Titivating my Mercedes 124

Titivating my Mercedes 124

Author
Discussion

Lowtimer

4,293 posts

169 months

Sunday 14th May 2017
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It would seem a shame not to do the guides and seals. It is a magnificent engine.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

204 months

Friday 19th May 2017
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Head is back and ready to be re-assembled. It has had a very slight skim, the valves were ground back, the seats were ground back and the valve stem oil seals were changed. It was very clean throughout with very little soot in the exhaust ports.

The injectors have also been rebuilt with new nozzles.
















Lowtimer

4,293 posts

169 months

Saturday 20th May 2017
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It's a thing of beauty. Well, it''s a compound of many things of beauty.

CharlesdeGaulle

26,392 posts

181 months

Saturday 20th May 2017
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r129sl said:
Your taste in footwear has changed.

harrykul

2,770 posts

227 months

Saturday 20th May 2017
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laugh

Great work though: I think that I want a 606 engined car...

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

204 months

Friday 26th May 2017
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Tuning up. Should get it back this evening.


mwstewart

7,636 posts

189 months

Friday 26th May 2017
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I've just bought a Mercedes with the 3.5 V6 M272 engine and had to avoid a certain build range because the balance shaft sprocket wears away within 100k miles. How things have changed!

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

204 months

Friday 26th May 2017
quotequote all
Apart from the balance shaft sprocket issue, that is a nice engine, with a lot of power and refinement for the capacity and consumption.

Anyway, I have just paid the bill. £1,469.

Hotel India

456 posts

198 months

Friday 26th May 2017
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It's bills like that that have lead to me moving on my C124.

After 3 years of much enjoyment travelling in serenity and style, I've accepted that with a wife and two kids to support, I can't justify sudden hits like that anymore.

If I could do it myself, I know I could save money, but I have to pay a man.

Obviously I'll still follow this thread though.

Pic of mine today taken with pre-emptive regret.


r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

204 months

Friday 26th May 2017
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I went to pick it up from Lord Baister's. It's driving well, much quieter, more smoothly. This will be attributable to the injectors being rebuilt and the timing set bang on 14 deg. It doesn't feel any faster. It is hard to tell, though, because I forget how slow it was after a fortnight in the SL.

My dad gave me a lift down in its descendent. It is an impressive car the new E220d. But the 124 has a smoother ride and powertrain. The 213, of course, is vastly quieter and has none of the suspension noise of the 124. It has ten million gadgets, too. My dad is trying to persuade me to get one.






I noticed this s211 lying forlornly in the background, too:


r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

204 months

Sunday 28th May 2017
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For a while now I have noticed that the driver's seat belt buckle is not correctly installed. This evening I removed the driver's seat and refixed the buckle correctly. Rather amazingly, I did not break anything on the car nor tear any part of my skin. Removing the seat is an easy if physical job, a matter of five bolts and some tight electrical connectors. For anyone who does this himself, do not torque down the bolts until all five are back in place: it is useful to be able to shuffle the seat when fitting each bolt.

I cleaned up four years of accumulated crap and tightened up the rattly fire extinguisher bracket. I also profited to the tune of £1.




My friend has bought an E500 Elegance saloon (w211 type). He brought it up yesterday. What a car! The ride and refinement are nothing short of amazing, far superior to my dad's new s213 and better than my s124. I have never driven a more comfortable car. It is faster than my 129, too, unsurprisingly being lighter and having the seven speed box yet propelled by the same engine. I very seriously considered selling this car and seeking out a mint E500 estate. But I have another plan which hopefully will come to fruition this week.

CharlesdeGaulle

26,392 posts

181 months

Sunday 28th May 2017
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I like your plans. They always provide cheer.

Good luck!

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

180 months

Sunday 28th May 2017
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My grandfather had a nice E320 CDI in the shape you mention - his was the estate and I always found it was quite a bit more boomy in the back than the saloon version my uncle had at the same time. His was an E320 I think

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

129 months

Monday 29th May 2017
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I know it would spoil the originality of the car, but how about an M119 swap? Plenty of W140 S500s in breakers yards...

Lowtimer

4,293 posts

169 months

Monday 29th May 2017
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Main reason not to do that is It would cost approximately twice as much as buying a nice 211 500 estate. And at the end of the process you'd only have one car instead of two.

Edited by Lowtimer on Monday 29th May 21:48

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

129 months

Monday 29th May 2017
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Yeah, but it'd be twice as nice a car as the 211 and with a far better engine than the M113 and its derivatives.

harrykul

2,770 posts

227 months

Tuesday 30th May 2017
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There ain't much wrong with the m113 you know: ask the OP!

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

204 months

Tuesday 30th May 2017
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M113 or M119: boring. They're both great engines, among the best V8s there has ever been. There is something very attractive about the M119's DOHC 32 valve set up and its classic, slightly peaky power delivery. But let's face it, the M113 has proven even more reliable in use, has more headroom (think 55 AMG and SL R), is more economical, is lighter and delivers more power over a wider speed range (even if the peak power is less). Also, dull pub fact, early M119s have a block from the M117 but after 1991 all M119's have a block from the M116 which first saw the light of day in 1969.

As for a transplant into my smoker, it is possible but unrealistic. Unless you can do all of the work yourself or have mega money, there is no way you could get a transplant done to "factory" standards. It's always going to be a bit Heath Robinson.


S10GTA

12,707 posts

168 months

Tuesday 30th May 2017
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I really admire your commitment to these cars. You've just spent £1400 on a head rebuild and I'm wobbling over a £400 wheel refurb on my V70 laugh

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

204 months

Tuesday 30th May 2017
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In other news and pursuant to fruition of aforementioned plan, I have just bought a w210 E430 Elegance. I want a super-refined saloon for personal use. I'll start a separate thread. I hope it is not a shed.