W124 500E - put a deposit down.

[A-AvantGarde]

Great looking car, very rare to find one rust free! Sorry can't help with the faults you've listed. Was curios as to why it's a left hand drive? In Japan they drive on the left and most of the cars are RHD.

All 500Es were LHD only.
Anyway as a separate point LHD especially on Mercedes and other German cars carries more status in Japan. Strange but true!

 

[C43AMG]

Good looking car. I'm sure Olly at PCS would look after you.

 

[Bluebird]

Love that car!

Lost the light on the cluster and console on mine before, twist the thin dimmer knob on the dashboard cluster back on forth a bit it might get them back on. If not it's something behind the cluster IIRC that will need resoldering.

You could try 'Cars with Stars' in Muswell Hill he knows the older cars pretty well.

 

[jaymanek]

1. anyone have any ideas about the interior lights?

Sounds like dimmer switch. If you arent bothered about it dimming you can jump the switch by just placing a wire across the two copper strips... Its clear once the cluster is out. Otherwise you can buy new dimmers...
Whilst its out I recommend changing the dash bulbs for slightly brighter, makes a huge difference... I think the stock ones are 4w, I changed mine to 5w when I replaced my dimmer...


2. anyone know a good MB specialist in the London area? I don't mind travelling but things like gearbox oil / fuel filters etc I probably wouldn't tackle at home due to lack of resources

Terry at Wayne Gates is the man... Very helpfull. Otherwise there are people like Colin Ferns and some others mentioned on the forums or Merc club directory.

3. any ideas on the rough idle? There is also a strong smell of fuel at times so I think it's overfuelling.

I would place all bets on rotor arms and caps. OEM brands only.. i boought from MB but Bosch or Beru from Euro Car Parts will also do just fine.
If you are like me then you will replace these crucial parts every few years anyway.
Also recommend a set of leads whilst you are there. I went for Magnecor. UK franchise is near me and the owner is a friend of mine. Top quality and will never need changing again.

4. what is the best oil for the car? Given it's not been changed for a long time I want something safe. Opieoils recommends 5w40 fully synthetic for the W124 E500.

I would go 10w40 Fully Synthetic. I use Shell Helix.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Lovely!

To enter the hallows of the Projects section, just contact an Admin.

 

[bolide]

Interesting that the car seems to be back up on eBay today…

Nick Froome

 

[jaymanek]

Probably a ebaymotors classified that he hasnt bothered to remove.

 

[500E]

No idea but it's on my driveway.

Jay - thanks for all that. Car booked in with Terry at Wayne Gates and Beru ignition leads ordered. Will tackle that lot this weekend and see where it gets me

Regards

Bill

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Moved to projects

 

[BillyW124]

nice one fella, congrats. the 500 is just special. Terry will sort you out, he'll also tell you its a 'Jubbly' motor! lol.

 

[Niks]

500E - so you local to Terry's then? Be nice to come down and check it out!

 

[500E]

Niks

I'm on the other side of London but will be there Friday morning if you are free? It'd be good to meet you!

Anyways some good and bad news. Good news is that the car is running much better after distributor caps, rotor arms, plugs, filters and fresh oil. I also changed the rear lights to the smoked ones and kept the fronts clear. The orange lights dated the car imo.

The bad news is that the car still isn't running right. I still have a rough idle and a backfire at times. The brake sensor light has also now come on but I knew the brakes are on the way out as slowing down can be an issue... I have the fuel filters to replace and the coil wires are on the way so this might solve my issues. It's booked into Wayne Gates in the meantime so will see what Terry has to say

In the meantime, I can't stop driving it...

 

[Niks]

I'll let you know if I am free on friday morning. The 500's are addictive to drive, especially that V8. It just feels like a completely different animal compared to the 6 cyl versions.

 

[500E]

I'll let you know if I am free on friday morning. The 500's are addictive to drive, especially that V8. It just feels like a completely different animal compared to the 6 cyl versions.

It is an addictive sensation, very hard to find something this enjoyable!

I will pm you my number - feel free to get in touch and have a gander

 

[mabz]

Very nice what kind if wheels are you thinking of changing to

 

[500E]

Very nice what kind if wheels are you thinking of changing to

Hi mate - not sure really. Maybe a set of BBS's or AMG's - keen to spend the money on the motor itself so might keep the Lorinsers for now and wrap them in some decent rubber

 

[500E]

Hello all - hope all is well. Just to bring everything together and keep the thread up to date, here are a few overarching updates...

