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Well after about 6 years of ownership I thought it would be time to make a build thread and share the maintenance and mods I've done to my car, hopefully the info will be helpful.
Purchased the car November 2014 with 109k miles. Imperial red on parchment interior.
Car drove excellent at the time and everything except the outside temperature display worked. Changed the engine oil, transmission fluid, and differential fluid immediately. Car also needed a new cat to pass smog in CA. Drove it without doing anything else except new brake fluid and coolant until 2017. Brakes squeaked a lot during this time. Also during this time I was collecting parts to put new suspension, big brakes, body kit and wheels on the car.
Found a cheap genuine AMG gen 2 front bumper, it was cracked in several spots and help together with zip ties. For the price I couldn't complain.
Planned to take the car to Legends of the Autobahn 2017 so I decided to repair and install the front bumper and complete the rest of the kit with fiberglass reproduction parts until I could find the genuine ones later.
Unfortunately my body shop convinced me that using a reproduction front bumper was easier and most cost effective to mount and paint than my cracked genuine piece. The car was not completed in time and did not make the event. Which in hind sight was a blessing because the fitment of the front reproduction bumper was terrible. The side skirts and rear bumper were actually very good and I was able to compare those pieces side by side with my friends genuine ones and they were identical minus the side skirts not having jack hole covers.
Put dark amber corners from Hella on and took it up to angeles crest. The car began to leak a noticeable amount of oil during this time.
Picked up R129 SL Silver Arrow brake calipers that were refinished with new seals.
Started piecing the genuine bumper together, new hook hook cover, fog lights fitted. I chose to tint the fog lights because the glass on them had many imperfections and the tint hid them very well.
Had a euro trunk insert shipped to me. These are currently NLA
Genuine bumper repaired and painted along with a good impact strip.
Comparing the real pieces to the replica. Front wasn't even close. Rear was spot on and fitment was excellent. Skirts were good as well minus not having the jack hole cover.
Oil leak kept getting worse so me and my friend who knows these cars very well found that the oil was coming from the rear corner of the cylinder head. Bought the updated head gasket, new head bolts, and anything associated with/while your in there/etc. So many parts not pictured but basically the top and front of the motor and cooling parts will be new.
Found a set of gently used H&R cabriolet springs and paired them with new Koni shocks. So naturally now I bought new front suspension parts as well. Also managed to find a sport line sedan steering box.
My wind deflector was missing when I bought the car so I was able to find one a few years later. Made a massive difference in the cabin. On my way to pick up the deflector my car developed a constant misfire.
Valve cover gasket was wasted so it leaked oil into the plugs and wires. Killed a coil. Replaced plugs with factory ones and put in a new coil. Misfire gone.
Finally got around to installing some of the parts I was collecting. I had the monoblocks refinished a 2nd time after they started peeling that's why they are off and in the photo. Also at this point there was a ton of brake and suspension work lined up so I decided to to that first.
H&R vs stock Nickel plated rotors, new Koni shocks, Rebuilt silver arrow brake calipers New stainless steel brake lines front and rear C36 AMG steering wheel Euro trunk panel installed and new tail lights. Put the genuine front bumper on and wired in the fogs. The correct factory wiring harness is NLA so I chose to have the bumper fog lights to turn on with the headlight ones. Also the correct fog light for AMG gen 2 bumper is an auxiliary high beam, I am using a C36 fog which is the correct beam pattern to be used as a fog light. Installed new bottles, powder coated valve cover.
Wasn't able to do the head gasket and the associating parts this round. After the suspension I was super excited to start driving the car so that was delayed. Sportline steering box was installed along with the suspension and brakes. After finishing the work on the car very late I woke up early the next day to get an alignment asap.
Was able to get the car back from alignment in a reasonable time. Went to the exhaust shop next.
Had the correct for gen 2 square tips put on in as close to the correct location as possible while retaining the stock muffler. Tips are off a w202 C36 AMG.
Loved the car now that it was getting dialed in and shaping up to be what I wanted when I got it. Enjoyed it so much, drove it for another year without issue minus the oil on the floor which was bad but not getting worse. Car never over heated so I figured I had some time.
