The AGA - Running and Improving my Mercedes 300TD S124
Discussion
Cast your mind back to April 2019, I was splitting my daily driving between my 1989 300CE and 1993 300GES but neither really fitted the bill.
The 300CE was a great thing in many respects, Anthracite Grey with black leather, bum warmers, cruise, AC and factory Becker. Everything I wanted. I just didn't get on with it. I have no idea why, it was just one of those cars that didn't delight in the way it should despite having no obvious fault.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
I bought the G Wagen to fill the role of an S124 in January '19 as I couldn't find a good diesel estate car. The fact that I could use the
G to tow with was a massive bonus, an S124 isn't heavy enough to tow a car and trailer and only the M104 engines are powerful enough. I have towed a 190E with an E280 T for a short distance, but wouldn't repeat it unless pressed. The off road capability of a G also appealed, not that I *really* needed it and I thought it would be pretty cool to tool around in. It was excellent fun and made for some cool photos towing trailers with other 80s Merc's on but the need for 100 litres of the good stuff the wrong side of every 300 miles was making me good friends with the petrol station attendant but costing way more than justifiable and it quickly began to erode the charm of the car. Also as a SWB, there wasn't much space in the back for passengers, the boot was small and 177bhp from the M103 engine meant that there was no real performance in exchange for the massive fuel expenditure. A mate of mine has a G63 which has 575bhp and used less fuel than mine did! All in all, not a wise buying decision for a car I intended to use for over 10,000 miles a year.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
46763633832_f81ee2ddf2_o by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
Refreshing Car and Classic one evening in April, the top listing was perhaps the answer to my prayers. A silver 1993 300TD, Sports check (Karo) cloth aside it was a very boring spec but described as being "owned from new and always maintained by Mercedes". Only 146k miles, just over an hour away and priced reasonably. I headed straight off after work to view it the following day and dealt with the elderly owners son-in-law, we got on very well and a deal was done. He has since caught the bug and bought a 300CE, I should have sold him mine but never-mind.
My mate drove the TD home for me and I followed in the CE, we made good progress down the A1, but I quickly became concerned that occasionally it would chuck a load of sparks out from the exhaust. This was later attributed to the fact that it hadn't really been used much in the last year or so and that perhaps the previous owner's driving style didn't lend it to 4000rpm cruising which had led to a soot build up in the exhaust. Think of it as a very old school DPF regeneration!
fullsizeoutput_2557 by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
The only jobs I had to do to declare it fit for daily use was to clean out the fuel sender unit, which was clogged up with black algae and crud and sticking at 1/4 tank, re-solder a dodgy earth that was causing the temperature gauge to do all kinds of crazy dancing and for my own peace of mind replace all the fluids and filters. After all, these old Diesel engines rely on compression more than anything for smooth running, so I don't think you can change the oil and filter often enough. Driving this car through from the word go, you can just tell that it's been properly looked after and maintained. The gear shifts are perfect, theres no slop in any of the controls, the engine is super smooth and quiet and it rides perfectly. The overall mechanical condition of the car appeared very good, and the blue Karo interior is nothing short of perfect. It's delightful to travel in as everything fits properly, nothing feels like it's been messed with, the Walnut is shiny and the instrument needles are still resplendently orange. There has always been a slight elephant in the room though. This car spent it's entire life until 2018 when the owners relocated in Scotland... This spells only one thing, rust. It's remarkable clean for a Scottish car, but the inner wing under the washer bottle, slam panel, bonnet and front wings were all getting very ready by the time I took custody.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
I put doing the bodywork on the back burner last year as I wanted to determine whether I like the car enough to spend more than it's worth making it perfect again. I used it fairly frequently over summer last year but not all the time, I was still using the G Wagen a lot and also my W123 when the weather was nice, so it only passed 150k in August. By this time, I hadn't laid a spanner on it, and it was functioning perfectly. It took us to FOS and back and several other trips over the summer and became a favourite thanks to it's superb comfort and 40mpg on a steady cruise.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
Once the G Wagen had gone, I started to use it a lot more, and had my first 'fault' in October. The glow plug light would illuminate as normal, go off and then re-illuminate once the engine started. Investigating this gave me another example of the simplistic brilliance of the W124, the glow plug light indicates that the fault is. If it remains on indefinitely, the relay is bust, if it does what mine was doing and goes off after about 45 seconds of running, you have a faulty glow plug and if it stays on over 2 minutes this indicates multiple glow plugs failing. Brilliant! I replaced all 6, it took about half an hour and only moderate swearing as getting to the back two requires hands slightly smaller than mine to get under the inlet manifold. Fortunately, none snapped and it has been fine since.
MOT time in November and we had the car on the ramp to have a once over before the test and replaced the front discs and pads, front top mounts, off side front brake backing plate and I fitted a set of 6.5J Gullis with Maxxis all season tyres I had taken off another W124 we were doing up to replace the summer Falkens, which had proved to be surprisingly good. I would run off the winter tyres and then have the wheels refurbished when we do the bodywork and fit a set of my favoured Michelin Cross Climates.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
A trip to the seaside in January led to a bit of a headache as 5 up with a boot full of crap led to a rusty SLS pipe bursting and the rear suspension completely collapsing. I decided to take it to MB Centre in Nottingham and get them to go through it (I've been pleased with the work they've done on my R129 previously), they replaced a load of rotten suspension lines, replaced a rattling heat shield, fitted a new exhaust hanger that was missing, replaced the belt, tensioner and dampener, adjusted the wheel bearings, fitted new front shocks, new ball joints, attended to some authentic original rost, mended a leak from the power steering pump and carried out a major service.... Ouch. Almost what I paid for the car! That said, I'm very pleased with the work they did and they were helpful enough to pick it up and drop it off to my office.
The first I realised of said suspension failing when we returned after our freezing walk on the beach and glorious Whitby fish and chips:
fullsizeoutput_22a9 by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
fullsizeoutput_22bf by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
As an aside, while it was away I had this Volvo 940 that I bought from an old boy that had given up driving. The second 940 I've had, and only for a month or so. It was nice to get to grips with an alternate wagon and these are great cars but my god a W124 is better...
fullsizeoutput_22e1 by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
(Keen observers will notice I put my numberplate on to the TD when I sold the CE, keeping true to it's roots though, they read Mercedes-Benz of Edinburgh)
This round of repairs highlighted that in reality we need to refurbish the rear sub frame and it's many arms in order to keep this car right. All of the bushes are split and perished and the frame itself is ver surface-rusty. It's not a mess, I want to continue to use the TD for many years to come as it's really the perfect car for my use so I've been planning this job since then.
Roll another 5000 miles on the odometer since January and the old girl is approaching 160k miles as we went in to lockdown. One positive of the Coronavirus is that it has given me the time to sort through EPC and order nearly all the parts I need from autodoc but I have a big list of parts to be quoted by MB Poole next week (including new wings and a new bonnet, the latter I may not bother with if it's too eye-watering as I have a reasonable second hand one). I bought a 1990 300E-24 last summer, which I hoped to go again but it was just a bit too edgy to bother with (Head gasket issues, needs full paint, etc), so that has donated it's rear sub frame and inner wing for the repair of the TD. It's typical isn't it, you cut up an almost perfect rust free shell to save one that's rotten! The good thing is that my TD, a 93 car, will be inheriting much better metal quality from the 24v when it all goes back together!
MJAD8KjVSz69O1YGioTLUg by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
I decided after much consideration to go for Febi sub-frame mounts, arms, bushes and accumulator spheres as opposed to Lemforder as more and more Lemforder parts seem to be Made in China and Brazil. Their parts seem to be falling out of favour with the 500E boys as well. I have just fitted Febi spheres on my 2.5-16 and they came nicely finished and stamped Made in Germany, so they'll do for the TD I think. New Sachs hydraulic struts and 4 new springs and some service parts for the W123 complete the Autodoc box.
fullsizeoutput_24fa by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
I dropped the sub-frame off for blasting last week, as those of you bored enough to still be reading this drivel will see, it's in very good order with only minimal surface rust and still has the factory sticker on it! I bet the one on my car doesn't when we take that down... Also, rather than powder coat it, which seems to be the obvious thing to do, we will prime with epoxy primer and then use Volkswagen stone-guard (heresy I know, but it's the best product available) to ensure minimal chance of chips and damage allowing moisture to get in contact with the steel and cause the sub-frame to rust again.
