HMC WBOD news

[flat4alfa]

Transit Camper GR9 for Goodwood races weekend glamp for undergraduate nephew on a bender with chums

Then by Wednesday next week on this very thread, a gorgeous 1985 JRG Bentley Mulsanne Turbo is delivered.  Full of creature comforts just wanting a scrub, full circumference tide-mark paintwork and a complementary 7-cylinder running order soundtrack.  Living the dream.

#21 and #45 please.

 

[lesapandre]

The unfolding history of the Rolls Royce reminds me of this film:

The 'Yellow Rolls-Royce' is a 1964 British movie written by Terence Rattigan and directed by Anthony Asquith - with an ensemble all-star cast - telling of the adventures of the car with it's various owners.

The car in the film is a 1931 RR Phantom II Sedanca de Ville which still survives restored in the US.

[HMC]

We all know how @LightBulbFun the DVLA have got ever stricter with their v888 vehicle history requests.

In my day you could just state you wanted to research the history but AFAIK you just get rebuffed these days.

But what if a personal effect has been hidden in the car…..

 

Lets find out….

 

[bunglebus]

11 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Slight aside, but The Beast finally has its Roller nose back. Looking better for it, too.

Why isn't it nasty 70s beige anymore?

[camryv6]

On 19/01/2024 at 13:35, timolloyd said:

I would like it if this was the one car you decided you wanted to keep, and yet he’s willing to offer over-the-odds for sentimental reasons.

I can't wait for him to ask if you want to sell it, he will probably hear the whole of this forum laughing

[HMC]

Fast forward to 2023 and kudos to Nathan Wren, a very competitive racer on a national level featured in the top image on this flyer having a crash…

 

As he decided not to banger it and put some time and effort into making it road usable last year.

going from this

avoiding 

to this

I mean, its far from a good example, but it is still here and being used. When he gets an old phone fixed he is going to send some more pics.

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

^ Love this. It reminds me in a roundabout way of my Lambretta - it should really have gone in the bin in the early 70s when it was worthless and everyone was buying Minis instead. However, thanks to one forward thinking individual, it was lobbed into a shed for 25 years then exhumed and recommissioned when values were on the up, thereby securing its future. 

Your Rolls hit that tipping point and one person's efforts at deciding to let it live have enabled this whole new chapter, including stirring up family members fond memories. 

The condition of the classic is almost moot, really - the back story is the part which makes it for me. 

Don't sell it yet; we're all enjoying finding out the next chapters. 

[Schaefft]

9 hours ago, HMC said:

Fast forward to 2023 and kudos to Nathan Wren, a very competitive racer on a national level featured in the top image on this flyer having a crash…

 

As he decided not to banger it and put some time and effort into making it road usable last year.

going from this

avoiding 

to this

I mean, its far from a good example, but it is still here and being used. When he gets an old phone fixed he is going to send some more pics.

 

A Lincoln Towncar had to die in its place. I know they made a million of them but still a shame considering their rarity in the UK.

[outlaw118]

ORL BANGA RASERZ R BASTERDS remember😉

[eddyramrod]

21 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Don't swop it for Handsome yet; we're all enjoying finding out the next chapters. 

EFA

[HMC]

Is my w220 s class a bit of a dog?

(answer- yes but its fun improving it)

But also i wonder if the last but 1 owner got fed up, in part due to an underwhelming mb specialist. 

in the  limited paperwork theres a visit to said specialist in november 23- 1 headlamp not working (i received the car like this) bulb changed, no difference, wiring needs investigating.

On the way back from swapping with the  passat b5, ominously the other headlamp failed too.

Oh dear. After half expecting fucked xenons, or a wiring mess i was suprised to find conventional lamp units, and even more suprised when i replaced the h7 pattern bulbs in each unit and normal lighting was resumed, and has been fine ever since.

Add that on the same visit to the “noisy but working airmatic pump” which was faulty (+/- the valve block , and seems only to have been noisy as it had been cable tied directly to the body rather than mounted on bushes- albeit not by them i should add- but this reason for the noise wasnt noticed) Plus the suspension bottomed out after 30 mins resting.

I dont know what to make of that- and we dont know the full background- how beligerent the previous owner was, eg taking the car before more money was spent/ being rude/ not allowing them to do their job etc….. But ive sorted a few things just by looking carefully and googling.

