'My first SL'
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- Start date
grober
MB Master
Some nice archival footage.
[YOUTUBE]Xcaoiul98zw&list=PLU-K64vveyZXt1EglbbpLMYtryfblU87G&index=3[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]Xcaoiul98zw&list=PLU-K64vveyZXt1EglbbpLMYtryfblU87G&index=3[/YOUTUBE]
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2007
- Messages
- 1,511
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- church stretton/shropshire
- Car
- Mercedes ML 350 , E220 cabriolet Amg premium plus , Porsche 968 sports
Enjoy your new SL , hope you have pleasure and years of enjoyment
jonthetourist
Active Member
That engine does encourage the occasional brief bout of foot-down driving, just for the fun of it. Allegedly . . .
Enjoy the car.
Jon
I've always fancied a wood/leather wheel for mine ... the standard one looks a bit dull (but is very nice to use). I got a quote for a new one from M-B back in 2006 - £2.5k! 
I knew electric steering column adjust was a cost option on some models but assumed it was still manually adjustable without - obviously not!
If it's just the aerial mast you need they are pretty reasonable from a dealer (under £20 last time I got one although probably more now).
Re. the battery I had some problems with my car once when it only just started - the low voltage triggered various sensor faults which disabled the roof until cleared via STAR. I keep it on a maintenance charger now.
I knew electric steering column adjust was a cost option on some models but assumed it was still manually adjustable without - obviously not!
If it's just the aerial mast you need they are pretty reasonable from a dealer (under £20 last time I got one although probably more now).
Re. the battery I had some problems with my car once when it only just started - the low voltage triggered various sensor faults which disabled the roof until cleared via STAR. I keep it on a maintenance charger now.
tommyboy40
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2012
- Messages
- 127
- Location
- Ireland
- Car
- R129 SL500 W124 220CE x 2 Smart 450 cabriolet. C215 CL500
If i remember correctly, the seat illumination is from a twist on lamp that doesn't have separate wiring.
Doodle
MB Enthusiast
W140 and 202 wheels fit. And yes, they do tend to cover the clock/fuel gauge slightly.
tommyboy40
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2012
- Messages
- 127
- Location
- Ireland
- Car
- R129 SL500 W124 220CE x 2 Smart 450 cabriolet. C215 CL500
And cover the high beam light too. When you go to sort out the stereo, I'll talk you through the taking it apart procedure. It's quite straightforward bit there are lots of bolts. Gotta love the hydraulic lines for the roof in the second pic
Certainly there is a bayonet type opening for the lamp ( now that you mention it , not unlike the ones in instrument panels ) .
Since I have a couple of spare instrument clusters , I'll try a lamp out of one of those and see what happens .
Thanks .
On the subject of instrument panel lights - I just noticed today that the SRS light does not illuminate before starting - in fact never illuminates . This , of course , is an MOT failure and could just be related to the horn push problem . Perhaps all electrical connections to the steering wheel are absent ?
I guess I'll be looking a bit harder for the new steering wheel now .
The other option , and I'm not sure of the legality , would be to do away with both airbags and turn it into a non-SRS car ; however , I suspect the SRS system interlinks with other safety features such as seatbelt pre tensioners and the roll bar , so my preference would be to fix the problem .
I had the hard top off today and enjoyed some top down motoring in the sunshine
At first the soft top would just not complete its cycle , with the rear deck cover needing to be pushed down manually , then the hood bow needing pushed down on top of it before it would lock . The hood would always go away by itself , with windows and roll bar going back up at the end of the cycle .After numerous attempts I got the hood to come up and complete its cycle on its own , but then it would stall at the same places : I guess this is down to lack of use and hopefully it will come right if I persevere - otherwise changing hydraulic fluid and relay , plus cleaning/adjustment of microswitches will perhaps help . Since it works intermittently I doubt there is all that very much wrong .
The hood itself is generally in good condition , save for one tiny hole in the outer fabric layer , just in from the passenger side , which looks like a cigarette burn ( vandalism ) and the rear window which is in very good condition but the stitching has come undone for three or four inches down one side - bit of a chore but DIY repairable .
Oh , having brimmed the tank and set the trip counter the night I got the car , I refilled and brimmed the tank again tonight with less than 1/4 tank showing but the reserve light not yet on : 65 L for 385 miles by my reckoning averages out at a shade over 27 mpg - can't be bad for a mix of open road and town driving , with a fair bit of idling while I played around with things .
I reckon I should be able to break 400 miles per tank and 30 mpg without trying too hard .
I reckon I should be able to break 400 miles per tank and 30 mpg without trying too hard .
That second picture certainly answers a number of questions for me .
What is behind the carpeting around the rear seat area .
What the rattle I sometimes hear from that area is ( one or more of the pipes must be loose ) .
Can I mount speakers in the side panels ( spacer rings needed to reduce/eliminate intrusion ) .
How much space is there under the seats ( enough for multi channel amp and DSP unit ) .
Cable runs should be easy enough : the head unit will just pick up power from the ISO connector and I just need to run one bus control lead , one analogue output lead and a trigger wire for the amp remote back ; as well as a four core speaker cable coming forward from the amp under the back seat , which will terminate in an ISO connector to mate with the existing feed to the front speakers ; rear speakers will feed directly from the amp / unless I was going to upgrade the door/dash speakers I wouldn't bother running dedicated cabling . Power from the amplifier / DSP will come via a fused supply from the battery in the boot , and my two CD changers will fit in the well on the left side of the boot , requiring one bus cable and one TOSLINK optical lead each . All pretty straightforward . Oh , and as a non smoker , I rather think my Sony RM-X4S remote control will nestle nicely in the space currently taken by the ashtray
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tommyboy40
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2012
- Messages
- 127
- Location
- Ireland
- Car
- R129 SL500 W124 220CE x 2 Smart 450 cabriolet. C215 CL500
There's already a cable channel running under the sill trim to the boot. I think that I might have some more pics on an old hard drive that I'll dig out
grober
MB Master
The SRS bulb may well be burnt out or missing. Common fault for the SRS light on was evidently a dodgy connection to the seat occupancy sensor under the seat or possibly one of the seat belt buckle sensors. Both cases there's probably a bodge fix to fool the system. Dodgy steering wheel airbag squib electricals is another possibility
Indeed , sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one . Besides , the OTG works but also doesn't illuminate , and the rightmost vent control below the central air vent also is out - so a few blown lamps around .
Also , there may well be something up with the passenger seat occupancy sensor and the backrest lock sensor since , after letting my son into the back seat and putting the seat back , sometimes the alarm still sounds and only goes off if the backrest is thumped ! Moreover , despite either no one being in the passenger seat , or the seatbelt being worn by a passenger , I have seen the seatbelt light stay on . Another strange thing has been that , to try to get the backrest locked and registered as locked , I reached over from my drivers seat and lifted the backrest release handle , to find that this activated the backrest motor and I could only get it to go back by using the switch . I have yet to remove the seat cushion , but will look inside the seat at some point .
Earlier tonight , I removed the near side door card : I found numerous fixings missing , and the vacuum line to the door bin locks had been plugged with a self tapping screw .
I put the vacuum line back but this still didn't fix the central locking , fitted the lamp into the seat switch , now working , and replaced various missing boots & screws - which makes the whole door feel much more solid .
I will chase the locking fault down before long .
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Just went outside now that it's dark outside , and the door switch illumination is spot on .
I could feel that the cover over the vent dials was a separate part , and was able to pop it off with my Swiss Army knife - saw the lamps were the same as in the 190 heater dials , so pinched one from there and will replace later - SL vent controls now illuminating correctly .
One night this week I'll pop the instrument cluster out and check the lamps in there .
I could feel that the cover over the vent dials was a separate part , and was able to pop it off with my Swiss Army knife - saw the lamps were the same as in the 190 heater dials , so pinched one from there and will replace later - SL vent controls now illuminating correctly .
One night this week I'll pop the instrument cluster out and check the lamps in there .
This afternoon I had finished work close to home , hence was home earlier than usual .
I had already purchased a Sony 16 pin to ISO connector cable , thinking all I had to do was pull the overly bright Alpine unit that came in the car , out of the DIN aperture , change over the wiring connector and slot in one of my spare Sony head units , which at least were black and more in keeping with the rest of the centre console .
The Alpine pulled out easily enough , but instead of the now almost universal ISO connectors ( which I'm sure I had read somewhere R129's were equipped with ) I found every installer's nightmare : a mess of cut wires , bullet connectors and insulating tape
Been here before , got too many of those T shirts
I carefully picked the cables apart , and put some of my own insulating tape over the male bullet connectors , resigning myself to an evening with a multimeter , soldering iron and Hellermann sleeving
It was nearing time to go and pick my son up from the childminder , so I thought I'd leave things be until later on .
