New toy (new Merc owner)

New toy (new Merc owner)

Author
Discussion

Duke Thrust

Original Poster:

1,680 posts

246 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
Hello all,

I'm new to Mercedes ownership so please forgive any silly questions if they've been covered before.

Firstly, I've bought this little monkey:



I've ended up in a situation where I have all my cars in the garage at the same time. I was given a mk5 Escort 1.4 as a curtesy car, to be frank it's horrid. So I scanned the papers for a cheap runabout with a bit of character to keep me entertained for a couple of weeks.

The Merc has 4 months tax, 10 months MOT and cost me a whopping £280 (well, £278 as I found a two pound coin under the seat).

It drives beautifully and aside for a couple of small patches of surface rust it seems to be in great condition for a 27 year old car. I'm going to give it a quick re-spray to black so I can smoke about pretending to be East European mafia.

I'm totally smitten with it and intend to keep it!

However, it needs a couple of bits:
Rear seat belts
New throttle pedal (the metal bit is still there but the floor hinged bit is missing)
Door bin for the front drivers side

Apart from that it's in great nick, I'd like to get following though:
Leather seats
Period AMG wheels

Can anyone suggest a good source of parts (breakers etc). Also a good indie Merc specialist in the Cheltenham/Gloucestershire area?

Cheers,

Max



Edited by Duke Thrust on Monday 2nd July 10:36

bloodyniceben

299 posts

210 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
Nice W123 smile

With period chrome rusty wheelarch covers smile

Ben

Duke Thrust

Original Poster:

1,680 posts

246 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
bloodyniceben said:
Nice W123 smile

With period chrome rusty wheelarch covers smile

Ben
I've had a (quick) poke about and they seem to be okay - is that a common rust spot?

Is W123 the model? (total ignorance here)

bloodyniceben

299 posts

210 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
They can get a bit crusty, but only due to age, unlike the newer Merc's where rust is due to poor quality steel bought from a bunch of pikeys!!

W123 is the model code, one of my collegues has an 84 one, its used everyday and is going fine.

Ben

PS Your bootlid star is the wrong way up!!

Edited by bloodyniceben on Monday 2nd July 11:35

Duke Thrust

Original Poster:

1,680 posts

246 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
bloodyniceben said:
They can get a bit crusty, but only due to age, unlike the newer Merc's where rust is due to poor quality steel bought from a bunch of pikeys!!

W123 is the model code, one of my collegues has an 84 one, its used everyday and is going fine.

Ben

PS Your bootlid star is the wrong way up!!

Edited by bloodyniceben on Monday 2nd July 11:35
Oh yeah! I'll get that corrected when it's sprayed.

Are there any tips for the engine in terms of tune? Should I be cleaning a special whatsit or anything?

RedLeicester

6,869 posts

252 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
Comedy car you big woolly woofter!

Duke Thrust

Original Poster:

1,680 posts

246 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
RedLeicester said:
Comedy car you big woolly woofter!
It's cool. You know it, I know it.


Wacky Racer

38,998 posts

254 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
bloodyniceben said:
They can get a bit crusty, but only due to age, unlike the newer Merc's where rust is due to poor quality steel bought from a bunch of pikeys!!
yikes

bloodyniceben

299 posts

210 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
Wacky Racer said:
bloodyniceben said:
They can get a bit crusty, but only due to age, unlike the newer Merc's where rust is due to poor quality steel bought from a bunch of pikeys!!
yikes
What???

Ben

Wacky Racer

38,998 posts

254 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
bloodyniceben said:
Wacky Racer said:
bloodyniceben said:
They can get a bit crusty, but only due to age, unlike the newer Merc's where rust is due to poor quality steel bought from a bunch of pikeys!!
yikes
What???

Ben
So I have just ordered a new CLS and you are telling me the steel has been bought from a bunch of pikeys!!!....................hehe


scratchchin


bloodyniceben

299 posts

210 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
Wacky Racer said:
bloodyniceben said:
Wacky Racer said:
bloodyniceben said:
They can get a bit crusty, but only due to age, unlike the newer Merc's where rust is due to poor quality steel bought from a bunch of pikeys!!
yikes
What???

Ben
So I have just ordered a new CLS and you are telling me the steel has been bought from a bunch of pikeys!!!....................hehe


scratchchin
LOL smile

New cars are fine, old 210 E Class was the worst for rust!!

You will have a 30 year corrosion warranty anyway, so it will probably outlive you!!

Ben

Meeja

8,290 posts

255 months

Monday 2nd July 2007
quotequote all
bloodyniceben said:
Wacky Racer said:
bloodyniceben said:
Wacky Racer said:
bloodyniceben said:
They can get a bit crusty, but only due to age, unlike the newer Merc's where rust is due to poor quality steel bought from a bunch of pikeys!!
yikes
What???

Ben
So I have just ordered a new CLS and you are telling me the steel has been bought from a bunch of pikeys!!!....................hehe


scratchchin
LOL smile

New cars are fine, old 210 E Class was the worst for rust!!

You will have a 30 year corrosion warranty anyway, so it will probably outlive you!!

Ben
I didn't think Wacky was that old....

hehe

Egbert Nobacon

2,835 posts

250 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2007
quotequote all

Mercman - 02380 784444 - www.mercman.net




Pentoman

4,818 posts

270 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2007
quotequote all
Interesting choice! That would be the twin-cam 280 I presume. Not regarded as the best of Mercedes engines but I've no idea why.. so could be worth a service just in case?

Egbert Nobacon said:
Mercman - 02380 784444 - www.mercman.net
Yep Mercman are the best bet for used parts - at least better than some of the other dodgy places. Though they did send me a bumper without including the towing-eye cover rather annoyingly (thats probably normal i suppose).. A leather interior may cost a bit though. What about MB-tex - much more common and hopefully cheaper. It's really vinyl but most people don't know. And it lasts forever.
link: http://www.msdra.com/old/W123paloint.jpg

Period AMG wheels would probably be AMG Pentas.

All this may be available from breakers but keeping an eye on ebay would be better for cheap deals (along the lines of the original intention of the car!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2x-9J-2x8J-AMG-PENTA-112-PCD...
^ Those would look fantastic!

Pentoman

4,818 posts

270 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
oh also check out the 'faszination' video http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2742065367...
for a few W123s being put through their paces.. lovely stuff

Duke Thrust

Original Poster:

1,680 posts

246 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Pentoman said:
Interesting choice! That would be the twin-cam 280 I presume. Not regarded as the best of Mercedes engines but I've no idea why.. so could be worth a service just in case?

Egbert Nobacon said:
Mercman - 02380 784444 - www.mercman.net
Yep Mercman are the best bet for used parts - at least better than some of the other dodgy places. Though they did send me a bumper without including the towing-eye cover rather annoyingly (thats probably normal i suppose).. A leather interior may cost a bit though. What about MB-tex - much more common and hopefully cheaper. It's really vinyl but most people don't know. And it lasts forever.
link: http://www.msdra.com/old/W123paloint.jpg

Period AMG wheels would probably be AMG Pentas.

All this may be available from breakers but keeping an eye on ebay would be better for cheap deals (along the lines of the original intention of the car!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2x-9J-2x8J-AMG-PENTA-112-PCD...
^ Those would look fantastic!
Those wheels would look amazing, might have a bid on them!


smrc426

735 posts

209 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
We had 2 W123s, one after the other, both estates. They were fantastic. The 1st one took us to Tuscany and back, also around Germany etc. It was rolled into a field as it was being driven back from a service. The 2nd one was cream and we bought it from Staines, it too was a great car, eventually my Dad thought it was time to replace it so we bought a Range Rover instead.