Is this the end of the line for the 300CE-24V?

[crammy69]

I have been in denial for a few days now. I visited a trusted Merc specialist last weekend (who fixed of my erratic idle issue) and mentioned in passing my long standing gearbox issue.

The issue is thatwhen cold, it reverses fine, but when the car is warm and reverse is selected, nothing happens unless you give it some throttle and then the car jumps back. I have lerned to live with this by covering the brake whilst giving a little throttle.

Anyway, when I mentioned said issue to said specialist, he advised, without a moments hestitation, that I would need a gearbox rebuild. I have also today spoken with a Gearbox specialist who confirmed that at the mileage (100-120k) that a number of things could/would be wrong and a rebuild at £1200+vat is needed!.

Ive only done 3000 miles in the old thing and am now loving it anew with the idle all sweetly purring (alright tappety tappeting a bit) but is it worth spending £1400 on it. It may also need a head gasket done at some stage (nowhere near urgent) which could be around £500. Of course there will always be other niggling things to spend.

So is it worth saving the car? it really seems too good to scrap, but it simply wont repay what needs to be spent on it, despite its very good condition I dont see it being worth more than the £2000 I originially paid for it even with a new gearbox.

Views?

 

[Will]

Hi Simon,

Sorry to hear of your woes - I wasn't aware of the reversing issue etc.

Normally I'd consider a rebuilt gearbox good value in the long run as you should get a warranty for the work and it should be as near to a new transmission as is realistically possible.

But bearing in mind your exceptionally low mileage/usage of the car, why not just have it replaced with a good 2nd hand replacement? It would be a hell of a lot more cost effective IMHO.

I'd imagine that taking this route, if you decide to fit a good replacement box privately you'd get it fixed for about £500 or less if you're lucky?

Is there any genuine signs of head gasket trouble currently? I wouldn't throw cash at a £2k car for such work without being sure what the problems were.

Best of luck,

Will

 

[SilverSaloon]

i'd also go the 2nd hand gearbox route. plenty of them will be about. get a local garage to fit it.

it may end up cheaper to buy an old W124 (with compatible box) yourself so you can drive it etc (ie from ebay) and then get the garage to put the box in. Then scrap the old car or put it back on ebay - stick your old box in the donor car and maybe get what you paid for it back?

i assume you'ved check the ATF level and quality?

 

[A210AMG]

Difficult one.

You spend £1400 and the car goes good again for at least a year then its stil cheap, new car would lose much more and even if you just buy another whats to say that doesn't have problems in a few miles?.

Ok so its only 'worth' 2K but whats its worth to you. If you scrap it what do you get for it and then what do you swap it for? You know the car so if you ger warranted repair work its still cheap motoring really.

You losing next to nothing on depreciation so its just running costs. Ok this is expensive percentage wise on a 2K car but as you say it looks a lot more and does what you need.


I'm also with above could you get a recon box with 6 month warranty?

 

[flango]

2nd Hand Gearbox the only route to go

 

[crammy69]

Mmm 2nd hand gearbox, I id look at one of those exchange places (heathrow engines & gearbox) and they seemed to quote around £1200 and I assumed that was for a second hand gearbox?.

Ill have to ask around. Mind you Im sort of consolling myself with the idea that the car could very well carry on as is for another year, then it may well deserve a new gearbox.

 

[flango]

Not sure if THIS is any good but there are plenty of others about anywhere between £150 -£550

 

[Will]

No point IMHO going to places like Heathrow engines/gearboxes etc - you need to effect a cost effective repair. I think they rely on desperate people with no other option for a repair etc.

I'd look for somone breaking a tatty/rusty/damaged 300-24 saloon/estate etc. There must be quite a few out there with knackered engines if nothing else. Even ask breakers like Mercman/Dronsfields/(Euromerc?) etc if nothing else.

Then (as has been said), get a local mechanic/garage to fit it - shouldn't cost the earth.

If you're convinced that it's faulty, there's no real harm in driving it other than the inconveniece of a breakdown - and with your low mileage I'd expect it to soldier on for a few more months yet (at least) - might give you more time to save up/budget for the repairs

Will

 

[Mercedes cozy]

I used to own a 300ce 24 a while back and I had the same problem, but I managed to get a re-build done from a friend of mine. The gearbox in my car was 5 Speed Auto, Luckily he only charged me £600.

First of all

Does your car have a 4 or 5 speed auto box?



If it has a 4 speed, I would just get a second hand box, you can source one for about £100 upwards.

If its a 5 speed, it can be very costly.

If you have problems sourcing a box, let me know and I may be able to find you one.

 

[crammy69]

I used to own a 300ce 24 a while back and I had the same problem, but I managed to get a re-build done from a friend of mine. The gearbox in my car was 5 Speed Auto, Luckily he only charged me £600.

First of all

Does your car have a 4 or 5 speed auto box?



If it has a 4 speed I would just get a second hand box, you can source one for about £100 upwards.

If its a 5 speed, it can be very costly.

If you have problems sourcing a box, let me know and I may be able to find you one.

