W124 Sportline wishbones

[zaphod_b]

Hi I was wondeirng how you spot these, as it seems they can be a bit of a liability should the ball joint fail. From what I have read the ball joint is welded onto the the wishbone, how differnt is it to the stadard item? anyone got ant pics of each? Is the gemoerty significantly differnt?

 

[kth286]

that is a wrong assumption.

it is not determined by sportline chassis.

it is determined by engines size and thus loading on the front wishbones.

So, for example my E320 Coupe 1995 (NON-sportline) has the welded-in ball joint.

 

[zaphod_b]

My 300TE-24 is alleged to have the Sportsline chassis.. it also has welded in ball joints. It has been mentioned on here a few times that if the ball joints go on such cars its big ££££££ to sort it out

 

[BlackC55]

The arms are not expensive. £150 each or so??

 

[kth286]

you need to budget for new front wishbone arms every 100,000 miles.

you will then get NEW inner bushes and the NEW ball joint included in each arm.

it will not take an indie with proper merc spring compressor long to replace each front wishbone.

 

[zaphod_b]

The arms are not expensive. £150 each or so??

And how much would a balljoint be compared to that? even better, the boot that goes over a ball joint that perishes with time, that will fail an MOT and is probably a 50p part.. £150 then seems somewhat excessive I think, I thought these were quality cars, Starting to think I should ditch the 300TE-24 and get a W123

 

[Charles Morgan]

They are quality cars, and £300 every hundred thousand miles is a pretty low price to pay for a superb ride. If you don't like it, sell it and spare us all the whinge.

 

[zaphod_b]

you need to budget for new front wishbone arms every 100,000 miles.

you will then get NEW inner bushes and the NEW ball joint included in each arm.

it will not take an indie with proper merc spring compressor long to replace each front wishbone.

Not terribly comforting, as the bushes are available and not expesive although it was nice to know they don't take long to change, till I looked at the price of the spring compressor (I am the only labour that works on my cars). I may give up on this car it looks like it's too expensive to maintain, and go back to somthing nice and cheap.. like an XJ40 or W123

 

[zaphod_b]

What worries me is a failed ball joint will cost about £500, the cost of 2 wishbones and the spring compressor. My car is a 300TE-24 with the sportline chassis option and full MB service history from day 1. Currently is it at 170K miles although you would never know, But that cost will write the car off, for what would normally be a £20 part

 

[zaphod_b]

They are quality cars, and £300 every hundred thousand miles is a pretty low price to pay for a superb ride. If you don't like it, sell it and spare us all the whinge.

Hmm.. if Jaguar can make a wishbone with ball joints that are replaceble and last just as long I am pretty sure Mercedes Benz could have, its just cheapskate engineering

Even the parts for my old '54 Silver Dawn were cheaper

 

[Charles Morgan]

Then switch to a Jaguar or a 54 Sliver Dawn then. I suspect they have their idiosyncracies too, and having had a friend who spent thousands on his ever un-reliable Jaguar, I am glad to hear that one single part is better than a Mercedes. Shame about the rest.

There is something essentially fatuous about whinging about a car that stopped being made over 15 years ago, with requirements that are all known by now. If you don't bother to understand those before buying it, then frankly you should be addressing your complaints to yourself.

 

[zaphod_b]

Who on earth could expect a replacemnt ball joint to cost £150 or £210 in the case of a sportline car, it's totally unreasonable no my car does not need them.. yet. I was lead to belive that Mercedes were good well engeered cars. obvioulsy they have sunk to BMW levels (somewhere under rover) I've had XJ40's and they were fine, never a days trouble. But then I do all my own work.

Yes teh XJ40's occsionally needed the BFM's resodlering, and one I ahd to change the rear subframe bushes.. thats about it in 40K, the Dawn, Only thing stopping that as a daily driver is the pond life at westminster

There is also somthing about somone who quotes an engineer in his signature line who has so far shown no understanding of the subject at all and this is in no way 'rightly done'

 

[d w124]

Your car is not sportline,sportchassis maybe but not sportline

 

[Niks]

Who on earth could expect a replacemnt ball joint to cost £150 or £210 in the case of a sportline car, it's totally unreasonable no my car does not need them.. yet.

Very simple, its called picking up a telephone and phoning a Mercedes Benz dealer or Indi to ask them how much the part is. If its totally unreasonable, sell your car and buy a Nissan Micra, I hear they are very cheap on mechanical parts.

