A W124 Buyer Check List

[coupe deville]

From new we need more info, mileage, pics etc

head gasket ? front wings ? engine wiring harness

 

[coupe deville]

Billy's original list is a 124 orgasm I doubt that this example comes even close Autobarn - Classic Mercedes Benz - Cars for sale

Ive been chipping away at mine for 3 years, not in the same league as Billy but he's insane, LOL

3 oil and filter changes
2 brake fluid changes
2 front wings
2 front springs
4 shocks ( Bilsteins )
engine wiring harness
head gasket and coolant change
brake pads all round
air filter
lambda
coolant temp sensor
catback exhaust
4 tyres
front screen
duo valve
still got to sort air con and rear screen.
will i get a return on my investment ? naw
do I care ? naw

 

[Pigpen]

Billy you forgot: Does the fag lighter work?

 

[BillyW124]

Billy's original list is a 124 orgasm I doubt that this example comes even close Autobarn - Classic Mercedes Benz - Cars for sale

Ive been chipping away at mine for 3 years, not in the same league as Billy but he's insane, LOL

If you think im nuts, ive just put in an order for ALL new rubber seals. Theres circa 36 in all for a coupe

Ok, its a very expensive bill but as the car is going for a spray jobby and a few bits of body work to rectify some stuff im not currently content with in the near future, it'll be just wrong putting the old rubbers back on.

I was also thinking of changing the metal window trims which with age, develops a tint of a very nice brownish colour. Because it looks good I have actually decided to go against.

These trims were originally black from factory. The 124 in the link above looks like the trims are still in their original colour. That is a great example. Been on sale for a while, possibly due to the whopping price tag!!

 

[del320]

The 124 in the link above looks like the trims are still in their original colour. That is a great example. Been on sale for a while, possibly due to the whopping price tag!!

Half the mileage of mine and twice the number of gadgets - yet the driver's airbag appears not to have been replaced!

The price may be twice what you'd expect, but if the car was really, really as good as is made out, then it's still a bargain for a £50k motor.

 

[amorts]

I'm currently in the market for a 124 coupe and I've spotted what appears to be a nice example of a 320 ce in nautic blue with matching leather. It's a 93 on a K with 112k, one owner from new and a stack of service history. Very clean, no rust but it's the 4 speed with air con. No climate or cruise either.

I'm going to see it in the next coupe of days, it's advertised at 2.3k which I feel is quite competitive. I've never driven one before but will be looking for the obvious. If everything is good would that be a reasonable price?

 

[grober]

Sounds reasonable if " it does everything it says on the tin" MILEAGE wise I would be looking for some reasons from its history why its so low for its age? These cars are so well built the mileage is frequently " massaged" Look for other clues as to MILEAGE authenticity e.g. Consecutive MOT certs that make sense general condition of steering wheel and pedal rubbers- seat wear- window scratches- under-bonnet cleanliness-- not power-washer clean! or totally grotty either just well used but cared for. "Suspect " high mileage should not put you off but simply cause you to look more closely at any other claims the seller making- and remember they might not be the guilty party anyway but another owner/dealer further back!

 

[amorts]

Some good points grober, I should hopefully be able to verify the mileage with the history.

Do I need to remove the cover off the top of the cylinder head to check the condition of the wiring harness properly? If so, what tools do I need to remove it?

Also is there anything specific (in addition to the points already mentioned) I should look out for on a 320 with a 4 speed auto 'box?

If I do buy it then this will be my first W124 which I will be using daily and looking to keep as original as possible. Any insurance recomendations out there?

 

[grober]

To check the condition of the wiring to the coils closely you would need to remove the cover plate on the cam cover- you would need a allen key or torx key [male] to remove it. However in addition you would have to remove the cross engine air intake pipe also- this means electrically disconnecting the MAFF+the top of the air filter box. Not sure the seller would permit that amount of dismantling to be honest?? A quick check can be done by examining the temperature sensors and associated plugs at the thermostat housing -- if the insulation is badly cracked and flaking there's that's an indication the loom hasn't been changed and will need renewed soon. PeachPartsWiki: W124 Engine Wiring Harness Replacement

 

[amorts]

Excellent. Thanks for the link.