So, there you go... My 300TD, the trials and tribulations of ownership so far and the plans to keep it ship shape for years to come. Up to now I've done just over 13k miles in it and the cost of running it has been roughly 26p per mile excluding fuel, which I don't think is bad. The next few months with this car will be very costly but in the long run worth it as I'll have a really nice 1 previous owner example of the best estate car ever made.
fullsizeoutput_2375 by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
As it currently looks, with 50 shades of 744 and front wings really starting to break out nicely!
fullsizeoutput_2374 by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
The 300CE was a great thing in many respects, Anthracite Grey with black leather, bum warmers, cruise, AC and factory Becker. Everything I wanted. I just didn't get on with it. I have no idea why, it was just one of those cars that didn't delight in the way it should despite having no obvious fault.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrI bought the G Wagen to fill the role of an S124 in January '19 as I couldn't find a good diesel estate car. The fact that I could use the
G to tow with was a massive bonus, an S124 isn't heavy enough to tow a car and trailer and only the M104 engines are powerful enough. I have towed a 190E with an E280 T for a short distance, but wouldn't repeat it unless pressed. The off road capability of a G also appealed, not that I *really* needed it and I thought it would be pretty cool to tool around in. It was excellent fun and made for some cool photos towing trailers with other 80s Merc's on but the need for 100 litres of the good stuff the wrong side of every 300 miles was making me good friends with the petrol station attendant but costing way more than justifiable and it quickly began to erode the charm of the car. Also as a SWB, there wasn't much space in the back for passengers, the boot was small and 177bhp from the M103 engine meant that there was no real performance in exchange for the massive fuel expenditure. A mate of mine has a G63 which has 575bhp and used less fuel than mine did! All in all, not a wise buying decision for a car I intended to use for over 10,000 miles a year.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr46763633832_f81ee2ddf2_o by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrRefreshing Car and Classic one evening in April, the top listing was perhaps the answer to my prayers. A silver 1993 300TD, Sports check (Karo) cloth aside it was a very boring spec but described as being "owned from new and always maintained by Mercedes". Only 146k miles, just over an hour away and priced reasonably. I headed straight off after work to view it the following day and dealt with the elderly owners son-in-law, we got on very well and a deal was done. He has since caught the bug and bought a 300CE, I should have sold him mine but never-mind.
My mate drove the TD home for me and I followed in the CE, we made good progress down the A1, but I quickly became concerned that occasionally it would chuck a load of sparks out from the exhaust. This was later attributed to the fact that it hadn't really been used much in the last year or so and that perhaps the previous owner's driving style didn't lend it to 4000rpm cruising which had led to a soot build up in the exhaust. Think of it as a very old school DPF regeneration!
fullsizeoutput_2557 by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrThe only jobs I had to do to declare it fit for daily use was to clean out the fuel sender unit, which was clogged up with black algae and crud and sticking at 1/4 tank, re-solder a dodgy earth that was causing the temperature gauge to do all kinds of crazy dancing and for my own peace of mind replace all the fluids and filters. After all, these old Diesel engines rely on compression more than anything for smooth running, so I don't think you can change the oil and filter often enough. Driving this car through from the word go, you can just tell that it's been properly looked after and maintained. The gear shifts are perfect, theres no slop in any of the controls, the engine is super smooth and quiet and it rides perfectly. The overall mechanical condition of the car appeared very good, and the blue Karo interior is nothing short of perfect. It's delightful to travel in as everything fits properly, nothing feels like it's been messed with, the Walnut is shiny and the instrument needles are still resplendently orange. There has always been a slight elephant in the room though. This car spent it's entire life until 2018 when the owners relocated in Scotland... This spells only one thing, rust. It's remarkable clean for a Scottish car, but the inner wing under the washer bottle, slam panel, bonnet and front wings were all getting very ready by the time I took custody.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrUntitled by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrI put doing the bodywork on the back burner last year as I wanted to determine whether I like the car enough to spend more than it's worth making it perfect again. I used it fairly frequently over summer last year but not all the time, I was still using the G Wagen a lot and also my W123 when the weather was nice, so it only passed 150k in August. By this time, I hadn't laid a spanner on it, and it was functioning perfectly. It took us to FOS and back and several other trips over the summer and became a favourite thanks to it's superb comfort and 40mpg on a steady cruise.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrOnce the G Wagen had gone, I started to use it a lot more, and had my first 'fault' in October. The glow plug light would illuminate as normal, go off and then re-illuminate once the engine started. Investigating this gave me another example of the simplistic brilliance of the W124, the glow plug light indicates that the fault is. If it remains on indefinitely, the relay is bust, if it does what mine was doing and goes off after about 45 seconds of running, you have a faulty glow plug and if it stays on over 2 minutes this indicates multiple glow plugs failing. Brilliant! I replaced all 6, it took about half an hour and only moderate swearing as getting to the back two requires hands slightly smaller than mine to get under the inlet manifold. Fortunately, none snapped and it has been fine since.
