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

[forddeliveryboy]

"No tyre kickers, no turning up in a moronic stanced car"

[Wackeldackel]

Ordinarily I'd say keep it, too good to break, etc etc but rear subframe mounts on these are normally a death knell. They are a little bit of a bastard to cut out and repair, one of the few known rust spots on this model that MB don't offer a repair patch for. If the subframe mounts are shot then I'd wager a pound to a pinch of snuff that the jack points under those nice plastic covers will be similarly cornflakes. Probably not an accepted shiteist way of looking at it but purely pragmatically and financiallly, to get the rear subframe done properly you'd be looking at close on £700 I reckon. If the car already owes you over a grand....hmmmm.

 

As an aside there is a chap in Brighton (www.w124.co.uk i think) called Nick Froome who flogs W124s especially estates almost exclusively. I reckon his customer base is rich school run mummies who have probably had one before, and know exactly what they're he's getting. He's getting good money for these later estates with good spec like 7 seats and leather. If you could tap into that market local to you you'd get more than £250 no question.

[Six-cylinder]

I was tempted just for the leather interior but where would I keep my pins!

[gordonbennet]

Unless you find one thats had serious TLC throughout its life these later, especially 6 pot,124's need a lot of money throwing at them to keep them up to standard.

 

The only way to stop the worst of the rust is to liberally douse the thing in rustproofer from new, and you've got more chance of pissing in the queens handbag than finding an eccentric who could afford too buy on of these new and then dismantle the bloody thing to get to the inside of the umpteen panels that need protection.

 

Christ 99% of all car owners can't even be arsed to rinse the bloody salt off come spring, or put a dab of grease on a brake pipe, what hope rustproofing.

 

Even then it will be a struggle, the thick underseal Benz put on these cracks and allows water in, if you check round the rear inner wheelarch on facelifts you'll find a couple of those rubber bungs/grommets will quite likely only be held in place by whats left of the sealer, the bodywork surrounding having disintegrated years ago.

 

The trouble is that bodywork isn't the only problem, they have wiring loom probs which can't be ignored or you risk blown coils and ECU's...i could write a bloody book on this subject alone, then you have OMGCHG issues, oil cooler issues...if you get a 320 you end up with irreplaceable bottom ball joints and quite likely need a new complete wishbone every other MOT, genuine's are around £500 now, aftermarket don't last.

 

But for all their faults the 124 is a fantastic car, and good ones are getting rare now, whether this one is worth investing in to bring it back to its former glory i dunno, you might be looking at £3k to do so.

 

I daren't total up how much my coupe has cost to upkeep over the past 12 years, far in excess of its value but then its not for sale, i don't think you can make money in 124's unless you, as said, tap into the kudos thing that Nick Froome has.

[chaseracer]

Ordinarily I'd say keep it, too good to break, etc etc but rear subframe mounts on these are normally a death knell. They are a little bit of a bastard to cut out and repair, one of the few known rust spots on this model that MB don't offer a repair patch for. If the subframe mounts are shot then I'd wager a pound to a pinch of snuff that the jack points under those nice plastic covers will be similarly cornflakes...

Unless you find one thats had serious TLC throughout its life these later, especially 6 pot,124's need a lot of money throwing at them to keep them up to standard.

 

Even then it will be a struggle, the thick underseal Benz put on these cracks and allows water in, if you check round the rear inner wheelarch on facelifts you'll find a couple of those rubber bungs/grommets will quite likely only be held in place by whats left of the sealer, the bodywork surrounding having disintegrated years ago.

 

But for all their faults the 124 is a fantastic car, and good ones are getting rare now, whether this one is worth investing in to bring it back to its former glory i dunno, you might be looking at £3k to do so.

 

And this, my friends, is why the ex-Wobbler 300E will likely soon be no more.  Everything has a limit, sadly...

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Numberplate looked familiar... my dad bought a new Mondeo with the reg M899 LVM. 

[worldofceri]

I think it's worth investing in but, even if I had the money, I'm not going to keep it so I would never get my money's worth out of it.

 

It undoubtedly has - or will have - more rust issues than I know about right now, but what twenty year old motor doesn't?

 

I think the suspension is fine - it handles great - aside from the ride at the rear. But even that you could live with.

