Mercedes Club drive to Peats Ridge

The Mercedes Club organized a joint drive with the Rolls Royce Owners club to the Corrugated Cafe in Peats Ridge. Peats Ridge is about 90km north of Sydney. This was one of the first drives after the COVOID19 restrictions were eased. A couple of the members of the club were trying to organize a line up of W126s at the event. The event seemed like a good opportunity to see some Rolls Royces and give the 560SEL a good long drive after I got the car back from some preventative maintenance.

Taking the 560SEL also gave an opportunity to take […]

Leaking SU fuel pump

I took my E-Type out for a couple of drives this week. The state of NSW has been in lockdown due to COVID19 since March. Until last week, it was illegal to be out and about without a valid excuse. This precluded the use of the E-Type as unlike some of the more modern cars it isn’t so suitable to use to do a shopping run. For starters the boot is minute and the car doesn’t like stop/go traffic very much.

On the first drive, I noticed a bit of a fuel smell. It seemed like it was coming from […]

W126 reclining rear seat

Long wheelbase models of the W126 could be equipped with an electric reclining rear seat. From the factory the W126 reclining rear seat was standard on the 560SEL and optional on other models. local subsidiaries may have ordered other models with this feature as standard in their markets too. At least here in Australia it is always seen on the 560 models, commonly seen on the first generation 380SEL and occasionally seen on the 420SEL. Privately imported cars vary, but it is more commonly seen on the higher specification models like the 500SEL.

The W126 reclining rear seat was not […]

560SEC stone chip touch up

Over the years my 560SEC has acquired quite a lot of stone chips on the front of the car. I understand the previous owner was in semi-rural Queensland so there may have been some gravel or unsealed roads in there. Today I applied a stop gap fix until I can address the problem properly. Most of the stone chips were in the front panel under the headlights. These panels are removeable, so eventually when I have the rust under the rear screen fixed, i’ll have this panel repainted too. That repair will be a couple of years away, so today’s […]

Flashback: 2012 Sydney German Auto-Fest

They Sydney German Auto-Fest is now a major event in the Sydney car show calendar. There are hundreds of cars to choose from including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, Audi and some of the smaller brands. It has even replaced the separate Mercedes-Benz concours event. However, this show had quite humble beginnings. I attended the 2012 Sydney German Auto-Fest, back when it was a couple of dozen cars in a parking lot. I recall that this was the inaugural event, but I could be off a year.

I went there in the 250SE, but I wasn’t sure if you had to […]