W124 estate mods & renovation thread

[SilverSaloon]

My W124 estate requires a little TLC now to bring it back to how it was when I purchased it, so I've decided this is going to be the year to do it.

I feel this thread will get bigger with time, but for now here are the things I have planned and will cover in here:

- clean & repair exterior (rear bumper being main area, & rusty wings)
- clean & repair interior
- retrofit heated seats
- fit double-din multimedia system and new facia
- relocate cigar lighter into passenger footwell/below media screen
- fit headrest dvd screens
- fit parking sensors front/rear
- fit reversing camera
- fit footwell lights
- replace all bulbs with LEDs
- rear centre brake light
- general mechanical repairs that are overdue

watch this space

Although the purists may hate it, doing these small enhancments to the W124 will make my life a lot easier, make it a nicer car to own and will be useful to me. Most of the mods will be reversable and all if a few bits and bobs are replaced.

work starts soon!

 

[Charles Morgan]

Best of luck, being a W124 purist, I'm not sure I object too much.

About the only thing I plan to do to mine apart from replacing a couple of seals is to sort out some better sound options.

Oh and start a W124 hardcore purists club....

 

[GP801]

Good luck. I'll be watching with interest as I would like to do some of these to our estate especially parking sensors and rear centre brake light.

 

[SilverSaloon]

Seats are coming out this weekend. I plan to clean the carpets fully and install the headrest screens.

I think the parking sensors will look nice in the bumper trim, that, from its generally design, would suit sensors in the usual places.

the rear brake light is something i've wanted since i got the car, but havnt got round to it...

My mods will try too look as OEM as possible.

The media system i've purchased is nice and simple with a touch-screen and with black buttons along the side, quite similar in design to COMAND.

I also intend to tackle various rust on the car - sills will come off and i'll fix up the rust underneath... i've also got to do the rear subframe mounts and some rust on the underside of the floor pan.

the Rover will become my "daily driver" when the car is undriveable.

 

[st4]

Good luck Derek, clean it well, its got strong competition to be the cleanest 124 about.

Cue Derek...

 

[Seamster15]

good luck, I admire your energy!

 

[del320]

Best of luck, being a W124 purist, I'm not sure I object too much. Oh and start a W124 hardcore purists club...

I'm in!

Good luck Derek, clean it well, its got strong competition to be the cleanest 124 about.

Cue Derek...

If you saw the old gal just now, I'd be running a close second to you Stevie boy!

 

[st4]

I'm in!

If you saw the old gal just now, I'd be running a close second to you Stevie boy!

Oooooooooft, remember the pics thread of my local tour of Loch Lomond.

The star of the show, aka "the shed" did not feature. Sections of the car are black with dirt, others are silver dependent on where the rain has gone.

My detailing obsessed mate has taken pity and wants to get me into detailing, clay bars, microfibres, waxes, shampoo's, polishes, pre wax treatments.

Blooming more expensive than a woman!!!!! And thats before we get to the interior, with salt stains on the matts, junk in the boot, papers all over the place etc.

Mobile skip and proud!!!

 

[SilverSaloon]

i'm not bothered about keeping it really clean etc. i want to tidy up some of the bodywork and clean, polish and clean the inteior, but the car is used for family outings - we go everywhere in it - and with 2 young kids it cant stay clean/tidy for long..... the main thing is to clean it so i start a fresh again.

 

[SilverSaloon]

Got some time yesterday to fit the new double-din unit in. I'll create a seperate "how to" once i've finished it with pics, but its looking good.

The new unit works really well and I like the satnav it has on it. It fits nicely into the console, but a bit of butchery needs to be done to the internals of the centre console, but I've done it in such a way the bits I've cut out can be glued back in again to restore to standard if required. Basically 3 pieces of plastic need to be cut away.

I plan to trim the edge of the unit in burr walnut to match the rest of the wood in the car. Underneath, where half the ashtray was I will fit a half-din cubby hole from another vehicle or a spring-out cup holder if it fits. Otherwise I'll blank off the area with some original MB trim and fit a 12v power outlet from the W210 boot.