The tires are about new, but I am just "including" them in the sale versus taking them off. Those tires were on China Blue and the ride was fantastic. I have the set of five (5). I was thinking $1,750 for the set of five, which includes the four (4) hubcaps with the correct clips, correct MB lug nuts plus whatever the costs of PP fees and shipping. I see just the rims selling for over $300 each. My set is super minty. I may end up keeping them. Not sure. I will make a decision this weekend to sell or not. I have had a few folks already ping me about them.

Very well done, looking very good! I can imagine the ride is a lot nicer with the 15 inch wheels. How is the trans shifting now?

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2012 B Class

1981 300D - Now with greazzer

Rides incredibly silky smooth now but the ol’ girl always had a nice ride.

Slight flare still but that’s my fault for not swapping out a few items to eliminate all possible culprits. The EGR removal got rid of a majority of it.

Today, I decided to upgrade the sound system. I went ahead and did the Becker BlueTooth modification.

Many thanks to Squiggle dog for selling me such minty rear BLUE speaker covers. The originals in China Blue were actually black.

I installed NOS BLUE front speaker covers as my dash is incredibly minty. I did buy a pair off e B A Y which were used, but you could tell. So, I want to make sure China Blue looks new as possible. Like the rears, the fronts were black also.

Now, the front and back BLUE speaker covers just blend in. I think I now have all interior plastic pieces so that the entire interior will be BLUE. I have the map pockets up front and the kick panels. Just need a little bit more time to tinker with their replacement. Not sure why I have black map pockets on the door cards and black knee panels on both sides ? I am guessing the interior came that way.

The BlueTooth actually works. I have a briefcase type deal of cassettes so I cannot wait to see if the cassette player works. The entire radio had a once over so it should.

The front speakers I bought from Becker do not fit so that may be a hassle this upcoming week to get my money back. I had a minty pair of fronts from Boston Acoustics before they got bought out. They are super nice.

The PO listed the car for sale with a rebuilt antenna. I ran out of time today to tinker with it. I did get a a new grommet and the PO supplied the foam collar. I suspect this is probably the easiest of swaps as the front dash covers were sort of a pain and the rears took a little bit of time also. The Haynes Manual is spot on regarding how to properly remove the radio. Right now, my antenna will not go down the last few inches.

Otherwise, right now, the entire sound system will be new/rebuilt/mod'd.

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Some last snappies. The car has a heavy coat of pollen so hopefully the rain will beat the pollen down so I can hose down the car and clean-up the windows. It is amazing a few gusts of wind from the outside and the pollen just rolls in like crazy.

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I think I hear Becker will do the mod for you, is that what you had done? What do they charge? I might have that done at some point, would be cool to hear some info about it.

I found some Steely Dan cassettes and some other sweet albums at a thrift store in Arizona in the middle of nowhere while on a road trip 25 cents each. Popped them in my '84 300d when I got back. Original radio and speakers and everything it sounded very "ancient" but in a good way.

The sound system in the stock W123 isn't that great as we know but to me, the stock system feels like looking at a film photograph in that the lack of clarity evokes a nostalgic feeling. On the other end, a crisp modern audio system is that of a digital image. Very vivid and leaves a bit less ambiguity. To me, the poor old stock audio system is more entertaining. But not always.

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I did go through them:
Classicservice@beckerautosound.com

I found my tin snips and removed two of the flanges for the front speakers. I plan on round 2 on tackling the front speakers.

Remember the individual or separate cost elements. Shipping to them with insurance was just south of $20 and back to me was a little pricier so you’re almost at $50 for shipping and insurance.

The service charge with internal gizmos is $125 for the Bluetooth upgrade. The replacement and repairs with labor for the radio itself (nothing to do with Bluetooth) was $180 total so that is where or how they make their real money. Plus I bought front and rear speakers since they already did the homework on picking something for the average consumer

Sound is very nice. I was in my garage so we’ll see on the open road. It rained or looked like rain so China Blue was grounded for the weekend. Once I find my cassettes I will weigh in again.

Once I swap out the antenna then the repairs should be done

Love the updates, great work!



It always seemed to me that the antenna slipped at some point where it couldn't overcome the friction at the end. I wondered if there was some adjustment for that. Perhaps its just a worn belt.

__________________
2012 B Class

1981 300D - Now with greazzer

I did swap out the front speakers with the ones I bought from Becker. Here is the upgraded / mod radio. Sounds nice. Still looking for my briefcase deal full of cassettes. I'm hoping the weather stays nice so I can swap out the antenna. I hosed down China Blue since it had a fine layer of pollen and dust on it just sitting in my garage.

Toured around for about 15 to 20 minutes this AM. The speedo is off a little per my Garmin, but she really tours now with the 15" tires. Not sure if I am going to need the 2:88 LSD differential now as 75 MPH and China Blue just floats along.

I will be selling the original radio with Boston Acoustic speakers and the OEM speakers shortly if anyone is interested along with the speaker covers and a spare set of blue speaker covers

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last snappies

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Today and tomorrow I will be rebuilding the entire fuel system and doing the glow plugs. The only things never touched are the IP, fuel sender, and the steel lines going from the tank to the IP. The PO had the fuel tank boiled and treated; otherwise, all new or replaced by Friday night or Saturday morning so I can do a nice test ride. Hopefully the undercoating which was sprayed everywhere will start to go away when I do a good clean-up.

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The fasteners and fittings are ready to go, cleaned. New 10.00mm orifice heat shields. Not that many parts when you start laying them out and taking inventory; however, I cannot imagine the headaches at Stuttgart trying to keep up with all the parts, stocking, and the sheer magnitude of effort involved to make 2.4+M cars ...

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Tonight I will (fingers crossed) pop test the injectors and hopefully paint the lift pump, and do a general clean-up of the engine bay and tomorrow AM do an install and test drive before lunch time.

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A day late and ... It's done. Rebuilt OFV with mod'd spring, rebuilt lift pump with mod'd spring and new, HD all steel primer pump, injectors, all new lines clear lines and cigar hose, braided lines, and installed the "02" fuel head. Even got picky about the MB fuel filter and the 7.5mm ID hose. New glow plugs and everything is cleaned up and ready for a test drive today weather permitting.

The original fuel head was the "01" which folks say is the less desirable. I never had any issues with it but figured I might as well do the "upgrade."

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More snappies.

Lift pump -- some day I will invest in one of those small table top powder coat ovens and have machined a handful of plugs for all the orifices so I can start powder coating the pumps, plus getting some decals made to replace the original pump ID tag which disappears in the cleaning process.

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