One week with a W124

[juux]

I bought my first Mercedes a week ago and can see why the marque has such a following more and more each day! The car is a 1993 300TD with high miles but looks and feels like is has done a fifth of them, I really am flabbergasted at how competent (if slow!) it is and can see me running it for a good few years yet.

The move to a Merc estate was prompted by impending offspring (how many people have done the same!) and I retain my Lancer Evo for the weekends, but the big estate just brings out the old duffer in me and I am happy to waft about listening to Radio 2 enjoying my peace and quiet...and the three-pointed star at the end of my bonnet

The only problem is that the wife likes the car so much she wants to name the bloody thing!

 

[Big Jim]

Well said. Seems like exactly the same way i feel about the 200TE. Sometimes i prefer driving that to the CLK55, but then again.....

Welcome to the club.

I bet that EVO is a monster......

Regards

Jim

 

[velocette]

I have had my 94 W124 E300D for 5 months and 8k miles now and can certainly empathise with your comments. Being the multivalve it does have reasonable performance but is noticeably quiet and relaxed, at motorway speeds it seems to be cruising with no strain at all. A fifth speed in the autobox would be nice though. Mine has about 86k on the clock now, and I intend to keep it for the foreseeable future. The car is in excellent condition but needs a couple of minor parking dings sorted to bring it back to where I would like it to be, but as a classic car owner I tend to be rather fussy. I find the steering less direct than I would like, but following a suggestion from another post will have this checked out. Does 36mpg day to day and 40 on motorway runs. My wife has no desire to name it, but I must admit to listening to radio 2 from time to time. Despite its age, there is still a prestige associated with the marque that other cars dont have. Love it!

Velocette

 

[pammy]

The only problem is that the wife likes the car so much she wants to name the bloody thing!

And what's wrong with that

Welcome to the forum and MB ownership. Wishing many many happy years together

 

[Ian B Walker]

See I keep telling you lot. Nowt wrong with a W124 :bannana: :bannana: :bannana:
























(dont read electronics section 29/10/05)

 

[esox]

Despite its age, there is still a prestige associated with the marque that other cars dont have. Love it!

Velocette

The older the Merc,the more the prestige.....

New Mercs????

Drive it,wallow in your "aura of distinction",and laugh at the hoi-polloi in their toy-town trinkets........



(still looking for the right 300ce...)

 

[Dieselman]

I bought my first Mercedes a week ago and can see why the marque has such a following more and more each day! The car is a 1993 300TD with high miles but looks and feels like is has done a fifth of them, I really am flabbergasted at how competent (if slow!) it is and can see me running it for a good few years yet.

If you are going to keep the car for some time why not add a turbo. There are conversions available but I would be looking for salvage parts from the continent or USA.

Even without a turbo if you increase the amount of air entering and exiting the engine then add more fuel, the performance will improve. This could be achieved by gas flowing and reducing inlet vacuum and exhaust pressure.

To extend the life of the car add some rustproofing wax as all cars eventually suffer if not treated.

 

[Dieselman]

I have had my 94 W124 E300D for 5 months and 8k miles now and can certainly empathise with your comments. Being the multivalve it does have reasonable performance but is noticeably quiet and relaxed, at motorway speeds it seems to be cruising with no strain at all. A fifth speed in the autobox would be nice though.

MB didn't seem to be bothered about gearing diesels correctly, they are all undergeared.
For example the E300Td runs the same gearing as C250TD and both reach Vmax past peak power revs. If the ratio was higher the car could go faster and be more economical.
A differential swap would sort the problem.

What mph/1000revs does your 300D atmo run in top gear?

 

[PJH]

See I keep telling you lot. Nowt wrong with a W124 :bannana: :bannana: :bannana:


(dont read electronics section 29/10/05)

Don't read Falling Oil Pressure either !

 

[velocette]

What mph/1000revs does your 300D atmo run in top gear?[/QUOTE]

At 80 mph it is turning over at around 3400 so that makes it approx 23.5 mph/1000 revs. Much lower than my previous diesel, which was only doing 2200-2400 revs at the same speed (~30mph/1000 revs). However this is not a problem with regard to noise, vibration etc, but I am sure higher gearing would help economy further. When I first got it I kept looking for the fifth cog. Changing the diff would also make it slower through the gears as well wouldnt it? I am happy to live with it and regard this as one of those endearing features that lesser mortals can only marvel at as I waft past on my magic carpet. Incidentally I understood that turbos couldnt be fitted to these RHD cars as the steering column got in the way of the necessary oily bits.

Cheers, Velocette

 

[david_h]

I'm beginning to regret not buying a W124, I was looking at them before I bought my W202.

Looking at the prices on mobile.de I promise that in 2 years I will have an E500, I've always wanted one and the prices are falling fast. I have to wait until I'm 30 so that the insurance is a bit cheaper and my points have gone off my licence.

 

[30something]

I too have owned my W124 for a mere few weeks and am mighty pleased with it, I certainly don't have any performance worries as it's a 280te, but I don't get the mpg of the diesels of course!

Re: gearing, I have the 5 speed auto and top gear is about 27mph/1000rpm so pretty relaxed on the motorway.

