Hand-me down w124
 

I just purchased a 1988 300CE from my father for a song, I am in the process of replacing the stock springs with Eibachs, I plan to use 8mm (1 bump) shims at all corners and change the stock shoes out for the AMG(replica)twin spoke 17x8's with 245/45zr17's...my questions is will I have to roll the fenders to avoid rubbing at the lower ride height......other than that the car has 345k original miles-stock engine and tranny, excellent paint and interior, I plan to remove the retard resistor and upgrade the stereo......any other suggestions or recomendations...........

I could be tempted to say, get a Honda, but then again, perhaps not :rolleyes:

Please remember this is an old, high mileage car, and changing springs and shims etc... is likely to lead to stress on other old components in the suspension.

I have found out over the years, to my personal cost, that it is best to keep a car as original as possible and enjoy it for what it is, and not spend lots of money trying to turn it into something it isn't.

Enjoy your Mercedes, appreciate the excellence of engineering, when you are ready for something more 'sporty', try an AMG version or such like, which has been designed to be 'more' than ordinary.

Good Luck,

Richard

How about a nice park bench spoiler? Altezzas? Oh don't forget the fart can. AND THE R-TYPE STICKER.
Just kidding.

345k miles you may want to reassess whether the car is worth G-ing out like that or not. Remember if you do you will have a very hard time selling it later, as nobody wants a car especially an MB that somebody else messed with. The stock looking cars always go for more $$$. I know I myself would never buy a car somebody else molested like that. So OK fine if you got the dough to soup up a Mercedes with 345k go ahead, just plan on keeping that car for good because nobody in their right mind will buy it off of you after you're done.
A nice stock look with an MB will turn just as many heads as a tacky lowered riced-out model and will yield less trouble and ride better. These cars were engineered properly from the factory.

I am impressed that it has that many miles.... I guess I have another 200k plus left in mine.

My 17 year old has a 300e and I have cautioned him about doing any exterior modifications because I don't want him to draw the attention of cops.

A conservative looking Mercedes is a safe Mercedes for a teen.

Now he does have a huge amp and sub and all that other stuff in the trunk...ha-ha-ha.

exterior mods look great on the 124s if it is authentic benz stuff.....AMG ground effects look sweet, as do the twin spoke AMGs. Replicas dont say AMG though..lol

I want an 87 300D very badly so I can do exactly what you are talking about. Except I was going to have some CLK wheels powdercoated black and have the little AMG marks white. check out ebay, you can totally AMG out your car..anything else is uncivalized :D

moakster...are you paying for my AMG?
That is simply out of most/all teens budget.

I think some of the previous post has been a little harsh. Your planned mods seemed reasonable to me. You may have fitment issues using 8" wide wheels. If I were you, stick w/7.5". Otherwise, you'll have to get the right offset to get those 8" wheels to fit (& you'll need to roll the fenders). You may also want to change the shocks too if you're going to change springs. Beware!!! You WILL have camber issues after lowering your car. You'll need camber bolts for the front and either adjustable arms for the rear or the KMAC kit. Other solutions are taller "bump pads".

Supports the previous post. Keeping it stock is BEST for long term longetivity. But "to each his own". I personally like the SLIGHTLY lowered look: Eibach w/#2 pads, HD sport shocks, & 17"X7.5" AMG monoblocks II. Everything else stock (interior and exterior).

Whatever you do, make sure it's easily reversible should you ever decide to sell the car (for reasons already posted)

I think what your doing is FINE. As stated above they were a little harsh. I dont think anyone is going to give much for a car with 345k miles on the clock so mod till your hearts content! A car is to be individualized, imho, to seperate you from everyone else. I think your selection is fine.
I have H&R(lower of the two sets they offer),#1 pads all around and Bilstein sports and it rides a little rough but its fine for me. I also have 18" genuine AMG Mono II's and had to roll the fenders ever so slightly so I think if your backspacing is correct you should not have a problem. THe Eibachs ride a little higher than the H&R and give a more comfortable ride(I had Eibachs on my 190E 2.6). I do have slight wear issues but its not too bad and once I install the K-Mac kit(I have had it for more than a year lol) I dont see any further problems. I have 500e headlights with crystal corners on mine as well as a Genuine AMG Gen II front bumper and love the look and people still ask what year the car is and cant believe its as old as it is. You have a timeless design on your hands. Have fun and just be tasteful and dont ghetto it out. :)
Chris

LMAO, I don't think a Honda with stickers would be allowed in my garage b/c I dont think it will complement my '77 308 GTB or my '99 Range Rover HSC, every benz my family has owned (gassers and oil burners) have lasted a minmum of 500k miles, I come from a family of Mechanical Engineers (insert pocket protecter here) and we have always maintained our vehicles as best we can, we had the local benz guy borescope the cylinders and the original factory hone is still visible in all directions in all cylinders.....


as for is it worth it? I paid ~$842.00 for the car and picked up the springs, wheels/tires for an additional ~$970.00

Best damn three days pay I ever spent....hell its even better than waking up with $1700.00 hangover that takes three days to recover from....besides its meant to have fun in.....

besides I am not going to be driving 137 mph, it will be a weekend driver that looks good.....I will post pixs of before an after

:D

"I could be tempted to say, get a Honda, but then again, perhaps not "

Well, my daughter just got a used 98 Honda Accord in very clean shape with 120k miles. (didn't believe our rotten and very expensive experiences with Hondas and Acuras in the past would apply to her!) Fortunately it had a 3 month warranty: Aside from what she read on the Honda forums AFTER buying the car about brake and trans problems in Accords, she discovered something apparently known to the Honda mechanics, but not talked about much in forums or long term tests. She noticed a loud ticking sound from the engine, and took it back - where they discovered a crack in the block below the exhaust manifold. The techs commented - " Gee we see a lot of this on the 92-97 models, but this is the first 98 where this is happening. Honda has a standardized repair kit for the block, lets check and see if it will work on the 98". Well, the 'kit' worked, and the block is repaired, so now she just has to go gentle on the trans and brakes.

