A poster on the daily driver thread said the MB Classic Center is no longer stocking critical parts for our vintage MB automobiles. What parts are NLA?

Mercedes is steadily discontinuing parts for the W123 chassis. Your best bet is to call and ask them.

__________________
Milan Brown 1979 240D, rebuilt OM617.952 turbo diesel, rebuilt 722.315 transmission (my only daily driver)

Instagram: @maximed93

Not just the 123.

MB hasn't sold the windshield cowl seal that goes below the wipers on the W126 for years now. That's just one of many parts for our cars that has gone NLA. There's various seals and gaskets for the 123 coupes that have gone NLA as well. I had to search high and low for a new bowden cable for my 300SD because they've gone NLA. Mercedes-Benz loves to tout their heritage and Classic Center for classic parts, but it seems like day by day, more parts go NLA and we're SOL. Of course, if you have a 300SL Gullwing or a 190SL, never fear. They'll whip out the blueprints and reproduce the part. Got a far more common W123 or W126? Oh well.

__________________
'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

I understand the 1980 to 1984 Diesel Transmission Vaccum Shifting Valve is NLA.....

If there was a market for W123 / W126 parts, MB or the aftermarket would have them remade. Low production runs are expensive and owners of older run of the mill cars tend to be , well , cheap.

See posts 16 , 17 , 21, 30 , 31 ,

https://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/396745-when-will-nla-parts-end-our-cars-2.html

The reason for that is the only people who own the cars basically have no budget for cost and will pay whatever is neccessary for the part.


I bet if you called the classic center and said, "I'll pay for a production run " they'd whip put the blueprints and make it happen.


It's a shame really because the mega wealthy really ruin car ownership but make it affordable for themselves. Just take a look at the old air cooled porches.

__________________
-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

Owning a 300CD, I've experienced this with multiple couple specific parts. So far I've gotten by with ebay or a 3d printer. However the printer route has limitations on strength and tolerances. My seat belt covers look great but the rear window guide didn't work at all.

I think the plan is to phase out most parts for vintage Mercedes and just keep parts stocked for the "true classics" like the pagoda, 300SL, 600, etc. which leaves us at the mercy of aftermarket brands. Mercedes' heritage is set in stone in their eyes, and as a business, they didn't like that they were bringing in more revenue in parts sales for their vintage cars than they were making in new car sales. They had to put a stop to that because how does it speak to them as a pioneer of industry if more people are interested in their vintage models? Personally, I don't care because I have no interest in their new stuff either, but I think they've realized it's time for them to stop catering to their past and start focusing on the future, even if it means cutting off a good portion of their income.

I completely understand them not wanting to sell parts for their vintage vehicles if they aren't making them enough profit, and certainly there is not as much interest or sales as there were ten years ago, but still--consider that they were making MORE money doing parts sales for their vintage autos than they were selling new cars. The money is certainly there, but it's not making their new stuff look so good. Sure, there are a lot of cheapskates, especially in the days of high gas prices and the waste vegetable oil craze, but for every bunch of cheapskates there is someone who is willing to pay up for quality (myself being one of them). However, there is a limit to that as I don't want to pay $400 for a piece of rubber that costs $20 everywhere else. And I understand tooling and storage costs in line with demand, but even then there are reasonable expectations.

__________________
Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

Here's an interesting thing that happened to me--I went to buy new genuine Mercedes upper control arms for my W116 (the same ones the W123s use) from The Classic Center, and they were available BUT they wouldn't sell them to me even though they had hundreds of them in stock in Germany. Why? Mercedes is charging The Classic Center nearly ten times as much as The Classic Center sells them for, so if The Classic Center sold me those upper control arms, they would lose huge money on them. I finally had a friend help me get them through a dealership.

Also, the drag link (between the tie rods) for my W116 (which is the same part number as the W123s) is no longer available, so aftermarket is what you have to use. The same with the lower control arm and crossmember bushings--only Meyle and sometimes Karlyn are available.

__________________
Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

That explains why their restored Pagoda's cost $250.000...I purchased a seat trim part for my W126, I ordered it in grey but received a black one, shipped from Germany. When I went back to the dealer to exchange it for a grey one I was told it was only available in black and that I had to paint it in the right color.

W123, 126 and 124's are getting pretty scarce at the yards in LA these days, so when you find one better stock up on those hard to find parts.

__________________
1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

The tab nuts for the w126 guide rod mounts are almost gone too, I bought an extra set but there were only 5 more left. And there is no usable aftermarket option for those. I doubt I will own another w126 after this one anyway, but a lot of parts are definitely getting discontinued.

I have a 300cd as well, may i borrow the file for printing out the seatbelt covers ? ( i have a medium sized 3d printer )

Exactly, sadly. My last notification of a new arrival of any '91 or earlier in my local South Florida yards was October November last year. And that whole year they only came trickling in once/twice every 2/3 months.

At least one of the last ones went out with a bit of a bang - a delightful '88 Euro 280se with the short bumpers, manual windows, velour seats, Euro headlights with vacuum level control which I got and the dual climate control which I, very stupidly, left behind.

__________________
'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.

Regarding the colors, maybe I'm wrong but in my experience this has long been the case for plastic interior parts in my W124. Rear speaker covers, the plastic pieces at the bottom of the B pillars, and the little covers at the base of the rear headrests ... those all came in black-only when I got them, and the speaker covers were over 10 years ago.

I've been mostly impressed at how many bits and bobs ... and some big things like full rocker panels ... I have been able to get while restoring my 300D. Haven't really ordered anything in about a year though so maybe they're discontinuing stuff while I speak.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)