1991 W124 Mercedes E300D

[deanflowers]

Hi

Just picked this up for £640 off ebay and less than 2mins from my house. Its got 155K miles which is probably means that just the newness is wearing off.







It doesnt exactly set the world on fire with performance but it should be reliable and cheap to run.
Apparently they will run pretty much on anything so may have to investigate the cooking oil.


After a bit of a clean (still got the lower sections to do) it hasn't come up too bad:



It seems to sit very high at the back - is this normal? Whats the best way to lower these? i can buy 40mm springs on the bay which should sort the front but the back is way too high

First drive and it lost a front indicator unit so had to order a replacement set

Does anyone have any bits kicking about for these as i could do with a zebano wood centre consol section, a small badge for the top of the front grill and maybe a tan leather interior.





According to the keyring its called Cyril!

[THE_Liam]

Just awesome. Always wanted to get one of these and bolt a big turbo on. They did TDs for the euro market but the steering box on a RHD car is where the turbo would be.

[levismerc]

Oooh, nice!

It's like my car's dieselly twin (a bit).



That's a good price too. The Diesels hold their money really well.

[regcheeseman]

Been looking for one of these for months - has to be an estate though, has to be a 300D as well.

I saw yours on ebay, love the retro colour combination and it doesn't look as rusty as most of them.

Always wanted to get one of these and bolt a big turbo on

Pretty much my plans, but with a normal sized turbo or two.

[deanflowers]

It wasn't exactly as described so was glad i went to see it before bidding. There are a couple of marks on the one rear quarter and a bit of rust on the rear passenger door so may look to replace this if i find one the right colour. The steering is a bit vague compared to my W124 and a lot heavier so will be looking at that. Ive tightened the accelerator cable as there was over an inch of play before it did anything. All fixable and it was cheap so doesn't really matter.

I wanted an estate and a facelift one but couldnt stretch the sort of money they are demanding now.

Levi - does yours have leather? post a pic so i can see what colour seats to go for as parts of mine look tan and other parts look beige so not sure if its just sun damage

I'm doing to many miles in my W140 and spending 550 a month on fuel so hopefully 3 months of driving this one will have paid for itself

[levismerc]

Nah, no leather.



Apparently it's Java/Palomino/Mid Brown depending on the territory ie US/UK/Germany but it's the facelift fabric so it might well be a different colour to yours.

[deanflowers]

The seats are lighter than the plastics the same as mine so probably the same. Good starting point for me to research though. Many thanks

[nyx]

i adore my 88 124 230e. a true retro classic. mine has 80k on the clock so only just run in and ot a spot of rust anywhere. yours looks great

[reeman237]

love my 300d had it about 4 months now i spose never misses a beat. just done 2600miles in 8 days to worthersee and back.
suspension wise I'm using e36 front coilover just the shocks with cut springs then on the back using ford ranger front shocks and cut springs, shocks are a little short will go for saab ones next time but it rides really nice.

 

[deanflowers]

How much did you cut the springs? need to get mine sitting like yours soon. Got any part numbers for the bits used ?

[reeman237]

Don't have any part numbers sorry got the coilovers from ebay and the other shocks from euros. As for cutting the coils I actually messed up the first set. Measure once cut twice and all that. Found cutting a little seems to go a long way

[mhuk]

I had over 350K on my 300D and I was running veg oil. You need a heat exchanger / boiler heat exchanger and maybe change the seals on the pump.

Love my W124. I now have a W210 and again on veg oil. I drove to Poland and back in mine and clocked up 900 miles in one day! Wonderfully good cars

[deanflowers]

reeman237 - I found a thread on stance works that gives the part number for the saab shocks so think this is the way to go. I will keep an eye out for e36 front coilovers and starting cutting in stages to see how much it drops. One guy has cut 3.5 coils but is hitting bumpstops so think 3 is the max.

www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22011&page=2

[reeman237]

all depends what size/width wheels you are running mine are 17x8.5 on the front and 17x10 on the rear. had to roll the arches all round. 3.5 coils sounds like quite abit. don't forget you can also change the spring pads to adjust the height. iirc the shocks are from a saab 900 just need a little trim down where they meet the lower arms

[deanflowers]

Cool cheers - will probably take the eltanins off my W140 for some 19" lorinsers at some point and put them on the W124. I have an arch roller so should be all well.

[8tee8]

These love a bit of veg I can confirm. Had my 300TD for a month now and it hasn't so much as coughed on 100%. They are slow but that really isnt the point

[grifterkid]

This is cool and what an absolute bargain...!!!

I love the checked cloth trim on this so I would keep it if it were mine but it's not so it's up to you! I think that MB-Tex (if you can get it) is tougher than leather and may be a tad cheaper if you can find it...

These are glorious cars and it looks like you've bagged a good 'un...

[mrabody]

Jun 12, 2014 16:50:58 GMT grifterkid said:

This is cool and what an absolute bargain...!!!

I love the checked cloth trim on this so I would keep it if it were mine but it's not so it's up to you! I think that MB-Tex (if you can get it) is tougher than leather and may be a tad cheaper if you can find it...

These are glorious cars and it looks like you've bagged a good 'un...

In my experience MB leather interiors are pretty tough. MB Tex seems to have been very unpopular in the UK. It'll be easier to find a leather interior.

[garrett]

Very nice indeed and a bargain! I had a 300CE, different engine I know but that had over 300k on it and still drove like a dream! Loving your plans too.

[breadvan]

sweet looking ride