 

I was fully prepared to get the back end welded up - my mate had already agreed to have a crack at it. There's a thread on one of the Merc forums where a bloke details the exact same repair and doesn't seem to have a world of pain with it. What's put me off doing anything with it is the fact that it'd cost me £££ to rectify the oil leak. Again, you might be able to live with it as it doesn't consume loads, but it lives on the street and I'm conscious of the fact that the road outside my house is looking increasingly like the yard of an old-school breakers. If I had a drive I could stick a drip tray underneath every night and use the waste as rust-proofer; win-win!

 

I think what I'll do is remove the wheels and a few other easily unboltable bits and get a nice man with a Hiab to lift it off my Mum's drive, as suggested. I got £80 for a Renner 5 that way once (only weighs about 750kg), although that was a couple of years ago.

[forddeliveryboy]

I've used these barges intensively and have found them pretty rot-resistant, unlike the cars MB replaced them with. Front wings are quick and cheap to replace but can make a car look a proper mess. The big problem is that as the years went by, Mercedes steadily reduced the steel quality. I briefly had a 24v diesel on an N plate, the underside was as rusty as an old Ford. And that was nearly ten years ago.

 

Driven back to back, a 1986 124 felt as if it was built out of steel half as thick again - which it wasn't, of course, but the difference in quality made it feel so. As well as cutting back on quality, MB also complicated the cars and at the same time deleted things like the differential drain plug. Late cars can be a proper mess, they're best for parts-fodder if they're rotting as well as going wrong a lot. The design is from a different world, a different generation. The quality (design and material) is addictive if you find a good 'un.

 

Thing is, how many other cars from the late 80s and early 90s do you know about which are in fine fettle, unrestored? Audi 80s and 100s/A6s, perhaps - can't think of many more. An early A6 is a simpler car than a 124 and is faster with the 5 cylinder TDi, but on a longer run or in sustained heavy use, the Mercedes qualities shine through more and more.

[gordonbennet]

I can't help but compare a 124 estate to a 9 series Volvo, in my case i had a 940SE estate with 2.4 6 pot VW van Diesel coupled to overdrive manual box.

 

It literally never went wrong, needed a clutch but that was a simple job (not surprising when you tow 2 tons of sand at a time with it), glow plugs gradually pegged out, again a simple job apart from one which never got changed.

 

Sis and BiL had it from us, and we kicked ourselves rotten over that, it eventually was retired last year, still running fine but getting well battered inside and out (BiL's relations didn't like it turning up), still no bloody rust anywhere, my sis used to jump start her Volvo artic with it, the car never batted a eyelid.

 

And yes, we replaced it with a W124 estate, a 320 petrol, which had every option box ticked on the order form, including a steel sump guard of all things.

Had every invoice incl the bill of sale, new in 95, basic car £31k, £19k's worth of extras, total £50k.

 

The bloke had it serviced every year at MB, and they must have loved him, never a bill for less than £500, and many over £2k....nearly every extra on that car went wrong, sometimes twice, staggering bloody costs to maintain the thing, wish i'd kept the folder for posterity....they took the piss to be honest, regular bills like that yet they never failed to charge for things like screenwash and a sump washer etc.

 

It had the 5 speed optional auto and i've never had a car that could take off from rest as quick as that thing (first only used in full throttle take off), but Christ could it drink, and eventually either the OMGCHG or oil cooler failed, either way the bloody water was stuffed with oil and we gave it up as a bad job...that was after water got into the electrics and corroded one of the multi plugs on the VDU ECU, luckily refurbed on the Isle of Wight.

 

Meanwhile that simple mechanically pumped 940 soldiered on despite total neglect.

 

I agree that early 124's were far better made than the facelifts.

[forddeliveryboy]

^^ Fast heavy car likes a drink shock story. Your experience of a late 124 corresponds exactly with the fact MB were cutting costs all the time, yet making their cars faster and more gadget-heavy. I've heard loads of sob stories of the later 124s costing the earth - even the diesels caused bother with those modern little glowplugs shearing off and the O-ring pipe connections. I've driven Volvos with 300k+ miles on and tbf it's remarkable how well they're going, but next to a 300TD with similar or higher miles, they do feel a bit worn and rough. But they're beautifully simple machines, and that counts for a lot as the years pile on.

[worldofceri]

NOW SOLD!

 

To the West Midlands' foremost Rover 800 aficionado

 

God Speed, Lord Sterling.

[hairnet]

jawohl herr sterling

[Pillock]

Herr DeutscheMark?