Alas , when I did pull out of the drive , I hadn't gone 20 yards when I realised I had no instruments whatsoever
I drove the mile or so down to the childminder's , picked up Harris , then when I restarted the car I had the well documented dashboard of death with no instruments working and all warning lights flashing like a Christmas Tree
Nothing for it but to drive home , shepherded Harris into the house , TV on , then back outside to check , definitely no bare wires able to short anywhere . Into the fusebox ( still awaiting the fuse charts from Germany ) and , lo and behold , there was a blown 8 amp fuse . Fuse replaced and all working again
Who wants to guess what I'll be doing later ?
I had already purchased a Sony 16 pin to ISO connector cable , thinking all I had to do was pull the overly bright Alpine unit that came in the car , out of the DIN aperture , change over the wiring connector and slot in one of my spare Sony head units , which at least were black and more in keeping with the rest of the centre console .
The Alpine pulled out easily enough , but instead of the now almost universal ISO connectors ( which I'm sure I had read somewhere R129's were equipped with ) I found every installer's nightmare : a mess of cut wires , bullet connectors and insulating tape
Been here before , got too many of those T shirts
I carefully picked the cables apart , and put some of my own insulating tape over the male bullet connectors , resigning myself to an evening with a multimeter , soldering iron and Hellermann sleeving
It was nearing time to go and pick my son up from the childminder , so I thought I'd leave things be until later on .
Alas , when I did pull out of the drive , I hadn't gone 20 yards when I realised I had no instruments whatsoever
I drove the mile or so down to the childminder's , picked up Harris , then when I restarted the car I had the well documented dashboard of death with no instruments working and all warning lights flashing like a Christmas Tree Nothing for it but to drive home , shepherded Harris into the house , TV on , then back outside to check , definitely no bare wires able to short anywhere . Into the fusebox ( still awaiting the fuse charts from Germany ) and , lo and behold , there was a blown 8 amp fuse . Fuse replaced and all working again
Who wants to guess what I'll be doing later ?
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gbjeppm
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2006
- Messages
- 1,782
- Location
- Surrey
- Car
- C207 E Coupe 350cdi, W166 ML 250 Cdi Sport, R171 SLK 350, Suzuki V Strom DL650
I feel your pain Derek, I started to strip out the non working after market alarm system on the weekend.
I was being painstaking careful, checking which wires went where, taking one out, starting the engine etc.
Anyway I cut one wire, engine would not start , GRRRR
Anyway, followed it to the fuel pump relay, and it was a switch to cut the fuel pump to immobilise the car, took me over an hour to find it.
The amount of 90's after market stuff, phone, alarm etc, was unreal. I even found a siren behind the centre console, none of it worked.
Have fun tonight
I was being painstaking careful, checking which wires went where, taking one out, starting the engine etc.
Anyway I cut one wire, engine would not start , GRRRR
Anyway, followed it to the fuel pump relay, and it was a switch to cut the fuel pump to immobilise the car, took me over an hour to find it.
The amount of 90's after market stuff, phone, alarm etc, was unreal. I even found a siren behind the centre console, none of it worked.
Have fun tonight
Doodle
MB Enthusiast
The Alpine pulled out easily enough , but instead of the now almost universal ISO connectors ( which I'm sure I had read somewhere R129's were equipped with ) I found every installer's nightmare : a mess of cut wires , bullet connectors and insulating tape
I'm not sure pre-facelift would have ISO connectors, the standard didn't come into existence until the very end of 1992. My car was similarly (albeit tidy and professional) wired, although I have since retrofitted for ISO.
I did have to haul out the remnants of 2 different car kits though!
I feel your pain Derek, I started to strip out the non working after market alarm system on the weekend.
I was being painstaking careful, checking which wires went where, taking one out, starting the engine etc.
Anyway I cut one wire, engine would not start , GRRRR
Anyway, followed it to the fuel pump relay, and it was a switch to cut the fuel pump to immobilise the car, took me over an hour to find it.
The amount of 90's after market stuff, phone, alarm etc, was unreal. I even found a siren behind the centre console, none of it worked.
Have fun tonight
In the end , I didn't tackle that job last night : when I dug out my gas soldering iron , alarmingly , there was a flame shooting out of the side when I lit it ! It was left down the garden to cool down before being thrown in the bin .
Also , I'm thinking that since I'm going to this trouble , I might as well just put one of my better systems in , along with my Bury car kit . Still , I'll meter round and identify the exposed cables then safely terminate them tonight .
