Went and bought a W124
 

Well I have finally converted to the dark side and bought a W124. Its an 87 300E with a 5 speed conversion from another forum member. I have only been toying with getting it for the past year and finally decided the time was right. 247k miles and an impressive folder of receipts and service records. Please excuse the salt on the car. It seems like this winter is never going to end. Once it warms up a bit I will do a proper detail on the car. This car has by far the most smiles per gallon of anything I have driven in a long time. Only real plans right now are to enjoy it.

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Very nice addition to the family :)

Sucker! Just kidding :) Looks sweet. I like the rims. I have the same or very similar on my w201. I looked at the MB part number on the inside of the wheel and discovered I could have put wider (better) tires on than what I did. Mine are still 15", but the AMGs call for a slightly different wider tire. Might look out for that if you ever change the tires.

Welcome To The Dark Side
 

.....you'll enjoy it.....as much as you did the Pink Floyd album that started with the same moniker.......nice car

Whooooooooooh!

What's the clippy thing on the side of the centre console in this picture?

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Guessing its a garage/gate opener.

Are you referring to the garage door opener or the cupholder thats mounted to the side of the console?

I should have known better...


...alien life form = cup holder!


(Really showing my European-ness "what the ____ is that for?")

LOL

It is needed if the driver ever has a drink though.

The white with red is very handsome. Nice car!

Took it thru a carwash this morning. I hate salt.

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Dude.
 

Yow. That is one sweet car.

The wheels on your car kinda look like 1995 W124 special edition wheels.

Was that Hanno's car?

Need a good driver's seat?
I'll be up in Milford, De. next weekend, and can bring it up.

Jim

Yep it was Hanno's car. I could use the extra seat. How much are you asking for it?

Changed out my broken headlight this afternoon. Thankfully a new lens was included in the box of parts that came with the car.

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We race one of these. There's a lot you can do to make it really go without any engine mods. We outrun and outbrake Miatas all the time. Here's a link to what we've done.

Doktorno's and my 300E LeMons race car - Mercedes-Benz Forum

I highly recommend the rear differential change.

Wow that is awesome!

What's all that black spattering still doing on the bodywork below the light?

(Come on - clean and polish please!)

That is chips in the paint. This car originally had the headlight wipers but they were removed when the euro headlights were installed. Once its warmer I will deal with that.

Is a plastic insert?

No its metal. I am pretty sure its a MB part since there is a MB sticker on the back of them. I am going to sand them down before they get painted. Its way too cold to do it for a few months though.

strip under headlights
 

on ebay these strips are available with LED lights for DRL

I have seen those. Personally I'm not a fan.

what an upgrade from the 280!

of course, you are already a heretic for having a gasser in the first place, but heresy can be done in style it seems.

:D

LOL it can indeed. I am amazed at the difference in the way this car drives from my W123's. Its so... civilized :eek:

Yeah even the old ones feel like new ones (compared with the W123)! (Well modern I mean)

New radio installed. Its a Kenwood KDC-X597. This is last year's model so I got it at a steep discount on Amazon. There was a very nice Alpine in the car but the CD didn't work and it didn't have Bluetooth so it was time to upgrade.

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Took advantage of some spring like weather today and washed both cars. The rust on the 300E does not appear to be as bad as I first thought although it most likely will need some new metal welded in.

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Where is the rust on your 300E? Is it around the jacking points and rear quarters? That's where my one Silver 300E got a bit before I repaired it.

Correct. Did you weld in new metal on the rockers by the jack points?

That is exactly what I did. To me, it's the only solution that lasts and keeps it going on the road. I did the repair in 2004, sold the car in 2009 after it had been in the family since 1987 and has held up at 300K current miles.

Have you installed the airbag yet? Those wheels look great on the 124.

No not yet. I need to go get the correct torx bit still since my T30 has wandered off. I love the wheels on the car but I can't seem to find any more of them. I want two for snow tires.

gatorblue92, no doubt you are aware the experts recommend snow tires on all 4 wheels, even if the car is rear wheel drive only.

I actually did not know that but I did some research and they indeed do. Growing up in South Florida I never had a need for snow tires.

for snow you would be probably better served by narrower stock size 15" wheels, even skinny 15x6 190e wheels 185 wide tires. With snow tires a smaller tire patch will dig deeper into the snow to find traction as opposed to wide tires that tent to ride on top of the snow. They'll look ridiculous but they work. WRC rally car snow tires are hilarious.
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Nice!

I was only really thinking about snow tires since I was given a pair of them in the same size that is currently on the car. Once I get new tires for the rear I should be fine in the snow since we usually don't get too much here.

Had two new Michelin tires installed today at Sears... Last time buying tires from them.

The car rides nicer than my wife's 2014 CR-V now.

Bad experience at Sears?

Bought the tires online and used a gift card plus credit card to cover the balance which was fine until I went into the store to have them installed. It turns out they cancelled my order because their inventory was off however the didn't tell me and still charged both my gift card and credit card. Spent 45 minutes on hold with the Sears "customer service" department who was finally able to refund my money and transfer the order to another local store who had the tires in stock. The second store was able to get everything done. Not how I wanted to spend my morning but I have a nice driving car.

Had a scare last night with the car overheating. Put a new thermostat in and topped off the coolant and all seems well again. I also tested the fan clutch with the newspaper method and it looks like I will need to replace it before summer.

Got this in the mail today... not sure if I am going to put it on or not.

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Is That the Medallion....
 

....that goes by the hood ornament?

Bling it up baby

Its the high mileage badge. I think I am going to give it some clear coat then put it on. I have a spare that I kept from my old 300D.