Billy's W124 Coupe Project

[BillyW124]

Car is now complete and i can report the car feels and drives GREAT! Looking forward to the drive to Germany in it for sure.

 

[BillyW124]

 

[Deadly Dave]

Well done. That looks fantastic.

 

[oddjob]

This is a seriously nice car. Great work!

 

[WG M-B]

That 124 is literally screaming for a turbo

 

[coupe deville]

That car will probably be the last surviving British C124, a great achievement, well done. The underside is automotive porn, like looking up Claudia Schiffers skirt. I bet any mechanic who doesn't know the car and puts it up on a ramp has the shock of his life at its condition.

 

[BillyW124]

Thanks for the positive comments chaps. It's been worth the wait and a job well done by Terry and Jay @ WGM.

It's only getting driven in the dry as it will be a shame to get the underside filthy with road dirt after all the effort gone into it. Even still in the dry, it's going to get a yearly wipe down! Crazy??

I should be boarding Le Shuttle right now on the way to Hockenheim but delayed my depart as its was absolutely chucking it at 6am this morning in London. Glad to see it's all clearing up though! Forecast looks good this weekend in Germany however whilst i'm out there and it rains - well there's nothing much i can do really - I really hope not.

Looking forward to the 530 mile trip. Car feels tight and very composed. Pictures of the trip coming soon!

 

[BillyW124]

Ausfahrt!

Just got home from Germany and what a cracking trip that was! Covered 1,280 effortless miles through the top of France into Belgium then into Germany. First stop was Frankfurt on Friday night then the next morning we headed down to Hockenheim to catch the qualifying sessions. Straight after quallie we cruised to Manheim-Heidelburg and at the same time whilst we were there happened to see Bernie and the Mrs taking a walk in town! By the looks of it also, quite a few of the Redbull team were out as well transported around in their Infinity 4x4's.

From Manheim that evening we hit the road straight to Stuttgart - Saturday night was a Mercedes playground. Infact it was car heaven. Checked out the Mercedes Museum while we were there but only from outside as it was closed by the time we got there. Stuttgart has a massive Merc Dealership. A glass building and my gosh they have a lot of vehicles in it.

We saw all sorts of top end cars from Ferrari's, Lambo's, American Muscle to subtle modified VW's and Audi's, but never have i seen (or heard) so many AMG's bliping it around. It was a musical sitting outside of the bar we were in - Stuttgart really is the home of Mercedes! All sorts of models and one absolute gem was an AMG black SEC, some lovely pre facelift R129's were rolling about and of course lot's and lot's of 55's and 63's from C's to CL's to SL's to E's to S's I think Stuttgart on a Saturday night is the place to be!

Left Stuttgart the same night and headed back to Hockenheim for the race. Fantastic race it was. LH did a blinding job and Nico was solid.

As for the drive, the car never put a foot wrong. Driving in 35 degrees heat all the way to Germany once we restarted from Calais with the windows/sunroof open was fantastic. No overheating and no oil leaks i can see. The car performed really well and on road surfaces like the Autobhan its even better, smooth as you like and of course built for you to go fast - really fast! I pushed the car hard i couldn't help myself! The Poly bushes in my opinion work really well the whole car is composed at speed and the steering is sharp. The suspension was damping the weight of the car + a boot full of stuff including a heavy low profile jack. I had to take it just in case as the car is too low for anything else to go under there. Even when storming it down over dips, it didn't bottom out. At that speed the car stuck to the ground and was able to steer the car straight. I mean there were points where my bum was off the seat but the car stuck to the tarmac like a magnet. Wheel Alignment is spot on.

...only one niggle. At 135 -140 mph (no frowning please its allowed) the ABS light illuminates Turn the car off and on it goes away. Must be the pinion gear in the diff spinning really fast that the magnetic sensor can't read it!!!

..Not that it effected braking as the thing stops pretty well and you do need to be careful as you track down cars rather quickly in front. However they are quite good at moving out of your way. Especially if Mr TDI Audi is coming from a distance like a tracer!! Those things move i tell ya. Bahn Stormers!

Unfortunately we got hit by heavy rain In Germany this morning. looks like i'm going to have to get Terry to borrow me his ramp for an hour clean up session!! Tbh it's not that dirty surprisingly underneath as i've just had a butchers all it needs is a wipe down.

Some pics to follow..

 

[BillyW124]

For a car as low as it is, it still shocks me in a satisfactory way that i am still able to drive it normally and how i wish. The job is a good'un!

 

[mercboiuk]

I've just had a mini catch up on this (quite frankly epic) thread.

Billy, your car is simply stunning. No other adjectives required. Stunning!

Thanks for the account of your trip. I look forward to the photos.
I'm still yet to take my Merc abroad. If I had known, I could have recommended a place of two to see in Frankfurt. I know it quite well, my brother living there and all!

I know what you mean about modern diesels. I had a tussle with a 335D in Germany while in the RS4. Utter and complete match from 30 to 150mph when we had to slow. Torque is everything on those 'Bahns!

As I said, stunning car, great write up. Thank you for sharing your entire E coupe transformation and story we us

Darren

 

[d w124]

Billy:The abs light might be related to different tires you're running,did it come on once you hit 60-70?

 

[BillyW124]

Billy:The abs light might be related to different tires you're running,did it come on once you hit 60-70?

No Dash, only ever happened when over 135 but it would triggered a minute or two when the speed is maintained. It's strange?

 

[RBYCC]

You did it Billy

Built a car that not only looks great but performs even better !!!!

Cheers

Ed A.

 

[coupe addict]

Now all that's needed is to keep driving it regularly: but what a wonderful piece of restoration/conservation.

 

[d w124]

What is the tyre sizes you're running Billy?

 

[GH421]

What a beaut! My mate had a red w124 coupe which we drove around in a few years ago in the NW London area and it was an amazing car.

I'll definitely keep an eye out for yours

 

[BillyW124]

Thank you once again chaps! Next is moving on to the interior to install the leccy memory and heated seats..

What is the tyre sizes you're running Billy?

215/40 18x8 front - 235/40 rear 18x9

 

[Will]

Thank you once again chaps! Next is moving on to the interior to install the leccy memory and heated seats..



215/40 18x8 front - 235/40 rear 18x9

Billy,

Haven't been right through your thread from start to finish, but I'm pretty sure this is where your ABS fault is coming from.

Incorrect tyre sizes there - different diameter/rolling radius from front to back.

 

[BillyW124]

Billy,

Haven't been right through your thread from start to finish, but I'm pretty sure this is where your ABS fault is coming from.

Incorrect tyre sizes there - different diameter/rolling radius from front to back.

Could be Will, but i would have thought it would be triggered even when driving normally if the sizes were incorrect?

The ABS is/was only triggered when doing over 135MPH. I'm not that bothered tbh as i'll be never be doing that speed in the UK. I'm glad it doesn't trigger otherwise!

 

[Niks]

215/40 with 235/35 would be as close to the exact same rolling diameter as each other, but the extra "5" even though it seems really marginal, can have a bigger effect at much higher speeds enough to throw the sensor off... hence your 135mph trigger.

I'm pretty certain its that.