In order to paint the roof of my 1990 300TE, the sunroof panel needed to be removed. However, on removal of the sunroof panel, the lifting arms disintegrated. This is a common problem on the W124 and second generation W126 cars. The lifting arms are the mechanism that is used to enable the tilt function on the sunroof. While the tilt function is nice,...
Today I attended the Wheels car show in Canberra. Wheels is the largest multi-marque car show held in the ACT. I’ve been a couple of times before, in 2022 and 2024. The ACT club normally try and make a theme of the event, as there are prizes for the best display. They have won it on a few occasions too. In 2022 they had...
Before my 300TE could be repainted, the rust uncovered in the rear window apertures had to be repaired. The rust was cut out and the area welded – we didn’t use any specific repair panels in my case. Once all the rust was repaired, the next step was obviously paint. Since the whole car was not being resprayed, just the rear quarters and roof...
With all the parts procured, my 300TE went into the body shop. The repair started out as routine, removal of the old bumper and disassembly. However, things quickly went sideways with the removal of the rear windows. While I was aware of the rust traps in the S124 rear window design, I wasn’t prepared for how bad the rust would be would be...
Back last year, my 300TE was in a minor accident. The rear bumper took nearly all the impact, other than some scratches to the paint on one side. Before I could get the car repaired, I had to source some parts for my repairer. The most obvious part was the rear bumper. Mine was cracked in a few places. My repairer said worst case...
Every two years one of the state based Mercedes-Benz clubs organizes the National Rally. I attended the 2022 event in South Australia. 2026 is being jointly held by the NSW and ACT clubs and the location was Bathurst. I think the club made a good choice to hold the rally outside Sydney. Sydney is no place for a car event Terrible traffic, expensive parking...
Autoworld Brussels is a rather excellent car museum in Brussels, Belgium. I’ve been a couple of times, in 2013 and 2025. While the core collection doesn’t change all that much, there is a section that is probably about 20% of the museum that is for rotating special exhibits. When I visited last year, the special exhibit was for the cars of Maserati. I really...
Today was the final day of the 50th anniversary of the W123 event and what a great event it was. Originally the plan was to have a farewell breakfast at the Girl Guide hall of Queanbeyan. However, they suffered a plumbing disaster, so instead of going to the hall, they made breakfast at MB Spares and Service, in Fyshwick. Considering the last minute change,...
Day 1 was about getting to Canberra. Day 2 was all about using and enjoying the cars. And Day 3 was about getting as many together as possible. We started out with a cars and coffee event in Fyshwick. This was somewhat of a warm up for the main event, and allowed cars within a few hours drive of Canberra to come in for...
The second day of the 50th Anniversary of the W123 started with a swap meet. Day 1 had been about getting to Canberra and a welcome BBQ. We assembled at Black Mountain parking lot, which was the departure point for the Scenic Drive we would do later. This was a great location to do it, as the parking lot was basically empty. There was...
In January 1976, the W123 was launched on a cold and snowy day in Stuttgart. It would prove to be one of the most iconic models in Mercedes-Benz history. The W123 has since become a bit of a cult classic. It is still probably the best entry point into classic Mercedes-Benz ownership. 50 years later, the Australian Mercedes-Benz clubs and the W123 facebook group,...
Led by the MBCACT, the state based Mercedes-Benz clubs are planning a major event for the 50th anniversary of the W123. The W123 is one of the more significant models in Mercedes-Benz history and so it is an important milestone. I’ve been slowly tidying up my W123 since I purchased it. However, I had a couple of last things I wanted to do before...
Back in October, I purchased a 2012 S212 Mercedes-Benz E350 Wagon as a new family car to replace the 2007 S211 Mercedes-Benz E350 wagon. This is a car that my wife primarily drives, I mostly drive my classics. It wasn’t actually that easy a choice to find something we liked. Specifically we wanted: A car, not an SUV or Ute. Large cargo area that...
While this site focuses on the older cars I own and drive daily, none of these cars are the primary family car. Since August of 2016, my wife has been driving a 2007 Mercedes-Benz E350 S211 wagon. This has been the primary family car until October of this year. During that time, the car covered around 88,500km over 9.3 years. It has now been...
Last year MBCNSW held an event at Linwood House for the first time. Linnwood house is a historic homestead in Guildford that has four open days per year. Each of them has various car clubs and attractions attend. The goal of the event was to try and entice out some of the interesting older cars in the club that rarely come to events. Last...
Back in late 2023 the soft close mechanism on my 300TE became erratic. Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn’t. Sometimes it would randomly come on when driving. At the time, I assume it was to do with the mechanism, so purchased a second hand soft close and had it fitted. It didn’t fix the issue. Since I was about to go on...
Today was the annual German car show held in Sydney. It’s generally a pretty good event and worth a visit. It is no longer the concours event for the club, that is now held at a dealership earlier in the year. This year I wondered what the event would be like as the organization had appeared a bit haphazard. Promotion seemed to start quite...
Update 22/12/25: This car is now sold. My wife’s 2007 E350 S211 Wagon is for sale. This has been our family car for the last 8 years and it has always been reliable and comfortable. if you want a car that can occasionally seat seven and is not an SUV, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagon really is the only choice. Not only do you get...
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