The 124 wasn't a product of the 90's....more over engineering of the late seventies/early eighties.

If it's excess to you and your car is ultimately heading to the salvage yard then feel free to take any part off that you deem not necessary.

To me if I'm buying a car, I prefer that all the parts are there whether superfluous or not.
It indicates more of a chance that the vehicle has been cared for...

Open the hood of an M104 and see the center cam cover plate missing exposing the spark coils...is it needed? ... not really, but makes me wonder why parts are missing and what other parts may be missing.

To each his own...one man's junk is anothers treasure !!!

Absolutely, to each his own. As argued earlier it's more of a personality issue than anything else - some people like following directions, others more prone to independent thought. Just don't ask everyone to blindly trust Mercedes because you do. The argument that belly pans are a necessity, especially on an older car, is a bad one. Mercedes themselves did away with them on the 140. Volvo had them and did away with them. The argument is especially difficult for me to swallow because I've driven a half dozen bellypan-less 124s at least 150k miles with no signs of a dirt, engine temp or slipping belt problem.

That's my theory, and think I read it somewhere long ago - that the belly pan was to raise engine temps. It makes intuitive sense - box up an engine and the temps are going to rise. 100 degree op temps may well be good for emissions, but the heat can't be good for the engine over the long term. And I've always passed emission tests with flying colors - often at one-third or one-quarter of allowable standard, and feel no ecological guilt over it.

Wrong, W140's have two pans, one just behind the lower bumper and one under the engine. I work on them every day.
If they stopped installing on later ones it was to save $$$, not because it's not needed.

Even new models have them, the newest I've seen is a 2005.

Mine is a little beat up and I'm spending the $120 to get a new one.

Here's the splash shields that MB did away with. # 5 and 14


http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...hshield001.jpg

Wrong or not wrong? That's a little confusing. They did away with at chassis # A191708 which must be somewhere around the 1995 model year.

As I said, on later W140 maybe to save $$$.

All new Models still use them, some the full lenth of the undercarriage.

I agree 100%

Emissions had nothing to do with the belly pan...
The M103-12V world market cars had no cat, air pumps, nothing... only a closed loop crankcase vent system...

Note you own a 190SL....
On this car if there are original parts missing would it lessen its value ?

Oh, certainly, but that isn't the subject of the thread. The subject of the thread is old, basically worthless sedans. BTW, the 190SL is gone, now have 94 E420 and 95 S320, both without belly pan, the former removed by me, the latter never installed by the factory.

These "originality" debates are great fun, on all kinds of forums, but never really resolve anything. I still contend these questions are really just personality indicators - people fall into either the "I want to think" catagory, or the "I do as I'm told" catagory. Trusting MB implicitly must be a great time saver, but there's also significant evidence of engineering buffoonery over the last 15 or 20 years.

I think it's safe to say your in a minority with your "opinion" regarding encapsulation panels.

Since your not in the "automotive trade" I value your opinion even less if that's possible.

Safe to say I don't agree with anything you have to say.

Of course I only base my opinion on 30 years of experiance as a MB technician..

That's the great thing about these forums. And thanks for that substantive response.

Your most welcome. .:)

substantive: possessing substance; having practical importance, value, or effect:

Good job, but it's "you're".

Thank you , for correcting my grammer this time.

"You're" now my favorite forum member.