Just bought a W124 - what should I know?

[tomtom]

I bought a '93 280E tonight; seemed tidy enough and drove very well.

Any essential modifications/improvements that I should make straight away or is it just a case of sitting back and letting it rack up the miles?

[r129sl]

Change the fluids and filters, especially autobox and power steering. Remove any non-stock items and replace with original equipment. Keep an eye on the head gasket for leaks. use MB service parts and consumables: they are not expensive and make a difference.

Then drive and drive and drive: a 6-cylinder w124 is about the best daily driver ever made.

[tomtom]

Are the auto boxes not sealed for life like my old E39 BMW then? (It's done 86k by the way)

Want to give it an oil change this weekend but hadn't considered the others.

Edited by tomtom on Monday 19th October 12:28

[74merc]

Chances are you have the older 4 speed autobox - you can tell by looking at the mode selector switch. S/E - 4 speed, S/W - 5 speed. The 4 speed is more reliable but not as smooth. Clean all the gunk from around the arches and the jacking holes.

[bolide]

Job #1 is to check the front balljoints. They're £13 each from Mercedes and you don't want them failing. Only someone who knows what they're doing can tell if they're worn or not

1. 2 is to replace the front ARB Bushes - four of them at about £5 each. They make the car a lot more civilised

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

[tomtom]

Ta

[Chord_]

tomtom said:

Are the auto boxes not sealed for life like my old E39 BMW then? (It's done 86k by the way)

Want to give it an oil change this weekend but hadn't considered the others.

Edited by tomtom on Monday 19th October 12:28

No such thing as sealed for life! It was done for economic reasons by BMW and Merc.

[tuscan_al]

bolide said:

Job #1 is to check the front balljoints. They're £13 each from Mercedes and you don't want them failing. Only someone who knows what they're doing can tell if they're worn or not

1. 2 is to replace the front ARB Bushes - four of them at about £5 each. They make the car a lot more civilised

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

I think my ball joints need doing on my 300ce, but it has the sportsline suspension, am I right in thinking its a whole lower wishbone unit for this?

[tomtom]

Chord_ said:

No such thing as sealed for life! It was done for economic reasons by BMW and Merc.

There were two schools of thought in the E39 camp. Some just leave it, some change it (against BMW's recommendation). Both seem to have a similar failure rate .

[Chord_]

tomtom said:

Chord_ said:

No such thing as sealed for life! It was done for economic reasons by BMW and Merc.

There were two schools of thought in the E39 camp. Some just leave it, some change it (against BMW's recommendation). Both seem to have a similar failure rate .

Which makes it all the more confusing! From what I could gather the car makers were more interested in keeping the 3 year costs down to make the cars more attractive to the fleet car market.

After 3-5 years the car would be out of warranty so more money for their servicing departments, but maybe I'm just a cynic

[Egbert Nobacon]

tuscan_al said:

bolide said:

Job #1 is to check the front balljoints. They're £13 each from Mercedes and you don't want them failing. Only someone who knows what they're doing can tell if they're worn or not

1. 2 is to replace the front ARB Bushes - four of them at about £5 each. They make the car a lot more civilised

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

I think my ball joints need doing on my 300ce, but it has the sportsline suspension, am I right in thinking its a whole lower wishbone unit for this?

Yes, afraid so.