Not on me....

Jim

__________________
14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

Don't have mine either Arthur, as the wagon is being held captive in my garage. Will check the date of manufacture tonite.

__________________
95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

If you have a chance sometime, check it, if you would..

It is my understanding that the harness problems on 124/E320 where upgraded before production end in late 95, and that would be nice to verify.
I do know that Benz was changing some very early when cutomers went in for complaints, but they sure didn't let it be known b/c they denied it from the get-go.. they kind of left it up to the Dealers discretion, which meant their Regular customers got the thing for fear of loosing them, otherwise you got the run-around and denial.. I also think a 95 year on a harness could be the upgraded harness b/c most 95 chassis would have a 94 date code on the part. One could not have a 95 harness on a 95 E320 with a man date in late 94 ,or even early 95. So, manufacture date would help sort it out.
And then again, it is also possible to have a few that did not see the extreme conditions that degraded them so fast, but that is highly unlike just b/c of the shear numbers of known bad ones that have been replaced...a still good original would certainly be the rareity and anyone looking to buy a E320 would be a fool to assume it had a good harness if they knew , or it was claimed, to be Original. [ excluding the possible late date ones. if that info has any merit at all ].
My bet is any origs that a still out there have some insulations problems that have not as of yet caused any internal shorting, but they will in the future...which brings us back to the check at the most likely spots for confirmation.
Be aware that harness problems always seem to rear their ugly after someone either changes the coils/plugs/ or connectors ..or does the head gasket..and I believe the reason for that is that ones has to put the harness thru some vigorous flexing and movement in order to do those jobs...and that is when the wires start shorting thru the already cracked insulation.........

Many may have seen the wire harness mess the Airlines are going through...They [ The News] showed an Inspector from the FAA [or some sub] checking that the harness ties were exactly an inch apart with a Ruler...man, I have to tell you, If I am flying on that Plane , I want the guy checking the wires on the inside of the harness , or at least a DMM .... not telling me we are set for Take-off b/c all the harness ties were spaced at the Required Rule xxxx of 1" intervals..

__________________
A Dalton

This really has me scratching my head about the harness in my car. I bought the car in 01 from a guy who didn't have a clue, so who knows what the history of it is. I have replaced the harness in the 400E, so I have intimate knowledge of what to look for, and what it looks like. If it does have the new harness, I may get the head gasket done sooner as I will have an extra $900 or so to spend.

__________________
95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

I'm still skeptical - are you saying you have service records only (customer paid), or the full VMI showing all warranty work and goodwill work? The reason I'm doubtful is that I know many of the early replacement harnesses were also bad. Remarkably the EPC says "exhaust all inventory" or something like that on the old part number. There's also quite a few 210 chassis 104s showing up on the NHTSA complaint site (below). A "1995" date on the harness could well be a design date, probably is a design date, and that would point to it being a replacement harness, at least on a 124.

http://users.adelphia.net/~infoage1/complaints_nhtsa_mercedes_wiring_harness_failures_1992_1995.html

The date of manufacture for the bad harness in my '95 E320 isn't readable, but the date for the drawing is and it is 1993.

The 320 was built in 02-95, as was coincidentaly the SL,,, both at the Stuttgart plant. I found a tag on the harness of the 320 that has 05-95 on it.

__________________
95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

That would indicate to me that your harness has been changed, and probably was done as a TSB Campaign right from the Dealer.
That would explain the good condition of your harness.

A note on these harnesses is that they are in fact made by design to degenerate with time , which is why they used bio-degradeable insulation in the first place..the problem is they screwed up on the degeneration time element b/c they did not correctly compute the extreme engine enviroment[ mostly heat generation] in that design.
So, their screw-up was not in the idea ..but rather in the wrong design parameters, which caused pre-mature degeneration. All of the new cars use some form of bio-degradable materials. But the wiring is supposed to outlast the main mechanicals/milage of the cars design. It this case , it wasn't even close............Blame may even lie with the Distributor/Manufacturer Benz contracted for that harness..no one is admitting to anything, but we know that all E320s with the early harness had, or are going to have, the problem.
It is not IF, it is only When.

__________________
A Dalton

My good friend, if you know where I can find a harness for my car for anywhere near $700 please PM me. I am interested...

Thx,

-GH

__________________
For Now:
1992 Mercedes Benz 500SL
1998 BMW 528i
2003 Honda Element
2002 CBR600F4i
1977 Coachmen Motor Home

PM sent.

Wow that question generated some commentary. Thanks much. Well I bought the car. This thing looked like it came off the showroom floor. It was sitting on carpet in the gentlemens garage. The carpet was cleaner than my living room. I checked the wiring that came off the thermostat housing. It looked OK, but there wasn't alot to look at. He is the original owner and that was the original harness. I figured the way this looks to have been cared for worst case I am in for a harness and maybe a head gasket so I am out 10K for the entire car worst case. I can live with that for one that I am comfortable with the history and care. Thanks for the advice. This is my second MB, it's not a diesel like the other one but still a nice car. I do love the clatter of the 300D however!

Sorry, another note, the door sticker says 9/95 as the manufacture date to add to the discussion ongoing about the late 95 vs earlier harness' Don't know if that helps much as I can't see alot of the wiring but it looks decent from what I can see and it is original as I mentioned.

My (European) E280 was built in November 1995, and the harness just disintegrated.

__________________
'96 W124 E280T