Instrument cluster / interior lights

This is now solved. After playing with the dimmer switch nothing happened, then on the off chance of waiting for someone in the car I gave it another twist and turn and voila! It's fixed. Seems to be working fine since then.

I now have MB brand new potentiometer, fuse and all bulbs for the cluster surplus to requirements (couldn't return them as they are special order parts).

Ignition leads

The new ignition leads have fixed my starting issue! Well chuffed - no more cranking hard to start. I didn't fit the leads to the coil - does anyone know the easiest way of getting access? Anyways, I'd highly recommend the the lead change for anyone as preventative maintenance. I bought the Beru cables and they're specifically for the W124 500E.

Distributor caps and rotor arms

These have been replaced now with Beru items. The originals did look battered and potentially the original ones. Car feels better post-installation and I'm sure these will last a while.

Rough idle

I also managed to take the car to Terry at Wayne Gates for the rough idle issue. He had a quick look but couldn't find the issue at the time. Car is clean on emissions and a re-MOT showed a pass. I have to highly recommend Terry to anyone, he is taking the car for a week or so and will be diagnosing the issue in more detail. He has strong experience of the M119 which is becoming a rarer thing (especially in the UK) and he is confident he can find the problem with it (I'm sure him and his team will).

Thanks Terry!

I will be replacing the fuel pressure regulator today if I have time however after Terry kindly checked the fuel rail it was showing a pressure of 4 (bars?) at idle so we are not sure there is an issue here at all. It then slowly drops off when switched off but comes straight on once the ignition is on. It's only a cheap part and recommended for replacement on the M119 as preventative maintenance anyway.

Underside

I am also glad to say the underside of my car is in excellent condition Being from Japan I was expecting it to be clean and I did have a quick look before I bought it but not a detailed look from a ramp. The underside is rust free. No signs of any accident damage and many components are new, still retaining the MB stickers which shows me that whoever had this car is Osaka really took care of it. The front shocks are red in colour at the front - any ideas of what they are? Couldn't see a brand but need to look in more detail. Springs all around look OEM.

UK climate is unfortunately not as pleasant to older cars so I hope to have the underside professionally cleaned and re-waxoyled before the summer to protect it.

I'm also glad to say all the Lorinser parts are stamped and look original including the wheels At first look they only said Ronal but sure enough on the inside it says Made by Lorinser by Ronal. They are 8Jx18.

Smaller bits...

Fuel filter, headlight wipers and air intake tubes replaced with original OEM parts. I have also replaced the rear light lenses with facelift E500 items (the clear lenses make the car look more modern).

The headlight wiper washer doesn't work - any ideas? I can hear the motors but no water coming through.

Photos

Here are some photos which I have been accumulating over the last few days - to start with, one of me at a petrol station, practically where the 500E spends most of it's time




Service of the filter, caps, arms etc along with the engine bay when I started







Parked at Wayne Gates Mercedes waiting to be assessed




On the ramp - underside of my 500E











Photos from last night before I replaced the ignition cables - a filthy M119 in all it's beauty...






All back together






Hope you've enjoyed the read. I have lots of "to do" jobs but before I start on all that I will be working to cure the rough idle issue. If anyone has any further ideas please let me know

Cheers

Bill

 

[Niks]

Looks great bill...

What made you want to go for Beru? It's a well documented fact within the E500 community that Beru parts for the E500/500E are completely rubbish and only Bosch should be used. Even to the point where MB themselves should be resupplying Bosch caps and rotors again for these cars and should be now available.

Hopefully you'll get your rough idle issue sorted out.

 

[500E]

Niks - cheers for the comments. Where is that written? Many people in the 500E community have used Beru and commented that Bosch are no good (and hence stick with MB).

 

[Niks]

Over on the US 500E board. That's why MB have now switched over to Bosch from Beru:

Bosch Distributor Cap - 1 235 522 430
Bosch Rotor Arm - 1 234 332 422
Bosch Dust Cover - 1 230 500 240
Bosch Ignition Lead to cylinders 1/3/4/7/8 - 0 356 912 927
Bosch Ignition Lead to cylinders 2/5/6 - 0 356 912 928
Bosch Left Ignition Coil to Distributor - 0 986 357 769
Bosch Right Ignition Coil to Distributor - 0 986 357 772