Will let you know how I get on when I can get to see it!

 

[rigel]

I think that's a great list, whether you use it before purchase or as a guide after purchase. Not everybody who buys an old W124 is as knowledgeable as you lot. Just reading this could give someone a bit of confidence who's looking at getting an old Merc for the first time.

When I was looking for a car earlier this year I thought about getting a Rover 75 and their owners forum has a brilliant guide to buying a used one. This kind of knowledge can be invaluable to newbs.

i agree with buster,

as someone who is still within his first year of MB ownership, i would have welcomed reading this guide before jumping in.

now that i have, its good to understand where i should be looking for routine maintenance.

thanks Billy.

 

[kth286]

Autocar road tested the new Merc 124 coupe when it was launched in 1987.

You have to remember the top notch sporty cars from back then were:-

* Audi Quattro 28K ish

* BMW 635 CSi 36k ish

* Jag XJ-S 3.6 24k ish

* Maserati Biturbo Coupe 25k ish

*Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe 36K ish

The Merc as tested was 36k.

Some conclusions were :-

* Both BMW and Jaguar are more sporting than 300CE and pay the penalty
with less spacious cabins.

* The Merc does possess a swift and sporting character, but the way Merc build a coupe the rear seats are there for more than just show.

* Interior offers the driver real comfort, combined with real performance, economy, and handling that are right on the pace, and the result is a convincing if expensive car of considerable style.

My words now.

I would therefore say the 124 coupe is truly an iconic motor car of the period, and well worth investing in.

 

[neilz]

Boy do I wish I had a guide like that to hand when I bought my 124. Sorry to keep going on about it but now that there's a checklist here's proof it is possible to buy a car with most of those faults!

N895 CJO:

Paper work:

• Check log book and maintenance service history No service for a long time when I bought it
• How many owners Many
• Look at special notes on front of log book None!
• Ensure spare keys/fobs. Glove box key works? No, fob didn't work most of the time
• Carry out HPI check if not already done by owner or out of date Never did!

Exterior:

• Delamination on windows front and rear windows. (check leaks in estate rear windows) Yes
• Front and rear wheel arches for corrosion. Yes
• Front head lamps glass condition and reflector condition Poor, reflective coating degraded
• Lamp wash/wipe, check for seized motors. (use function when lights are on using windscreen washer) Never had
• Corrosion around sunroof edges Lots
• Cladding clips Damaged/missing at rear
• Uneven tire tread Very, one tire kept going (rear-left)
• Check seals on rear screen/ front screen Damaged
• Corrosion at the bottom of washer bottle grommet Huge hole!
• Check left hand side of engine bay (next to ABS pump) for previous standing water that may lead to corrosion. Lots, huge hole there too
• Condition of engine wiring harness. Is the housing burnt/perishing ? Perished completely
• Pop off the sill jacking covers to asses condition of points Hard to find jacking point left
• Inner wing skin of engine bay, check for corrosion Huge hole, very flaky, rotten
• Door seals Damaged
• Side window glass seals Lichen growing on them, cracked
• Check if doors/bonnet/boot shut tight and have consistent shut lines Passenger side uneven, loose-ish when shut
• Check bonnet insulation cover for perishing material Insulation in bits, especially after dip-stick blew out on M3 at 70mph and hit underside of bonnet hard (broken plastic etc aplenty)
• Check colour of oil/fluids. Check oil/ ATF/ coolant level/power steering fluid level ATF sealed but felt to be almost empty, oil dark black when first checked
• Check underside of oil cap and surrounding areas, should be clean Very grubby
• Check leaks around front crank oil seal, front upper timing cover seal, head gasket (Check for sweating on the head gasket all around very slight is acceptable) Oil was spraying from somewhere, never saw it but oil spray kept appearing
• Is the bottom plastic tray dry/wet oily? What was left of it was oily
• Check the coolant colour in the plastic tank on the right, lift off cap and make sure there is no white gummy stuff. (if there is it’s a possible head gasket failure) No fault here!
• Check for rubber drain hole grommets and jacking point grommets. Weathered, damaged

Interior:

Boot:

• Remove boot quarter panel cards and wheel in the well to check for water leaks/ corrosion Large water leak where spare wheel was
• Check under metal parcel shelf and sides of it below where the rear screen sits Rusty
• Remove petrol tank lining and inspect area’s Never dared do
• Check corrosion build up on top of rear shock mounts/rubber. You'd think the car was stored in the sea looking there!