MOT time in November and we had the car on the ramp to have a once over before the test and replaced the front discs and pads, front top mounts, off side front brake backing plate and I fitted a set of 6.5J Gullis with Maxxis all season tyres I had taken off another W124 we were doing up to replace the summer Falkens, which had proved to be surprisingly good. I would run off the winter tyres and then have the wheels refurbished when we do the bodywork and fit a set of my favoured Michelin Cross Climates.
Untitled by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrA trip to the seaside in January led to a bit of a headache as 5 up with a boot full of crap led to a rusty SLS pipe bursting and the rear suspension completely collapsing. I decided to take it to MB Centre in Nottingham and get them to go through it (I've been pleased with the work they've done on my R129 previously), they replaced a load of rotten suspension lines, replaced a rattling heat shield, fitted a new exhaust hanger that was missing, replaced the belt, tensioner and dampener, adjusted the wheel bearings, fitted new front shocks, new ball joints, attended to some authentic original rost, mended a leak from the power steering pump and carried out a major service.... Ouch. Almost what I paid for the car! That said, I'm very pleased with the work they did and they were helpful enough to pick it up and drop it off to my office.
The first I realised of said suspension failing when we returned after our freezing walk on the beach and glorious Whitby fish and chips:
fullsizeoutput_22a9 by Jack O'Brien, on Flickrfullsizeoutput_22bf by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrAs an aside, while it was away I had this Volvo 940 that I bought from an old boy that had given up driving. The second 940 I've had, and only for a month or so. It was nice to get to grips with an alternate wagon and these are great cars but my god a W124 is better...
fullsizeoutput_22e1 by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr(Keen observers will notice I put my numberplate on to the TD when I sold the CE, keeping true to it's roots though, they read Mercedes-Benz of Edinburgh)
This round of repairs highlighted that in reality we need to refurbish the rear sub frame and it's many arms in order to keep this car right. All of the bushes are split and perished and the frame itself is ver surface-rusty. It's not a mess, I want to continue to use the TD for many years to come as it's really the perfect car for my use so I've been planning this job since then.
Roll another 5000 miles on the odometer since January and the old girl is approaching 160k miles as we went in to lockdown. One positive of the Coronavirus is that it has given me the time to sort through EPC and order nearly all the parts I need from autodoc but I have a big list of parts to be quoted by MB Poole next week (including new wings and a new bonnet, the latter I may not bother with if it's too eye-watering as I have a reasonable second hand one). I bought a 1990 300E-24 last summer, which I hoped to go again but it was just a bit too edgy to bother with (Head gasket issues, needs full paint, etc), so that has donated it's rear sub frame and inner wing for the repair of the TD. It's typical isn't it, you cut up an almost perfect rust free shell to save one that's rotten! The good thing is that my TD, a 93 car, will be inheriting much better metal quality from the 24v when it all goes back together!
MJAD8KjVSz69O1YGioTLUg by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrI decided after much consideration to go for Febi sub-frame mounts, arms, bushes and accumulator spheres as opposed to Lemforder as more and more Lemforder parts seem to be Made in China and Brazil. Their parts seem to be falling out of favour with the 500E boys as well. I have just fitted Febi spheres on my 2.5-16 and they came nicely finished and stamped Made in Germany, so they'll do for the TD I think. New Sachs hydraulic struts and 4 new springs and some service parts for the W123 complete the Autodoc box.
fullsizeoutput_24fa by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrI dropped the sub-frame off for blasting last week, as those of you bored enough to still be reading this drivel will see, it's in very good order with only minimal surface rust and still has the factory sticker on it! I bet the one on my car doesn't when we take that down... Also, rather than powder coat it, which seems to be the obvious thing to do, we will prime with epoxy primer and then use Volkswagen stone-guard (heresy I know, but it's the best product available) to ensure minimal chance of chips and damage allowing moisture to get in contact with the steel and cause the sub-frame to rust again.
