Hard gas pedal - MBWorld.org Forums

Mar 27, 2003 | 03:45 PM

KOOLY2

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From: San Diego, CA

1992 Mecedes-Benz 400E

Hard gas pedal

I was wondering if the gas pedal on the 124 chassis is suppose to be hard. By "hard" I mean if its suppose to require a lot of pressure to force it down. On my 400E I have to push it down about an inch before it even moves the throttle and the whole time it requires plenty of force. A friend of mine told me thats how the older models are but it just seems not right. On my buddies ML500 the gas pedal is very easy to push down, just like in a japanese car.

Mar 27, 2003 | 08:27 PM

brianw430

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From: Iowa

'03 G500, '11 S550 4Matic, '12 SL63 AMG, '13 ML350, '16 AMG GTS Ed. 1

No, that's just how the 400E's are...mine was that way and I thought it was from the prior owners driving habits. That's just the way they are and nothing is wrong with your nice ride!

Mar 28, 2003 | 07:03 AM

bamberger_1

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From: Germany

'00 S320 W220, '98 A160 W168/ sold in 2005 '86 260 E W124 '90 260E W124

I never heard what you tell being "normal". The gaspedal is just a cable and a spring assembly pulling the throttle. As long as the cable travels freely and spring is loaded right the force required to operate the pedal is supposed to be somewhat linear, I suppose. So check the cable and the spring and its adjustment.

Mar 28, 2003 | 07:41 AM

benzbug

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My 1995 E320 coupe has a lovely pedal action but my 1993 320CE is really hard to press. My garage has dismantled, cleaned, lubricated etc. but it makes no difference. Same car, same engine, what can you say?

Pete

Mar 28, 2003 | 08:50 AM

oliverb

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From: Hedgesville, WV

1990 300E 2.6

Hard gas pedal

Hi:
My 1990 300E suffered from the same problem. The previous owner (my friend) replaced the original spring with a double spring (spring within a spring - providing the same tension as it is extended ) that he got from a Chevy dealer. The spring is painted blue in color and is a universal fit. By that i mean that the ends do not come bent. You bend them to fit to length. My friend experimented with several to find one that he thought had the tension he wanted. This was about 7 years ago. I am pleased with the feel - especially on trips. My friend did the same for another Benz he had prior to the 300E. Worked for my car, might work for you if you want to take the time to search out a spring.

Mar 28, 2003 | 10:05 AM

tkd_M119

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It's a "German" thing! My 92 400e has the same thing, same as a colleague's S320, same as another colleague's Porsche 944 Turbo same as my cousin's Porsche 928. That said, I DISLIKE this "tuetonic esthetic." I find it to be not just overbearing, but uncomfortable and it makes smooth tip in difficult as you must use extra muscle for smooth modulation.

Oliverb - can you post some part numbers and maybe some instructions on the mod?

Last edited by tkd_M119; Mar 28, 2003 at 10:07 AM.

Mar 28, 2003 | 10:30 AM

oliverb

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From: Hedgesville, WV

1990 300E 2.6

Hard gas pedal

You are right about it being a "German thing". For some reason they believed in using the gas pedal to exercise your calf muscles to build them to herculean proportions!
Unfortunately I do not have part numbers. The conversion was done about 7 years ago and a record of the exact spring from Chevy was not kept. I did not observe the modification. It was done by my friend when he owned the car. He removed the air cleaner so he could get to the spring, removed the spring and went shopping. I guess you are on your own to experiment, sorry.

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Mar 28, 2003 | 03:47 PM

KOOLY2

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From: San Diego, CA

1992 Mecedes-Benz 400E

Thanks for the insight. I talked to my friend who owns the ML500 and he said his 260E did the same. He pointed out that this car was one of the last to be built with these German characteristics; being the use of more traditional methods for how the cars behave. A couple examples being the pedals and steering. Now Mercedes has gone to a more mainstream approach of a Japanese or American feeling car which proves why the ML500 is like that. When he was talking about the steering though it grabbed my attention because my car has very hard steering. It has about the same force as his Boxter and also the pedals have the same feel. Since it seems that these 124 cars are suppose to be like this I can only imagine that it is designed for highway use at high speeds. The steering is especially accurate at 80 m.p.h. plus speeds. It's just around town it feels like driving a sports car due to the forced required to move and steer the car. I will try the spring issue to see if I can somehow make the pedal easier to use, thank again!