside. Reasonably solid, 2 rear jacking points will need attention, fronts are OK Rear window bottoms fine, one front wing fine the other just starting to go but probably salvageble. Large shallow dent on passenger rear door and a few other scuffs on the Sacco panels and marks on all 4 corners. Biggest issue externally is that the rear bumper has a corner of the insert missing and the other corner badly cracked - but a spare complete bumper is included, just needs painted to match.

No tax or MOT but vendor will get a fresh MOT before collection. I specifically didn't want one that was too good as it will live on the street and I've had enough of the mad woman who keys all my cars, so I wanted something basically sound and nice inside but scruffy externally. All in all I'm happy for £850.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C467300

Re the C126. Well, it is now running but a few more issues to sort - the starter motor isn't quite 'catching' properly. Whether that's a problem with the starter itself or a result if the 2 engines not being identical I don't know, but that'll be sorted. Also an issue with the heater fans & aircon that has to be investigated. I'll ring again next week and se where we are. I've almost forgotten what it looks like, considering I bought it on 4 Sept and it's been in the workshop since about Sept 9th or so.

Slowly but surely. . .

Edited by mccrackenj on Saturday 25th January 16:36

[r129sl]

Nice. Is it brilliant silver? Looks good on the 124 anyway. Obviously you did a little bit of haggling.

[mccrackenj]

r129sl said:

Nice. Is it brilliant silver? Looks good on the 124 anyway. Obviously you did a little bit of haggling.

Yes, Brilliant Silver.

You couldn't really call it haggling to be honest. The price had been reduced from £995 to £895 anyway and when I saw that the car was basically OK but, more importantly, that there was a replacement rear bumper thrown in (which wasn't mentioned in the ad), I thought £895 was fair enough.

So I offered £850 and we shook hands. In the end it looked like a basically decent car from a decent seller, so any hard haggling was unseemly.

[r129sl]

A steal, I'd say.