FullBenztard

I just wanted to start off by saying this is the first car i have personally owned, not driven, but owned.

A little bit about myself, 18, from the middle of boring missouri, and this sunday a nice little w124 was delivered. Can i just start by saying the previous owner was the most DISGUSTING person i have ever met, the entire car is an ashtray, not to mention he told me it had things it didnt (nothing serious, dont worry), it was delivered sunday morning, and i got started. the dash was burned a bit (no clue...) and i hated the color of the center console.... so... i did what any logical person would do.... I ripped those suckers out and started prepping them for Vinyl!!

Here are a few pics of her when she was setting at the previous owners farm. it does have a little bit of rust i need to take care of, and before you say anything, the paint looks completely different after a nice wash, wash, wash, wash, claybar, wash, and wax (lol)




(drivers side rocker panel under drivers door)



And a little teaser



the car has about 220k, but, according to the sticker on the dash its had less than 20k on it since 2003

The worst part, aside from what you can see (ignition switch, i have one on the way) is that i got NO keys with it, so if i lock it, im screwed, when i can afford to get a scytec remote lock system i will slap that puppy in, but not having anyone want to hire you is really gonna slow getting that down. my idea was to get a new door key and switch for just the drivers door, to try and save money, that way if my remote is dead, i can just grab the key from the stash box hidden on the car.

Also, if you see the wires hanging out of the radio pocket, it was broken into at a kansas city car storage place, radio was stolen, and the lock on the trunk was REALLY jacked up. im going to putting an actuator on there so that i can lock it, the factory mechanism works, i just dont see the need for it when i can pull all the lines for it and remove 2 lbs from the car. there is no spare, so im looking for a 15"x6.5"(5x112) wheel to match the others, and will be getting some $50 walmart tires since these are rotted from sitting. there will be more updates when i have work done, the only thing thats wrong with it is the alarm, it goes off every so often for no reason, hence getting the ScyTec system (with 4 window control module :]), and the SRS light is on, i guess that means the airbag is expired, but i can barely fit behind the seatbelt as it is LOL... so the airbag wouldnt be doing all too much that the seatbelt couldnt stop.

If you guys can think of anything else i should do to it, let me know! thanks!!!

~Skylar

RHW

be careful, that puppy may want far more than it is worth.

And if you don't be careful, then good luck! These cars clean up amazing.

FullBenztard

I think i can afford to spend a fair bit on it tho, only spent $700 on it so far (including purchase price)

190E 16V

Congratulations, on your new car!

You have good taste, and every W124 should be treated with the passion and respect that you are giving it.

A caution, though - there is a great adage that you should be aware of, " There is no such thing as a cheap Mercedes".

What you spend on serviceable tires and repairs could far exceed the price of a well-maintained W124 with far fewer miles.

That being said, good for you for saving this baby and your enthusiasm for resurrecting it!!!

Check the head gasket, first thing. That is a common and $$$ costly failure. and may be the reason the car was sidelined in the first place.

Also check the rubber flex-disks on the driveline, they tend to get hard over time and crumble and crack. This leads to all sorts of unwanted vibration.

Good luck, and keep us informed.

Paint looks great! !!!

FullBenztard

The previous owner had 7 volvos, 9 BMWs, and 4 mercs, it was sidelined because this was one of about 3 fixer uppers he had. he had a sweet looking early 80's volvo beside it, original paint and man did it shine, he sold it because he was out of room in the garage, and being 55, didnt really have the energy to part it out. he sold it to me for $599, so far i've bought wax, a keyswitch, and thats about it. i drove it down the road with year old gas and it ran fine, ran even better with 92 octane in it, head gasket is good, but the SRS light is annoying me. i might pull the bulb while i have the dash out, then all will be well. im replacing the factory ashtray and radio piece with a custom plate to mount a high-end head unit in, as well as a center channel speaker, and a USB plate for hooking up a thumb drive (sorry if thats not your guys' kind of thing, i view this as pretty much a luxury vehicle, and thats what i'd imagine a luxury vehicle having)

where would the flex discs be?

also, when i can afford to i will be building a cold air intake, building a new exhaust, and megasquirting it (v3).

i just repaired the passenger sides map pocket, going to do the drivers in a bit, will hit you guys up with some pics tonight.

I do have a question tho, the drivers side seat controls on the door are broken, the shaft for the headrest is broken, and the buttons are all missing. do you guys know where i could get those???

i am going to request it from tomsfore******** but is there anywhere else that might have it??

And one last thing, lol, im going to be doing shocks and struts since these are fairly worn, while im at it, i want to swap out the springs too. does anyone make like a 1" drop spring set for these? the fender gap is a little too much in my opinion.

Thanks in advance!!

190E 16V

Glad to hear it runs well and the headgasket is fine.
Check the tranny for shift delay into reverse, first sign it needs a rebuild. That's another big ticket item, but it will run like that for a long time before failure.

Flex disks are at either end of the driveshaft.

You can find out a lot, if you search this forum for previous posts relating to your queries.
All these questions have been asked before.

Check the "stickies" at the top of the forum index. There is a wheel fitment guide and a thread on running gear, wheels and suspension set ups of other owners:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ar-thread.html

Many people have lowered their cars by an inch, or more. Check out the photo these and search for lowering threads. There are several strut and spring combos for this car.

Cold air induction does not need to be added. Check out threads by
"Zach1328", they have addressed all the mods you mentioned - pros and cons.

Happy reading!

ML55CLA45

around Jefferson City or Columbia area?

I used to work at Capital Regional Medical Center in JC...

As far as the key, You should be able to bring your title and VIN number to the local MB dealer and pick up a new key for the car for around 15-20 bucks.

good luck-