Im pretty sure its a 4 speed EDIT, the Russian Vin site says its a 5 speed??? How do I tell for sure??., . I just phoned a gearbox place and they didnt seem keen to fit a second hand box, but the place I just called quoted £865 incl vat, for a rebuild of my own gearbox with new torque converter etc. so getting cheaper!.

They also said they would take a look at it a give a quote to say if it could be repaired ( fingers and toes crossed ) and he said they wouldnt charge for looking at it, which seems good - mind you I expect them to take the filter off, look at the oil and say -"yeah needs recon" but its worth a try!.

 

[Mercedes cozy]

It definatly needs a rebuild or used box. Servicing will not fix the problem.

When I had my box recond the guy stripped the box down and showed me the worn clutches.

When my gearbox was done, i was told that the worn clutches make the reverse gear slip on low pressure.

I know what your saying about fitting a second hand box.

If you were about to test drive breaker car before a box was removed, i would say it would be a cheaper option to fit a used box.

If your going to keep the car, then spend the money and get a recon box, but if your selling the car just stick a secondhand box in.

 

[kth286]

You might be pleasantly surprised at the reconditioned gearbox prices from Mercedes and comes with 2 years guarantee just like their brand new parts.

Give Merc parts dept the full VIN and the full gearbox number from your documents.

You could then get Ollie to fit it for you, because the dealer trade parts dept woud deliver the gearbox to Ollie's place, if you eventually let Ollie put the order through his local branch.

You could spend the day looking around Portsmouth and collect car same evening - job done.

 

[shorty]

I think that I would go with a rebuild on the gearbox . £865 would not even tax your car for 1 year over here , its not realy alot of money and will leave your benz shifting like new

 

[Deleted member 11979]

Im pretty sure its a 4 speed EDIT, the Russian Vin site says its a 5 speed??? How do I tell for sure??., . I just phoned a gearbox place and they didnt seem keen to fit a second hand box, but the place I just called quoted £865 incl vat, for a rebuild of my own gearbox with new torque converter etc. so getting cheaper!.

They also said they would take a look at it a give a quote to say if it could be repaired ( fingers and toes crossed ) and he said they wouldnt charge for looking at it, which seems good - mind you I expect them to take the filter off, look at the oil and say -"yeah needs recon" but its worth a try!.

Hi there,

You can tell if it's a 5 or 4 speed box because of the highest number on the gear shift, if it will let you select 4 then it is a 5, 3 then it is a 4, I think.

There is a Merc breaker that I use and have found to be excellent, they are www.threepointedparts.co.uk, in Taunton, they break lots of w124s so might have a cheap box.

I suppose the alternative, if you only do low mileages is to live with it until it gets really bad / dangerous, you don't want to be rocketing back into people though.

IMHO a car like yours is definately worth saving! If I had a spare gearbox I'd give it to you free!!!

Good luck with it!

 

[mattc]

I have also today spoken with a Gearbox specialist who confirmed that at the mileage (100-120k) that a number of things could/would be wrong and a rebuild at £1200+vat is needed!.

we have 2 124's; they have 135k on the coupe and 197k on the estate - both are 5 speed boxes. The box on the estate is just peachy and very smooth. my coupes is almost as good. I mention this to highlight what others suggest - go down the 2nd hand box route. Buy a breaker (obviously be absolutely sure about which gearbox you have from the VIN no.) where other things are knackered but swap the box and sell other bits to recoup your costs.

To answer your specific question about whether its worth it do you intend to keep it and enjoy for a long time if it were running sweetly?? Personally I love my coupe to bits and she gets whatever she needs (which frankly is not much - touch wood). they are 'relatively' cheap motoring which still make you feel a bit special.

I hope you keep her personally.

all the best, matt

 

[Howard]

Finding a secondhand gearbox and getting Olly to fit it shouldn't be hard , surely ....

Ask Ian Walker , he's always got bits of W124s knocking around , strap it to a pallet , get it sent to Ollys or take your old bus up there and ask Ian to do it ...

Needn't cost loads . Theres enough w124s around that finding a gearbox in a scrappy should be easy.

 

[mattc]

I now Ian made a box from 3 the other week to get a 202 running. the 21 litres of ATF on the garage floor was a bit of a mare though!

 

[crammy69]

Thanks for all the suggestions, Ill give it some further thought, as said I will continue to use the car as is and see how the problem develops. as a first step Ill go to the transmission specialist either this weekend or next and get them to asses it, then ask them face to face their likley charges to either recon or put in a donor.

It really would be a shame to scrap the car, as Ive just paid for a years tax and Insurance, and I think the condition is a pretty good start to make a good car, the basics are all there.

Cheers
Simon

 

[BTB 500]

We paid £1100 to have a recon. gearbox put into our old Audi A4 last year ('96, done 110k miles).

We'd have got next to nothing selling it with a knackered gearbox, and no guarantee that another car for £1100 or so would be any more reliable than the repaired Audi.

Audi dealer quoted £2484 for a recon. gearbox ... excluding labour (considerable) and VAT

 

[MBManInKen]

wI love my coupe to bits and she gets whatever she needs (which frankly is not much

Until Nathalie gets behind the wheel that is .