New to the lifestyle (93 300e) and have some issues

[croftynsteph]

Well, after spending a few months reading through a ton of posts on this site, I decided to buy a Benz. A 93 300e in Dark Blue w/cream interior. Its a really pretty car. Picked it up w/161k miles for about 3k and figured it would be a minor project car. Overall its in really nice shape the interior is really clean and the exterior is free of dings and scratches. Just a few mechanical issues that I knew about when I picked her up.

The door lock plunger on the driver's side is hard to move up and down. When I lift it, it doesn't seem to lift all the way up. When I press it down, it doesn't seem to go all the way down. Intermittendly it will work as it is supposed to and lock/unlock the other doors. But as of today it hardly ever works. I can lock/unlock my door and it has no effect on the others. I've read that it's probably a vacuum problem.
Along those lines, I've also noticed that the transmission surges slightly before it switches gears but it is hardly noticeable. I also don't notice any increased brake effort.
The car is very hard to start whether cold or warm. I have to hold the key in the start position for quite sometime while stepping on the throttle. It seems to start at first but then die and when you do get it started you have to give it some gas or else the RPMs drop too low and it stalls. It gets up and runs pretty well once started though.
The final problem is that the car vibrates harshsly and the wheel shakes right around 55 MPH and gets progressively worse as speed increases. I decided to throw it in neutral after reading a few posts regarding engine mounts, and rev the engine to around 4k. In doing so the car began to vibrate. I've had experiences with the wheel shake and vibration being related to tire damage caused by bad shocks and on a seperate occasion, warped rotors. However, when braking, the wheel doesn't feel the same way.
With these issues, is it possible to fix them myself or at least track down the most likely cause? I'm pretty mechanically inclined but have never worked on an import before (owned a 300M, 99 Bravada, 96 Sebring, 90 Lebaron, 88 Crown Vic).
Thanks for any input, I'd gain a huge sense of pride working on this car myself and I'm very excited to try after reading so much on here. I'll post pics of my car and such soon if anyone is interested.

John

[mbdoc]

The door locks are vacuum/pressure operated, however they have their own pump under the rear seat on the passenger side. REMOVE seat & listen to the pump when doors are locked OR un-locked. IF the pump runs for moer than 1-2 seconds you have a leak. IF that is OK then you have an actuator problem in the door itself.


AS far as vibration above 55mph goes try having the tires rotated & balanced correctly!

Have fun with the car!

[y2kimmel]

My tire vibration problem was the same - started aorund 55mph. The previous owner had the car on a lot for 6months trying to sell it - and the tires developed flat spots. Getting the tires balanced didn't help - only new tires did. Some tires develop flat spots if they sit in the same position for a long time (especially in the hot NC sun).

The tires were crappy dunlops. The michelins I replaced them with are much better - no vibration. The braking pulsations also went away when I changed the front rotors and pads. The rotors must have been warped. Make sure to use a good German rotor, not some el cheapo Chinese piece of crap.

Althought we have different engines, I had hot starting problems on my car - took a while of cranking before the engine would catch, then it would stumble for a few seconds. This problem is 100% gone now that I changed my spark plugs. I'd start with changing the plugs - can't hurt, is cheap and easy to do, and probably needs to be done anyway. Make sure to use only the MB recommended Bosch plugs - no platinum stuff.


Troy
1995 E420 97k

[Arthur Dalton]

Do a search on 'OVP' and change it to new style if it is the old number
Change the plug connectors under each coil
Change plugs and use ONLY osch F8DC4 copper [ the cheapos]
Check both motor mounts for collape [ archieves]
These are Must Do's for that car.

The vibration at 4k in "N" is rpm cut out torque converter protection-- Normal.

[croftynsteph]

Thanks a lot guys. I'll get cracking on the mounts and plugs tomorrow. Then I'm going to have the tires checked, figure I'll change the tranny mount as well while I'm down there. Thanks again, I love this place. Hopefully I'll be able to help out down the line.