 

My googling face is very similar…

Next up- the intermittant loss of boost. Its immediately reset by restarting the car. I had this once before on this engine by swapping a MAF- do i feel lucky? 

I tend to trust single marque specialists instinctively but reading through these scraps of paperwork makes me think twice about implicitly trusting just because they only deal with one make.

[Cookiesouwest]

54 minutes ago, HMC said:

Is my w220 s class a bit of a dog?

(answer- yes but its fun improving it)

But also i wonder if the last but 1 owner got fed up, in part due to an underwhelming mb specialist. 

in the  limited paperwork theres a visit to said specialist in november 23- 1 headlamp not working (i received the car like this) bulb changed, no difference, wiring needs investigating.

On the way back from swapping with the  passat b5, ominously the other headlamp failed too.

Oh dear. After half expecting xenons, or wiring mess i was suprised to find conventional lamp units, and even more suprised when i replaced the h7 pattern bulbs in each unit and normal lighting was resumed, and has been fine ever since.

Add that on the same visit to the “noisy but working airmatic pump” which was faulty (+/- the valve block , and seems only to have been noisy as it had been cable tied directly to the body rather than mounted on bushes- albeit not by them i should add- but this reason for the noise wasnt noticed) Plus the suspension bottomed out after 30 mins resting.

I dont know what to make of that- and we dont know the full background- how beligerent the previous owner was, eg taking the car before more money was spent/ being rude/ not allowing them to do their job etc….. But ive sorted a few things just by looking carefully and googling.

 

My googling face is very similar…

Next up- the intermittant loss of boost. Its immediately reset by restarting the car. I had this once before on this engine by swapping a MAF- do i feel lucky? 

I tend to trust single marque specialists instinctively but reading through these scraps of paperwork makes me think twice about implicitly trusting just because they only deal with one make.

I no longer trust a single marque specialist, following a terrible time with a Disco 3.

They had 50+ Google reviews, all positive.

Will now only trust a garage, that is new to me, if someone I know has used them and confirms they are good.

[The_Equalizer]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

Is my w220 s class a bit of a dog?

(answer- yes but its fun improving it)

But also i wonder if the last but 1 owner got fed up, in part due to an underwhelming mb specialist. 

in the  limited paperwork theres a visit to said specialist in november 23- 1 headlamp not working (i received the car like this) bulb changed, no difference, wiring needs investigating.

On the way back from swapping with the  passat b5, ominously the other headlamp failed too.

Oh dear. After half expecting xenons, or wiring mess i was suprised to find conventional lamp units, and even more suprised when i replaced the h7 pattern bulbs in each unit and normal lighting was resumed, and has been fine ever since.

Add that on the same visit to the “noisy but working airmatic pump” which was faulty (+/- the valve block , and seems only to have been noisy as it had been cable tied directly to the body rather than mounted on bushes- albeit not by them i should add- but this reason for the noise wasnt noticed) Plus the suspension bottomed out after 30 mins resting.

I dont know what to make of that- and we dont know the full background- how beligerent the previous owner was, eg taking the car before more money was spent/ being rude/ not allowing them to do their job etc….. But ive sorted a few things just by looking carefully and googling.

 

My googling face is very similar…

Next up- the intermittant loss of boost. Its immediately reset by restarting the car. I had this once before on this engine by swapping a MAF- do i feel lucky? 

I tend to trust single marque specialists instinctively but reading through these scraps of paperwork makes me think twice about implicitly trusting just because they only deal with one make.

You might well have stumbled across this YouTube channel. This video is about the air suspension. It's certainly one of the better MB channels and he there's quite a bit on W220:

How to Find the Leak in Your Airmatic Suspension Part 1: Initial Testing - Mercedessource

Not W220, but fupabox is also good for W202 and W208 MBs. It's also entertaining to watch the Canadian chap work in freezing temperatures plus having the odd fag while doing it. Certainly greater staying power than I have. Six degrees Celsius is was the lowest I ever coped with. 
 

[HMC]

Why am i freezing my ass off in a dorset village waiting for a post office to open?

 

Well it all began at 5.15 when i fired up the w220 and drove into deepest dorset, to do a swap.

For this 230te 7 seater 

After we did the swap it became clear its on the disabled tax thing- hence freezing my ass off waiting for the post office to open- where im hoping that my v5c/2 will allow be to change the tax category, and tax it.

[HMC]

Its been slightly gifferised with some later mb bits- which make my eyes itch- but its spent almost its entire life life in central london and looks pleasingly rot free. Ive probably had about 25 w124s so immediately went to the front spring perches and rear subframe mounts. VERDICT- they exist. 

 

 

[Schaefft]

Looking clean so probably not a bad trade knowing the values of either.

[HMC]

my fave bit is the interior - more of which after the post office opens and im not with numb fingers

[grogee]

Standard dibs posting.

So classy. I can just imagine this living in London. It seems remarkably un-scarred for a London car. 

Does she change her own gears? 

[DSdriver]

Did the previous owner have numberplate security issues?

[Forty45]

The door mirrors don't match?

[HMC]

54 minutes ago, Forty45 said:

The door mirrors don't match?

Standard issue w124- theres probably some sort of German logic going on

[HMC]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

my fave bit is the interior - more of which after the post office opens and im not with numb fingers

[HMC]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Standard dibs posting.

So classy. I can just imagine this living in London. It seems remarkably un-scarred for a London car. 

Does she change her own gears? 

Indeed!

Tax now sorted thankfully, after a bit of headscratching at the post office.

[grogee]

1 minute ago, HMC said:

That is very German dominatrix, I approve. 

[lesapandre]

Another car with a probably interesting history.

Bradshaw and Webb were London's poshest Mercedes dealers with their showrooms on Cheyne Walk Chelsea.

The leather interior is a factory option - eye-wateringly expensive and an unusual colour. It also has the centre console cassette box - another option. 

That looks like a car specifically specced at the factory to order and shipped over. MB will hold the build records etc.

I think Bradshaw and Webb have closed but the company is still extent at Companies House.

That car has been specced by someone with money and unusual taste. Various 'celebs' live locally including Mick Jagger.

[HMC]

24 minutes ago, grogee said:

That is very German dominatrix, I approve. 

Must be why i like it (and have a German ex wife 😂)

Actually it certainly didnt leave sindelfingen like this. Its my first “series 1” which tended to major in dour fabrics and plain interiors that even lots of options struggled to lift. Good thing about the “s1” is that there is less bodycladding so its easier to inspect the sills (and i think they might be less rot prone as well )

So i think this left the factory with some sort of light grey wishy washy upholstery. At some point a previous owner has gone dominatrix on it. The seats are replacements- mb tex pattern rears and boot seats (its a 7 seater) and recoloured leather fronts. The interior plastics are a mix of replacement factory red and recoloured grey. They stopped short of recolouring or replacing the fur flex door seals and the front carpets, (which want dyeing or replacing with factory red stuff) but did recover the boot carpets. The front door cards have mb tex inlays, and the rear door cards have recoloured fabric inlays.

Its also got w202 alloys and a later non leather airbag wheel (although no airbag is fitted) 

So its a bit of a bitsa but one that will be easy to finish off- and the shell is good which is far harder to sort.

[lesapandre]

1 hour ago, Forty45 said:

The door mirrors don't match?

Asymmetrical mirrors are standard on W124's.

[lesapandre]

2 minutes ago, HMC said:

Must be why i like it (and have a German ex wife 😂)

Actually it certainly didnt leave sindelfingen like this. Its my first “series 1” which tended to major in dour fabrics and plain interiors that even lots of options struggled to lift. Good thing about the “s1” is that there is less bodycladding so its easier to inspect the sills (and i think they might be less rot prone as well )

So i think this left the factory with some sort of light grey wishy washy upholstery. At some point a previous owner has gone dominatrix on it. The seats are replacements- mb tex pattern rears and boot seats (its a 7 seater) and recoloured leather fronts. The interior plastics are a mix of replacement factory red and recoloured grey. They stopped short of recolouring or replacing the fur flex door seals and the front carpets, (which want dyeing or replacing with factory red stuff) but did recover the boot carpets. The front door cards have mb tex inlays, and the rear door cards have recoloured fabric inlays.

Its also got w202 alloys and a later non leather airbag wheel (although no airbag is fitted) 

So its a bit of a bitsa but one that will be easy to finish off- and the shell is good which is far harder to sort.

Ah that explains it.

[loserone]

/me sets notifications to loud.  Man, I want that.

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, Forty45 said:

The door mirrors don't match?

TADTS