[Jim Bell]

Glad it got away in the end.

[KruJoe]

Well saved Mo, it's good to see it live on.

 

So Ceri, does this mean you've snagged the LPG'd Coup Of Win in part-ex?

[Spiny Norman]

NOW SOLD!

 

To the West Midlands' foremost Rover 800 aficionado

 

God Speed, Lord Sterling.

 

 

"Lord E280" doesn't quite have the same ring to it though, does it?

[Lord Sterling]

And it was a pleasure to meet you too again Ceri, yes, that is correct, me, a fan of British cars and Rover 800s in particular actually owns a German made car now.

 

I agreed to buy it simply because the Rover that I have was a dog, the exhaust was falling off, very little actually worked and it was a generally embarrassing car to drive everyday across town to my office job. As well as that there had been a long held passion to try something different.

 

Anyhow, Mercedes E280 Estate, brought to you by WorldofCeri, Dugong and Lord Sterling...

 

JOURNEY;

 

Today at around midday myself and Ma_Sterling were to make our way down to the local Post Office sorting office to pick up a package for myself and then go to the train station, however, something very odd happened on the way...

 

DRAMA!

 

Just as Ma was pulling up out of the estate to a main road a little Fiat Punto had come off the main road into the estate almost on the other side of the road nearly colliding with us, the car was full of studenty types and they seemed more interested in what they had just passed, as we got nearer to the road I noticed a driverless Ford Fiesta rolling down the hill, Ma stopped and I jumped out of the car to stop the Fiesta which I managed to do, Ma pulled up in front of the car as I got on the phone to the 101 non-emergency Cop number after actually getting through to them 2 young studenty type lads turned up, one of them owned the car and thanked me for stopping the car, he hadn't realised what had happened but explained that he'd had handbrake problems with his car.

 

TRAIN(z)

 

Anyway, after that minor little drama we made our way where Ma dropped me off at the sorting centre, I picked my package (an eBay purchase) and made my way here:

 

 

Where I spotted this ALL VXLz R SH!T Astra:

 

 

I bought a cheap ticket and tried to figure out what platform I was supposed to be on. But I'd decided I couldn't give a toss as there were no clear directions and jumped on the first train towards the city centre.

 

Both trains caught had fairly adequate seating facilities:

 

1st Train:

 

2nd Train:

 

After having to endure some woman loudly talking about mergers and positions in the company, going to London etc... I eventually got off at Coventry where I met Ceri, I jumped in the Merc and we made our way to his. Ceri is great seller, explaining everything clearly and what has been done, he has certainly tried with this car, (certainly more than I have with the Rover)

 

Cash was exchanged, papers signed, agreements made and before I knew it, this British car fan was off driving his new German car down the road. 

 

Having driven Rovers for so long and Mercs very little, it was quite a strange driving this new German barge. The accelerator needs a firm push with big feet, non-electric seats take a bit of getting used to as do the seat positions but after stopping at a services to stick some fuel in the car, I finally managed to find a comfortable driving position.

 

[There should be the all important petrol station shot here, but I forgot, soz  ]

 

Ceri wasn't joking when he said the car was wallowy and bouncy on the back end, this is something I'm gonna have to sort out as soon as possible, the ride is very bouncy.

 

It picks up speed very well without being loud or boisterous about it, I love the foot/hand brake as per Mercs of this era. I like the design the of wing mirrors but less so the actual mirrors themselves.

 

Whilst driving out of Coventry, I spotted this OMG 4RD SCeENE TAX FiNG  on this on the road:

 

 

* Cue Pete M complaining that its not a Mk2 2 door and will therefore never be worth £££ELEVNTY KAJ1LL10N £POUNDz

 

Anyhow, after I got it home I changed the radio straight away as I couldn't find the face for it and the CD didn't work, I now have tunes! Have a shot of the car back where I am currently exisiting:

 

 

Ceri - Thank you for the hospitality, patience.

 

Everyone else, thanks for looking.

[worldofceri]

Oh shit! The fascia for the stereo is still in my under-stairs cupboard! Oops. Well, it didn't work anyway...

 

Glad you made it home safe and sound; looks like it's started marking it's territory already judging by that first shot above!

[worldofceri]

Glad it got away in the end.

Cheers man, sorry you missed out on your supa-cool clear indicators!

