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Welcome me to the ranks of W124

3K views 28 replies 12 participants last post by  Night_Sailor 
#1 ·
I've been mostly lurking for the last few years while steadily searching for a clean 1987 300TDT. (I would have considered an nice TD coupe like the black and tan one posted last year). And now feel I have something to talk about.

I finally found a fairly nice 1987 W124 TD wagon. I'll be the third owner.
It has not only an updated cylinder head--but the latest one recommended by MB. It also has piles of receipts and was well maintained by an old man who bought it for $12,000 in 2001 with just under 120k miles on it. The motor was overhauled with many new parts including the Mercedes recommended updated head in 2008 $7000 with 134k miles. The under hood looks fantastic. Obvious new parts everywhere.

I was looking at a 300CE with a 5speed. I was thinking about buying it just for the manual transmission. now I regret that I didn't buy it. My dream car would be a 300TDT with a 5 speed.

Almost everything else works including the sunroof.

The climate control needs some attention. Two of the vacuum pods need to be replaced.

Body and paint are nice--no rust. Interior shows some wear--not bad. I may change the front seat covers and arm rest.

I also got the owners manual and initial purchase papers, Mercedes maintenance log which carried it up to about 129,000 miles, piles of receipts, and two CDs with a maintenance manual.
 
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#8 ·
Congrats on the buy :)

Yes thats correct what Steve said, look at the difference in colors of the needles, they are all close to orange while the speedometer is yellow, and the mph should be yellow not orange.

I think that you should check the brakes behind this rear wheel, there's a sign of rust / brownish dust inside the alloy wheel, which means the brakes may need some attention...

And a little cleaning to the interior will restore the looks of it.
 
#5 ·
I feel fortunate. Most of the cars I looked at had the -14 head or needed bodywork. Most needed substantial work--Then again I don't know how much I'll have to put into it. I hope not much. I know I'll probably need to take the dash apart to fix the two vacuum pods that can't be reached otherwise. I am dreading that.
 
#7 ·
My thoughts on the speedo as well. Front seats look more like 250k miles. Don't believe the mileage. IMHO, something fishy about this car.
 
#9 ·
5spd swap is lots of fun. Find a 86-88 300e fw, ds, pedal cluster, shifter, linkage and 717.430 trans and be happy. Would also recommend 2.88 rear end. Leather is pretty rare in diesels/wagons of that age. Any chance the car came from canadia?
 
#10 ·
I have the CarFax on the car. It is consistent with the odometer reading.
The seller told me the brakes were serviced in the last year. The PO, his father, was too old to drive and had his licensed pulled by his family's request (dementia) for getting into too many accidents--in his other car. I believe the car has sat for a long while. The battery was just replaced, and the tires, which is consistent with that. It is priced fair, in my opinion, although I am no expert on Mercedes, even if the mileage were far higher. I was looking for a clean looking 1987 300TDT and this is the one, and I've no intention of backing out on the deal. The only thing I would have liked better is a dark gray or black interior.

The seller strikes me as fairly honest, but he is withholding some information. Steering wheel does not seem to be all that worn. I pressed about the Vent Pods and he tap danced around my question, "Do I have to pull the whole dash for that?" and his response was that someone with small hands might be able to replace it by reaching in. I did not believe that. The stereo was out and I believe he pulled that specifically to access the pods and was unable to do so.

I would have expected the seats to look better with lower mileage. But they are leather which I understand does not hold up as well as MBTex. There are no tears. A dye job would make them look nice IMHO.
 
#12 ·
I agree with you about the leather sometimes it does wear out quicker and color comes off with were.I'd estimate the value of your car between $3500 to $4500 some go for more depending on the options and how clean it is. since its a one year only it is a very popular car. that puts the car around $1000 to $1500 higher than other W124s.
 
#23 ·
Could be, or maybe he liked the look. My dad added a third taillight to his Corvette--for the looks of it.

I am not knowledgeable enough to know how it is supposed to look. I do like the way it looks though. I'll study both sides and see if they are different.
 
#17 ·
Mileage is verified as accurate. Needless to say I am thrilled.

Document records show professional shop R&R on speedometer, and before and after odometer readings are consistent with no sign of mileage discrepancy.

I also found records for every single fill up the PO made to the car along with fuel economy readings around 22-23 around town and the highest about 29-32, with the highest recorded 32.9. I may put all this in a spreadsheet, just to sort out what was done. I can go back further to include the first owners normal service.

So many parts were replaced. Noteworthy are the trap oxidizer and new cylinder head. The rear suspension is all new, the power steering, rear brakes including parking brake was done in August 2014. Front brakes did not need work. I'll have to dig through the records more carefully. I recall seeing something about front struts. Many small parts hard to ID that could be bushings and things of that nature.

I read somewhere online that ball joints fail on these cars at about this age. I did not see anything on that. The seller told me the panel under the engine is in not so good shape. I'll try to find a better one. No sign of leaks anywhere.

I have insurance on it now--$388 for 6 months includes collision and comp with low deductible on a book value of $5000. That is cheaper than my Volvo.
 
#25 ·
I've come up with a name for the new car.

I'm calling it Zugzwang.

German for the compulsion to move. It is a term I learned on the chess team. In Chess it sometimes leaves you in a weaker position--fitting since parts cost could do that to me.
 
#27 ·
Checkmate!



These vehicles are the Ruy Lopez of automobiles. You have a better than 50% chance of winning with the RL opening or owning a Benz. If you should choose to forfeit your game, there are more than a few enthusiasts who would be willing to take that diesel wagon off your hands.
 
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#26 ·
I think I figured out what happened to the seats. There is not cracking but the dye looks bad on the seat bottoms. I think the old guy used Windex or ammonia to clean them and that dried them out. The seat color is 272 listed as Blue or Royal Blue. I'm trying to find someone to sell me the dye. But it looks like they only have a similar color code 132 that looks too dark..

Likewise there are faint scratches in the paint that are only visible up close. I was told the old man would wipe it down with a wet rag instead of washing the car. Considering the money he spent on mechanicals, you would think he would take care of something simple like finishes better.
 
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