Just bought a W124 220E, tell me what you think

[ray_hennig]

I don't know why these cars were so bad in the rust department,

My local CT man has asked me why my 1991 W124 is almost rust free - being foreign with an MB, the thinks I'm from Germany where there's more salt on the roads. Likewise Belgium and UK.

I think there are 2 differences between yours and mine.

One: yours came from Belgium and mine has always been in France. We very seldom see salt on the roads. The original owner lived in Monaco and worked in Paris. It had a 75 registration when I first saw it. And, according to legend, the car only every did the autoroute between home and work; hence the 90 litre fuel tank option.

Two: yours is a little later than mine. I'm not 100% sure about this but I think MB changed the paint around 93 to a water-based paint. This may have been around the same time as they installed biodegradable wiring that degraded soon after installation. Others may know more about this.

Good luck with yours.

RayH

 

[noogieman]

Coincidentally, there's a Britny Fox cassette stuck in the player in my S124.

Now you can play it on repeat over and over again.
Rock n' roll

 

[E55BOF]

Keep it. The repairs are all fairly easy if time consuming, and will only need to be done once for another 20+ years of enjoyment. Less and less 124's about every day so you might find it difficult to replace for a better car. There I always something hidden when you go to buy the next one!

No, very easy; most newer cars are better. If you'd said 'better 124' I might agree with you...

What is Brittaney?
Never heard of it before?

Britain is Britainy; France is Francey; Germany is Germany...

 

[ChipChop]

Thanks everyone. I don't know why these cars were so bad in the rust department, especially compared to french or japanese cars. Imagine how long they would last without this issue. The absolute worst was a W210 I used to own. It was tetanus on wheels propelled by a V6. It seems like most of them are absolutely rotten around here, more so than the 124 even though they're not at old.

As a big fan of the 210 i have noticed the brilliant silver (paint code 744) painted models seem to have survived in larger numbers compared to the non silver cars. Strange anomalies in the poor water based paints Mercedes bean counters decided to use back then perhaps?

When i changed a front wing a couple of years back on mine i was surprised how thin and flexible the metal was on the replacement genuine Mercedes 210 wing. The steel used on a genuine Mercedes w201 190 wing is far thicker in comparison.

Despite this i have to say the 210 is still a very good car and imho very underrated.

 

[noogieman]

No, very easy; most newer cars are better. If you'd said 'better 124' I might agree with you...


Britain is Britainy; France is Francey; Germany is Germany...

You mean Germaine is Germany?

 

[OM606]

My local CT man has asked me why my 1991 W124 is almost rust free - being foreign with an MB, the thinks I'm from Germany where there's more salt on the roads. Likewise Belgium and UK.

I think there are 2 differences between yours and mine.

One: yours came from Belgium and mine has always been in France. We very seldom see salt on the roads. The original owner lived in Monaco and worked in Paris. It had a 75 registration when I first saw it. And, according to legend, the car only every did the autoroute between home and work; hence the 90 litre fuel tank option.

Two: yours is a little later than mine. I'm not 100% sure about this but I think MB changed the paint around 93 to a water-based paint. This may have been around the same time as they installed biodegradable wiring that degraded soon after installation. Others may know more about this.

Good luck with yours.

RayH

Mine is from late 1992 or early 1993, the registration date being April of 1993. It has the dreaded wiring harness, I think I will rebuild it myself when I have (lots of) time. How many km on your 300CE?

As a big fan of the 210 i have noticed the brilliant silver (paint code 744) painted models seem to have survived in larger numbers compared to the non silver cars. Strange anomalies in the poor water based paints Mercedes bean counters decided to use back then perhaps?

When i changed a front wing a couple of years back on mine i was surprised how thin and flexible the metal was on the replacement genuine Mercedes 210 wing. The steel used on a genuine Mercedes w201 190 wing is far thicker in comparison.

Despite this i have to say the 210 is still a very good car and imho very underrated.

I know exactly what you mean. My 98 W202 is silver and is rust free. Maybe rust is easier to see on black cars? The worst 202 and 210 I've seen were black ones. The 210 is a good car indeed, I wanted to replace my 202 with an automatic because I do a fair bit of city driving these days and didn't want to bother with a manual anymore. It was a toss up between a 124 and a 210 but got a 124 because this is probably the last one I'll own before they become more collectable and expensive or in very bad shape. I'm so used to driving 124s that I always find something to complain about when I drive something else, they're like old friends. Next daily driver will probably be a 211... S211 E320 CDI would be very nice.

 

[ray_hennig]

How many km on your 300CE?

470k Kms. Rather a lot!

R

 

[OM606]

Wow! It's rare for a petrol W124 here.

 

[ray_hennig]

470k Kms.

But only 130k Km when I bought it.

R

 

[robbomerc]

love these cars . Yours looks great . Definitely worth putting money into it . The jacking points are not too bad to do and looks like 3 out of 4 are not too bad

 

[OM606]

I was wondering if rather than making a new thread for each problem with this car, I could continue asking in this one? I have a few other minor things to fix...

 

[OM606]

I'm probably going to repair the whole area with fiberglass. Done properly, it will probably outlast the rest of the car. There's less chance of the area rusting again compared to poor welding.

 

[JefferiesFarnol]

Looks nice!

 

[OM606]

Thanks! Currently fixing the rust issues with epoxy/fiberglass. I am trying my best to do something that will stand the test of time.