Titivating my Mercedes 124
Discussion
Zeebrugge (for overnighter to Hull). It's about 650 miles, taking the longer but faster and more pleasurable A41-A4-A39 route. We'll stop over night in Vézelay as usual, making for two very leisurely days. Once upon a time I schlepped home via Calais in a day, 996 miles, but it was a long day. I'd take the overnight ferry any day over the Eurotunnel: it is very civilised in comparison. Plus there is the not inconsiderable added advantage of avoiding the south east of England.
Westbound: https://vimeo.com/330316475
Shiny star. Good run today. Passed some French cops doing 100+ today but they weren’t interested thankfully.
Shiny star. Good run today. Passed some French cops doing 100+ today but they weren’t interested thankfully.
r129sl said:
Westbound: https://vimeo.com/330316475
Is this on the A40? I drove this on a quiet Sunday morning last year whilst listening to the Abu Dhabi F1 coverage on BBC iPlayer radio. It's a wonderfully engineered autoroute and when misty feels ever so ethereal.
[quote=r129sl]We stopped at Reims-Gueux again on the return journey. The 124 is a great touring car. There’s nothing I’d rather be in. 27.7mpg despite cruising at a genuine 95.
[\quote]
Impressive with a roofbox! Did the Zeebrugge to Nyon run just after Christmas (also with roofbox, cruising 85-90). Only managed 38mpg in a 2014 S205 4 pot... 6h40 plus nappy changes 😳
[\quote]
Impressive with a roofbox! Did the Zeebrugge to Nyon run just after Christmas (also with roofbox, cruising 85-90). Only managed 38mpg in a 2014 S205 4 pot... 6h40 plus nappy changes 😳
r129sl said:
We stopped at Reims-Gueux again on the return journey. The 124 is a great touring car. There’s nothing I’d rather be in. 27.7mpg despite cruising at a genuine 95.
Presently waiting at a very sunny Zeebrugge:
Some fantastic images there r129sl, and throughout this thread actually, do you mind telling me what camera you use to capture them? I'm in the market for a new one Presently waiting at a very sunny Zeebrugge:
TVR-Stu said:
Some fantastic images there r129sl, and throughout this thread actually, do you mind telling me what camera you use to capture them? I'm in the market for a new one
iPhone 8! I used to use a Canon G16 but got out of the habit of carrying it around; also uploading stuff became tedious in this instant gratification life.
r129sl said:
TVR-Stu said:
Some fantastic images there r129sl, and throughout this thread actually, do you mind telling me what camera you use to capture them? I'm in the market for a new one
iPhone 8! I used to use a Canon G16 but got out of the habit of carrying it around; also uploading stuff became tedious in this instant gratification life.
TVR-Stu said:
r129sl said:
TVR-Stu said:
Some fantastic images there r129sl, and throughout this thread actually, do you mind telling me what camera you use to capture them? I'm in the market for a new one
iPhone 8! I used to use a Canon G16 but got out of the habit of carrying it around; also uploading stuff became tedious in this instant gratification life.
Loved this thread, and full of admiration for you. But it shames me. I have had my ‘95 smoke silver S124 for 12 years, now reduced to occasional use and a couple of thousand miles a year - long distance towing (50 miles in the Defender is enough for me), lobstering, kayaks, dinghy, picking up or dropping off big things, you get the idea. But it is still the most marvellous car for a long distance cruise, sitting back in the black leather and wafting the miles by at a steady 85-90. It is known simply as “The Gold Car”, and only my daughter, from a very young age, ever described it (correctly) as silver. It is not, regrettably, in very good condition, yet for a 215,000 mile car it seems like it will go on and on (we’ve put 80,000 on it). Even before seeing this thread I occasionally fantasised about doing some serious remedial work, but neither the moment (a big smash perhaps) nor the financial means/justification has yet arisen. Instead, I cross my fingers every year at MOT time (and don’t fill up with diesel just in case) and do things (mostly myself keeping costs down) as required, such that the overall cost inc tax and insurance, and now diesel as we use it less, isn’t much more than £1000 pa (in a good year).
What I’ve liked most about this thread is recognising many of the experiences, not just the things that have gone wrong and then rectified but the shared frustration and then joy of sourcing parts, battling with MB’s arcane processes (and occasionally being grateful and in awe that they still list obscure parts for a 25 year old car), googling part numbers, running “W124” or “E300D” or “0018303884” daily ebay searches, and a spouse capable of finding and colliding with a hitherto invisible wall.
From memory this is pretty much all I’ve done since 2007:
Replacement second hand n/s wing and front bumper (which then annoyingly was driven straight into that formerly invisible wall)
Rear sub frame mounts (close to writing the car off, this one, and an educational experience for MB - they are left and right handed and on order from Germany so a big fight when you say you obviously don’t want too left hand ones). This has been the only significant welding.
Injector o rings (yet another special tool languishing in the tool box)
Fuel gauge sender (sticking at near empty and causing a few embarrassing moments when we ran out, including on Piccadilly in London on a busy Saturday)
Bonnet hinges (still haven’t fixed the bent bonnet)
Repair rear bumper (and then shortly after reverse into a very well known wall, cracking it up again, which shows that not just spouses are falliable)
Windscreen
Battery
Sunroof relay
Other relays (something to do with wipers? Indicators?). They don’t last forever.
Aerials (and another new one is required now but there is also a problem with the mechanism which I can’t bring myself to investigate yet)
Dash out (needlessly). Twice.
Replacing heater matrix (needlessly, and expensively, special order from MB, with two possible part numbers, which are of course only ascertainable when the dash is out)
Duo valves (needlessly, the part number above).
