I recently bought my first E320 CDI (om648s) Well, I actually bought TWO of them! One car will be a parts donor to the car that I'm looking to restore to a better condition. What parts aren't immediately used and are good for spares or are candidates for reselling I'd like to make sure I nab.

Donor/parts car (https://www.mbdecoder.com/decode/WDBUF26J26A885797) is an 2006. Bought from second owner. Well maintained by the first owner up until sold mid 2016 with about 191k miles. Second owners crashed it; a replacement engine also happened on their watch (supposedly a quick lube joint failed to refill with oil) and was claimed to have had 90k miles on it (unsure if mileage is now 90k or it had 90k on it when it was installed). Car now has 220k miles. Exterior, color being same as project car, Cubanite Silver, has right side damage; the front door shell isn't salvageable (door card and internals will be gleaned); both left side doors, rear bumper skin and hood are keepers. Almost all interior bits (black leather, same as project car) are in good-to-very-good condition. Overall it's in very operable condition; engine runs strong and transmission works flawlessly. Only error codes I saw were audio-related.

Project/recipient car (https://www.mbdecoder.com/decode/WDBUF26J25A743755) is an 2005. I had it professionally inspected. I am expecting to take delivery of it in another week or so: it's being transported from out of state. I targeted this car because it has the split/folding rear seats (I've come to figure that there were likely less than 10% of all cars brought to North America that had this option). It also has Dynamics seats (fully functional). I bought this car from the original owner (out of state). It has 195k miles and was reasonably well-maintained (though reports show gaps in service history; I talked to a guy who claimed to have been performing service work during these gap-periods- I hold this a bit suspect as it ended up with a good case of Black Death [this guy remediated it- I grilled him on the procedure and he seemed to know the procedure well enough]). Inspection report turned up a glow plug and rear license plate light error and during the test drive there was an issue with the transmission not kicking down (shutdown and on and it then worked flawlessly as the inspector tried to force it to occur again). So, the engine and transmission give me a bit of concern, and it is this that led me to buy the parts car: the goldmine of fasteners and hardware was also a compelling reason. The body and interior are in very good condition: other than the brake pedal needing replacement the interior needs nothing (but a good detailing). What, for sure, needs help, and most restorative work, is the corrosion on the engine, in the engine bay and on the undercarriage (various bits; really nothing on the body shell).

So... what are the "must grab" items from cars such as these? I'm building up ideas but want to hear from others with actual experience. There will be obvious things given what I find needs replacing on the project car. I'm thinking of things along the lines of the in-tank fuel pump: I have spent a bunch of time browsing new part prices, thinking that this is one such way of focusing on what to grab.

I'll need to keep the parts/donor car around for a while as I'll need it to supply the myriad of fasteners and assorted hardware that the project car will need. Brakes, calipers, rotors and pads (these are pretty new) will go on the 2005 (have ordered new, stainless steel lines for it). I'm going to take a look at the SBC counters. Suspension on both cars is mostly crapped out, so project car will get all new suspension parts: I realize that some stuff could be re-bushed, but I'm not going to do that, but suspect that there are likely pieces that are of value for others (who would be willing to re-bush).

 

1. I think I would grab the engine covers, (my 1992 started decomposing and it never looked goos after that).
2. DVD player in the trunk for GPS
3. Electric heater in the dash (mine is bad according to my scanner but I’ve never noticed it)
4. Interior trim that breaks (I’ve had a right side air vent fail, a right side rear door ash tray. Ceiling control panel, cracks in a wood trimmed steering wheel).
5. Headlights (the eco-plastic wires decompose inside them).
6. Swap for the better looking wheels (I’ve searched for a replacement at a salvage yard unsuccessfully).
7. Visors (not too hard the lubricate but if you have a spare, why bother).
8.Interior wood trim (it can crack and look poorly)
9. Rear differential (I’ve heard of these failing and being expensive to replace/repair).
10. Seat load sensors *these are in the mounting bolts on the floor and the plastic ball bushing decomposes)
11. Intake manifold (the throttle linkage stuff is a known problem although mine seems fine at 240,000 miles).

Cool problem,
Peter

 

Peter, many thanks for the input.

I'm thinking I'll be essentially gutting the parts car. Trim will certainly be pulled. I'm wondering whether I will want to pull the dash (I did that with an MKIV VW parts car [I'd had a lot of these- TDIs] and I still have that dashboard hanging around- never going to use it!). Visors will be kept (left/driver's side suffers from stiffness). Wondering whether to pull the headliner (it looks to be in good condition; will have to see how the one in the 2005 cleans up [couple of spots are ugly; only part of interior that doesn't look in very good condition). The overhead panel and components (I think the sensor stuff is a bit pricey).

The right side front and rear doors are questionable for salvage. I'll remove the door cars and door control modules (wiring?). Window motors? (the left side doors will be pulled whole)

Wheels on both cars are sub-par. Doubtful I can make up a decent set between all of them. Those on the parts car are actually worse on the outside. I suspect that rear side of rims on the 2005 are crapped out. Had an estimate from a top-notch wheel restoration place not too far from me and they said it would be about $1,100. I'm considering non-stock replacements (16" or course). I'll get a better idea when the 2005 arrives. I kind of put this at a lower priority.

Yes, headlights are coming out. Rights side headlight housing is a bit broken (bracket), but still works and therefore viable parts.

Rear differential, pull just the gears/diff? The diff on the parts car shows signs of leaking (bad seal? I haven't really gotten under to do any real probing, just a quick glance). The one on the 2005 is nice and dry, though rust tinged: I'll look to clean it up and paint it (in-car). Would I want to pull and keep the axles? (the ones on the 2005 look like heck; I might just clean and paint in-car as it would seem too much work to pull just to clean up.

Splash shields are on my must-pull list. Exhaust as well.

I know that these CDIs are rare here in NA, but looking around in salvage sites I'm just not seeing much in the way of even gasser E320s. As such I'm thinking that yanking everything down to the shell would be a good idea.

So... the fuel rail and injector/GP wire harness on the 2005 look like crap: harness from battles with black death, rail because? When I went to look at the [local] 2006 and opened up the trunk here's what I found (note: I'd just had the guy pull the engine covers- the ones for the 2005 are, well, the one over the head, is also a black death victim):




Supposedly the harness and rail are good: I will look to test the harness. Based on what people on Ebay are asking for these parts these add up to about $1,000. Also in this picture is that black plastic trunk edge trim piece (it's just dirty; the one on the 2005 is scuffed up (seal is also a bit scuffed up).