I was lead to belive that Mercedes were good well engeered cars. obvioulsy they have sunk to BMW levels (somewhere under rover) I've had XJ40's and they were fine, never a days trouble. But then I do all my own work.

Yes your right, mercedes are not good well engineered cars at all. Thats why they were number one choice all over Europe (W123 and W124) and in the far east (even till today) as Taxis which had well over 650,000 miles (some had even gone around the clock) on original engines, gearboxes and suspension systems. Proof? Yes, I have seen an early W124 with 543,000 miles on it at my mechanics with everything still original on the car, only came in for an A service.

Yes teh XJ40's occsionally needed the BFM's resodlering, and one I ahd to change the rear subframe bushes.. thats about it in 40K, the Dawn, Only thing stopping that as a daily driver is the pond life at westminster

Plenty of mercedes cars out there which people have owned and driven over 100,000 miles whilst in their ownership and all that was required is regular oil and filter changes.

There is also somthing about somone who quotes an engineer in his signature line who has so far shown no understanding of the subject at all and this is in no way 'rightly done'

If the price of the parts put you off and its too unreasonable, then sell your mercedes as there are plenty of Nissan Micra's out there my friend.

Remember your in a forum where your talking to enthusiasts who put alot of money towards their cars, because they love the car and respect it regardless. Dont be suprised if someone has a "dig" at you because you find a £150 or £210 part totally unreasonable and want to complain about it. It is what it is, if you love your car and are an enthusiast, im sure you will see it all will be worth it in the end, if not...then you should consider that Jaguar.

 

[Will]

Is £150 for a brand new wishbone with new bushes and a new ball joint all that expensive though? I've spent more on tyres over the years for some cars.

FWIW, on the 124/201 etc wishbones with non-welded balljoints, you can replace that part individually for about £15 if you wish - just the labour for fitting that is tricky/expensive..

Don't get all worked up about it - if you choose to drive a 20 year old, 170k mile car you can't expect it to run on thin air.

Will

 

[d w124]

If the price of the parts put you off and its too unreasonable, then sell your mercedes as there are plenty of Nissan Micra's out there my friend.

Remember your in a forum where your talking to enthusiasts who put alot of money towards their cars, because they love the car and respect it regardless. Dont be suprised if someone has a "dig" at you because you find a £150 or £210 part totally unreasonable and want to complain about it. It is what it is, if you love your car and are an enthusiast, im sure you will see it all will be worth it in the end, if not...then you should consider that Jaguar.

Someone woke on the wrong side

 

[zaphod_b]

I've owned several W123's in the past, and on the whole only used MB parts on them. And I don't expect the parts to be cheap and I ususally find cheap parts mean you have to buy them a lot, but I don't expect them to cost half the value of the car!

oh and a quote...

'Quality remains long after the price is forgotten' H.Royce (Engineer)

Unfortunatly in this case it seem you have to be constantly reminded of the price.

Oh and the african Mercs are almost all W123 or earlier

Actually give the cost of the parts, I may just break my 300TE-24 for parts despite it being a perfectly good car.

And which W124 are the high millers? the one with this stupid wishbone, or the others (with repalceble ball joints)... I guess it's the others if as said they fail at 100K

 

[d w124]

I guess it's the others if as said they fail at 100K

If mercedes says you`ll have to change them,does not mean they fail

 

[6pot]

proper Sportline arms are £330 each btw

 

[zaphod_b]

They are fine atm, but I am a little worried.. more so that the boot on the BJ will fail to be told as a result I need the whole thing!!

For the last few years I ahve run an old Rover, and been given the usuall 'Why don't you get somthing better' etc.. but it was relativly trouble free (last of the honda based cars). I've had W123s in the past and they were faultless, loved them to bits, although the '78 200 did fall apart with rust!. Hate BMW's with a vengance.. sorry but I find them absolute rubbish. So got a niceish W124 and I have to say it drives fantastcially for a large car, and it's a nice place to sit, even looks easy to work on. It needs one arch proprly sorting out, one wing, and some paint. I am nore than happy to spend more than its worth.. but £210 if it needs a ball joint???

I am not 100% it has the sportline chassis (the russian site is down still), Just when it was checked over I was told it had, and that as a 300TE-24 it was rather unusual