Expelling air from coolant system (which was the ultimate cause of the heater failure, discovered only after doing the previous pointless and costly exercises - someone in America on one of the MB forums had same problem - the UK and US MB forums have been invaluable)
New copper fuses
Temporary indicator stalk repair (same sellotape for 8 years)
Diesel return lines (twice)
Repair to vacuum line for engine cut out (very worrying when you can’t stop the thing)
Various replacement diesel lines
Replace rear suspension hydraulic lines (an appropriately sized piece of steel hydraulic pipe did the job rather than the expensive MB preformed equivalents which are difficult to fit around bits of suspension)
Oil level sensor (oil light still comes on)
Rear window (over-excited little boy with big feet in the rear facing boot seats)
Aircon regas
ATF change
And of course, brake pads and other service items.
There’s surface rust in all the usual places, and doubtless others more hidden (I don’t want to think about the boot lid hinges, and after this thread now won’t look closely in that area) but generally the body is good for a car of its age. I agree with the comments about these being the last of the good Mercs.
So, for me, quite a different project but there is currently no plan to get rid of it. What I think may eventually kill it is the tightening rules on old diesels. We don’t drive into London very much anymore, and have other more modern vehicles anyway (as well as an even older Merc, the ‘58 Unimog) but if regional towns and cities introduce ULEZs or equivalent, it might spell the end.
Until then, this is The Gold Car:
What I’ve liked most about this thread is recognising many of the experiences, not just the things that have gone wrong and then rectified but the shared frustration and then joy of sourcing parts, battling with MB’s arcane processes (and occasionally being grateful and in awe that they still list obscure parts for a 25 year old car), googling part numbers, running “W124” or “E300D” or “0018303884” daily ebay searches, and a spouse capable of finding and colliding with a hitherto invisible wall.
From memory this is pretty much all I’ve done since 2007:
Replacement second hand n/s wing and front bumper (which then annoyingly was driven straight into that formerly invisible wall)
Rear sub frame mounts (close to writing the car off, this one, and an educational experience for MB - they are left and right handed and on order from Germany so a big fight when you say you obviously don’t want too left hand ones). This has been the only significant welding.
Injector o rings (yet another special tool languishing in the tool box)
Fuel gauge sender (sticking at near empty and causing a few embarrassing moments when we ran out, including on Piccadilly in London on a busy Saturday)
Bonnet hinges (still haven’t fixed the bent bonnet)
Repair rear bumper (and then shortly after reverse into a very well known wall, cracking it up again, which shows that not just spouses are falliable)
Windscreen
Battery
Sunroof relay
Other relays (something to do with wipers? Indicators?). They don’t last forever.
Aerials (and another new one is required now but there is also a problem with the mechanism which I can’t bring myself to investigate yet)
Dash out (needlessly). Twice.
Replacing heater matrix (needlessly, and expensively, special order from MB, with two possible part numbers, which are of course only ascertainable when the dash is out)
Duo valves (needlessly, the part number above).
Expelling air from coolant system (which was the ultimate cause of the heater failure, discovered only after doing the previous pointless and costly exercises - someone in America on one of the MB forums had same problem - the UK and US MB forums have been invaluable)
New copper fuses
Temporary indicator stalk repair (same sellotape for 8 years)
Diesel return lines (twice)
Repair to vacuum line for engine cut out (very worrying when you can’t stop the thing)
Various replacement diesel lines
Replace rear suspension hydraulic lines (an appropriately sized piece of steel hydraulic pipe did the job rather than the expensive MB preformed equivalents which are difficult to fit around bits of suspension)
Oil level sensor (oil light still comes on)
Rear window (over-excited little boy with big feet in the rear facing boot seats)
Aircon regas
ATF change
And of course, brake pads and other service items.
There’s surface rust in all the usual places, and doubtless others more hidden (I don’t want to think about the boot lid hinges, and after this thread now won’t look closely in that area) but generally the body is good for a car of its age. I agree with the comments about these being the last of the good Mercs.
So, for me, quite a different project but there is currently no plan to get rid of it. What I think may eventually kill it is the tightening rules on old diesels. We don’t drive into London very much anymore, and have other more modern vehicles anyway (as well as an even older Merc, the ‘58 Unimog) but if regional towns and cities introduce ULEZs or equivalent, it might spell the end.
Until then, this is The Gold Car:
Here is the old girl at work moving the tree house:
It’s a 404 imported some time in the mid 70s, along with at least one other which was recently on ebay with a very similar registration number. New (old) 3.3l diesel replacement for the original petrol and original 24v electrics switched for twin 12v for extra oomph to turn over that heavy lump on a cold day. Hiab and winch complete the picture, both of which are very useful for pulling and lifting things (including delivery lorries that get stuck). Like the old S124, it gets well used and I should probably take more care of it, but this too could be a massive time and financial commitment if I let it get to me. As it is, it gets serviced every now and then, stripped down and replaced fuel system last year, fiddled with the hydraulics and there is an oil leak that needs attention.
Will take a more representative photo when I next go down to the yard.
It’s a 404 imported some time in the mid 70s, along with at least one other which was recently on ebay with a very similar registration number. New (old) 3.3l diesel replacement for the original petrol and original 24v electrics switched for twin 12v for extra oomph to turn over that heavy lump on a cold day. Hiab and winch complete the picture, both of which are very useful for pulling and lifting things (including delivery lorries that get stuck). Like the old S124, it gets well used and I should probably take more care of it, but this too could be a massive time and financial commitment if I let it get to me. As it is, it gets serviced every now and then, stripped down and replaced fuel system last year, fiddled with the hydraulics and there is an oil leak that needs attention.
Will take a more representative photo when I next go down to the yard.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff