Oh no, not another W124. Lord Sterling's Benz: Will he fix it or will he fix a Rover?

[worldofceri]

So, here is my Mercedes W124 in E280 estate flavour.

 

I've had this since the beginning of January and the time has come to admit it wasn't the best buy I've ever made.  It needs a fair bit of work to make it a decent prospect and since it isn't going to be a keeper it's up for sale while it still has a bit of mot left.

 

Some nice pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

It's the E280 auto (197 bhp).

 

 

Boot is big.

 

 

Has the seven seat option.

 

 

I didn't realise until after I'd got it home (having viewed it in the dark) quite how filthy it was, inside and out.  I spent quite a lot of time scrubbing the seats, carpet, door cards etc and it's come up fairly well, albeit not to Beko/Vulgalour standards.  Still quite a lot of marks left that require more elbow grease than I can spare, however it looks quite presentable now.

 

 

 

 

 

Despite the miles it drives OK.  Smooth and quiet as you'd expect, hustles along pretty rapidly when you need to.  See my signature for an idea of mpg; it likes a drink.  I've never had an auto before so I've not much to compare this one to, but it all seems in order gearbox-wise in my inexpert view.  But there are issues:

 

It will not pass another mot as is.  The problems, in approximate order of seriousness are:

 

1. Rotten nearside rear subframe mount.  This looks very much like someone bodged it up with a bit of crappy angle iron for the last mot.  Either that or the last mot tester was blind or hooky.  Possibly both.

 

2. Oil leak.  According to my garage, it's coming from the head, at the front.  They reckon the head needs to come off for a skim; book time is nine hours, so I'm not going to pay them to do it and it's not something I can attempt myself.

 

 

 

3. It also loses a bit of coolant.  I don't think oil and water are mixing.  The coolant is leaking from a pin hole in the top of the rad, hence the spatter over the top of the engine.  It doesn't overheat.  This pisses me off a bit as it started just after I'd drained and refilled the rad with proper green coolant.

 

4. Rear shock absorbers are completely borked.  Bounces like the rear suspension is made of Space Hoppers.

 

5. Usual rusty front wings.  Looks like someones wobbed them up in the recent past.  Offside front is now holed.

 

 

6. Electric aerial doesn't work.

7. CD player inop.  Radio works fine.

8. Ash tray doesn't shut.  It did until I swapped the stereo for a slightly better one that I had lying around that promptly developed a fault (see: 7.).

9. Mercedes gun-sight has been snapped off.

 

Everything else works great;  all instrumentation, four electric windows, tilt-slide sunroof (no leaks).

 

Tyres are all matching Firestones, new this year, and having lots of tread.

 

 

Exhaust back box and centre pipe were replaced this year at vast expense.

 

New rear brake discs and pads done by me a couple of months ago.  The front pads are low so I'll change them next Sunday assuming it's still here.

 

Original dealer plates and tax disc holder for all you plate-lickers.

 

 

Furry dice included.

 

 

Mot expires in November so can be driven away.

 

Location:  Coventry.  Handy for M6 junction 2 or 3.

 

It owes me about £1250 including what I paid for it.

 

Shite price:  Ã‚£350.

 

 

Usual caveats apply:  I'm not a mechanic; all information given in good faith; defects mentioned may be more of less serious than stated; no warranty given; sold as seen; spears ore reapers; private sale, E&OE; ample free parking.

[Wackeldackel]

Got to be worth that all day long, if not a fair chunk more.

 

4. The shock absorbers - if the ride is bouncy then its probably not shocks gone but the two pressure regulator speheres for the Self Levelling Suspension, as this is an estate it will have SLS. Spheres are a lot cheaper than SLS shocks, compare 2 speres at £60 each approx to 2 rear SLS shocks at the thick end of £200 each.

 

GLWTS and all that, oh yeah it might just be top timing chain cover leaking oil, 99p gasket and sealer may sort it before any cylinder head removal ensues.

[KruJoe]

That's lovely Ceri, and a bargain too.

So spheres and a quick mig-tickle and this should be testable (oh, and three inches of duct tape for that wing).

 

PS, the towbar needs to be on this, not the Clio.

[Lord Sterling]

Bkoody 'ell. I'm tempted to ask whether you want to swap against an 827 Coupe. Xcept I have ZILCH monies whatsoever.

[Cavcraft]

I had one where the spheres had gone, not a nice ride at all.

 

However I would have thought the very fair asking price is probably what it'd do for export, so it should be a no brainer for someone.

[worldofceri]

... oh yeah it might just be top timing chain cover leaking oil, 99p gasket and sealer may sort it before any cylinder head removal ensues.

 

Hmm...  OK, so sounds like it might be worth a try.  Also, thanks for the info re: spheres.  I'd assumed it would be the shockers since the SLS seems to work perfectly well.

 

So spheres and a quick mig-tickle and this should be testable ...

 

Trouble is, I need to know I can fix the oil leak before I do anything else and I'm running out of time and money.  I have a friend who will do the weldage to a high standard for a reasonable price, but I took it to the local garage to let them suss out the oil leak first, and their diagnosis put me off doing anything else with it.

 

If there's anyone local who wants to come and give me a second opinion I'd be more than happy to make you a cuppa even if all you do is stand and laugh.

 

It's going on Ebay later anyway, but I'll be more than happy to pull it if a shiteist wants it.

 

Open to swaps/part-ex something interesting with five seats and four/five doors that needs a little less doing to it in the short term.  Money either way!

[forddeliveryboy]

If the ride's bouncy, it could either be lack of travel (spheres) or damaged struts (which look like they're shocks) if there's still loads of travel, even though the damping in integral to the rear pipework. Struts can be had for as little as £20 second hand - with new oil in them, they may last another couple of hundred thousand miles - and are dead easy to fit. Spheres a bit more ime consuming, they're hidden away to allow Mercedes owners to totally deny the fact their car uses a licenced Citroen setup

 

Mercedes tried to make the system cheaper to make and 'last a lifetime' as well as disguising it as a conventional suspension. So spheres are longer lasting than LHM ones but may be a day's work rather than 20 minutes. And the struts fail when made to work very hard, I keep few spare ones in case.

[worldofceri]

This place, etc...

 

Currently £51 on the 'bay.

 

Be quick!

[Jim Bell]

I'm tempted to buy it for bits alone!

[2MB]

I think ebay is the right path for one of these. Mine made over £500 with no MOT and similar arse end subframe rot. It was a diesel but this should still fetch decentish money

[worldofceri]

I'm tempted to buy it for bits alone!

 

You could have the world's only 7-seat E-klass coop.

[drum]

Bargainious! Can I have it in blue please?

[worldofceri]

We have a blue downstairs loo.  I'll see if we've any left-over emulsion in the shed.

[drum]

Have a bump.

 

This was my one about a dozen years ago

[worldofceri]

Well, this ended at £320 on Ebay.  A bit less than I was hoping, but oh well.

 

Buyer eventually turned up today (an hour late) after not turning up on Tuesday as arranged initially, spent the best part of an hour kicking the tyres then decided he didn't want it.  UTTER TWAT.

 

I could scarcely disguise how livid I was with him, and I'm a pretty mild-mannered bloke.  Reckoned I'd failed to mention the cracked rear bumper (I had) and rotten inner wings (I think they would test, to be honest, but then whilst I'm no expert, I did say the outer wings were rusted through so there's bound to be rust elsewhere FFS).

 

Did I mention he's a fucking prick?

 

Should have known what I was up against when he and his mate turned up in a 'stanced' W124 Coupe with wheels that probably cost double what I was asking for the whole car.

 

Anyway, upshot is this is still available and a nice shiteist would now be welcome to take this away for just Ã‚£250 as I'm pissed off and fed up of the sight of it.

 

I'm taking the fucking furry dice out now though.

 

 

PS.  Sorry about the swears but I'm cross.

[Jim Bell]

Bummer man. This kind of bollcks seems to be the norm rather than the exeption these days.

[worldofceri]

I'm tempted to buy it for bits alone!

 

I'm very tempted to break this now, although I don't really have the time or energy.  Or the means to get a shell to the scrapyard.

 

WOT U WANT SHITPEEZ?

 

Serious question:  Would EMR let me take the wheels off after I'd weighed it in?  I'd have to weigh them out obviously.

[Jim Bell]

Most scrappys let you whip the wheels off there (apparently) though I've never put it to the test. I'll pm you as list of what I could take later on if you don't mind (at work ATM and can't see the pics)

[Wackeldackel]

That interior with door cards and footwell mats would fetch you a good few hundred quid alone. What with it being a T model, most were family workhorses and ended up as jobbing builders vans, interiors in good nick are worth a few quid.

 

If you can muster up the time, inclination and have neighbours amenable to your front garden looking like a scrapyard, then break it. PAS pump, thick end of £100, wheels and tyres another couple of hundred, headlights, decent white blinkers always sell, people also buy stuff like radiator, water pump, the sacco boards (plastic trim along the doors and wing bottoms) any easily removable ancillary items that you can take off, a) as merc dealer prices are for most things, fairly dear, and even slightly used merc original parts are likely to be better than shite branded aftermarket stuff from ECP/GSF parts.

 

Shame about the timewasters, knockdown price for an estate.

[Lankytim]

EMR Birmingham won't let you take the wheels off, as someone got twatted by a falling wheel when a car was lifted by the grab a few years ago. May have changed recently though.

 

I'd this was a diesel i'd bite both your arms off.

[Wackeldackel]

Yellow pages, scrap car collection. Normally 7 tonne hiab lorry. If they can get the lorry on driveway and reach it, they'll take it. You won't get nearly as much for it as if you took it in to the scrapyard yourself but if you pillage and flog enough parts that will make up for it.

[richardmorris]

Sorry you were mucked about by a coupe owner - we're not all drug dealing low-riders.

[skattrd]

Is this not suitable for export?

Didn't someone on here have a contact who shipped stuff to Nigeria or wherever?

[Lord Sterling]

Yo! Don't break it man! I'm currently pottering around very miserably in a hateful 827 Coupe which like you, I'm fed up at the sight of. Let me see if I can raise £250 from somewhere and if my insurance can be swapped over easily...

 

Edit* Hey! Your not even that far from me. Ole' ma_Sterling works in Coventry too...

[richardmorris]

Yo! Don't break it man! I'm currently pottering around very miserably in a hateful 827 Coupe which like you, I'm fed up at the sight of. Let me see if I can raise £250 from somwhere and if my insurance can be swapped over easily...

 

Edit* Hey! Your not even that far from me. Ole' ma_Sterling works in Coventry too...

[320touring]

Yup-this needs bought not broken.

 

would have it myself were it not for the myriad scrap needing work done here

[purplebargeken]

Gone on LS, you need this!

[Uncle Jimmy]

Lovely Benz with a few issues. Can't understand why they make so little, I'd be loathe to sell is for less than a grand.

Talking of eBay monkeys, how about we have a list of these morons on here, a kind of eBay rogues gallery?

[skattrd]

Talking of eBay monkeys, how about we have a list of these morons on here, a kind of eBay rogues gallery?

 

Something like .. http://autoshite.com/topic/16807-ebay-arseholes-fuckwitslist-them-here/

[purplebargeken]

Ebay does wings at 63 quid inclusive of p & p, rear spheres 67 quid.