Ten thousand miles in my C124

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Pigpen

Active Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Messages
68
Location
London
Car
C124 E320
I bought my E320 Coupe in February this year and have just gone past 10,000 miles in her. It made me go to the old receipt book to see what I had got done over those miles.

In order they are:

O/S front window regulator, (paid for by previous owner)
Oil Change
Rainbow speakers front & rear
2 x rear tyres
Exhaust mounting rubbers (or something like that)
Battery holdy-in thing
Adjusted boot springs
Sunroof rails
Sony head unit
Power aerial
Rustproofed the underside
Removed stupid spoiler and resprayed boot lid
Maintenence service +ATF change
N/S front window regulator (Thanks to PCS and sorry for the aggro today)

In amongst those were a couple of brake bulbs, one indicator bulb and an astonishing amount of petrol

Actual issues with the car that couldn't have been put up with are pretty minimal. The tyres, battery thingy and exhaust rubbers were needed for the MOT.

I foresee a great deal more expense in the next 6 months, the loom will need doing one day soon and the front wings are going to be sprayed and rustproofed.

The old girl now has 120600 on her or thereabouts, roll on the next 10k.
 
Jesus, you have got to really want an older car!!

Seems to be far more expensive than running newer.


I bought a 56 plate E320 and it cost me around £3k a year in repayments, in the last year or so and 42,000 miles it has cost me an inspection A and a B which cost me £300, and a front parking sensor at £38.

Just about to hit 100k.
 
Jesus, you have got to really want an older car!!

Seems to be far more expensive than running newer.


I bought a 56 plate E320 and it cost me around £3k a year in repayments, in the last year or so and 42,000 miles it has cost me an inspection A and a B which cost me £300, and a front parking sensor at £38.

Just about to hit 100k.

Funny... bevause I could bet he spend half to want you did in that year. All of that as expensive as you think. On top of that its radier to work on older cars. I has more access.
 
Funny... bevause I could bet he spend half to want you did in that year. All of that as expensive as you think. On top of that its radier to work on older cars. I has more access.

You been on the beer?? ;)
 
OK, so I shall rephrase it to be fair to the fans....


I bought my E320 Coupe in February this year and have just gone past 10,000 miles in her. It made me go to the old receipt book to see what I had got done over those miles.

In order they are:

O/S front window regulator, (paid for by previous owner)
Oil Change
Rainbow speakers front & rear
2 x rear tyres
Exhaust mounting rubbers (or something like that)
Battery holdy-in thing
Adjusted boot springs
Sunroof rails
Sony head unit
Power aerial
Rustproofed the underside
Removed stupid spoiler and resprayed boot lid
Maintenence service +ATF change
N/S front window regulator (Thanks to PCS and sorry for the aggro today)

In amongst those were a couple of brake bulbs, one indicator bulb and an astonishing amount of petrol

Actual issues with the car ...........the tyres, battery thingy and exhaust rubbers were needed for the MOT.

I foresee a great deal more expense in the next 6 months,



the loom will need doing one day soon and the front wings are going to be sprayed and rustproofed.

Where do I sign up??!! :D
 
I acquired my 1996 E220 coupe in January and have done about the same mileage as you in that time.

A one owner car with 125,000km (78,000m) on the clock, I originally purchased this an interest car, not expecting to use it that much, but it hasn't worked out that way. I enjoy driving this and it is such a useable car so my so called 'daily driver' has become a garage queen!

As with any older car, I too have had a list of things that needed doing. Unfortunately for me, the engine harness was first cab off the rank, followed by the ECU which had been spiked as a result of the ailing loom. I've also had a major service and am looking shortly to replace the engine and gearbox mounts and the guibo couplings. After I'm 100% happy with the mechanicals I'll be looking to freshen up some bodywork. There are a few marks here and there: scratches and stone chips on the bumper bars and some stained paint on the boot lid caused by bats or birds I expect.

Its not cheap playing with older cars, but it is fun. Interestingly I don't mind forking out on maintenance, but I just can't abide losing money hand over fist in depreciation.

Enjoy your C124! :)
 
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When you consider some people will pay £50k+ for a car and in a few years have lost nearly half; puts running an older car in perspective.

All IMHO of course. :D
 
When you consider some people will pay £50k+ for a car and in a few years have lost nearly half; puts running an older car in perspective.

All IMHO of course. :D


I think if you go in knowing money will need to be spent then buying an older car like this that still feels great is a great way of running a motor without loosing thousands a year.

Many go in thinking that because it is an old 'bullet proof' Merc the initial purchase price is about all they will have to spend.
 
Jesus, you have got to really want an older car!!

Seems to be far more expensive than running newer.


I bought a 56 plate E320 and it cost me around £3k a year in repayments, in the last year or so and 42,000 miles it has cost me an inspection A and a B which cost me £300, and a front parking sensor at £38.

