e300 opinion

[larry perkins]

would anyone know if the 1995 124 e300 diesel had the wiring harness problem i read about?
i have a few of the 124 cars and dont see any wiring problems but latest is 1993.
thanks, am looking at a 95
larry perkins lou ky

[TMAllison]

I believe the early 90's to 95 W124's were most affected.

It's not a horrible job to replace one. Mainly takes time and some forethought as to how to tackle it.

You can strip the protective covering of the harness away to check and see if what is below is brittle and cracking.

[jalenz]

I have 95 E300D. I have not noticed any issues. Did this affect pretty much all of these cars or just some of them?

wiring harness is bio degradable. it's an awesome car for earth lovers! too bad that in the biodegrading process the wires start touching each other...

[larry perkins]

well i havent seen anyone state a problem with the 124 car,its the next one 210? e300,so when did the bio deg stuff start?
larry perkins

[Chris W.]

It IS the '90's 124 cars with the harness issues, not later cars. I have a '95 E300D which has not had issues yet, but in the back of my mind I suspect it will at some point. Of course being a diesel, the complexity of the wiring harness and electrical system is significantly less than a gasser.

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D 224K

[TMAllison]

Larry - I thought we were discussing diesels. The W124's of the early/mid had the most problems, by numbers, as they were the most prolific diesel model sold in the US. W140's also had issues as did all gassers of that era.

By 96 when the W210 came out the insulation materials were being addressed by MB and the harness issues appear to have imporved. Thats not to say there arent problems as the W210 has LOTS more harness than previous models did.

[Number_Cruncher]

The engine wiring harness on my 1995 W124 E300D is beginning to rot - the place where I saw the rot was in the connection to the temperature sensor towards the back of the cylinder head. It's much easier to see if the intake manifold is first removed.

I asked about it at my local MB dealer, and the parts chap said that they had never sold one. I'm going to order one soon - apparently they're about £120 plus VAT - I don't know what a US dealer would charge.

[connerm]

my 95e300d wiring harness failed around 120k. Cracked insulation and exposed wires. Made for an interesting glow plug light show.

[davidmash]

My wifes E300 just had to have it replaced. The AC was acting up and we could not figure it out. Brought to MB here in Fort Worth (they have always dealt straight with me and I have a good relationship with the shop manager). They had it for a week trying to figure out what it was. Every time the car got wet (Car wash or rain) the AC compressor would stop. A few hours later when it dried out it was all fine. Ended up being the wiring harness. They replaced it early this year and not a problem since then.

[POS]

On my "ole" 1995 E300D, the wiring harness was degraded to the point of replacement, but I had no symptoms and you couldn't tell just by casually looking at the engine. To see if it's bad, you have to dig a little - my personal opinion is that after 12 years, they ALL need to be replaced. I paid $800 for mine (installed).

[richg]

I'm looking at a 1995 E300 Diesel for my wife's parents. They currently have an 82 300TD that while the engine and trans are still going strong at 280K, the rest of the car is falling apart around it.

This 95 is in very good shape, 121K. Only issue with it really is that the A/C doesn't work (and according to the service records, a variety of different things have been done to try to fix it to no avail). A/C is not THAT big of a deal for where they live, but the wiring harness issues concern me as I don't want them to end up with constant problems caused by bad wiring.

Does anyone have any photos or descriptions they can give to me so I can do some investigation as to the current state of the wiring harness?

Thanks in advance

Rich

[TMAllison]

Search for W124 + wiring + harness. Affected all of them.

[tankowner]

I also have the '95 E300D and have about 180,000 miles on it - of which I have only contributed about 10,000. I haven't had any noticable problems related to the wiring harness yet, however, I have already read several posts about the problems associated with the 124 harnesses. So, yes, it is an issue and you should keep an eye on it. One day when it warms up, I plan to inspect mine and will probably just replace it when I can. What I am wondering is, if I pick up a new one, what would be the best thing to do to help it last longer - add more insulation? shrink wrap? Any ideas?

[TMAllison]

Replacements are made from different insulation materials.