C124, A124, S124, W124, W124036. Almost every variant
Was having a great time driving it. Definitely noticed all the things wrong with the car though. Even though when I got the car it drove good, it basically needed one of everything. Car was still fine to drive but unfortunately the last time I had it out the top tonneau cover latch stopped working. I had previously replaced this part. I was not able to repair the part so it was time to fix whatever else I needed.
The final thing I did before more work began. Found some LEDs that had a good beam pattern in a color temperature I liked. The main headlight and bumper fog match perfectly, the fog in the headlight is a little more blue. Also for those wondering the bulb out indicator in the cluster does not trigger with the LEDs I used.
Pulling the head off Turns out the previous owner did the head gasket before but used a victor reinz which did not have the reinforcements like the updated factory one and reused the headbolts which were visibly stretched. Cleaned up the block Head sent out to machine shop and examined. Luckily all the guided are fine and the head wasn't warped. New valve stem seals and resurfaced. Front timing cover removal for timing chain replacement. Tons of oil everywhere and we discovered that the fan bearing bracket needed to be replaced. Timing chain at 119k miles. If you look closely you will see that it is stretched. This job is a little easier with the head off. I highly recommend you do this if you are doing a head gasket. New guides and tensioner are being installed too. Taking the interior apart to access the top hydraulics that are leaking.
And this brings us to today, nearly 6 years later and 10k miles. Still working on it and waiting for some parts from the dealer and other places. Hope you enjoyed reading. I'll post more updates as things progress. Happy to answer any questions!
Last edited by SoCal210; 07-02-2020 at 02:23 AM.
Reason: rearrange text
Saw my diff mounts were wasted so I borrowed my friends tool and pressed in some new ones. When we removed the diff we saw it was leaky, checked fluid level and it was fine, but as a precautionary measure I am having all the seals redone.
Exhaust removed in one piece. Magnaflow carb legal cat that I've been using for the last 6 years Resealed diff installed with new mounts and flex disc Trans mount and front flex disc removal Original transmission mount. Comparison of new and old.
Got the resealed diff back in with new mounts and flex disc. Decided to replace the center support, bearing front flex disc, and transmission mount as well. The original mount was still on the car and the rubber was done, a lot of movement with not much force. Flex disc showed signs of wear but was replaced at one point. Center support had some play in it but was usable. Used a puller tool to pull the old bearing off. Pressed in the new bearing in the new support, used a "custom" tool to press the bearing on the driveshaft. We had to pull the exhaust off to get to the driveshaft, on the cabriolet you have to remove the driver side rear chassis brace to be able to do this easily. I also replaced some worn out exhaust hangers as well. It looks like I will also have to replace the bolts for my chassis brace as well. Also used this opportunity to clean the oil under the car. A lot of it got everywhere from it leaking from the back of the cylinder head and flying down the rest of the car while the car was in motion.
question - what was the historic plate process and do you still have the G&N Motors license plate frames - are you in SoCal - would like to share some wisdom.
The historic plates are easy to get. Your car must be 25 years old. It will actually need to have completed the 25th year of existence to qualify. It goes from model year. I had applied my 94 in December 2019 an it was rejected. For a 95 you will have to wait until 2021. You will need the REG17A form. Here is a link to it: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/upload...3/reg17a-1.pdf
You will have fill it out and write a check for $25 to the DMV and mail it in. It is much quicker than ordering personalized plates. Mine came in 3 weeks. You won’t have to surrender your old plates either. I do still have the G&N Motors frame. I am in SoCal. South OC area.
Last edited by SoCal210; 07-22-2020 at 03:36 AM.
Reason: Typo
SoCal210 -
Raise a glass in a toast for the Red 1994 E 320 Cabriolet, job well done. Appreciate the w124 pictorial showing much of the enhancements. The cab looks great.
My `94 E Class Coupe is having much of the same enhancement/work sequence; OEM Sportline suspension components, etc., (OE springs, OE Bilsteins B4 Sportline, OE Sportline bushing components) Engine front refresh, (seals/rollers/etc., OE components) Radiator/Condenser. All recently completed. ..
And now onto the failing (rusting) catalytic converter, its what is next up for my E 320 Coupe.
Thanks for the specific "tasks" insights!
Cheers, Mike
Last edited by M. Schneider; 09-05-2020 at 08:05 PM.
AMG fender spacer kit installed. I technically used the incorrect w201 kit which includes and extra spacer for the bumper, but this I highly recommend as it improves clearance for the wheels and in my opinion improves the fitment of the bumper and fender. The spacers push the fender out 15mm. In the pictures you can see that the tire is less visible. Install is easy. For doing the lower part by the side skirt you will have to remove the cladding which might break some clips so you should have some on hand if you want to do that.
Comparing the standard US headlight to these E500 ones.
And here they are installed. I did have to get a different headlight connecter and repin the harness to work with these lights. My installation of the lights is not complete yet because I still have to run power to the city light and route vacuum lines for the level adjust. Also still need to tinker with the fitment so they are 100%.
SoCal210 -
How would you characterize this combo? The headlight (driving) performance of an LED source coupled with the OEM Euro headlight lenses? I'm presently using the OE halogen source coupled with OE Euro (Hella) glass lenses.
The entire unit of my headlights are euro. I would say that the output is a massive improvement over what a halogen bulb can do, these lights came with some high output halogen bulbs and i briefly tested them out before swapping my LEDs. The beam pattern is retained if you use a correct LED but the light output is greatly increased. I would highly recommend anyone to use these LEDs. Brand is "Auxito".
@W126AMG the silver arrow calipers were mostly plug and play. For a car like my 94 w124 I had to buy longer bolts for the front calipers, bend the heat shielding back slightly, and lightly trim the rear heat shielding. The rotors you use are from a late model r129 SL. They are 334 from and 300mm rear. Here are the part numbers:
Front: 129-421-23-12-64
Rear: 129-423-05-12
If you want to avoid bending and trimming the shielding you can purchase the corresponding Silver Arrow parts.
Last edited by SoCal210; 09-05-2020 at 07:43 PM.
Reason: typo
@W126AMG the silver arrow calipers were mostly plug and play. For a car like my 94 w124 I had to buy longer bolts for the front calipers, bend the heat shielding back slightly, and lightly trim the rear heat shielding. The calipers you use are from a late model r129 SL. They are 334 from and 300mm rear. Here are the part numbers:
Front: 129-421-23-12-64
Rear: 129-423-05-12
I believe you meant to write rotors, not "calipers".
Starting with the MY94 and new E Class name, wasn't there a w124 uprated brake system? .. The braking character of our MY94 E Class 320 Coupe, running OE 16"x 7.5 ET41 alloys fitted with 205/55/16" Michelin Pilot Sport sneakers has always been up to the task of braking the coupe. .. Is the Silver Arrow caliper/rotor upgrade more of an aesthetic enhancement? .. I mean, my E-320 coupes original calipers look like schee-it, corroded, and all. .. A nicely finished silver-colored caliper set would look the part .... Any pic's ??
Last edited by M. Schneider; 09-08-2020 at 03:02 PM.
I believe you meant to write rotors, not "calipers".
Beginning with the MY94 w124 series, wasn't there an uprated brake system? .. The braking character of our MY94 E Class 320 Coupe, running OE 16"x 7.5 ET41 alloys fitted with 205/55/16" Michelin Pilot Sports radials, has always been up to the task of braking the coupe. .. Is the Silver Arrow caliper/rotor upgrade more of an aesthetic enhancement? .. I mean, my E-320 coupes original calipers look like schee-it, corroded, and all. .. A nicely finished silver-colored caliper set would look the part .... Any pic's ??
There was, the difference being the rear rotors being vented instead of solid. Fronts are ATE 4 piston with the rotors being 294MM. Rears on vented and non vented are 2 piston with 278MM. The silver arrow calipers are 4 piston Brembo with a 334MM front and ATE 2 piston rear 300MM vented rear. I noticed a big difference in braking performance when I upgraded. This may have been due to my original brakes not being 100% but even the other stock cars I've driven the brakes do not feel like they can stop as easily or quickly like a car with silver arrows. It's more noticeable when spirited driving. If you just cruise around it may not be worth to upgrade. You also will never be able to fit the original 16" 8 hole wheels anymore. Smallest wheel that will fit will be a 17" and you'll need to watch the clearance still, some wheels have spokes that will make contact with the caliper.
Thank you @bicylindrico ! I've been following your videos on youtube for a bit. I love that you swapped an m113 with a 722.6 in a w124. I personally like that driveline much more than the m104/m119 engines and the 4 speed transmissions that came in the 124s.
Alright it's been awhile from the last update. We got the car back together and fired her up. Idle was jumpy but otherwise everything was fine. No leaks thankfully and everything working optimally. So I began chasing down the poor idle. Checked everything and could not figure it out. My friend pointed out to me that the harness to the throttle body was made of eco junk and mine looked like it was original. Luckily my friend had a part number matching core I was able to use and me and my friend redid all the wiring. Got that done late at night. Decided to swap it in and thankfully that was my issue. So PSA to anyone who hasn't done the upper, lower, and throttle body harness, just redo all of them if they haven't been done yet.
Other things that were done:
Replaced what looked like the cabin air filters that the factory put in back in 1993
While there was some down time I decided to put all the documents of my cars into a binder and make it look pretty.
Old service records I found in the service booklet inside the owners manual pouch!
Becker traffic pro installed which gives me the option of auxiliary input which then allows me to hook up a bluetooth streamer to it. Also noticed that it improved the sound quality coming out of the stock speakers. Love the factory look it still retains while giving it some modern features.
And this is what the narrow skirts look like now with the widened front fenders from the AMG spacer kit.
Here's some glamour shots
Ruff day
First drive home First fill up with all the work completed You can see how wide the front is with the spacers on the bumper and fenders First drive with throttle body harness redone! First time experiencing it driving the way it should Cleaned up post radio install.
And this wraps up my head gasket project. Started on June 1st, "completed" August 30th. I consider the throttle body rewiring to be the thing that completed this project since the idle was so poor before the car was not enjoyable to drive. That was completed today September 19th. So this project took me about 10-12 weeks. Unfortunately a lot of stuff came up as the car was being taken apart so there was a considerable amount of time waiting on parts, also some areas where I didn't feel my knowledge was adequate I had to wait for my tech friends who knew what they were doing. So in conclusion I am over my initial timeline by 3-4x of what I thought it would be and about 2-3x over budget. Now my car is completely up to date on mechanicals. No leaks, everything working as intended. Totally worth it in my opinion, not many 124s on the road today that have had all their issues addressed. Puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. So now my future plans are to drive this car as often as I can!
Very nice build thread and diary of your work Socal.
I was just wondering about your engine harness and ETA, but you got it covered in these latest posts.
Im guessing you have the 2933 harness for this one - the updated ones are not cheap.
The monoblocks (17" I presume) with your H& R lowering kit give the cab just the right look with its height.
What did you end up using with the spring pads? original or resize?
How is the ride now with the H&Rs/ Konis in place?
@khomer2 Thankfully the previous owner sourced a updated upper harness for the car. The 2933 harness you mentioned would be for a non asr car, mine has ASR; not sure what the number is on that. Also had to rebuild the starter harness as well. The spring pads I used on the H&R springs were 4 front and 2 rear. Originally the car was on 2 pads all around on the stock suspension. After first putting the suspension on the ride was pretty rough. Last time the car was doing I played with the dampening adjusters on the shocks and now it rides vert comfortably again. The monoblocks are a square set of w202 amg 17" fronts which are 17x7.5 et 35 I believe.
Flushed the cooling system until the water that was coming out was clear.
Took several days to bleed the cooling system after. Very glad I did this new thermostat housing with the bleeder screw, made the job so much easier.
On this night another piece of the hydraulic top rams went out. So I replaced those as well.
Since I put the euro headlights in I had started piecing together the vacuum adjust parts and finally was able to retrofit it to my car.
Also secured a warning triangle
My friend found a C36 at the junkyard so we grabbed some stuff. I mainly went for the rear wheels to be able to have a staggered set on my car. Will be refinished and new tires mounted when the current set needs replacing.
Been driving this car a lot! I think I'm at 3,000 since the head gasket.
07-02-2020, 02:04 AM
1994 E320 Cabriolet Build Thread