Just about to hit 100k.

It's cost you more than that because your E320 is depreciating. A well maintained C124 isn't. In fact their values are slowly rising.
 
It's cost you more than that because your E320 is depreciating. A well maintained C124 isn't. In fact their values are slowly rising.

It was actually said with tongue firmly in cheek, I get that the list of things done were all minor or regular service work that would need to be done on any car, and the other bits were simply enhancements.


I have run older cars, and while I tend to enjoy it more, I just don't have the time to keep them properly. I simply can't be off the road for a day, let alone 2 or 3 days.
I only run older cars as a fun car now, and tend to have at least one that is still in warranty so if worse case scenario and it goes wrong at least I get a replacement same day.

Just that list seemed incredibly long for 10k miles, which is 3 months driving for me.
 
It was actually said with tongue firmly in cheek, I get that the list of things done were all minor or regular service work that would need to be done on any car, and the other bits were simply enhancements.


I have run older cars, and while I tend to enjoy it more, I just don't have the time to keep them properly. I simply can't be off the road for a day, let alone 2 or 3 days.
I only run older cars as a fun car now, and tend to have at least one that is still in warranty so if worse case scenario and it goes wrong at least I get a replacement same day.

Just that list seemed incredibly long for 10k miles, which is 3 months driving for me.

The list is long for 10K miles, but I would think he's slowly fixing stuff that has built up over a long period of time. I would think that once the car is spot on it'll run without intervention between service intervals.

I used to have an E320 CDI, and hated the fact it had a warranty. I constantly clashed head with someone in a cheap suit who'd decide what they'd do to fix the latest fault. Mercedes eventually bought it back because the thing was so hopeless. That was after I made it do 10K miles in 14 days. Mercedes then wrote to me stating it was unreliable because I used it too much. Lots of amusement ensued. I now run a 15 year old Volvo.
 
I think that's the thing. Once it's up to scratch and all sorted, the amount of between-service interval attention that would be needed is likely to be minimal IMHO.

I guess by the OP taking a 15+ year old 100k+ mile car and putting 10k miles on it in 6 months it has given it a proper shakedown and brought any issues to the surface. Plus as said, half of those items are upgrades/improvements (stereo, speakers, removing spolier) and long term measures - rustproofing, etc.
 
Mine is a daily driver and a keeper, on 179,000 miles.

Owned for approx 9 years.

Do all the maintenance myself, bit by bit, and as required.

Want to have replaced all perishables in due course.

Only use parts from Merc dealer.

Examples of significant stuff still to do:


* engine/gearbox mounts

* prop shaft centre bearing and housing

* prop shaft dounuts each end

* NSF wheel bearing.

* NSF brake hose.

* timing cover oil seal

* then, the body work

Do not have the rust in inner wings or under washer bottle or near ABS unit.

Do not have the rust near rear subframe - all four bushes done there.

Do not have the rust in jacking points - I guess because I am always using car jack in the holes and mud does not have chance to cause rust.

* have the two front wings to put on.

* rear OS wing needs some attention for surface rust.

* both doors need attention where cladding has rubbed paint.

Azurite with biscuit leather interior.

Trouble is I never clean the thing. I guess the paint must therefore still be thick !!!!!
 
Feeing pleased with myself today as I broke my mpg record.

368 miles / 57.7 litres = 28.99 mpg

Using bp ultimate and driving like a grandma, 95 percent motorway miles.
 
Feeing pleased with myself today as I broke my mpg record.

368 miles / 57.7 litres = 28.99 mpg

Using bp ultimate and driving like a grandma, 95 percent motorway miles.


Yeh, looks like some items need changing to get the car to spec mpg.

Lambda (oxygen) sensor is a renewable item at 100,000 miles on that generation car, as they get sluggish.

Coolant sensor (for ECU) may have gone out of spec and is very important for correct fuel input.

Both those items changed my fuel consumption (+ 16%).

I can now easily get 400 miles for each tank on a journey.

Also, I guess my engine is nicely run in at 179,000 miles.

Standard unleaded gives 33 mpg on journey into the country with mix motorway and A roads.
 
Yeh, looks like some items need changing to get the car to spec mpg.

Lambda (oxygen) sensor is a renewable item at 100,000 miles on that generation car, as they get sluggish.

Coolant sensor (for ECU) may have gone out of spec and is very important for correct fuel input.

Both those items changed my fuel consumption (+ 16%).

I can now easily get 400 miles for each tank on a journey.

Also, I guess my engine is nicely run in at 179,000 miles.

Standard unleaded gives 33 mpg on journey into the country with mix motorway and A roads.

Wow, and there was me thinking I had got to some kind of MPG holy grail! :doh:

More stuff added to the 'to do' list :D
 
My only advice would be is save your money and leave out the super fuel.... normal unleaded is absolutely fine on that engine
 

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