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I have an Alpine PWE-S8 underseat sub laying idle, and I'd like to fit it into the boot area of my 2016 CLS estate (X218). The car has the basic, underwhelming, sound system that as far as I can tell is four door speakers and two shrieking tweeters (another day). Ive seen similar subs fitted...

Something’s very wrong. My C123 280 cruises very happily at over 100mph, and pulls surprisingly hard over 4K revs, easily keeping up with modern quick-ish traffic. Mpg is in the 20’s. At new they were a 185bhp engine in a light car by modern standards.

Truro Motor Services are very good and knowledgeable: Truro Motor Services Ltd Not much of a website but go down and have a chat. They're now behind the Mercedes dealer in Probus (near Truro).

Knightley=bigchin. Bless her, but chin acting is not great acting. She was shown the door by Carey Mulligan in Never Let Me Go, I think. Portman=lovely. I go a bit weak. She is miniscule, however- like a small porcelain model of a normal person. All (male) film directors immediately fall in...

Serge. Partly because the W123 coupé looks like it should have sloped around disreputable cafes with Jane Birkin, and partly because it's quite.. well.. "surge-y" (I've have pretty slow cars otherwise..! So 185bhp* powering 2 tonnes is obviously rocket-fuel, to me). Strangely, given all that...

I think they look fabulous- the only modern car I like, pretty much! Though not that one with the silly wheels. I loved my old XM, and this feels like a natural successor.. Prices don't seem to be plummeting quite as fast as you'd expect, though. When I can buy a good one for 3K I probably will...

You're right that I was using the term "distortion" inaccurately- and I agree that the objection is a little pedantic. In retrospect, I could have been less sloppy. However, most people who are confused by the big noses in their pictures call it distortion, though it is not. True lens...

Not quite so. Distortion (big noses, etc) is a consequence of where you stand not the lens focal length. From a given position, all lenses show the same distortion (practically, none at all); wide-angle lenses simply show more of the available view. A crop from a wide-angle picture will look...

Well, I went ahead and changed the timing chain and tensioner. I found it a little less fearsome than I anticipated, perhaps partly because I'd researched it pretty heavily. There are good resources online: I relied on the following write-ups and how-to's (apart from the service manual itself)...

I have one more query about this before I get in up to my elbows: the FSM calls for removing the tensioner- then replacing it with a rigid one, screwed hand-tight, before changing the chain. The accounts I've read online seem to have skipped this... do I risk the chain becoming too sloppy (and...

On that basis, I think I'll get it anyway. I found it for 20 quid elsewhere, in any case. I'll pull the plugs, see how easy it is to turn the engine, and only use the valve spring tool if I feel I need to. I'll keep this thread updated as I do the job. Between the FSM, the Peachparts howto...

Thanks Druk. By "that tool"- which do you mean? the Sealey one I pictured, or the one jaymanek referenced? I'd heard that people had tried replacing the chain without removing the rocker arms, but it seemed a bit hit-and-miss. The FSM certainly calls for removal of the rocker arms, and all the...

Thanks for the link. That's the first I've heard of a tool like that being used- if it works it could make this job a lot more feasible. If anybody else has experience using something similar, I may just get it on spec and see.

I'm considering changing the timing chain and tensioner on my '84 280CE (M110), myself. It seems the MB spring compressor is very expensive, and many people seem to use home fabricated versions. I've found this Sealey device online: Sealey VS168 Valve Spring Compressor Lever Type OHV/OHC...

Great repair Floyd. I would never have thought of fixing that regulator – it's lovely to see ingenuity used instead of throwing money at a problem. Does it mesh properly?

It looks to me that they're the same part – have a look in detail on the russian site: http://www.auto-parts.spb.ru/cat/cats/m.mycat?cat=mb&client=dr2000 When I had a 230E a few years ago, I got an exhaust (pattern style) without difficulty from a general garage. Last year, I got a new end...

Especially when it's preceded by the magic word, pillarless..!

Well, success! it looks like you both were right. I noticed the shield over the steering box was suspiciously close to the exhaust manifold, so I just bent it out of the way a little: it moved perceptibly, as if a fixing isn't fully tight. Test driven, I couldn't get the sound to repeat again...

Thanks both for your swift replies; it looks like I may be on the right path finally – I'll report back when I've had a look at the exhaust and shields. However, the noise does sound a lot like something spinning is involved.. though I know how deceptive these kinds of sounds can be. Are the...

Hi all I have a confusing problem in my '84 280CE, which is difficult to diagnose, partly because it only occurs under hard acceleration from a standstill or low speed, especially (but not only) around corners. It sounds like metal grinding intermittently, emanating from the driver's...