PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Exploring the Inside of the Late-124 Driver's Door

Jeremy5848 · #7 08-05-2013, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwogaman

Nicely done!

Thank you!

Z, my '87 300D Turbo also had Phillips screws holding the door latch. I had assumed the switch to Torx was made sometime in the early 90s but maybe it was actually part way through the '95 model year. My car was made in January 1995 -- how about yours? If it was made earlier we can guess that the change-over was made sometime in between.

I suspect the production line operates on a philosophy of "use up the old parts before switching to the new part." Your car may have been made on a line that happened to have a big stash of Phillips screws.

My 1996 E300D (W210) also has Torx screws holding its door latches.

Ben, I've never understood the logic of why Mercedes chose to offer some options on one car and not on the next one. Note to Zulfigar: the memory seat on the driver's side was part of option package E2, according to the factory sales brochure "1995 / E-Class / Mercedes-Benz." E2 also included a telescoping steering column and the "high-performance sound system with ten speakers."

In America, the fancier and more expensive versions of most car models have almost always included bigger, more powerful engines. (I am deliberately leaving out of this comparison big pick-up trucks with enormous turbo-diesel engines). Mercedes seems to have considered the diesel model therefore to be the "entry-level" car of its class. Since people buying entry-level cars are usually price-driven, they get fewer expensive options.

Smog stuff and other things mandated by law aside, I have no idea why Mercedes would market their cars to Australia with so few options. Maybe the Germans still think everyone in your beautiful land was recently transported. (BTW, many of us here in the States would happily trade you for your manual climate-control system: the automatic version can be a real PITA when it breaks.)

Bonus feature: the little dash speaker on the driver's side (part of the sound system, left or right side as the country requires) has two voice coils. This speaker was used with the optional cellular telephone, hence the second voice coil. A nifty mod by M-B, most folks don't even know it exists. The second voice coil can be connected to any monophonic sound source -- a scanner, ham radio, or hands-free cellular system.

Jeremy