W124 E220 Estate 1994 168k miles £1300

[Swiss Toni]

Having planned to replace the "family car" with a hand-me-down VW Passat from a relative, today I saw an M plate (facelift) E220 auto estate in silver, 168k miles and very tidy body (no rusty front wings) for £1300.

Nice and clean 8 arc alloys, worn-through drivers seat bolster but otherwise very nice.

Having read the W124 thread here too, I am sorely tempted.

Any observations? (The VW is a 130bhp Sport Wagon).

 

[television]

Is the suspension self leveling or conventional

 

[Swiss Toni]

Is the suspension self leveling or conventional

How can I tell?

 

[Dave Lewis]

All 124 estates have self-levelling rear suspension.
If all the things mentioned in the other thread check out OK, it would be a much better bet than the Passat in every respect.

 

[television]

All 124 estates have self-levelling rear suspension.
If all the things mentioned in the other thread check out OK, it would be a much better bet than the Passat in every respect.

My 300TE did not, that was a 1990

 

[Dave Lewis]

Malcolm, what's the option number? All of mine have had SLS, and it's not listed as an option. Was yours a UK car?

 

[BlackC55]

All of them do I am sure. If they dont maybe somone has taken them off and fitted non self leveling shocks....???

 

[Howard]

We had one of the very first 300te's ( on a C plate ) and that had self levelling ...

 

[television]

Malcolm, what's the option number? All of mine have had SLS, and it's not listed as an option. Was yours a UK car?

I was living in Sweden, and bought the car from Germany,it was a 10-89 by year but that was 17 years ago. My LHD 280TE 123 had it, thats how I knew that I had not got it. looking in my data base I see what you mean, I will have to post back on it, I dont drink by the way

 

[television]

All of them do I am sure. If they dont maybe somone has taken them off and fitted non self leveling shocks....???

This is odd,it was 3 months old when I bought it

 

[Dave Lewis]

How can I tell?

There is a big plastic fluid reservoir under the bonnet, just in front of the nearside front wheel mounted on the inner wing.

 

[BlackC55]

Just a suggestion??? I have NEVER seen one without it but that doesnt mean it doesnt exist.

 

[big x]

This one looks decent assuming the seller doesn't want daft money....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....name=STRK:MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=120116994937

adam

 

[Ian_C]

This one looks decent assuming the seller doesn't want daft money....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....name=STRK:MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=120116994937

adam

Not sure about those digits though :

http://i15.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/9d/20/b26f_1.JPG

Ian

 

[television]

Just a suggestion??? I have NEVER seen one without it but that doesnt mean it doesnt exist.

I have been through every data base that I have, and as always you guys are right, they do not exist.

This may answer one question that I asked myself when I bought it, though I picked the car up in Germany, the deal was done with a large Swedish MB dealer Philpssons in Jönköping and Vanamö. The car had only 10k km on it and they did not want it. It was the one car that I loved more than any other out of the 467 cars that I have owned.
Its last journey with me was back to the UK where I got 27 parking tickets in Hatton garden, and 4 in Glojo's part of the world when I bought this house.

What a car

 

[Swiss Toni]

The ebay car above is the same colour combination as the one I have seen, having established that it will have self-leveling suspension, how do I check it is working ok?!

 

[Dave Lewis]

First, check the fluid level in the reservoir (there's a dipstick). Is the car sitting level? Bounce the rear end. If it is rock hard, the accumulators are kaput. If that checks out OK, stick a load in the boot (2 or 3 people or something else heavy) with the engine off. On starting the engine, the rear end should rise to make it level again. Check for leaks in either of the rear hydraulic struts (they are mounted where conventional shock absorbers would be).

 

[Swiss Toni]

First, check the fluid level in the reservoir (there's a dipstick). Is the car sitting level? Bounce the rear end. If it is rock hard, the accumulators are kaput. If that checks out OK, stick a load in the boot (2 or 3 people or something else heavy) with the engine off. On starting the engine, the rear end should rise to make it level again. Check for leaks in either of the rear hydraulic struts (they are mounted where conventional shock absorbers would be).

The hydro-resevoir under the bonnet is clear and I could see the fluid (stood at the front, to the rhs against the wing?) no dipstick.

It bounced ok at the rear, but sitting in the boot and turning the engine on did nothing perceptable to the height?

No sign of any leaks.

Confused?!

 

[television]

The hydro-resevoir under the bonnet is clear and I could see the fluid (stood at the front, to the rhs against the wing?) no dipstick.

It bounced ok at the rear, but sitting in the boot and turning the engine on did nothing perceptable to the height?

No sign of any leaks.

Confused?!

Sorry to have brought this up SLS bit up at the start on your first posting, but at least has turned out to be something worth while

 

[Dave Lewis]

The hydro-resevoir under the bonnet is clear and I could see the fluid (stood at the front, to the rhs against the wing?) no dipstick.

It bounced ok at the rear, but sitting in the boot and turning the engine on did nothing perceptable to the height?

No sign of any leaks.

Confused?!

You're probably not heavy enough! You need to load the car sufficiently to see a definite drop in ride height. There should be a dipstick integral with the filling cap, with a rubber top that just pulls out. The correct level is about 2.5 inches below the top of the reservoir. The fluid is clear when new, but will show a darker colour after a bit of use.
Generally, the system is trouble-free, the only potential issues being hard ride due to kaputted accumulators, and leaks. If the ride height fails to adjust, it could be the sensing valve or it's link to the rear anti-roll bar that is faulty. It's probably OK, it's not a fragile system.