Cabin:

• Remove front foot well deadening mats and check for water ingress/dampness Appeared dry underneath but deadening mats very damp
• Big Condensation build up on inner windows? Had to wipe very often
• If possible check the state of the rear demister if working (especially on coupes) Didn't work - completely delaminated
• Remove kick panel carpet sidings and check for corrosion Small bubblings
• Feel for dampness around the transmission tunnel Noticeable
• Remove rear seat and look at condition around where rear wheel arch is Terrible
• Run AC for a little while; see how quickly the car warms up/gets cold Originally came with A/C but didn't have it when I got the car - where did the fittings go? Engine replacement?
• Listen to heater blower sound. Check all vents are blowing consistently (middle vent will always blow cold) Sounded like someone was playing the bagpipes
• Check all usual electrics and seat belt presenters’ work. Test all optional equipment is working. IR locking usually plays up. IR locking just about dead (fob issue and vacuum issue)
• Sunroof should slide and tilt smoothly. Wind deflector should flip and close properly. Sunroof struggled
• Check windows wind up to the top, listen to motor and regulators when testing Front passenger window kept falling in, especially embarrasing when I forgot to remind the buyer of the issue (did state it clearly in the listing) and took ages to manage to lift it back up and make it stay up!
• Mono Wiper should wipe smoothly and not struggle. (obviously spray washer fluid first and test) Struggled every now and then

Whilst driving:

• Check Oil pressure. When engine is at peak temp (a little over 80 degrees is fine,) when in D the oil pressure should drop a little below 3. When you accelerate the pressure should rise and maintain a constant level of 3. This will drop down again when idle. In P the oil pressure should rise back to 3. (Based on what my current car does. Characteristics of other 124’s may differ) The oil pressure gauge should not rise to 3 when the ignition is switched on. I.E. NOT yet started. Liked sitting around 2
• See that gears engage properly use S and E switches/for 5 speed toggle through different options. Car decided which mode to be in (S or E) regardless of where switch was
• Use kick down switch to make sure it is working. Would work sometimes
• See how the car idles, look out for rev counter hunting/bouncing Revved almost at 2000 when idling sometimes, other times at ~700
• See temp gauge should not significantly rise above 83 degrees. (in hot weather it is acceptable) 95C in light traffic
• Listen for road noise and clunks from front wishbones over jagged terrain and uneven road surfaces. Loud knocking when steering
• Listen to rear clunks from rear sub frame over same type of surfaces Clunk when going over speed bumps (always went slow over them)
• Steering play and steering look smoothness Loud sound of rear wheels rubbing underside over lightest of bumps, wheels of acceptable size (not massive)
• Listen to power steering pump. Does it whine/ struggle? Squeaks when steering
• Check mileage trip works Worked
• Feel of accelerator cable loose/stiff? Stiff

Garage check list:

• Exhaust system front to back, check for gas leaks and patch worked area’s on connecting brackets etc. Holes, heatshield almost non-existant and wedged in with bolt when inspected, garage reattached with coat-hanger for sale
• Exit manifold for blowing and/or snapped bolts Bolt missing
• Check wheel bearings for play
• Check front and rear brake hoses for corrosion A bit
• Check condition of fuel lines front to rear for corrosion. Check the clips that hold this into place as these can hold a lot of muck which will eventually prove its down fall. Couple of clips very loose
• Check rear sub frame mounts for play, front and rear of subframe Bit of play
• Check Rear arms and links, check all bushings for play Large play
• Front control arm ball joints check these are in good order i.e. not seized up. Fine
• Check track rod arms Poor condition
• Check for excessive underbody corrosion/next to rear sub frame mounts and the sub frame itself. Beyond excessive
• Check for Oil Leaks anywhere. Engine, rear diff, gear box etc Oil vanished during one trip on the motorway, was full beforehand - only realised when engine sounded like a Ford Transit and pressure gauge down. No trace of leak
• Check condition of diff mounts Poor
• Check engine belt tension, should be nice and tight. Fine
• Check hoses/brake hoses/vacumn lines etc Fine
• Condition of water pump Not in the best state
• Condition of fuel pump Loud
• Condition of throttle Actuator/throttle body Fine
• Check thermostat Fine
• Carry out a compression and leak down test to check engine condition Never done but garage suspected low compression having tested it
• Condition of engine mounts and gear box mounts Poor - engine shook car
• Front rear ARB’s and bushes Not checked
• All other bushings Worn
• Charcoal/ evaporator (has this been ever replaced) Never
• Injector cleaning Took to Halfords for a Fuel Service Plus - charged for one treatment but mechanic said they had to treat it twice as it was in a terrible state

