1994 Mercedes Benz E320 Sportline coupe (C124)

[MrT]

I'm back!

After a couple of years blastimg around in new VAG cars following the unfortunate demise of my gorgeous 190E 2.6 at the hands of an uninsured traveller in a stolen truck, I return to the RR fold with this late-model C124 in Ice Blue. She's got leather, cruise, a pair of airbags (no glovebox!), electric windows, sunroof and mirrors, 24 valves, 4 speed auto and 220bhp.







It's not perfect, with a few bits needing doing to bring it up to scratch. The OSF wing is starting to bubble, and there is evidence of 'some' filler in the rear arches and the rear screen is delaminating, but it looks pretty sound and drives great. History is patchy at best for the last few years, so I'll be giving it a basic service fairly soon. Currently showing 140,000, and I suspect that's genuine.

This will be a slow burning daily-driver project, keeping it as tidy and 'usable' as I can. As a genuine Sportline, it's got 7J rims with 205/60's (these rims will end up with winter tyres), faster steering, slightly lowered suspension, etc. It will probably end up lower (but not painfully low), running 17" 'AMG' rims (same as my last 190E wore). The pressed 'plates and AMG plate holders are already ordered :-)

[dubbelduwwel]

Envy though bookmarked.

[Mercdan68]

Very nice

[Dr.AK]

That looks like a great car. Loving the color scheme, proper 90ies. Don't see that two-tone today anymore

[SmokeEm]

I was looking for one of these before I stumbled upon my CL500.

Yours looks real tidy! I was thinking of putting the AMG plate holders and pressed plates on mine but as mine is an S reg, thought people would think I was stupid as too new? It is the W140 so still retro?

Where have you ordered yours from?

Oh, and bookmarked!

[MrT]

I picked up both the holders (about £10 the pair, and loads to choose from) and the plates themselves on eBay.

Just filled up for the second time. Apart from a trip to Solihull one evening, it's all been very short journeys around Milton Keynes (and not exactly hanging about either!) and I've averaged 23mpg, so I'm well happy with that!

[SmokeEm]

Can we have some pics of the new plates?

[mk2polobloke]

These are really nice IMO. Love the colour and interior combination on this example. The 3.2 and 4 speed auto are just right too.
Superb, keep us updated.

[ellwood]

Love this! Looking forward to seeing what happens...

[peter96]

Nice machine. Thinking of looking at a pre facelift coupe myself if I can get a couple of hours this weekend. Can't beat a Mercedes pillarless coop!

[slacky]

Lovely car ,any updates

[MrT]

Mini-update time.

I'm recuperating from a pretty big neck op at the moment, so can't get as stuck in as I'd like to, though as I'm off work, I stripped out the engine harness and throttle body, as it was beginning to show the first signs of loom degradation (VERY common on the M104 engine), such as a slight misfire/uneven idle when just warmed up.

A new engine harness runs at around £1,100 from Mercedes, but I've taken mine down to Sileck Motorsport Wiring in New Romney, where hopefully they'll be working their magic and replacing all the wiring (some connectors have to be reused) in the harness and the throttle body (loads of wires, as this one has cruise) so it's as good as new for less than half that price!

Also, I've picked up a set of R170 staggered 17" '5 spokes' (7.5J & 8.5J) with decent Bridgestone's. They must be the only wheel since the standard '8 hole' that Mercedes didn't give a decent name to LOL! My new set of bolts and lockers have arrived, so as soon as the electrics are back together, I'll get these fitted (I can only get to one side of the car at the moment)

[MrT]

So the wiring loom and throttle body are now back in. My wallet is SUBSTANTIALY lighter, but it seems to have done the trick.
And now the arches are filled out nicely, it's crying out to be hit with the stick...

[peter96]

Any more updates on this bad boy?

[MrT]

Dec 4, 2016 20:12:34 GMT peter96 said:

Any more updates on this bad boy?

I'm afraid not. Following a house move to Higham Ferrers leaving me 25 miles from work, this is now safely tucked away in my double garage and attention has been obviously elsewhere.

But, SWMBO has bought me a new MIG welder for Christmas, so the tidy up will hopefully be under way before too long 👍

[MrT]

So I FINALLY got a couple of days to myself and straightened the garage out a bit:


So I started tearing Helga down this afternoon, and the first area of attention will be the OSF corner:






So, the OSF wing isn't worth attempting to save (anyone got any front wings for sale?), but the inner wing doesn't look any worse than I expected it to, so some new metal should see it as good as new.
Before I go any further though, I'll have the sill cover off hoist to confirm to myself that it's worth repairing lol!

[Deleted]

Hats off to you for future proofing these lovely motors. Had w124s and w201 my whole driving career. Best cars

[MrT]

So I've removed the strips of steel stuck to the inner wing using body filler (I already new this bodge was there) to reveal a severely holed but ultimately repairable section under/around the washer bottle.
Offside sill cover is off now, and I don't think the rust around the jacking points will polish out... 😱

[peter96]

Yikes thats some rust on the jacking points. How did it ever get through an MOT with them being so rusty. The jacking points were one of the first places that got checked when I took.any of my old 190s to the MOT. At least when you sort it properly it"ll probably last another 20 odd years. Keep up the good work.

[Deleted]

Replacement sections can be had for around 50 quid a corner. I'll be buying soon in the next few months then hunting for a quality welder