So, there you go... My 300TD, the trials and tribulations of ownership so far and the plans to keep it ship shape for years to come. Up to now I've done just over 13k miles in it and the cost of running it has been roughly 26p per mile excluding fuel, which I don't think is bad. The next few months with this car will be very costly but in the long run worth it as I'll have a really nice 1 previous owner example of the best estate car ever made.
fullsizeoutput_2375 by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrAs it currently looks, with 50 shades of 744 and front wings really starting to break out nicely!
fullsizeoutput_2374 by Jack O'Brien, on Flickrharrykul said:
Looks like a very nice example. Could you please give details on the VW stone guard you mentioned?
I'll have to ask John the painter for the details of that stuff but apparently it's available from VW and the best stone guard available. Either that, or it's a load of old cobblers and he conned me when he painted my W123 earlier this year! I must say it does look the closest finish to how the original Merc stuff was. martin mrt said:
Absolutely stunning, great to see that a cared for 1 owner car has gone to a true enthusiast
I'm not sure I'd go as far as stunning just yet, but it's a lovely old bus and I hope a few of you enjoy watching this unfold as I On the one owner thing, I got rather engrossed yesterday going through the history file and reminded myself why I consider it to be quite a special thing. Here are a couple of highlights:
sKQmt4hvQiKu4grvIK01%w by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrBrochure with salesman's business car stapled to:
OCHV5RGoRBaZHm2IEAlw5A by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr Annotations on the price list as the canny Scotsman decided what was worth shelling out for!
ehhUM63wRDaZ8d1jsOvb7A by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr
rRHcp19XQNuo8tJ5hoq98g by Jack O'Brien, on Flickr25 years of service and maintenance records from Dickson's of Perth and Mercedes Edinburgh, I got bored totting up at £35k...
fullsizeoutput_2559 by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrThis shows how good a customer he was, in 2010 MB Edinburgh replaced the brake and fuel lines and only charged for parts! I can't see that happening now.
fullsizeoutput_2558 by Jack O'Brien, on FlickrA 124 restoration thread is always appreciated, so please do keep on. I’m similarly infatuated with, and amassing parts for, my A124. There are now reproduction inner wings available for repairing beneath the washer bottle - I’ve yet to test the fit, but it’s a substantial gauge of steel.
Like you, I’m falling out of love with Lemforder having been brainwashed to think they’re always best in various places including the E500E forum. I took a punt on some “OE Quality” Vaico breather hoses the other week and they feel, look and smell OK and were made in Germany. That said, having spent a couple of hours under my US built GL last weekend, it was evident that there are as many made in China labels visible as made in Germany or made in USA, so it’s the way of the world.
Like you, I’m falling out of love with Lemforder having been brainwashed to think they’re always best in various places including the E500E forum. I took a punt on some “OE Quality” Vaico breather hoses the other week and they feel, look and smell OK and were made in Germany. That said, having spent a couple of hours under my US built GL last weekend, it was evident that there are as many made in China labels visible as made in Germany or made in USA, so it’s the way of the world.
It's only the natural progression that we're going to see more and more W124s being restored over the next few years as major parts of the running gear become worn to the point where a total strip down and rebuild is the best option. The beauty of the W124s design and the extremely high quality of the original core componentry is that they are seemingly infinitely repairable as long as replacement consumable parts of an adequate standard are available.
"The Lemforder Conundrum" is one that has been bothering me for nearly as long as I have been thinking about doing this job on the estate. I have used their parts on previous Mercedes, and we also use Lemforder ball joints and bushings on our trucks; but by the same token we also use a lot of Febi Bilstein parts as well and I have never seen one of these parts prematurely fail as a result of bad quality or design. I started to look closely at the finish of the parts we've had over the last few months, I know this is a totally un-scientific and only based on what I have observed. While the Febi parts are certainly no worse in finish (I won't say better than Lemforder), they are more consistently made in Europe than Lemforder parts which seem to now be predominantly of Brazilian or Chinese origin. If we apply what happened to Bosch when they started farming out production of parts to South America and other places, there is a strong argument to re-consider whether Lemforder is the go to manufacturer for high quality replacement parts. God that's dull.
As for the inner wings, I have cut this panel from the 1990 300E-24 along with the slam panel which is also quite rusty in my car, whether mine will grind up and clean remains to be seen but the value of a parts car (or better, two!) is immeasurable. I wouldn't be surprised if inner wings are not available from MB sill, maybe someone among us that works at MB could shed some light?
P.S. An esitmate has come through from MB Poole for the remaining parts I will need, including the new bonnet. While it's a bit eye watering, it's actually slightly less than I bargained for so will hopefully get all that ordered this week. I can't wait for all the unboxing of new original teile geprüfte qualität components!
"The Lemforder Conundrum" is one that has been bothering me for nearly as long as I have been thinking about doing this job on the estate. I have used their parts on previous Mercedes, and we also use Lemforder ball joints and bushings on our trucks; but by the same token we also use a lot of Febi Bilstein parts as well and I have never seen one of these parts prematurely fail as a result of bad quality or design. I started to look closely at the finish of the parts we've had over the last few months, I know this is a totally un-scientific and only based on what I have observed. While the Febi parts are certainly no worse in finish (I won't say better than Lemforder), they are more consistently made in Europe than Lemforder parts which seem to now be predominantly of Brazilian or Chinese origin. If we apply what happened to Bosch when they started farming out production of parts to South America and other places, there is a strong argument to re-consider whether Lemforder is the go to manufacturer for high quality replacement parts. God that's dull.
As for the inner wings, I have cut this panel from the 1990 300E-24 along with the slam panel which is also quite rusty in my car, whether mine will grind up and clean remains to be seen but the value of a parts car (or better, two!) is immeasurable. I wouldn't be surprised if inner wings are not available from MB sill, maybe someone among us that works at MB could shed some light?
P.S. An esitmate has come through from MB Poole for the remaining parts I will need, including the new bonnet. While it's a bit eye watering, it's actually slightly less than I bargained for so will hopefully get all that ordered this week. I can't wait for all the unboxing of new original teile geprüfte qualität components!
Northbrook said:
Replacement inner wing panels, you say.
Got a link?
I haven’t measured the thickness, but it’s a substantial thing:Got a link?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233387220477
I bought some MB rear subframes bushes for my 126 (my retirement - code for “sometime” - project!) a year or so ago and was so unimpressed by the finish - flash, peeling release compound, strangely coloured rubber that looked like a marbled cake and a terrible smell (all very unscientific!) - I complained and the dealer obtained a second set and allowed me to pick and mix between the two boxes. It cast doubt on the whole OE question, as MB had sourced them who knows where. I’ve had Lemforder parts, via Autodoc, from China, India, Brazil and Turkey over the last year or so. I have nothing against those countries, but such diverse procurement must call into question a chase for the lowest cost of manufacture and reliability of remote QA. I’m not brave enough to risk Autodoc’s own brands such as Stark, which is reported as poor, but am prepared to consider Febi, Meyle etc. when previously it was Lemforder all the way.
I’ve got new MB wings for the A124, but the bonnet is OK. MB priced the slam panel but I recall it was so pricey I opted for an eBay pattern part - slam panel, front beam and radiator support - which again feels weighty and as substantial as the original.
It’s ironic that parts quality overall may well have dimmed just as so many 124s fall out of the banger group and into the hands of people who will invest in them, but nobody is going to corral 124 parts while the rest of the pack goes on a worldwide search for lowest cost of production.
ETA - are Poole up and running? I normally get parts from MB Coventry (not that I’m near Coventry, but they’re the nearest dealer that has not let me down on car servicing and will offer discount) but they’re still closed.
I’ve got new MB wings for the A124, but the bonnet is OK. MB priced the slam panel but I recall it was so pricey I opted for an eBay pattern part - slam panel, front beam and radiator support - which again feels weighty and as substantial as the original.
It’s ironic that parts quality overall may well have dimmed just as so many 124s fall out of the banger group and into the hands of people who will invest in them, but nobody is going to corral 124 parts while the rest of the pack goes on a worldwide search for lowest cost of production.
