Classic Merc - my new doer-upper!
Discussion
Evening all
The standard fleet has been quiet quite for a while - the C4s is snuggled up in the garage looking fab and waiting for some good weather.
The daily, my S4 (B6) is just fabulous - doing around 1000 miles a month in it for the commute to work and, other than a passion of fuel stops and a new alternator, it has been perfect. The Miltek sounds epic!
Anyway, I digress - after buying a nice 986 Boxster, doing it up over 4 weeks, and selling it on for a tidy profit, I decided a needed a longer term project.
Always liked older Mercs - I had a SL 500 R129 a few years ago and it was built like a tank.
Spend a few houses on Facebook Market place (some good bargains to be had!) and found a W124 220 Cabriolet for sale in London.
Initial photos were mixed:
Great colour
Nice paint
Horrendous alloys (chrome!!)
Lowered
Gangster spec??
(advert pic)
Emailed the owner - through broken English it was clear he had not owned the car long (3 months) and neither did he have the V5 (previous owner only). Alarm bells ringing so I did a full HPI which came back ok
MOT history looked good too - apart from some mileage discrepancies - not too worred about this on such an old car
Long story short - I went down and bought it!
Obligatory fuel station photo!
It got me home from London to Northampton with no issues. It is mighty slow! But I think it has great potential.
First thing first - get rid of those awful chrome wheels. I managed to find some cheap CLK wheels locally and painted them in Antracite this morning. Much better now I think! Althought Id like some proper monoblocs....
]
The paintwork is absolutely gorgeous. I spoke to the formal owner, having tracked him down from the V5. A real enthusiast, he had repainted the whole car and fitted new wings 5 years ago, hence the good condition now.
Hood goes up and down as it should but the rear headrests which act as a roll bar are stuck in the up position - need to search the forums for a solution......
There are a few bits to tidy and I am still a but undecided about the "Stance" look! Ive got some wheel spacers coming as the offset of the CLK wheels means they sit too far into the arches and looks a bit odd.
What do you guys think? Does it look a bit too drug dealer esque or can you see the potential for a modern classic!?
The standard fleet has been quiet quite for a while - the C4s is snuggled up in the garage looking fab and waiting for some good weather.
The daily, my S4 (B6) is just fabulous - doing around 1000 miles a month in it for the commute to work and, other than a passion of fuel stops and a new alternator, it has been perfect. The Miltek sounds epic!
Anyway, I digress - after buying a nice 986 Boxster, doing it up over 4 weeks, and selling it on for a tidy profit, I decided a needed a longer term project.
Always liked older Mercs - I had a SL 500 R129 a few years ago and it was built like a tank.
Spend a few houses on Facebook Market place (some good bargains to be had!) and found a W124 220 Cabriolet for sale in London.
Initial photos were mixed:
Great colour
Nice paint
Horrendous alloys (chrome!!)
Lowered
Gangster spec??
(advert pic)
Emailed the owner - through broken English it was clear he had not owned the car long (3 months) and neither did he have the V5 (previous owner only). Alarm bells ringing so I did a full HPI which came back ok
MOT history looked good too - apart from some mileage discrepancies - not too worred about this on such an old car
Long story short - I went down and bought it!
Obligatory fuel station photo!
It got me home from London to Northampton with no issues. It is mighty slow! But I think it has great potential.
First thing first - get rid of those awful chrome wheels. I managed to find some cheap CLK wheels locally and painted them in Antracite this morning. Much better now I think! Althought Id like some proper monoblocs....
]
The paintwork is absolutely gorgeous. I spoke to the formal owner, having tracked him down from the V5. A real enthusiast, he had repainted the whole car and fitted new wings 5 years ago, hence the good condition now.
Hood goes up and down as it should but the rear headrests which act as a roll bar are stuck in the up position - need to search the forums for a solution......
There are a few bits to tidy and I am still a but undecided about the "Stance" look! Ive got some wheel spacers coming as the offset of the CLK wheels means they sit too far into the arches and looks a bit odd.
What do you guys think? Does it look a bit too drug dealer esque or can you see the potential for a modern classic!?
As a 124 owner myself, I think they're a great semi-classic. Old enough not to be just an old car, interesting, and well-made. And the parts support is also pretty good.
Undoubtedly a different feel to your other cars, but that's to the good - enjoy your striking, elegant cabrio. Lovely colour, too!
Undoubtedly a different feel to your other cars, but that's to the good - enjoy your striking, elegant cabrio. Lovely colour, too!
Love these cars!!!!, I passed up on the chance to buy an e320 a few years ago, it was fitted with a genuine e36 amg kit fitted and was for sale for about 6k if my memory serves me correct. The rear headrests will probably be the roll over sensor, if I remember rightly it works like a headlight leveler on newer cars and is attached to one/both of the rear arms with a plastic arm and senses if the wheel has moved up too much thinks it is going to roll over. A friend had one of these and his did it every time he went round a corner after he had reset the headrests.
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