Not an expert on French cars, but had to work on a few. As mentioned by T. Walgamuth - sourcing parts can be fun.

The Spanish must love them. Last time I was there French cars were everywhere to be seen. Likely easier to deal with over there.

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Mike Murrell
1991 300-SEL - Model 126
M103 - SOHC
"Fräulein"

I like how you said 'tried to'.

What happened.....

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

I would second that. You could reach everything with ease and you became quite skilled at reaching for things because you had to do it on such a regular basis.

Plugs every 10,000 miles; same with shocks. A muffler every 25,000 miles, points and condenser every 10,000, and plug wires every 25,000.

And then, at about 70,000, it was all worn out.

I helped a fellow replace a water pump on a 1975 230 gasser a few years ago. We had to remove the radiator to get access to the water pump as it was really packed in there.

Repairing the A/C on a W140 is also quite a challenge.

I got the job done, something related to the fuel tank having to come down, injection pump needing replacement and some other stuff. I think it was a bad fuel problem if i recall

You can appreciate the design once you resign yourself to everything being a chore to do. One thing that struck me is for a big vehicle, the H1 is packed with no extra room anywhere for anything underneath or in the engine bay, plus armor. Its like working on the firewall side of a minivan motor for everything

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None of you have ever worked on the Cadillac Northstar transverse mounted 4.6 V8 it seems. At least dropping the engine is an option for all the mid engine cars listed.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Removing the radiator doesn't sound too bad, that's what you have to do on the 190E 2.6 if you want enough space to easily change anything on the front of the engine, including the belt. It isn't a breeze to remove but it also isn't a pain, I wouldn't know about the W114 though.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

I guess it means something that Peugeots are no longer sold in our nation. I see one now and then at Pick n Pull.

A housemate of mine had one in the late 80s - a gasser station wagon. Seemed like a nice car, he liked it.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Dang. That does look challenging:

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Yes I have, good lord that was an experience.

I couldnt understand whose idea it was to place the starter in the valley of the engine.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

the AC on a W140 is like a glorified W210 AC, a bit more packed in there.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

There was so much stuff in the way it was a five hour job. Replacing the pump took about ten minutes but it took almost two hours to get to it. Then another three to replace everything.

A tune up on a Sunbeam Tiger seems to be a challenge until you find the access plates on the transmission tunnel and remove them.

This it is just really, really hard but it can be done.

I was able to find some pictures and yea, it looks pretty packed in there. I've only seen one W114 in the yards but it seemed to be a lot less modern and harder to work on than even the W116.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

Try working on the 190E transmission modulator without dropping the transmission, when you feel like being up for a challenge.

My mechanic who has years of experience with M103's (190E/300E/etc) and their respective drivetrains told me he's never gonna do that job again. He has tricks up his Icelandic sleeves to replace front end items with ease using his own custom tools to remove the fan clutch, etc without removing the radiator.

The 190E would be my pick because it was tight enough to make things challenging, but at the same time I had to do repeat repairs due to issues with CIS-E. I'm so glad I don't have that car anymore.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg