Monthly Archive: September 2021

Choosing tyres for my 15×7 AMG Penta wheels 0

Choosing tyres for my 15×7 AMG Penta wheels

My new 15″ AMG Penta wheels did not come with tyres.   Choosing a set turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought. The big downside of the 15s over the 16s is the tyre availability.     The table below outlines possible sizes I could have considered.    They are all compared to the overall circumference of the original wheel/tyre combination. The...

Guest Post:  W126 parking brake shoes 0

Guest Post: W126 parking brake shoes

I purchased my 1989 420SEL about two years ago and have been busy doing a lot of work to the car to bring it up to my standard.   My most recent job was to inspect and replace the W126 parking brake shoes.   The parking brake was not holding the car, even after I adjusted it.   The Mercedes W126 uses a separate set of drum...

16″ AMG Aero I wheels for my 560SEC 6

16″ AMG Aero I wheels for my 560SEC

When I purchased my 1987 560SEC it came with Simmons B45 Wheels.   These are a high quality Australian made three piece wheel.   I pretty quickly replaced these for a couple of reasons.   The 245 profile tyres rubbed quite badly; There was a terrible wheel wobble; and I didn’t think the suited the car.   I sold those wheels and replaced them with the replica 8...

M272 Camshaft position sensors 2

M272 Camshaft position sensors

When you own a modern Mercedes-Benz, you seem to be playing constant whack-a-mole with the check engine light.   I’ve written before how silly I think the check engine light is, but we’re stuck with it.   Personally, I would just drive older cars, but this is not for everyone and my wife has a 2007 E350 Wagon.    There were two codes this time. The...

15″ AMG ‘Penta’ wheels for my 450SLC 4

15″ AMG ‘Penta’ wheels for my 450SLC

I’ve been on the lookout for a different set of wheels for my 450SLC.   It is currently running a set of W126 second generation alloy wheels.  I like these wheels, but they are not quite right for the 450SLC.     My 560SEL uses these same wheels, but they are in need of refinishing.   Instead of having some of my spare W126 wheels refinished, I...

BM2 Battery Monitor 1

BM2 Battery Monitor

A couple of months ago a friend showed me his BM2 Battery Monitor installed on his 420SEL.    It is a bluetooth enabled battery monitor that connects to a phone app.   The app lets you monitor the battery in real time, run some tests and download history from the battery monitor device. I already have various battery testers which are useful for standalone battery...

560SEL front suspension rebuild 1

560SEL front suspension rebuild

This week I got my 560SEL back from having a front suspension rebuild.   This wasn’t something I really wanted to take on myself.  My SEL drove well, but there was some looseness in the front end.   As I plan on keeping the car long term, it made sense to rebuild the front suspension to restore an as-new ride. The front suspension rebuild included new...

Classic Jalopy