If I were you I would've listened to everyone in the thread....a voltage regulator is only $40 bucks -more or less- and would've only taken you 10 minutes to replace...make that 5 minutes. oh well, at least your problem is fixed, but very pricy.... and who knows, it could've been your alternator, but oh well. cheers!

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1990 190E 3.0L

Well the price is definitely more than I would ever be willing to spend but with that said it sounds as though this is your daily driver so you had your hands tied. With a bit of effort and research here you can easily perform minor repairs and upkeep on your 260E without the need for taking it to a garage. A rebuilt alternator from our host (Fastlane) runs for around $200 and a new voltage regulator is only $30. I don't trust mechanics so I do my own servicing. For some people there is also much more satisfaction in working on your own car.

For that kind of money I would want to make sure that they put in an OEM alternator and not some cheap jobber part. As far as the towing is concerned, as long as the drive wheels are raised off the ground you should be fine. Myself I would flatbed the car for extra assurance.

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1989 300CE

Yeah oh well. I kick myself once in a while.

I have had a similar voltage in my 300se .so the battery was never fully charged

Its on the low side -impeding failure of alternator . replace the regulator if it does not increase the voltage go in for alternator replacement.
mak

I was coming home at night in my '90 300SEL with my iPod playing through one of those radio transmitters, when all of the sudden the sound got really crappy - it sounded like a blown speaker (I had been testing out the upper end of the stereo's limits with Drive Like Jehu, what can I say? LOL). Anyhow I assumed I had just fried a speaker, but as a test I put in a CD and it sounded fine. Then next the ABS warning light came on and the headlights went dim. Soon after that the SRS warning light came on too. "Uh-oh, another bad M103 alternator!" I thought to myself, at least until I found this thread.

My car is in generally good condition, but the grommet is missing where the antenna comes through the driver's side rear quarter panel, allowing water to enter there and drip right down on the antenna's electrical connector. I started the car this morning and no warning lights came on. I will clean off the corrosion, find a way to plug the hole, and keep an eye on things and report back here later. Hopefully that's all it was. Might help someone else in the future...