Some of the weakest links in the chain of the w123 s overall construction that Ive found are as follows.heater controls,window switches ,glovebox door,vac system,hood latch ,hood cable, rust at hood arm area,rust at rear window area ,and yes ,Im going to say it ,the air cleaner bracket.These cars are lasting 2 to 3 the life life expectances over normal cars so the contest really is no matchup to any other car ,period ,but if you have fixed a part that will never fail again I would like to hear about it.I just bullit proofed my hood latch with a part that already is available and is still Mercedes, I did away with the plastic grab piece that hides away in the grill,its replacement is a bent piece of diesel fuel line that Ive shaped and curled as the pull knob and sleeves right through the latches assembly piece nicely.I would like to replace the glovebox piece with a door assembly and a block of varnished wood .Ive never seen a door pull / latch fail.A lockable piece and cup holder possabilities also.As far as the air cleaner bracket goes ,it gets shacken to death when the engine mounts are starting to go south,it will break at a certain area along the bracket if the mounts are not serviced.Another couple of rubber mounts and an improved bracket that allows for 2 more mounts should solve it.Any new additions are cures youve built into the car?

As far as the air cleaner "T" bracket concerns go, I've taken some metal stock, thicker than what the "T" bracket is made from, cut, trimmed to fit the bracket on both ends of it, running about three inches the length, mig welded them on, and on the part that bolts down low on the exhaust manifold, welded in a large washer. These particular brackets were modified with new brackets from an aftermarket manufacturer that was making them with heavier gauge stock than oem. I know they were heavier gauge because I also had a new genuine MB bracket to compare. I measured them both with calipers. My first go at replacing one of these brackets was with an unmodified aftermarket bracket. It did last longer than the oem bracket yet it it still failed all too soon, at which point I decided I was going to get serious about it. Haven't broken another one since on either of my 617's since, and I got a couple done for a couple of my friends too, and they haven't had any fail them either. It's been a few years now, yet still every so often I have to replace one of those rubber mounts. I had at least one or two more welded up for spares just in case, haven't needed them yet.

I did have one other alternate plan had this one failed, I sourced a 1985 California air cleaner set-up which is mounted remotely and won't be shaken by the engine ever! I don't believe I'll be needing it now! Anyone interested in buying it?

As far as the glove box door issue goes, so far I've been able to deal with the latch mechanics just not found a satisfactory solution for the broken out plastic around the holes for the screws for the the hinges! IF Anyone ever comes up with a good solution for That, Please Let Me Know! I would like to be the first one in line for That!

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Dedicated to the preservation of antique Mercedes Benz's, one rusty ol' bucket of bolts at a time!

As for heater controls, I have manual climate control. The plastic housing that holds the knobs cracked and caused them to be flopping around loose in the housing. I used some aluminum strips from the local hardware store to reinforce the plastic. I used one strip along the back and one along the front, sandwiching the original plastic housing in the middle. I drilled holes through the front metal strip, plastic and rear metal strip, then riveted the whole thing together with a hand pop rivet gun. It's holding up well.

Air cleaner T-bracket solution: Drill a hole in the side of the air cleaner closest to the valve cover, and install one of the broken rubber mounts between valve cover and air cleaner, taking up the slack space with a nice piece of rubber. This helps the air cleaner to move with the valve cover and prevents it from getting quite so much flex.

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Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC