W123 Estate 200T - Price Advice

[Grangemerc]

I'm thinking of buying a W123 200T estate, 'A' regsitered in 1984 with 70,000 miles on the clock. Champagne Gold with a manual sunroof and everthing else as standard I believe. 3 keepers.

AVERAGE CONDITION.
It has a couple of small dents in it and some very minor rust but is running well. Neither of us know how much it is worth and I wondered if anyone out there could give me some advice as to what I should be paying? I have searched Merc/classic car mags and the internet for a price guide covering this period/age of car with no success. (Only found saloon prices).

My friend bought the car privately for £1500 3 years ago and has used it to transport his dogs everywhere, (Yes, it needs a good clean), but is selling it to me as he now uses a van for his 4 legged friends.

Any advice on price and what problems to look out for on the W123 would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks in advance,

Grangemerc.

 

[stever]

See this: http://mercedes-w123.net/buyers_guide.htm

In particular, check for rain water leaks in the cabin and boot - they can be a pain to trace and will rot the inner sills & floorpan.

 

[jaymanek]

Really all is a matter of the condition, if it really has no rust (remember the 123 hides corrosion very well), then anything between 800-1500 is reasonable.
I have seen excellent ones go at auction for less than £300, only those in the know will pay over £1K for a good one as they are rare to find.

 

[ddentrec]

I own three W123's, including a 200T (1985). Am restoring a W123 280TE from a bare shell.

Engine: generally bullet proof but check valve stem seals/blue smoke. Also check coolant levels as head gasket can go.

Transmission: Generally bomb proof. Check kickdown. Check fluid colour--should be red and clear.

Differential: Should be OK for this mileage.

Electrics: No issues.

Steering Rack: check for excessive play. Can be adjusted-out without need to replace 'box.

Jacking Points: Front and rear rust--MOT failure issue.

Inner Sills: These are potential source of expensive terminal rust repairs: generally caused by sunroof drains being corroded=water gets under mats=nice warm swamp=big rust. Very easily hidden, easy for novice to miss.

Front Springs: Can snap-but rarely.

Rear Suspension: Self-leveling system: either very easy to fix if not working (valve by petrol tank sticking) or shocks/spheres shot: big money to fix properly. Some fit normal saloon shocks to get round this.

Sunroof Tray: can rust (see sills above): really very difficult to fix propoerly (tray needs to come out = easy. But putting everything back is very tricky).

Engine/Gearbox should not leak at all!

Other rust: drivers area below windscreen is a weak area. Also area behind front wing, just in front of front door hinges: need to inspect with torch with your head inside wheel arch-look towards front door. This can be terminal on some cars and is easy to hide as there is a wheel arch line hiding it all

Brakes: check pipes for corrosion, especially at rear.

Fuel system: check pipes for corrosion around fuel tank--real pain to fix propoerly, costs ££, easy to bodge-fix but fails MOT.

Good luck!!

 

[Sp!ke]

Rear Suspension: Self-leveling system: either very easy to fix if not working (valve by petrol tank sticking) or shocks/spheres shot: big money to fix properly. Some fit normal saloon shocks to get round this.

Interested in this "easy fix"... How do you check/free up this valve?

 

[Grangemerc]

Thanks for the info guys. My Dad had a 200T for 18 and 1/2 years and I've been hankering after one for a while now. Can't wait to get my hands on it!

 

[ddentrec]

Interested in this "easy fix"... How do you check/free up this valve?

Valve has an actuator arm; arm connected to bar that moves up/down with rear suspension.

1. Bar rotates in some bushings: these can corrode preventing the bar moving properly. Prevents rear suspension from self-levelling (too low, or too high).

2. Valve actuator arm can seize: it is in an exposed place. Good clean may suffice.

3.Valve body is very reliable: it is very easy to swop with one from a scrapper and bleed the hydraulic fluid if needed.

4. May be worth checking the hydraulic pump at end of camshaft: again very reliable but dead easy to change/check to see if working OK.