[320touring]

Lord sterling, may i take this opportunity to welcome you into the illustrious band of estate owners on this forum

 

May it lug your shyte and rest your weary bones at days end

[Lord Sterling]

Thank you Mr_Touring. If anyone said to me that I'd be owning a German Estate a few months back, I'd have thought they were pulling my drum stick.

 

Odder things have happened...

[Angrydicky]

Rear suspension will be the rear shock absorbers, my dad had exactly the same problem on his E220 estate. Think they are self-levelling or something like that. Fortunately he found a pair on ebay at a breakers and had them fitted, the car was transformed after that.

[dollywobbler]

Do these use spheres on the back? If so, replacing shouldn't be too hard.

[Wackeldackel]

If the ride is hard and bpuncy it's more than likely spheres. The shocks aren't shocks at all, just a pair of hydraulic rams. They very very very rarely go wrong, spheres are a lot more common. Think Worldofceri did say the SLS still goes up and down so its highly likely that the rams are still ok but just the nitrogen gas has long since been spunked out of the spheres, meaning they're completely full of LHM, no nitrogen gas in there means no cushioning effect and a hard bumpy back axle. Bit of a sod to change but doable, new banjo bolts for the spheres usually advisable as well.

[Wackeldackel]

Congratulations on the purchase as well by the way

[Six-cylinder]

Well done I was temped for the leather interior for our 200TE but it is better that you save the car. Great cars I did 1700 miles in 5 days in ours last week.

[forddeliveryboy]

Do these use spheres on the back? If so, replacing shouldn't be too hard.

 

They bought a licence from the French company, but preferred to hide the evidence from Benz-buyers. Most people think it's a standard coil and damper affair with a bit of extra plumbing for self-levelling. Spheres aren't quick and easy to change as on an Cit. You've got to find the things before working out how on earth to remove them.

 

I don't think they bought all the licence, either - the system doesn't self-bleed and struts have seals which blow. Great when working though - a 124 wagon with Citroën suspension at the back is very pleasant indeed, the saloons feel like proper harsh and bouncy things afterwards.

[Lord Sterling]

Ta for the advice on Spheres, will have to get them sorted as soon as I can (spheres on the car, people)

 

I have to say, I took the car out tonight and just getting into it and smelling that unique Mercedes smell took me back years ago to Brussels when many of FATHA_Sterling's contacts used to buy and sell these cars, whilst old_man would be having a chin wag, I'd be messing about sitting in these Mercs, Beemers and Audis where alot of them had this particular leathery smell in them. This Merc takes me back to that and it makes me smile.

[Lord Sterling]

Miraculously the ole S124 (yes, S124 as it's an estate) has PASSED the MOT! I really thought I was facing a bill of £££s to get it to pass, but it's seemingly passed. Also, the MOT cost me £nowt as I did some clean up/refitting work around the garage/office/waiting room areas as the owner had some rewiring/windows fitted and the place was looking less than welcoming.

 

Also, whilst fitting up a new shelf and clearing some old boxes off the old shelf, I found a load of very old Haynes manuals for stuff like the Austin Allegro, Hillman Avenger, Ford Cortina, Mk1 Fiesta, Datsun. Garage owner Mahmoud said I could have the Haynes Mk1 Rover 820 manual, a Car manual for the Maestro/Montego and a Haynes manual for the Rover 213/216.

 

Since I bought the Merc, I have so far bought a drivers wing in the correct colour (albeit a Diesel one with the 3 slats) 2 uncut Mercedes keys, the correct manual + wallett, some rear spheres which still need fitting at some point and some correct Mercedes front ribbed mats, I could do with some rear mats but that'll come with time.

 

Things I need to do though:

 

• Get spheres fitted, this'll probably be done this week seeing as I don't have a job AGAIN.

• Get oil leak sorted out - this is probably going to be an expensive, long job. So I'll need to budget for that.

• Have new brake pads fitted, they need changjng.

• Sort out a new rad to stop this one leaking. Coolant has always been a sore point on all the cars I've ever had.

• Get drivers wing fitted asap.

• Get new keys cut.

• Get little jobs sorted like replace dash bulbs, sort ashtray out etc...

• Try and get some rear mats. All in time eh?

 

So all in all, I'm actually getting somewhere!

[worldofceri]

Well done Mr Sterling.

 

I think I may have sold this too cheap! At least the oil slick outside my house is gradually getting rinsed away now though.