1991 Mercedes 230 CE - She's a beauty

[ud-uk]

I had been looking for a new retro for a while since selling my Nissan Bluebird to a fellow RR member probably 2 years ago now, but what to get?

I only had a £2000 budget to play with as all my other cash has been spent on my wife's MR2 which is now finished she says! I would of carried on improving it but she likes it as is it is.

I've been scouring the usual internet places for months with no joy, getting outbid on several contenders, but then RR came up trumps when this Merc was advertised a couple of weeks ago.

I got in touch with the seller "fantamanta" who told me all about it, and it sounded great, only drawback was it was a 420 mile round trip!

A quick look on network rail to check availability was done and I bought a ticket for the next morning, sometimes you just have to put the effort in if it's a car you really want, Ian (the seller) was good enough to pick me up from the station to collect the car.

I was more than happy with the car and the 5 hour drive back was a joy, with many admiring stares from fellow drivers in their modern boxes on the way, an overall round trip of 12 hours was well worth it.

Obviously the car's not perfect, the fuel gauge has a mind of it's own when it's under half a tank, and there is bit of a drone from the back over 70 mph but I'll get it into my local garage for a diagnosis as soon as I can.

I'm looking forward to maybe doing some subtle mods to it in the near future, but lets be honest the shape of these W124's look great straight out of the box.

[ruairi50]

BEAUTIFUL

[rblote]

Might not be perfect but I think it is pretty close. I too think that this is beautiful!

[peter96]

Oh very very nice and its even got a mushroom leather interior. Good luck with it.

[Mercdan68]

Glorious car

[SmokeEm]

I was intent on buying that too to put my wheels on but the distance put me off. (I really don't travel distance very well)

Hope to see it around sometime assuming u r close to Farnham?

[ud-uk]

Thanks for the great comments guys

I had the drone diagnosed today and it turns out to just be a wheel bearing thankfully, so that's booked in to be done when they have the part, haven't had chance to investigate the dodgy fuel gauge yet.

I'm not a massive fan of the wood work and some of the varnish has started to crack on the centre consul, I have some 3M gloss ember black wrap material which is black with a gold and dark red fleck which I think will work with the cars colour combination, I'm going to try and do this at the weekend if I get chance.

[Jem45]

Saw this for sale - looked like a bargain and still does! Good luck with it.

[piguin]

Beautiful car.

Enjoy and share your adventures with it

[ud-uk]

Got to say, I'm loving this car, we went for a weeks tour around Devon, me, the wife and our border collie, thankfully the car has a huge boot and carried all our gear with no problem, it's a great car for touring.

I had the front near side wheel bearing done and it's a lot quieter now, the fuel gauge was driving me mad and with a little investigation it turned out to be a sticky float.
I removed the float chamber from the tank, stripped it down and gave it a thorough clean with some degresant, popped it back in and it's been good as gold since.

I finally got round to removing the interior wood and getting the 3M wrapping vinyl on it today, I'm really pleased with the result, you can't really see the red and gold fleck in the photos, but it looks great in the flesh when the light hits it.

Next job is to sort the slow idle speed out, the idle air control valve isn't working 100%, I've got one on it's way from Germany, so that's a job for next weekend.

[minininjarob]

I really didn’t think the wrap on the woodwork would look good but it really works doesn’t it?

[ud-uk]

Not to much to report with work on the Mercedes, I haven't really use it much in the last 6 months but I did sort the idle problem out by replacing the valve and it's much better.

I've also tried adjusting the gearbox cable trying to get a smooth change between 2nd and 3rd, it's a bit of trial and error as there is also a vacuum adjustment on the gearbox itself, it's 90% there but still bugs me!

A pair of smoked rear lenses came up at a reasonable price so I've swapped those with the old amber ones so at least the front and back match now.

The only other thing done is a set of H&R lowering springs fitted all round which has made a big difference to cornering, and makes it look a little better (personal opinion) and hasn't affected the lovely ride.

I must start using the car more now the better weather is finally here, and learn how to take decent photos! here's a couple of rubbish pics I took after going to a local car show today.

Thanks for reading.

[mercedeslimos]

I just adore 124s. Definitely on the bucket list for me. Missed an 800 euro one last year. Might try pick one up that’s close to 30 years old, 5 quid a year tax would make even a 320 usable, at the moment it’s 1809 euros a year to tax a 3.2 litre...

[ChasR]

I do like a W124 like yourself! So much so that I bought one last November to scratch a long term itch!

When I bought mine I really wanted a diesel W124, but in many ways I reckon the 230E is a smart buy; they are cheaper to buy, almost as economical (what MPG are you getting?) and go a little quicker too. Have fun with the car and enjoy! Compared to many, that Zebrano wood isn't too bad and would carry some secondhand value .

[ud-uk]

May 8, 2018 7:31:44 GMT ChasR said:

I do like a W124 like yourself! So much so that I bought one last November to scratch a long term itch!

When I bought mine I really wanted a diesel W124, but in many ways I reckon the 230E is a smart buy; they are cheaper to buy, almost as economical (what MPG are you getting?) and go a little quicker too. Have fun with the car and enjoy! Compared to many, that Zebrano wood isn't too bad and would carry some secondhand value .

Yeah I know what you mean, I had admired them for ages and it was "on the list" so when I saw it for sale on this forum I just had to have it, I had a 123 a few years ago, a bright red saloon, I liked it but always wished it was a coupe, and now they are out of my budget so I started looking at 124's while they were still a couple of grand and not ten.

I don't know what MPG I'm getting to be honest I've never checked but it's certainly not a gas guzzler, I've had a lot worse, I'm really enjoying the car and there is a good following for them to get advice and tips to keep it running well.

Now we finally have better weather I'm going to be using it a lot more rather than laying it up in the garage, hope you enjoy yours too!

[peter96]

That really is a corker. Mercedes really do the best looking pillarless coops.

[ud-uk]

It's MOT time next week so a few bits and pieces needed doing, the rear brakes have had new flexi pipes and pads fitted, noticeably better thankfully, the exhaust heat shield has been rattling for ages so I've had it welding back together so it's now nice and quite.


My ongoing bad gearchange problem is now resolved, it turned out to be a split t piece section at the inlet manifold, it now changes up lovely, only took a year to get to the bottom of that!


Most exciting of all is a new set of wheels, might not be everyone's cup of tea but I think the gold suits the car.

Next job is to give the car a good compound and polish to make it look great for the gathering in a couple of weeks, can't wait!

[Geordie]

Beautiful.

[79cord]

Makes me think of '80's 500SEC, so obviously suits it. More retro character than the VIP look.

[mrbounce]

That is, quite simply, superb