1994 w124 e500

[bing]

hi guys, as you may have gathered i'm new to this forum so i'll do my best not post too many silly questions.

i've just aquired one of these legendary cars, used to belong to a close friend of mine so i know the history, to say the least. It's currently in Switzerland and i'm due to drive it to London in 2weeks time and hope to register it on UK plates asap. Some questions i'd like to ask as it would need some conversions:

1. headlights - do i have to change the whole unit or can i buy/change lenses only?
2. does the speedo have to be converted from km to mph? I've seen a few advertised here in the uk which are still on km speedo.
3. being a lefty, i'm guessing the rear fog lamp is on our nearside/driver side, which means this will have to be converted to right side? or does it have 2 rear fogs?
4. can anyone recommend a good specialist in west london who knows these cars for future maintenance?

thanks!

 

[Biglips]

Welcome. Congratulations on your purchase. I have car envy. If I didn't need an estate I would have one of these!

 

[219]

You can buy standalone lenses for 'normal' W124 - 500E have slightly different arrangement , I believe , as inboard part is high beam and not front foglamp , as on other models , so you may need to check with dealer .

MOT requires speedo in MPH , so probably needs changed .

RFL should be on right hand side , you could buy rear right cluster for UK car and swap wiring over as single RFL on most Mercs .

You'll need to ask someone , more local for recommendation as I'm in Scotland .

 

[GP801]

My understanding is the reflectors are different so not as simple as just changing the glass.
RFL as above - a very simple job
I think you might get away with the speedo - ask an MOT station first. A friend has no problems with his LHD car and KMH speedo. Might depend on age of car

 

[219]

I think you might get away with the speedo - ask an MOT station first. A friend has no problems with his LHD car and KMH speedo. Might depend on age of car

I have never had any problem with my LHD 1957 Ponton , but perhaps because MPH was not a requirement when it was imported in 1964 ?

 

[GP801]

Avantgardecars.co.uk have an amazing 1990 190 evo(amazing price too) but it has full MOT and KMH only speedo. Think you might just be lucky and get away with it.

 

[flango]

The problem is if you want to import the car into the UK and register it as a UK vehicle then it must comply with the UK specifications for imported vehicles which means that if it was first used after 1984 then it must have a dual scale speedo (mph & Kmh) If it does not then you cannot register it as a UK vehicle without changing the speedo.

As regards the MOT, then the speedo is not checked as an MOT item

 

[gaz_l]

The problem is if you want to import the car into the UK and register it as a UK vehicle then it must comply with the UK specifications for imported vehicles which means that if it was first used after 1984 then it must have a dual scale speedo (mph & Kmh) If it does not then you cannot register it as a UK vehicle without changing the speedo.

As regards the MOT, then the speedo is not checked as an MOT item

Interesting. My Fiat Barchetta is an import and the speedo has been converted from KMH to MPH - presumably by the addition of a 1.6:1 reducer on the end of the cable. It therefore is good up to 240 MPH , and even less accurate than a normal FIAT speedometer, or so it would seem. But it is only single scale.

And regarding speedos, I remember years ago I had a Daihatsu Charmant that I was running as a beater.. bought for £300 from a mate as a stop gap. The speedo stopped working, I shelled out £15 on a new cable and tried it, still no good. The drive inside the gearbox had gone.

As it clearly wasn't worth stripping the gearbox to fix the underlying problem, I just carried on driving it with no speedo. It's not like it was quick or anything.. and this was before the days of GATSOs. However, it came to MOT time and I just bunged it in on the offchance it would get another year's ticket. As it happens, it failed, but only on a blocked wiper jet.

The tester told me he'd pass it if I went away and sorted it out, which was easy enough as work was only just up the road and I knew that I'd have a bit of wire to un-bung the jet. The problem was, the tester had already taken the mileage and I thought alarm bells would start to ring if I took back with an identical reading. So, I drove it to work, unclogged the wiper jet, plugged the new cable I'd bought into the speedo head, got a Black & Decker drill from the workshop and wound the mileage on by 8 miles or so. Took the car back to the MOT station where the wipers were duly checked and pronounced fit for purpose, the "new" mileage recorded on the pass certificate and I was on my way with 12 months ticket.

The car ran for another 9 months or so before the water pump let go and it was prohibitively expensive to fix, so it went off to the scrappys. Cheap motoring though at £300 for nearly 2 years worth. And I'm still the only person I've ever known to clock a car forwards..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Shude]

RFL should be on right hand side , you could buy rear right cluster for UK car and swap wiring over as single RFL on most Mercs .

It's likely that the tail lamps are identical for LHD and RHD and it's just the wiring that needs to be adapted. Easy to check: does the W124 have the same bulbs on both sides?

 

[bing]

@pontoneer - you're right ! e500 comes with front fogs below the bumper. I will check with main dealer if the same lense on standard 124's will fit with high beam in mind (as in the e500) instead of fogs. Or does anyone know the answer to this?

as for the speedo , yes, it's not checked as an MOT item but i guess some test centres might pick up on it. it's really a question whether i'll get away with it at DVLA.

any specialist in the london area that can look after my new baby?

 

[d w124]

I think the rhd lense for 500e is NLA

 

[bing]

I think the rhd lense for 500e is NLA

sorry, d w 124, i'm new to forum sites. what's 'NLA'??

 

[jonnyboy]

no longer available

 

[Shude]

I think the rhd lense for 500e is NLA

I looked up the part number of one side and Inchcape are happy to quote for it, £60.

I'd be tempted to get a second hand set of stock 124 lamps if it were me, just to get the car past the various tests and on the road ASAP.

 

[bing]

I looked up the part number of one side and Inchcape are happy to quote for it, £60.

I'd be tempted to get a second hand set of stock 124 lamps if it were me, just to get the car past the various tests and on the road ASAP.

thanks, i'm happy to pay £60 if they fit, or are same as on e500's.

 

[d w124]

I looked up the part number of one side and Inchcape are happy to quote for it, £60.

I'd be tempted to get a second hand set of stock 124 lamps if it were me, just to get the car past the various tests and on the road ASAP.

Are you sure? http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/bodywork/70172-500e-headlamp-lenses.html

 

[Shude]

Are you sure? http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/bodywork/70172-500e-headlamp-lenses.html

That's an interesting read. Frankly I'm surprised that they'd call EOL on a consumable factory item like a headlamp lens! I'd still ring up a dealer or two with the part number to see if any are available.

My first thought is that the 500E/E500 is BIG in Japan and they also have left-hand traffic so what do they do?

 

[219]

It's likely that the tail lamps are identical for LHD and RHD and it's just the wiring that needs to be adapted. Easy to check: does the W124 have the same bulbs on both sides?

There is no bulbholder in the side without a foglamp - cheapest course is to obtain a RHD cluster from a breaker .

 

[bing]

That's an interesting read. Frankly I'm surprised that they'd call EOL on a consumable factory item like a headlamp lens! I'd still ring up a dealer or two with the part number to see if any are available.

My first thought is that the 500E/E500 is BIG in Japan and they also have left-hand traffic so what do they do?

i guess the answer is if regular 124 lens fit, i.e from a E320, will solve the issue?

 

[Williamwoo]

The problem is if you want to import the car into the UK and register it as a UK vehicle then it must comply with the UK specifications for imported vehicles which means that if it was first used after 1984 then it must have a dual scale speedo (mph & Kmh) If it does not then you cannot register it as a UK vehicle without changing the speedo.

I'm not sure that's correct. My 1990 Lancia Integrale was imported into the UK in 1995; the speedo is only in kms but it has been a registered UK vehicle since then.