Mercedes Roadside Assistance
I was stupid and left my key in the on position when I closed my windows one evening while on vacation. In the morning, my battery was dead. I wasn’t worried because I carry one of those battery packs with a jumper, a pump, a light, and an AC outlet. My wife and son purchased the battery thing for me as a gift. Well the thing wouldn’t jump my car. It was fully charged but it just didn’t have the power to get my car to turn over. It was close, but it just wouldn’t do it. I was in a kind of weird remote location on Shelter Island at the end of Long Island in New York. It is near the Hamptons, but access is limited by ferry access so it is much quieter with many fewer people. There is only one gas station on the island and I learned that they only pump gas, which is available at a considerable price premium.

Anyway, I was stuck and I had to leave at 5:00 AM the next morning to pick-up another guest that was scheduled to stay with us for the second week of vacation. I called the 1-800 number and within 15 minutes a guy named Matt was on his way to see me from the Mercedes dealer in Southampton, NY. He called me from his car and along with his GPS I helped direct him to my location on Shelter Island. He had a bigger battery pack and had no problem starting the car, but I decided to get a new battery, which he had on his truck. I was due for a new battery anyway, since it had been 5 years since it was replaced and I didn’t want to risk anything for my early departure the next morning.

It was just awesome to have my car fixed on the lawn in Shelter Island. Unbelievable actually, and it was even free!!! That is except for getting the new battery. I was afraid they wouldn’t even come to my aid, since my car is old with too many miles. It was just a fantastic feeling to get what I needed out on the island.

The additional Great News!!!
The other thing was that the mechanic went a bit crazy about the fabulous condition of my car. He was gushing all kinds of compliments about my car and my wife heard every word. She was impressed that someone else was so enthusiastic about my car. She always thinks I am a little bit crazy the way I take care of my car. My wife also drove my car quite a bit while we were on the island, since it was our only vehicle. She frequently commented about how much different it felt than her Honda Accord. Her car is nice and it is very well maintained, but of course it isn’t like driving my W124.

The great news was that my wife offered, all on her own, to let me do anything more I wanted to get my car back to like new condition. Good things can happen when you let someone drive your car. They can gain the same appreciation for the car that you have gained. I love my wife, I love Mercedes Roadside Assistance, and I love my W124!!!

I should add that it is like a car show on the island. Lots of money so there are lots of gorgeous cars. It seems folks keep exotic new and older vehicles in their garages on the island and drive them in the summer when on vacation from the big city. It is fun to drive my car on the island and join in the car show. I don’t feel bad in my W124, even next to new Bentleys or perfect older exotic vehicles. The W124 really can hold its own.

W124 on the lawn at Shelter Island (last year's photo)

 

yeah.. its free regardless if you are the original owner or not...

they will do a number of things for you for free...

-they will change your tire...
-slim-jim unlock your car...
-bring you some gas if you run out

your car looks great
-charles

 

Thanks Charles.

I'm thinking about:
Suspension tweaking -

1. Bilstein Sport shocks
2. Sportline swaybars and busings

Maintenance -

1. AC compressor
2. Wiring harness - I think there are really 2, the main harness and the throttle body. I have to go back to some previous posts to figure it out again

Cosmetic -

1. front bumper filler piece and paint for front bumper
2. stainless exhaust tips welded on

I'm going to continue to wait to do the head gasket and the transmission until they get worse. It has already been 3 years with no further deterioration for both the gasket and trans, so who knows how long they will last. I could probably even wait for the wiring harness until the head gasket goes, but I thought it might be nice to get that done sooner and get it off the list of things I know I need.

 

Glad to hear you had a positive experience.

 

If you are going to do repairs, maybe the harness should top the list.
It can short out the on board computer & love will be lost again.

 

That was what I was thinking too. I definitely want to keep the love going. I am over my initial disappointments about how so many things seemed to start to fail at about 100K miles. I have been impressed that the leaks have not progressed and my transmission seems to be hanging in there. If I can do a few things now and then maybe a few more in the next year or two, then it really will not have been that bad at all. It will certainly be less money spent than the cost of a new vehicle and I still enjoy driving the car, so hopefully the good times will keep on going.

Are there 2 harnesses that should be done? I think I remember that there was a second slightly less expensive harness that should also be replaced.

 

Starter harness?

 

I thought the second one was related to the fuel injection or something like that. I will have to do some searching.

 

I've replaced the top harness. Its been said that the bottom harness lasts a bit longer, as it is not exposed to as much heat.

 

i love that 1-800 #
there the best! thats why we drive benz baby! only the best!

 

Customer service....They are the best!!!

 

What did the "special edition" include? Nice looking ride and now it's off the Wife Radar.

 

I just picked up an '94 E420. Is Mercedes roadside assistance is free? Is this worldwide or just the US. I live in Canada.

 

i would imagine that surely it is free in both the us (us for sure) and canada...

and in any country that has a local mb dealer....

 

ive done several things on your list over the last few years...

all my gaskets were replaced a month ago... had an oil leak that shorted my spark plugs.. (atleast thats what my SA told me) this happened approx 3k miles after i changed my oil and put in the mobile ONE oil for high mileage. Im not for sure... but im pinning the gasket leak to the oil. I had also put it in my c320 and noticed a burning type of smell when running it... so i changed both cars back to the recommended mobile one. no more burning smell in my c320..

Ive also had my radiator replaced...

and my trans... the gear was slipping... had it looked at and there was metal in the pan. i ended up going to a regular mechanic shop and paid somewhere a little under 3 grand... it only came with a 12 month warranty... At the time i think i was quoted somewhere in the 5 gs ballpark for the dealer to do it.... which would have came with a 4 year 50k mile warranty... if you look around there might be some national chains that offer longer.

oil pressure gauge sensor... the sensor was flopping back and forth.. ended up being a wire that was just over exposed to heat...

suspensions been down with bils HD's and stock springs but id like to put some HR's on it...

also.... o2 sensor... which i changed myself.

a/c fan... the hamster in the cage stopped running..

wiring harness was done years back under warranty...

only issue with my car now is that the cruise is working when it wants too...

down the road ill probably get paint work done... paints starting to fade a little... and the leather is starting to crack in a few places... maybe someday ill make it look as nice and fancy as chris' or zorro's!!!

oh.. and one more thing. ive been debating on pullling the trigger on getting one of those single DIN touch screen gps/radios. I'm not a real big fan of the flip out screens and just dont like the cluttered look of the suction cup hand held ones. Plus, the anti-theft issue of having to take it out and put it away each time i use it and/or park. ( i guess you can just call me lazy)

over all im happy with this 14-15 year old car. It only has 125k miles on it and ill probably have it until it dies!!

-carino