My point is, a used car is always a potential money sink, no matter what records and care have been taken in maintaining the car, or how good the reputation of the manufacturer. (For that matter, it seems that even a NEW car imay be a crap shoot these days, but at least involves a warranty).

Drive it, maintain it, mod it, enjoy it, and don't worry about it not being a Honda - my 87 MB has averaged about 1/2 the maintenance expense of our Acura Legend coupe, and about 3/4 the year to year costs of our civic. If your MB gets too expensive to maintain, then worry about finding something else.

I'm not sure how old you are, but it sounds like you're young enough to enjoy modding as most (younger than I) take great pride in doing.

With that in mind, you seem to understand that designing anything in a car is a full-circle effort, so any change in one parameter will affect another. Just like, throwing a chrome intake, a three-tier spoiler, and a fart can does not make a drag strip contender!

Most wheel styles outside of Lorinser/Carlsson/Brabus/AMG look "pimpish"...at least you have the foresight to stay away from anything else.

To answer your question regarding "rolling", if your wheel offset is 35mm (which is OEM), you won't have to roll the fenders, but you WILL have some rubbing at lock-to-lock steering positions (i.e. hard cornering). Stock wheel width is 7", and you can get away with 7.5", but 8" at stock offset is very close to the shock towers and the wheels will make contact with the inner wheelwells when turning.

If you go with a 2mm positive offset from OEM (37mm) with 8" rims, you will clear the underpinnings, but tire contact with the fender is inevitable...you WILL have to roll the fenders.

Note that we are talking about the fronts...the rears can take a more aggressive track.

As far as changing spring pads to lower the car, I caution you to consider that you will alter the rear camber geometry, and you will have to get a compensator kit...otherwise, you will go through a pair of those expensive 245/17s every other season!

One final note. Unlike the newer MBs, which have the suspensions engineered to handle the aggressive low profile setups, the engineers factored in the wheel/tire diameter into the design of the W124-series suspension. So you will REALLY notice a harsher ride!

But as others here have pointed out, the mileage on your car really implies that you should be caring for it like a grandfather...and you wouldn't throw a hoodie and Converse hi-tops on gramps and take him out to breakdance, would you?

I don't care how well-maintained the car is, at that mileage stuff is ready to fail. My experience is that Benz's are basically made of rubber with metal and plastic pieces to hold it all together. The car will likely begin quickly to make known its need for a full body rubber transplant shortly after you start making your mods. If you don't mind injecting bushels more money and time keeping the car on the road, go ahead with the mods, but were it me - I would first worry about making it reliable transportation, THEN snazz it up.

Steve

I appreciate everybody's input, like I said before we (the wife and I) plan to use this on the weekends as our joy ride vehicle, as for mileage and age of vehicle majority of the miles are highway, my dad bought in new in 1988 so he and my mom could visit me while I was away for my first year of college.....ever since then I always told my parents that I would buy that car from them......so about a week ago dad ordered a new cl55 and was going to trade in the venerable w124, the dealer was going to give him $840.00 for it so I topped the dealers trade in value by $2.00....and know shes all mine....oh the memories of driving that car when I was younger has come back to visit me...so know I will re-live my teenage years....but this time with money :D

I would give it a nice servicing, and then mod it. Why stay stock? To me a stock car shows that you have no personality. I heard enough of the old "keep the benz stock" comments, and I modded mine anyway.

Wow apparently in my hiatus from this site the w124 went from hot hotness to old and ugly. I have a 92 300E to which I have added a set of H&R lowering springs, bilstein sports, and some AMG 055s (offset 35mm) in 18x8 wrapped in 225/40. Forget what everyone else says, w124s look absolutely amazing with a small drop and some nice wheels and it is absolutely worth the effort for both asthetic and performance reasons (my car was totally transformed by these mods from a sedate sedan to something that can easily put a grin on your face.) That being said at your mileage your bushings are going to be on the way out if not already shot but it sounds like you have both the means and the will to take care of this issue when it arrises.

Now down to business. On my 18s, an offset of 35mm did not rub on the inner fender wall but did rub on the fender lip as well as on the fender lining during bumps (front wheels only.) To remedy the latter make sure you change out your bump stops when you are installing the new shocks and cut them a little longer than half to compensate for your drop. The former is a tricker issue. I was forced to roll my fenders within 2 days of the suspension modifications because of the excessive rubbing. I used the baseball bat and heat gun method with great success and it took me about 4 hours total. In addition, I have installed AMG fender spacers up front. They are basically a set of polyurethane spacers and longer screws that push the bottoms of the front fenders out to give you a bit more space. They are hard to find but I am confident you could do just as well with parts from your local Home Depot. Finally, your rear camber will be a mess. I was almost 4 degrees negative on both sides after lowering. I have installed a set of of Benzboy camber arms which have worked very well except for a lubrication issue. My arms do not have teflon coated end joints and therefore must be lubricated periodically to avoid an obnoxious squeaking. Speedybenz does make a superb set of teflon-ended camber arms which can be purchased for less than $300. Your front camber will be slightly off but nothing to worry about, I am currently maxed at a little under a degree.

I have had my 124 for 4 years now and I absolutely love it to death. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email, for reasons of maintaining a 4.0 I have had to sacrafice regular visits to this site, but I do check my email regularly. Good luck and congratulations on your purchase.

pictures
 

why dont you guys post some pictures.... so we can decide