Modernising & perfecting a minty W124 300D Turbo!

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Newera

Active Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2012
Messages
123
Location
Japan, near Tokyo
Car
W124 300D Turbo, E30 M3, R5 Turbo II, RX-7, AE86, CRX Glasstop, DC2 Type R, VTR SP2...
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About 2 years ago, I decided it would be wise to stop changing cars every few years and just modernise an older, but high quality Benz Turbo Diesel capable of doing very high mileage & offer good economy. Older Diesel Mercedes are very rare in Japan and I wanted a rust free one with a decent body. This one came as a neglected and poorly looked after example whose glow plugs were all burnt out. To start it, I had to block the exhaust to build heat in the cylinders - so I could make the engine hot enough to easily remove said offending glow plugs!

Still, it was cheap to buy, although I've spent a fair chunk on all the bits to improve it since & repair everything that was faulty. I've been steadily adding to a list & ticking things off as I complete them.

It had taken 1 year to find this base car and after almost another year of ownership it's nearly completed, largely thanks to a friend in Germany who has sent many of the parts down to the smallest detail to help perfect it, whilst larger parts have been sourced used in Japan where possible (Dealer prices here are verging on stupidity!).

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All the exterior plastics were replaced with mint condition newer model's, of a darker and better looking silver colour - of original paint.

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For licence health (from speed cameras), I fitted a rectractable front number plate mount. At around 100 km/h the plate folds flat. When I'm driving in town it goes back to horizontal & there's a lock to hold it in vertical position (for inspections).

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It has proper (500E) front & rear brakes & handling courtesy of new lower (500E) arms, Bilstein shocks, H&R springs and 500E / 320 Convertible ARB's.

A new high quality sound system (Jelhert conversion at the front) & 200W speakers at the rear with top quality sound insulation. For aesthetics I fitted chrome door pins. I've avoided any temptation to add more chrome now - the flavour is to make the car more modern through improvement, not garish!

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I placed the amp in the trunk with all wiring properly routed and cable tied, with every terminal to crossovers properly crimped and shrink wrapped.

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The Parrot Asteroid head unit offers all the modern features such as Bluetooth / hands-free phone & voice control.

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All of the wood trim was replaced with dark 500E LTD original trim + 500E LTD Shift knob and I covered the original centre console wood panels in a Di-Noc dark colour brushed aluminium film. There's also navigation and self-dimming rear view mirror with compass.

To make the interior family / kid proof, I sourced taxi floor trays which are easy to remove & shake dust, sand, etc. off.

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There's remote central locking too and the aircon is working super cold.

All that's left to do on the interior now is to fit new electro-luminescent instrumentation (With original style gauges) so all the lighting is pure white on the dashboard ( White LEDs). The gauges will then match the Defi boost gauge at night, complete with red needles in the original instrument cluster...

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I also have a pair of 500E heated front seats with memory function - which will be fitted once I've restored the leather on them to perfection. I had thought of also fitting the 500E rear seats, but it's more useful to have a 5 seater than a useless box in the middle, I think (I had toyed with fitting a subwoofer in a custom enclosure, but kids don't need their ears blown out!).

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I changed several seals & gaskets all the way from the fuel tank to the fuel pump itself and finally it's become a completely oil-leak free engine.

It runs perfectly & regularly delivers 600 - 700km per tankful of Diesel.
Ride is smooth, rattle & nonsense free.

Just a few more little details to iron out and it should easily last another 10-20 years by which time it'll be a daily driven classic car. I'm finally running out of things to do to it but have enjoyed noticing the thought & attention that went into the design of this car.

I see W123 Diesels being very well looked after in Japan and I know why now...

It's proving to have been the perfect choice as a family runabout capable of cruising 1000km in a weekend in comfort when needed. It's got almost 200,000km now, but I don't mind how much mileage we put on. Feels great to have bank vault like build quality & classic German engineering integrity to take care of the family.

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I wonder if in 20 years - today's Mercedes will still work as well as their older designs? With so many electronics & poor build quality, I think not.... time will tell!
 
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For licence health (from speed cameras), I fitted a rectractable front number plate mount. At around 100 km/h the plate folds flat. When I'm driving in town it goes back to horizontal & there's a lock to hold it in vertical position (for inspections).

Excellent.
 
That's looking great, congratulations on your work.

200,000 km is just run in on that beast!
 
Great thread and nice looking car. Am trying to buy a set of alloys from japan at the moment but finding it very difficult.
 
I was about to ask the very same question, Rash :D

lol

Yes, I saw "Newera" and "Tokyo" and thought that had to be him! :D

I know of Newera and their presence on GTROC.
Primarily a Jap car/ parts importers as I understand.

But I also understand that Miguel likes his Mercs too.

:thumb:
 
Aaahahah, I've been rumbled! :p Yes - 'tis me.
I like all sorts of cars as you guys know. The 300D Turbo wouldn't be the obvious choice most would expect me to make... I blame my 2nd cousin who still has a 24V 300E he bought new - which still has under 2000 miles and is a garage queen (What a waste! :eek:).

Today I bought a set of nearly mint original 500E 17" rims. Nothing wrong with the rims on the car now, but these are three quarters of an inch wider and should improve the stance just a little. I seem to have developed a fetish for 500E bits?

Did have a couple of W124 500E's last year. Lovely bruiser cars, but I wouldn't want to live with their appetite for petrol on a daily basis. :eek:
The 300D Turbo's a keeper.

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Ah, Rashman! - I know who you are through Matty of course.
Still have your CLK 63 AMG I see. Awesome car & Super clean as I remember from pics Matty showed me. :thumb:

Greetings Doodle. Don't recognise your name, but thanks for recognising me. :)
 
Haha, I thought it was probably you!:D

Hope all is well with you.

From what I hear, you don't do things by halves! :rock:

Good to see you meddling with a car of the 3-pointed variety :thumb:
 
Ah, Rashman! - I know who you are through Matty of course.
Still have your CLK 63 AMG I see. Awesome car & Super clean as I remember from pics Matty showed me. :thumb:

Ah, you remember! :D

Yep, still have the CLK63 :rock:
I don't think I'll ever part with this beast :rock:

"Super clean", lol, my reputation has crossed a few borders, I see! :D

Click on my name and you can take a peek at some pictures I have in my album, if you're interested :thumb:

.... I may also pick your brains at some point to see what sort of availability of carbon fibre parts there is over there for the CLK63.

There was a guy on one of the US Mercedes forums who had sourced a front splitter for his from your part of the world.

I've had no luck in finding one.

I was thinking maybe you would know of a carbon fibre manufacturer where you are who might have made one :dk:

Anyway, perhaps we'll talk about that in time.

:thumb:
 
Greetings Doodle. Don't recognise your name, but thanks for recognising me. :)

More parts than vehicles and probably not under my forum name, sorting out various obscure FD2 bits for me in the early days...my previous life in Type-Rs :thumb:
 
Yeah, I like to tinker with stuff - the more I like it, the more I improve it...
I do like this old Benz a lot, but I'm running out of things I want to do to it.
My plan from the beginning was to make it perfect, then maintain it in this condition....It's pretty much there.

I do like Benz a lot, ever since having a 1976 300D as a student when living in Brighton. I'm more into the older stuff, mind - I don't like my cars to have lots of computers & digital systems etc! None of my cars are newer than 1995 and half of them are from the 80's - all modified though. :D
 
Ah Doodle -. FD2's are still fantastic cars -The last of the Type R's. I see you have a couple of interesting bikes too. Good man.

Rashman, we can look into that when you're ready. I don't know much about Japanese parts for MB, but they do exist. The Yakuza here like AMG and customising too. :D
 
Ah Doodle -. FD2's are still fantastic cars -The last of the Type R's. I see you have a couple of interesting bikes too. Good man.

It is that. I miss mine, but I suspect I'd have killed myself otherwise :doh:

Still a compulsive fiddler, nothing stays standard and the SL, Landcruiser and Ducati bear testament to that. I spotted that Rays do a set of Volk TE37s for the Amazon...not sure I'm so keen on the price though!
 
It is that. I miss mine, but I suspect I'd have killed myself otherwise :doh:

Still a compulsive fiddler, nothing stays standard and the SL, Landcruiser and Ducati bear testament to that. I spotted that Rays do a set of Volk TE37s for the Amazon...not sure I'm so keen on the price though!

LOL, we're all much the same. I just can't resist upgrades that have form & function + rarity.
I think I'm into roughly 25K in total spent on the SP2 - but over 8 years it doesn't hurt....


...much. :D
 
Just bought a rare catalogue from the early 1990's which lists pretty much all modifications that were available at the time in Japan for the W124. Might help find some more rare bits.

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Oooh...Hyper Rev book! Very nice.
 

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