1995 E320 Wagon Rebuild
 

http://i.imgur.com/SPM24IXl.jpg
Back in mid November I managed to rear end a Kia Optima in my E320 wagon. I was able to drive the wagon home and I really thought it was totaled.

http://i.imgur.com/jcpxRsGl.jpg
It kept me safe, and the damage looked pretty bad. I didn't have collision on it so it pretty much would have to be repaired out of pocket if anything.

http://i.imgur.com/P2mZPLZl.jpg
I got it mostly apart and it didn't really look bad at all. But after pricing out what it would cost to get all of these parts at a junk yard I decided to try and find another wagon.

http://i.imgur.com/Y6xqsGbl.jpg
Still, it really sucked to have to scrap a perfectly good wagon with minor damage to it. I kept convincing myself to not fix it, but eventually yesterday happened...

http://i.imgur.com/0DCMYN6l.jpg
...and this popped up. It's a 1995 E320 sedan with 195k on it. Bought it for $1000, and it runs and drives fine! Unfortunately the interior isn't great, and the head gasket is probably bad (burns coolant and oil), and it would cost way more money to fix up than I have. I bought it with the intention of using it as a parts car.

http://i.imgur.com/f14jvE7l.jpg
It's a powerhouse, that's for sure. Faster than my wagon somehow (I imagine my heavier wagon has something to do with it) but it has a ton of new parts that will make getting my wagon on the road much easier and more affordable.

http://i.imgur.com/WHDlnTpl.jpg
I started out by cutting out the radiator support on my wagon. This and the material connected to it that everything attaches to. It was pretty well mangled and past the point of no return.

http://i.imgur.com/TtD4R3ul.jpg?1
I then began to mark out where I was going to cut the damage out.

http://i.imgur.com/rFXtdEKl.jpg
Here is what is getting replaced. It shouldn't be buckled like that! And honestly, after getting it removed I'm surprised how light it is considering how much impact it absorbed.

http://i.imgur.com/NKdN6Qhl.jpg?1
The black lines were from a while ago, but I eventually cut out the white lines. I found it to be far better to cut out only the damage as opposed to most of the panel in this case.

http://i.imgur.com/vX3ZeJfl.jpg
Damage removed! Didn't take very long thanks to an angle grinder.

http://i.imgur.com/q4u2SpWl.jpg
And here is what was removed. As you can see it was pretty mangled, but it took the impact very well. That whole chunk right there only weighs a few pounds!

I have a ways to go, so look out for further updates.

Cool. I'll subscribe to this one.

^Awesome!

Got a few smaller things done. Removed the fan clutch/pulley, idler pulley, airbox, and receiver/drier. With all of that done I have everything removed and can start putting it back together.

Did both airbags deploy? I thought I saw the passenger side dash flap in the air

least you got a good donor and similar colors!

Yeah passenger side did. Drivers side did not for some reason.

I looked it over pretty closely and used a straight edge in most areas and all are straight.

Not really sure how that happened, but I do have a spare airbag now!

That's pretty odd but I have seen several w124's in the scrap yard with blown pass bags but intact drivers bag. weird...Your doin a good thing saving that wagon. I sure wish I could find a decent one myself.:o

That's ultimately why I decided to fix this one. I've put a ton of work and parts in to it already, so swapping over everything to a new one and scrapping this one seemed sorta pointless. It's a really nice car, and the only thing that was holding me back was the price of parts at a junkyard/on ebay.

Having a parts car at my disposal is making this a ton easier.

There are three levels of SRS response to a front impact:
1. Too slight, no response;
2. Slight, deploy seat belt retractors only*; or
3. Severe, deploy seat belt retractors and airbags.

* In a slight impact, #2, and SRS brain senses that the a seat belt is not buckled, it will then deploy the corresponding airbag.

So, if you are in a slight impact without a front passenger, i.e. the passenger seat belt is unbuckled, the passenger airbag will deploy.

In any event, you need to replace the driver's seat belt because the retreactor deployed. You also need to replace the SRS sensor.

I was wondering about the SRS sensor, didn't even think about the seatbelt retractor. Any idea where the sensor is located?

It's on the transmission tunnel behind the ashtray. Just be sure to have the battery disconnected when you change it (though I'm sure you already do! :D)

This is gonna be fun!

Seems a shame to destroy a sedan in that nice of shape.
My E300D doesn't look too much worse than your wagon, maybe I should find a junker to steal the front end from.

The sedan is not in the best of shape, and like I said above the head gasket is leaking. It's even more of a shame to junk a wagon that is in far better shape.

How is the rear bumper on the parts car sedan? I need one for the brilliant silver on atlas gray (lower cladding) $800 '95 I just saved. Would you consider shipping it via Greyhound for the right price? I sent a set of BMW front and rear seats to Ohio for about $60 using their package express service.

Awesome job saving the wagon by the way...would have been a tragedy to junk it...looks awesome in the pictures.

^I have one person possibly interested in the rear bumper locally, but if that falls through it's yours. Once I get the wagon going I'll be parting out the sedan, or at least get everything good off of it.

I'll keep you posted.