What color is the leather? I am the same way when I see a cool car sitting rotting. Maybe there is therapy for it . . . for me, the therapy is fixing the car and taking good care of it. Once I get mine done, I will look for one for my wife, and we will be a two W124 family instead of a two W123 family.

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

I am sure that you know that you have to make time for stuff like that. I get up early in the AM so I have a couple of hours every morning to do my stuff.

The first car I ever bought was a Mercedes 1955 220a. The guy I bought it from had restored many cars over the years and was really good at it and made money at it. He knew when enough was enough to maximize his profit. I still remember something he told me about fixing up old cars, "do something every day and it will be done before you know it, even some little thing, so you can make a bit of progress every day". I have made that my philosophy for long term projects like restoring a car.

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

When cracks let coolant flow freely into the combustion chamber the symptoms are an experience as bad as or worse than a blown head gasket. Surely someone will notice billows of smoke and 10-20% of the engine missing in all senses of the phrase. I can't see overheating damage progressing to the point of valve contacting piston without some other failure fully disabling the engine first.

I've been wrong on every long distance diagnosis thus far but I'd say it's more likely that a lash adjuster (lifter) locked up and sent the valve into the piston than the typical #14 head overheating scenario. Overheating doesn't usually manifest as fine one moment, noisy the next.

Sixto
93 300SD 3.0

If I ever have to do mine considering the miles I'll yank the engine. That way with the engine on a stand I can get at everything and really do a good job. Replace the oil pump, and the chain system that drives it, replace every gasket, powder coat everything nice, rebuild the IP and turbo, etc. Depending on $$$ I may dive into the bottom end as well, but probably not. Well depending on how the cylinder walls look to.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Overheating will cause lubrication problems, and interference problems too. Probably not a valve into a piston, likely something else happened to make that happen (re: ebay wagon). We had a Capri (the German one) that my brother blew a radiator hose on, drove it, and spun a rod bearing as a result. It was not low on oil.

I like the '87 124s, the W124 as well as the T124. The T is currently just too much $$ for what you get IMO, unless I find a nice one for a sedan price.

The leather is rare in the 124s in '87, especially the T124. Diesel 124s were still considered the workhorse of the fleet. Many of the wagons imported in '87 were the typical white with blue tex service wagons, pretty much one per dealer, and they kept them longer as the diesel was not available to replace it.

I overheated an '87 300TD, in '89. The car was a dealer service wagon I blew a hose during full-throttle instrumented testing on the highway, didn't get hot for long before I was able to get off the highway and shut down. The hose was found to be defective, a heater hose, was the cause of the failure. If this defective hose problem was somewhat widespread in '87 it would indicate that many '87s could have lost coolant and overheated early in their lives. Maybe the '87 heater hoses were made with the same rubber as the wiring insulation in the early '90s LOL.

I'm pretty picky about my automotive maintenance. Still, I have to say that I'm not going to pull my engine and re-seal it, it doesn't leak. If I decide to re-work the head, and the engine doesn't leak, it goes back on and all is well.

I've spent much time and money working on things automotive over the years, and nature truly does side with the hidden flaw. Ever replace three bearings just to have the fourth one fail? Sure, it does improve your odds, but it's still a 20 y/o car with 20y/o parts. If it isn't a timing chain seal, it'll be a shutoff valve seal, or a brake hose/caliper/etc., or a suspension bushing, or a CV joint, or vacuum diaphragm, or .... it's still a 20y/o car.

I enjoy working on my cars, no other reason I'd currently own two cars that are older than any cars I've ever owned in my life. I enjoyed buying my Mercedes new, and my other cars, but tinkering with an old car is enjoyable. The very real risk that the old car might have a leak or failure is there, but in my experience the new cars fail more often, ... "infant mortality" has left me by the road more often than anything else, and that includes failures of new parts recently (and properly) installed.

Leave it alone if you wish, no oil no foul. Fix it if you wish, nothing wrong with a constructive hobby. I like a little of each.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Well said Jeff. Until it's a full resto, it is still a 20 year old car.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

As it happens, I am going to sell the 87. However, I was just pointing out that it's got a good motor and set up, and would be cheaper to transplant it into yours than buying a crate motor, etc.

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DS
2010 CL550 - Heaven help me but it's beautiful
87 300D a labor of love
11 GLK 350 So far, so good
08 E350 4matic, Love it.
99 E320 too rusted, sold
87 260E Donated to Newgate School
www.Newgateschool.org - check it out.
12 Ford Escape, sold, forgotten
87 300D, sold, what a mistake
06 Passat 2.0T, PITA, sold

Las Vegas NV

I forget the exact numbers but it's something like 2500 sedans, and 1500 wagons, give or take a few hundred. A low-miles sedan with a shot tranny (and likely overheated, since the radiator was out) just sold yesterday in CA for $2k, which amazed me. I know another guy who just scored a very nice one near Texas, without any major mechanical problems, for about the same money. Go figure!

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Dave
Boise, ID
Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

True. There's no need for 600hp twin-turbo AMG models either, but they're still available at your local dealer. Oh well. Whattya gonna do...