 

[Dieselman]

What mph/1000revs does your 300D atmo run in top gear?

At 80 mph it is turning over at around 3400 so that makes it approx 23.5 mph/1000 revs. Much lower than my previous diesel, which was only doing 2200-2400 revs at the same speed (~30mph/1000 revs). However this is not a problem with regard to noise, vibration etc, but I am sure higher gearing would help economy further. When I first got it I kept looking for the fifth cog. Changing the diff would also make it slower through the gears as well wouldnt it? I am happy to live with it and regard this as one of those endearing features that lesser mortals can only marvel at as I waft past on my magic carpet. Incidentally I understood that turbos couldnt be fitted to these RHD cars as the steering column got in the way of the necessary oily bits.

Cheers, Velocette[/QUOTE]

Higher gearing would blunt accelleration but the gearbox would hang onto a lower gear for longer so the effect would be fairly neutural.

23.5 mph is what my wifes 1.4L petrol used to pull and is definately too low odly enough I bet this coincides with some petrol models.

The steering box is in the way of the turbo but it can be done. TB turbos used to market a kit especially for your application.

All it would really take is a modification to the exhaust manifold to lift the turbo.
Thinking about it a C250 can have a turbo even with the steering box issue so maybe that was just a red herring, maybe MB only wanted to market petrols in the UK as diesel was not the right image. BMW did exactly that for years.

 

[Dave Lewis]

I've had my 124 for 2 years now, and I'm still delighted by it. It's definitely the best car I've ever owned, and possibly the best medium-large car ever made. The only thing I would consider replacing it with would be another 124.

 

[bolide]

W124 aircon

Juux

According to my maths, then, I've been driving W124s five hundred and eighteen times longer than you have!

There are probably a few things you haven't found yet: it took me 3 years to find the additional sun visor above the rear view mirror, over a year before someone showed me how the bonnet opens up so it's vertical, 6 months till I found the luggage retaining net would still work with the seats folded flat and at least a year before I discovered the headlamp height adjuster - and that it didn't work!

For my money, the only things that let the cars down are poor dip beam headlights and seats designed for wide German ****s. The former can be cured to a degree by replacing the headlights with new ones (the silvering tends to drop off with age) and helped a bit more by (illegal) 90/110 Watt headlamps bulbs & relays. The latter I cured with a Recaro seat

I reckon that by year 3 you'll really appreciate it. Enjoy!


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[juux]

If you are going to keep the car for some time why not add a turbo.

No turbo required, I get my thrills elsewhere! I'm all for volumetric and thermal efficiency but the cost is prohibitive and it would go against one of the main reasons for buying an OM603 car - mechanical simplicity.

The gearing is slightly higher than I would like, an overdrive would be good, but it's still miles more relaxing on the motorway than my other car.

There are probably a few things you haven't found yet: it took me 3 years to find the additional sun visor above the rear view mirror

Got that one!

over a year before someone showed me how the bonnet opens up so it's vertical

That might've stopped me getting a 4" gash on my head from hitting the lower corner of the raised grille when I was changing a sidelight bulb last weekend! Yes, I've got a Mercedes that likes the taste of blood!

6 months till I found the luggage retaining net would still work with the seats folded flat

Not even tried the net yet

and at least a year before I discovered the headlamp height adjuster - and that it didn't work!

Yup, got that one too

 

[phoenix_nights]

Searching the threads as initially was intending to buy a C180 estate but always loved the W124 ever since i got a taxi-ride in one years ago.

By reading these posts on the W124 i can see that everyone seems to really enjoy the car and they give on the whole trouble-free motoring.

Gonna buy one in January and join the club. Could someone tell me during its lifetime (86 (?) - 96) when the car was updated. ie. 5 auto etc.

Look forward to joining ye folks.

As a side i was reading posts about foot operated handbrakes. In OZ i had a '73 230CE and i think there it was illegal to have foot operated handbrakes. My 230 had the handbrake on the dash . But can anyone guess what the 3rd (it was an auto) petal was used for in the car.

It was the windscreen washer!

 

[bolide]

W124 updates

Appearance-wise there was a kind of half-facelift in around 1991 when they introduced the lower body panels and colour-coded bumper surronds, then in 1993 the full facelift arrived with fully colour-coded bumpers, clear indicator lenses, the new grille and E Class badging. There's more about this on my website but there are a few minor inaccuracies I need to tidy up!

The earliest 5-speed auto I've seen was a 1992. I suspect it was always on the options list but few people chose it because of cost

All the post-facelift cars I've seen have had twin airbags & electric door mirrors both sides. Earlier cars had single (or no) airbag and electric passenger mirror only

The post-facelift cars drive a little differently to the older cars - they seem a bit more wieldy and I think spring, damper & bush rates were changed. The autoboxes also seem to hang on to revs longer & step off better, making later cars feel a bit more modern

For my money the very early cars were the best built and had the toughest interiors. Later cars with water-soluble paint chip more easily

Overall my preference is for the post-facelift ones with the newer multivalve engines. The E280 and E300 Diesels in particular are great ways to travel


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk