When purchased, my 560SEC did not have working climate control. Not only did the A/C not work, but the heater had a mind of its own, occasionally bursting in to life and turning on full heat. Curiously for a car that has been in Australia since the early 2000s, the car had not been converted to R134A. My first step was to see if...
I discovered at the MBCNSW Dyno day that my 560SEC was running dangerously lean. Lean enough to cause damage to the engine. While I was in the USA for work, I went to the Mid Florida Auto show. I met Pierre Hedary there (who runs an independent Mercedes workshop), who suggested that I should start by testing my fuel pressures and that he had...
Today I traveled down to Canberra for the MB Spares and Service used parts clearance sale. I managed to score a few bargains that will hopefully come in handy in years to come. MB Spares and Service closed down the spares side of their business a couple of years back to focus on the service and restoration. The spares business catered for both...
For the last couple of years I have noticed a noise from the rear of the 450SLC while driving. At first I thought it might be a wheel bearing or some kind of bushing. I mentioned it to my mechanic and he took and look and it wasn’t any of those things. Last time I took the car on a longer drive, the noise...
The MBCNSW held a tech day at a dyno equipped performance shop today. I was keen to attend as I wanted to understand how much power my ECE 560SEC is making. Geting dyno time independently can be expensive, but through the club day it was very affordable. The tech day was held at SR Performance at Wolli Creek. On the Dyno, the following cars...
A couple of weeks ago I installed the Classic Auto Sound Becker Tribute Radio in my 250SE. I’m really happy with it, it worked really well on my recent drive down to Canberra. One of the only things I thought could have been improved on the radio was the buttons were unlabeled. The real radios had LMKUU buttons. Classic Auto Sound, who build these...
It was just announced that the NSW 60 day logbook ‘trial’ has been made permanent. This is great news as its a really good system. The two minor drawbacks – the amount of paperwork and the size of the plates. The plates are tiny and really ugly. They are so small that they don’t line up with the mounting holes of nearly any car. ...
This weekend I traveled to Canberra for 2019 ACT German Car Show. I’ve been to this show a few times before (2013, 2015, 2017), but this is the first time I have formally entered a car. In prior years I have driven down on the day and arrived around 11ish to see the show for an hour or so. This year I decided...
One of the things I noticed when I first changed the oil on my 560SEC was the dent in the lower oil pan. Presumably it hit a curb or rock at some point. It was also leaking. the dent was likely too small to interfere with the oil pump, or oil pickup but I wanted to be sure. The M117 lower oil pan...
Today I completed the install of the Classic Auto Sound Becker Tribute. In the first part, I removed the old Clarion, and installed the the Retrosound wiring harness. I also tested the radio and it was working fine. The new radio looks great and is a huge improvement over the Clarion CD player. Installation Step 4: Convert the Becker Tribute radio to DIN At...
I have been wanting to change the radio in the 250SE since I have owned the car. It was a basic Clarion unit that looked totally out of place. The dashboard in my car has been cut to DIN size, meaning going back to the original Becker wasn’t really an option. Unfortunately many W111’s had their dashboards cut up in the 70s...
The Mercedes-Benz E Class wagon is not particularly common. It would appear that most buyers opted for the ML/GLE model. Their loss as I believe the S211 is the far better car, unless you want to tow. This makes spare parts a bit more tricky, when those parts are not shared with the sedan. In this case, the tail light lens was broken...
A common feature of Mercedes cars from the mid 70s through the mid 2000s is the self-leveling rear suspension. This system is standard on the wagons, but was commonly specified on the higher end sedans too. Mercedes-Benz Australia was particularly keen on the system fitting it to coupes and even mid size saloons. The system ensures that even with a heavy load in the...
A few months ago I replaced the under bonnet insulation pad on my 560SEC. This job also needed doing on the 300SE. I purchased both pads at the same time, and finally got a chance to do the second one today. Note, if you’re looking for more information on forums, American sites will refer to this as a hood pad. There are youtube...
At least in Australia, by far the best month of the year to buy tyres is June. Both the tyre retailers and manufacturers offer attractive end of financial year sales. Most people don’t realize, but tread wear is not the only reason to replace tyres. As the rubber ages, it hardens. Once the tyres harden the handling, particularly in the wet is compromised....
All W126 models have an insulation pad under the bonnet to protect the paintwork and reduce engine noise. Over time, the W126 bonnet insulation degrades and starts crumbling down onto the engine. At this point most owners simply remove it. I own two W126 models with the remnants of their insulation pads. A few months ago, I purchased W126 bonnet insulation to...
More Posts