If all else fails then it is probably the spheres/shocks at fault. The whole rear suspension is really of the very highest quality and ridiculously over-engineered. But this means to fix properly requires the correct diagnostic equipment and the shocks aint cheap (about £120 each). Spheres are about £40 each but need specialist fitting-need to be pressurised+setup.

 

[Dieselman]

Valve has an actuator arm; arm connected to bar that moves up/down with rear suspension.

1. Bar rotates in some bushings: these can corrode preventing the bar moving properly. Prevents rear suspension from self-levelling (too low, or too high).

2. Valve actuator arm can seize: it is in an exposed place. Good clean may suffice.

3.Valve body is very reliable: it is very easy to swop with one from a scrapper and bleed the hydraulic fluid if needed.

4. May be worth checking the hydraulic pump at end of camshaft: again very reliable but dead easy to change/check to see if working OK.

If all else fails then it is probably the spheres/shocks at fault. The whole rear suspension is really of the very highest quality and ridiculously over-engineered. But this means to fix properly requires the correct diagnostic equipment and the shocks aint cheap (about £120 each). Spheres are about £40 each but need specialist fitting-need to be pressurised+setup.

Just to add, keep the mechanism greased to stop further corrosion and siezing.

I can't see how the self levelling is difficult to set-up. It has pressurised spheres connected to hydraulic rams.
The valve should be set so the car rides on the springs and only when additional weight is put into the rear of the car does the valve let fluid into the rams to correct the height.

This system is identical to the Citroen system other than the MB uses springs for the basic ride height.

The same rules apply. If the height is wrong the valve linkage is seized and if the ride is hard and bouncy then you need new spheres.

 

[Sp!ke]

Thanks guys - most imformative. The reason I ask is that I know there is a problem on my Limo.

I've not taken a proper look at it yet but I suspect there's a leak somewhere (either that or no-ones checked the level in 20 years) as the big resevoir in the engine bay was near enough empty. The ride seems fine but very low. Hopefully its just a matter of finding the leak and topping the resevoir up and bobs yer uncle. Not looking forward to paying for new spheres etc.

The cars being looked at by my father in law at the moment (since it is in Croatia) and he's not said anything so I guess no news is good news.

 

[DomW123]

I notice you've got a few w123s. I've got a an 82 200T. What do run yours on? Standard unleaded, and do you use an additive? Thanks Dom

 

[219]

I've not taken a proper look at it yet but I suspect there's a leak somewhere (either that or no-ones checked the level in 20 years) as the big resevoir in the engine bay was near enough empty. The ride seems fine but very low. Hopefully its just a matter of finding the leak and topping the resevoir up and bobs yer uncle. Not looking forward to paying for new spheres etc.

The spheres are filled with mineral oil on the valve side and hold nitrogen gas on the strut side ( that's why it's called hydropneumatic suspension ) , if the internal membrane fails then oil goes through to the strut , losing the cushioning effect of the gas and giving the hard , bouncy ride mentioned above , and showing a drop in level in the reservoir without any external leak being apparent .

My experience of three estate cars , 1x123 and 2x124 , is that the hydraulic pipes ALWAYS rot underneath at the back , as do fuel and brake pipes . The pipes themselves are cheap enough - even genuine M-B ones - but they are a real pain in the A*** to fit , since at the factory they were fitted to the underbody before the suspension was bolted up . The 'official' Merc way to replace them involves removing the rear suspension , but how many people are going to do that ? Most of us get by with bending pipes this way and that , and using compression couplings to join cut pipes back together .
On the 123's it was often quite common for the plastic link from the end of the anti-roll bar down to the brake back plate on the rear wheels to break , leading to no movement of the valve - easy to replace and only about £5 or £10 from memory .

I would only comment that IMHO (having always run the 280 models) the 200T will be quite underpowered and you're much better going for the 230TE which has usefully more power and similar fuel economy.