As a seller, be upfront. I’m currently selling my 108 and my primary concern is that it gets into the right hands And making sure the potential buyer knows the good along with the bad. My 108 is solid mechanically but needs some attention on the body. It’s not a show car and I’ve used it as a daily driver. Never in the winter ( I’m in Chicago). Sellers and buyers must realize that’s it always going to be a trade off of sorts. Yes, the rocker panels and the fenders need to be replaced but it’s goes from 0 to 70 in seconds. I have to be prepared to offer a fair price and the buyer has to also understand that they’re buying a car that is 56 years old. It’s an affordable classic car and it belongs on the road and not in a museum.
Agreed, I actually think a lot of the stories that I hear about some owners having so many problems, is that they only rely on DIY. Sometimes, one needs to call in or take it to a professional to sort out an issue. I will never buy a brand new one, they have lost their substance in my opinion.
I have a 1993 W124 E320 (108,000 miles) which I purchased in Colombia 2 years ago. It's been great and I have repaired all the peripherals like starter motor, water pump etc. However, it recently started missing and idling irregularly and we realised along with a Mercedes guru in Medellin, that the wiring was completely shot and ALL needed replacing. So, that is being done as we speak and after 3 weeks it will be ready in 3-4 days from now. We opted to have the wiring replaced by an electrician here instead of buying a complete harness from Germany, although these are available from a company called Kurth Classics. I have faith in the Colombian electrician so the proof will be in the eating. They are very conscientious and taking their time so I am hopeful of a good outcome. The car itself is fantastic in all respects so worth spending a bit of money on. I owned 6 old Mercedes between 1978 and 2010 in New Zealand so I am not a stranger to classic Mercedes, but I would say that the W124 is the best of all - although to be fair, the first of the NZ cars was a 1963 220Sb bought in 1978!! I had that car for 10 years.
The fundamental problem with classic Mercedes ownership, which was also the case with ownership of these cars when they were new is simply cost. They were rich peoples cars when new and all the issues Pierre raised as classics can be dealt with with lots of money now that they are classics.
Pierre----------Very Pracitcal Advice from you----an EXPERT in Classic Mercedes. I wil be looking for a 300SE Classic--next year and as I live in Florida, you would be the first person I would consult. THANKS.
When I got my 200D I practically had no oil pressure, it did grow up while accelerating, but slowly. Turns out it is a common problem with the 200D oil pump, switching it did the trick. I comment this in case it helps anyone with a 200D and the same issue, as everyone told me it would not be the oil pump as it is a part that rarely fails (turns out it does in the 200D).
Pettit Paints make Rust-loc, very good for some rust spots as a base coat. Mainly used for boats . Must read precations, very powerful cannot be sprayed without protection.
Rust rust rust! Don't assume that because a car is from a southern climate that it doesn't have rust! I did this on my 123 and it's haunting me to no end right now. Southern car owned by 2 MBCA members it's entire life. Tons of service records. Never once did any of the qualified shops they took the car to ever bother to clean out a body drain. This rusted a hole in the firewall, and that allowed water to sit in the car under the carpet. That rusted out a basketball sized hole under the passenger seat that only revealed itself one day when I hit a road hazard that ripped away the rubber soundproofing. Ive been spending the last 3 months fighting that now. I even found where the car had been wrecked and repaired for cash, so it didn't show up on any report. The collision damage was shoddy, and this made the rusting worse. Right now Im trying to seal and stabilize the car from further corrosion damage. This is no easy task, and we havent even gotten to doing a correct repair yet. All this for a car that should have been well maintained and ready to enjoy.
Just because a vehicle is currently only worth $1000 doesn't mean $10,000 repairs is unviable. Especially if current fully sorted price is $20,000 or the vehicle will be used for decades or worth $100,000 eventually
Dear Pierre, you forgot to mention other setbacks like thug mechanics who change your new MB parts for old damaged ones or fix something and when you leave the garage something sounds horrible, you go back to the garage and the mechanic tells you "It is blah, blah, blah. It had to be fixed but that wasn't in our deal. You have to leave the car again and we'll call you to tell you how much it costs". Not all MB mechanics are thugs some MB mechanics are real honest professionals and fix your car perfectly.
Not really a setback, but more of a mistake on my part was to believe I could make my 1991 190E a daily driver. Fuel costs too much with gas at the equivalent of 2 dollars a liter where I live. I still own the 190E, but with the fuel consumption and price of gas, now I daily drive a 96 C250 turbo diesel wagon and it has been good to me.
You best bet is to have them rebuilt. I needed lines for my 87 300SDL and nobody could locate anything either NOS or used. None of the big internet based junkyard sites had anything, and both Miller and Adsit said they had no luck. I found a shop that was relatively close to me that was able to actually cut apart the fittings and crimp on new hose using the original ends. It wasn't cheap, but it was done in a single day and their work looks great.
I bought an 89 300E W124 in 2013, drove it daily up until I switched to work from home (WFH --- nice!!!) in March 2020 due to the pandemic. Drove it sparingly then last day of driving was Dec 24, 2020 and it just sat on my driveway since --- as I for some reason decided to experiment with a "car-less" pandemic lifestyle. In my dreams, I'm driving it. I HOPE I DIDN'T ROYALLY HURT MY W124! Still want to drive my W124 again soon (simple PM refresh I HOPE --- clean and refresh gas tank/fuel system/spark plugs/injectors/disti/rotor/coolant flush/aux fan/etc.). *Longer term, dreaming of a W124 very confidently parked alongside a Tesla Model Y Performance being fully enjoyed by my small family for whatever life activities we will need them --- until the very end of the vehicles' lives. I'll be ok with wife and son regularly driving the MYP.*
As the owner of a few "classic" mercedes I can tell you what they are: 1- Finding qualified mechanics. 2- Paying the hourly rate charged by the qualified mechanics. 3- Parts, cost and availability. Be prepared!
As the owner/mechanic of a pair of 1987 W126's, he is absolutely correct. Finding someone that can work on the cars is very difficult. I've spent thousands of dollars realizing "those two MB shops" are terrible and I'll use "that" one. I'm in Las Vegas, in the desert, and rust is NOT a problem here but finding good plastic or rubber parts from a salvage yard is the problem. There is a Pick-A-Part (DIY) salvage yard not too far from me and I've gotten a LOT of parts from them. My 1-car garage has been transformed into a storage area only for W126 parts. I need an Idle Speed Controller module and tomorrow morning (the cool part of the day here in Vegas right now) I'll go through my boxes of parts in there. I have one, but "it's in a box in the garage". :-)
Nice to know I am not the only one! I can add it also requires a good kept inventory system with the addition of community vetted info to match with (chassis or engine family) specific factory manuals. It all ties in to help during the actual wrenching.
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