So, there you go - the list is pretty accurate of what one of these can suffer (and steer clear of N895 CJO - you will regret it if you buy it)

 

[BillyW124]

Whoa!! That's mad, I'm glad u didn't carry on with it. I remember u were going to fix it up

Glad this list is becomming useful.

 

[neilz]

Off-topic: My old 124 is still showing as insured, scary thought that that's on the road now. When driving faster than I should on the motorway, I have to admit the car didn't feel terribly safe! The buyers did plan to restore it (at least it was 3 people pooling money together to slowly restore it, not one lunatic thinking it needed some light maintenance)

On-topic: The list should also mention checking for rust bubbles on post-facelift models where the plastic door cladding would slowly grind any grit trapped into the paint (like it did on mine, leaving four nice big holes in the passenger door which were painstakingly sanded with sandpaper/glasspaper then had primer applied before being 'expertly' stuffed with bodyfiller!)

It should also mention checking if each seat/bit of trim is the same colour (please, for heaven's sake, make sure there are no patches of a different colour on the seats like my grey/beige rear seats!)

Oh, also check that the courtesy lights on the bottom of the doors haven't been taken or smashed off!

And check that the boot lock actually locks (it's never a good sign if the only key sold with the car doesn't fit it)

And check the door lock pins aren't jammed

And check that car comes with more than one key or fob (especially make sure the previous owner hasn't kept one if (s)he is dodgy and knows your address)!

And check the steering wheel wear, carpet wear and pedal wear match up with the mileage (i.e. even at 170000 there shouldn't be a large patch of leather missing/hanging off the steering wheel hidden with a cheap grip held on with cable-ties; nor should the pedals be almost completely smooth and thin; nor should the driver's mat look like it was abused with an angle-grinder)

Make sure the car's spec isn't very different to its original spec (i.e. if it was originally supplied with a/c and there is a switch for it, why is there nothing left from the a/c setup (e.g. the condenser))

If your car has one of those roll-top storage boxes, check it isn't in dozens of pieces

Make sure no plastic trim is missing from around the seats

If the rear bumper is very damaged (lots of cracks) and the rear corners are both dented, question how much care the previous owner took of the car and if it was well looked after (especially if the oil is black when you first check it soon after purchase, gear changes are quite rough and the engine has some green stuff growing on top)

 

[jackafrica]

Good point made about having a list to remember certain checks to perform.

I've just done a similar inspection on a 1995, I'm buying.

One thing though, if the engine is running smoothly throughout the range and the oil pressure gauge is reading favourably, then perhaps the compression/leakdown test is a bit of overkill on a document supported, low mileage car.

Great list Billy.

Cheers
Richard

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Does the wiring loom issue effect all W124's or only some before / after a certain date?

Would a 1990/1991 (G/H reg) 300E be susceptible?

 

[WDB124066]

What we could do here is list all the known rust spots, some are there already but there are other well known areas where they tend go too......

 

[SilverSaloon]

On a diesel, check the glow plug light comes on with ignition set to II (do not start engine), once it goes off (should be lit for around 5 seconds on a cold engine), start the engine and the glow plug light should never come back on. if the light ever comes on when the car is running (it may come on approx 1 minutre after starting for about 30 seconds) it means one or more glowplugs are dead.

 

[grober]

Thing is ---- even with all these problems -----the damn things still keep running--- I very much doubt you will be able to say the same about today's ---gismo laden/warning lights for everything--- models when they are 15 years old?