ETA - are Poole up and running? I normally get parts from MB Coventry (not that I’m near Coventry, but they’re the nearest dealer that has not let me down on car servicing and will offer discount) but they’re still closed.
Edited by Stegel on Wednesday 13th May 10:21
JOB2.5-16 said:
It's only the natural progression that we're going to see more and more W124s being restored over the next few years as major parts of the running gear become worn to the point where a total strip down and rebuild is the best option.
I suppose they're starting to climb the foothills of classic-ness after the to-be-expected languish in the swamps of 'cheap old car'. I've been very impressed with my car's construction - rust/age deterioration aside, it's all come apart pretty well and gone back together fine. And, for me, that was part of the appeal of the brand/model in the first place.
Stegel said:
I bought some MB rear subframes bushes for my 126 (my retirement - code for “sometime” - project!) a year or so ago and was so unimpressed by the finish - flash, peeling release compound, strangely coloured rubber that looked like a marbled cake and a terrible smell (all very unscientific!) - I complained and the dealer obtained a second set and allowed me to pick and mix between the two boxes. It cast doubt on the whole OE question, as MB had sourced them who knows where. I’ve had Lemforder parts, via Autodoc, from China, India, Brazil and Turkey over the last year or so. I have nothing against those countries, but such diverse procurement must call into question a chase for the lowest cost of manufacture and reliability of remote QA. I’m not brave enough to risk Autodoc’s own brands such as Stark, which is reported as poor, but am prepared to consider Febi, Meyle etc. when previously it was Lemforder all the way.
I’ve got new MB wings for the A124, but the bonnet is OK. MB priced the slam panel but I recall it was so pricey I opted for an eBay pattern part - slam panel, front beam and radiator support - which again feels weighty and as substantial as the original.
It’s ironic that parts quality overall may well have dimmed just as so many 124s fall out of the banger group and into the hands of people who will invest in them, but nobody is going to corral 124 parts while the rest of the pack goes on a worldwide search for lowest cost of production.
ETA - are Poole up and running? I normally get parts from MB Coventry (not that I’m near Coventry, but they’re the nearest dealer that has not let me down on car servicing and will offer discount) but they’re still closed.
That's really interesting about the W126 bushes, my mate fitted genuine MB front anti roll bar bushes on his 300TE 4Matic just over 18 months ago and they're already fubar. I doubt the installation was botched but these are only available from MB and about £120 per side, safe to say he is not impressed. I’ve got new MB wings for the A124, but the bonnet is OK. MB priced the slam panel but I recall it was so pricey I opted for an eBay pattern part - slam panel, front beam and radiator support - which again feels weighty and as substantial as the original.
It’s ironic that parts quality overall may well have dimmed just as so many 124s fall out of the banger group and into the hands of people who will invest in them, but nobody is going to corral 124 parts while the rest of the pack goes on a worldwide search for lowest cost of production.
ETA - are Poole up and running? I normally get parts from MB Coventry (not that I’m near Coventry, but they’re the nearest dealer that has not let me down on car servicing and will offer discount) but they’re still closed.
Edited by Stegel on Wednesday 13th May 10:21
What you have expressed about selling off the manufacture of parts to the lowest bidder mirrors exactly my concern.
Poole are indeed up and running but on reduced staff. I have been in contact with them by email and back and forth, as my list is quite long and many of the part numbers needed checking for superseded as the numbers I had given were from an old version of EPC. I'm definitely no-where near Poole, but my local dealer is becoming increasingly useless and unwilling to spend the time required sorting these kind of parts requests. The chaps at Poole do seem to have an interest in the older models.
Northbrook said:
I suppose they're starting to climb the foothills of classic-ness after the to-be-expected languish in the swamps of 'cheap old car'.
I've been very impressed with my car's construction - rust/age deterioration aside, it's all come apart pretty well and gone back together fine. And, for me, that was part of the appeal of the brand/model in the first place.
That's precisely the appeal! I don't think many people will be having this conversation about S213s in 25 years time!I've been very impressed with my car's construction - rust/age deterioration aside, it's all come apart pretty well and gone back together fine. And, for me, that was part of the appeal of the brand/model in the first place.
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