W124 - is it an endangered species?

[Deleted member 11979]

I love W124's of all shapes and sizes, and recently have noticed a lot of them are suffering from sub frame mount corrosion which seems to be uneconomical to repair.

Is this the beginning of the end for the venerable W124, or can something be done to save them - presumably it will need more than just waxoyl

 

[w124nut]

There are two things to save the W124 and for that matter the W201 in addition to waxoyl or dinitrol and they are money and the will to keep these cars on the road.

As time goes by, the W124 gets seen less and less here in Somerset. I see the same coupe and estate over again at the same time as I guess they are being used for commuting but rarely do I see any W124 other than these.

 

[BillyW124]

These subframe mount issues are common and been around for a long time.

People have fixed them and in doing so have kept their 124 on the road.

all depends what the car means to the owner i guess on the uneconomical repair debate..

 

[kth286]

you can buy repair sections from Merc dealer to effect a good repair.

a guy did an estate recently using Merc parts which are inexpensive.

cannot remember whether the subframe had to be removed or just lowered
one side at a time.

Estates seem to be more vulnerable, perhaps due to cargo side windows
leaking.

 

[GP801]

They are old cars now. Estates coupes and cabrios are still worth good money and spending money on them is just about economically sensible. Saloons less so - at least in the UK. It all depends on what it means to you. Our estate is allegedly solid underneath thanks to Dinitrol however its had a small fortune spent on it in the last 4 years to keep it mechanically spot on. I have not totted it up but it must be around £6-8000! Brakes all round, head gasket, ECU, OVP relay, fuel pump relay, most of the suspension bushes, subframe bushes, steering damper, front springs, various oil seals, rear side window seals and thats just what I can remember. I console myself that the depreciation on a new car would be even more costly. Having done all this I have an old car that I can confidently drive across Europe in some style and comfort. The bodywork is rust free as far as I can tell. To me worth every penny but I can see how someone else would just have scrapped it especially when the ECU died.

 

[MD5]

I have an 88 300CE, which I've had for about 14/15 years - it was my first Merc. It needed about £850 worth of work a couple of years ago for an mot (chassis weld, rear brake pipes, rear axle down etc), the first time it had failed without being repaired on the spot (2 x rear back boxes over the years). Probably not the best financial decision, based on value, at the time, but still cheap motoring over the years, and straight passes with no advisories since. Had it been a saloon or four cylinder model, I wouldn't have bothered.

 

[Deleted member 11979]

I don't see too many over my way either anymore, interestingly the three I do see are all estates, all with steel wheels, and all working hard by the looks of them.

The cheapies on Ebay will surely die out soon, maybe time to bag and store for the future?

 

[DITTRICH]

Old cars need money spent on them.
It's a fact of life.
190's are very scarce on the roads now, but I see the odd s124 now and again.
I think w202 / s202's will become very scarce in the next 5 years. Just look at the howmanyleft website graphs.
There is something quite timeless about the w124 / s124 and as long as the parts are available, mine will stay on the road.
As long as the bills for non service items don't exceed the annual depreciation I'd expect the I'm happy.
Its not speed, its style and this is where we score 11/10.

 

[GP801]

Strange but within 5km of us in Italy are 2 x S124s, 2 x A124s and a few saloons. Rust is not such an issue here but dented bodywork certainly is! Ours has survived dent free over here so far perhaps because I drive like a Brit rather than an Italian. Thats just the ones I know of. They are all an odd spec for us UK based owners. All manual gearbox, keep fit windows but full climate control. All bar the cabrios have steel wheels.

 

[Deleted member 11979]

Strange but within 5km of us in Italy are 2 x S124s, 2 x A124s and a few saloons. Rust is not such an issue here but dented bodywork certainly is! Ours has survived dent free over here so far perhaps because I drive like a Brit rather than an Italian. Thats just the ones I know of. They are all an odd spec for us UK based owners. All manual gearbox, keep fit windows but full climate control. All bar the cabrios have steel wheels.

Interesting you should say that, mine lived in France for most of it's life, and from what I (and luckily the MOT tester) could see is totally rust free, even below the headlamps. The Italians love E Class Mercs, when I used to work there they all had them, and they were all manual, but that was the time of W210 200 Kompressor.

 

[GP801]

Even a fair number of S-class have a manual box. Just not macho enough to have an auto.

 

[tali]

Even a fair number of S-class have a manual box. Just not macho enough to have an auto.

S-class manual box is very very rare -or is it a foreign market you mean ?

 

[GP801]

Italian market. Most of the 126s, 140s and even some later models have manual boxes here. The market has changed and autos are now the norm from e-class and above. Most of the 124s I have seen are manual. The locals poke fun at my UK registered car with auto box. However I get the last laugh as I pay a fraction of what they do for insurance.

 

[tombo5609]

I love W124's of all shapes and sizes, and recently have noticed a lot of them are suffering from sub frame mount corrosion which seems to be uneconomical to repair.

Is this the beginning of the end for the venerable W124, or can something be done to save them - presumably it will need more than just waxoyl

Mine has certainly added to the list.
After 5yrs of trouble free motoring I went to pick my lovely 1995 Mercedes 320 TE after storage and it refused to start, despite advice from MB members.
It is a lovely car with more or less rust free body but investigation of the nether reaches of the engine bay revealed a large rodents nest and I am afraid the little B------s have put the car beyond economical repair.

 

[WDB124066]

Does it have memory front seats...??

 

[MD5]

Does it have memory front seats...??

 

[gIzzE]

They are just old everyday cars, there are those out there that have sentimental attachments to them and will spend £6-8000 on keeping them going over a couple of years in the same way you get some 40 year old bloke paying £1000 for a 30 year old Star Wars figure.

Neither make much sense to those looking in, but seem quite the norm to those who do it.

 

[Charles Morgan]

My W124 ownership was infinitely cheaper than new, and I had good practical cars with a ride that you just don't get nowadays. It made perfect logical sense to me. Proper classics on the other hand are simply madness incarnate in car form.

The numbers are going to keep falling as the workhorse cars reach the end of their economical life and at current petrol prices it doesn't make much sense to spend thousands getting them back in shape.

 

[grober]

Having driven most of MB's latests products I can confidently say very few can approach the magic carpet ride of the most basic W124 with a suspension in reasonable fettle. They come from an era where MB placed greater store on a finely calibrated suspension than they do now. Sure they won't handle quite as precisely as the latest incarnations and lack many of the electronic gismos but in an increasingly frenetic world are they worth keeping/preserving--- without a doubt!