My 300E died while driving to work one morning wayback in the fall of 2014, and has ever since been a glorified overflow storage unit in the driveway. As of this past Friday the only working car out of three cars I own failed to crank when I was trying to leave to go to work. Having done much careful consideration and taking tally of known issues, the 300E won the affair with the least number of known problems to be fixed, hooray?!

And so tomorrow arrangements shall be made for it to travel off on a savings account emptying trek to the repair shop. Shall keep this board posted on the damages, err, repair expenses and details.

 

You wrote as if it were your choice to own a few cars as spares, and drive but wouldn't fix them until they die, and only pick the one to save solely based on cost estimate? Your cars would have wished they had a more loving owner in their next life, or would rather rest in peace than recalled from the grave. LOL!

Seriously, compared with many other makes or more modern Mercedes, the W124s are relatively easy and cheap to fix, and could last forever if you do the maintenance right. Sometimes, a cheap fix may prevent further damage; leaving a small issue unattended could be false economy. Personally, I am surprised by the ease to find W124 parts new, after-market, OEM and even factory-original at very reasonable price. Moreover, most W124 parts, used or new, are interchangeable among various models, and thanks to Mercedes' very successful global marketing of the 124 series some 30 years ago, one can practically find any parts in a local breakyard or from the Internet.

Wish you luck in recovering your 300E. It is more than a car - it is a modern classic that can, if treated well, be handed down to the next generation.

 

Oh, I do quite agree with your assessment in general. I haven't been in a good place financially for the past two years though, hence why this car has been sitting.

When it broke down I owned one other car, which had been a impulse purchase when I first acquired my drivers license and was something which I should never have bought. It too was already broken down at that time and was the reason why I did end up doing quite a lot of research and then buying the 300E. All the while I have been stuck with that first car because no one seems to want it.

When the 300E broke down near the end of 2014 I encountered nearly the same situation I've just entered now. The auto shop I always pay to work on my Mercedes cars (one of only two shops in my area that will touch a Mercedes-Benz) is booked and can not take my car in until around January 25th, 2017! At the time the 300E broke down the situation was similar with no opening to have it towed in for over a month and I desperately needed a car to drive to work everyday.

That was when I bought the 560SEL, which was a great price. The previous owner wasn't asking much for it because of its' high mileage and some minor condition issues.

Where I began running into problems was shortly after buying the 560SEL I lost my job and was unemployed for six months! Money I had been saving up to have the 300E repaired and to buy new tires for it had to be used for bills, living expenses, and to have a minor repair made to the 560SEL one time.

Fast forward a bit. The job I ended up getting, and still have, is a variable hour job. Most weeks I'm only scheduled part-time hours, and other weeks I'm scheduled for full-time hours, very little consistency to the hours I work each week, and sometimes it's day shift and sometimes it's night shift. Not a great job, but I haven't managed to find another job yet. Needless to say it manages to pay the bills, but doesn't leave much leftover to set aside towards expensive projects, like car repair. Not to say I haven't been setting the money aside to have the 300E repaired, I had simply been hoping the 560SEL would continue to operate without incident until I could have the 300E repaired sometime early in next year.

All that to say, getting the 300E repaired next year was planned for, but the 560SEL breaking down on me before that could be arranged for in a planned manner was not.

And yes, I have on several occasions in the past purchased and replaced parts on the 300E myself; brakes, alternator brush, the A/C control module, fuses, battery... all of the exterior lightbulbs, and the radio. But I lack the tools and skills to do much more beyond those sorts of things, and certainly the issue it has is something beyond me at this time. Something electrical, and/or electro-mechanical, but really not sure.

 

Yes, we all have a situation to manage. We all tend to learn the hard way to keep our cars, as striking a balance between passion and reality can be a struggle, unless money is of no object. Wish things would improve on your side.

It surprises me too that there aren't many workshops in your area, and the one that can take on Mercedes is in such good business. Have you considered other options like finding someone willing to come and identify the causes of death before taking the repair to the next level? In the long run, if you plan to keep the 300E as your daily car, it will be worth the while for you to consider DIY beyond basic maintenance and first line repairs. There are many resources on line.

 

Gamer_S,

we've all been in a tough place financially at one point or another. I'm glad to see that you're optimistic and you're improving your situation!

Why don't you share what's wrong with the 300E? There are many knowledgeable people here who will be glad to assist.

One more thing - every time something needs to be repaired/replaced on my car I take a step back and think: "OK, it would cost me this much to pay someone to do it. What would it cost me to buy the parts and the tools and do it myself? Is this an esoteric tool that I would never use again or will it benefit me in the long term?". Lots of times the stacks are in favour of just doing it myself.

For example: I changed my shocks myself not long ago. I can just use the money I saved on something else or I can invest it, let's say, in a floor jack. Now that's something that will see some heavy use and will in itself save money in the long term.

 

And, if I'm forced to go out and buy a tool, I'm getting the best tool I can. Believe you me, it is worth the price!

 

So apparently the issue that effectively left the 300E dead was... a failure of two different relays and a fuse.

Master Relay, the primary fuse, and some other relay I've forgotten the name of which the mechanic was pretty sure failed first and triggered the master relay and fuse failures.

He additionally had to replace the fuel lines, one of which was clogged with hardened GMO corn bi-product, and the other of which was cracked, empty out the four gallons of ruined gas, clean the fuel tank and fuel line filters, and top off the oil and transmission fluids.

So I am now back to driving my 300E as of this past Thursday, hooray!

Unfortunately he also informed me that my car has the worst case of under carriage rust he's seen in at least five years, to the point of advising me to get rid of the car, which I'm not in a financial position to do at moment. A working car is better than no car.
And unfortunately I forgot to ask him to take care of the alignment, as I'd forgotten just how badly the car pulls right, so have to re-schedule to have that done.

And the radio completely failed while it was parked. Had been experiencing issues with the radio cutting out prior to the car breaking down in 2014, bu the cassette player aspect had still been reliable. Now the radio powers up, but I get no audio out of it. Cassette deck portion just makes clicky noises, and likewise no audio.

He did evaluate under the hood and concluded that the engine is mechanically sound at least.. for what that is worth. Have put about fifty miles on it around town and going back and fourth to work already without incident.