| In a previous article I had been undertaking a 300TE speaker upgrade. I started with the rears which were very simple. Next was the fronts. As I outlined in the first part, the W124 uses an odd size and mounting system for the front speakers. They are 12cm and use these clips on the side rather than the normal mounting ears. I guess this system was used in a few European cars of the era, as there are still a couple of manufacturers who offer speakers like these. I went with the Crunch DSX120, in a kit for the […] Today was the third annual Youngtimer Sacco day. This is an event run by the Mercedes-Benz club to celebrate the cars of the legendary designer, Bruno Sacco. As with the last two, the event was held at HARS. HARS is an aviation museum located at Shellharbour Airport in Albion Park NSW. The event is focused on the cars designed by Bruno Sacco, but other cars could attend. Sacco was lead designer for Mercedes-Benz from 1975 to 1999. His era covers a number of key models in Mercedes-Benz history such as the W126, W201, W124, R129, R230 and more. Sacco […] I wasn’t very happy with the sound from my 300TE. The front passengers speaker rattled badly and the sound wasn’t the best. As I’m taking the car on a road trip in January, I wanted better sound. I’ve already put the Becker 1402 back in, so all I needed was some decent speakers. In researching what was possible, options were not extensive for the S124. The front speakers are both an unusual size (12cm) and an unusual mounting system. The rears are are a more common 10cm size, but mounted in the door handles. I personally don’t think much of […] I had previously replaced the front speakers in my 1987 560SEC. Now it was time to look at the rears. As I outlined in the article about the front speakers, I am replacing the W126 rear speakers with Crunch 16.5cm speakers. These speakers should fit into the factory brackets and underneath the factory grilles. Changing the rears in the second generation W126 is a bit more of a fiddly job. For starters the factory grilles are now very brittle. Not only are they over 35 years old, but the Australian sun is not kind to plastics. It is quite common […] I’m planning to drive my 560SEC down to Melbourne in a few weeks. I’m going see the Mercedes Benz Club of Victoria concours and attend a tech day on electrical troubleshooting. A drive like this meant attending to a few things I had on my to do list for the car. One of them was to replace the W126 drag link. It was supposed to be replaced at the same time as the tie rods and idler bushing were done. Unfortunately, I had bought the wrong part. I should have realized but the left hand drive part is different to […] I’m taking my 560SEC on a long road trip in a couple of weeks. I’ve never really been especially happy with the sound from the speakers, particularly from midrange tones. Before I took the car on a long trip, I wanted to upgrade the speakers. I am also doing a similar project on my 300TE. On that car, one of the front speakers is damaged and makes a rattling sound. The W124 speakers are harder to find than for the W126. The front speakers on a W124 use an odd mounting system, and the rears have minimal clearance. There […] In this series I am refurbishing my W124 instrument cluster. In the first part, I removed the cluster and lubricated the speedo cable. For the second part, I repaired the W124 outside temperature display. Now I am focused on my instrument cluster which is afflicted with the dreaded white spot disease. While I was in the UK for work in January, I purchased a good used W124 instrument cluster housing. My plan was to transfer my instruments and electronics to that new housing. The actual gauge faces were in good condition. It’s been on my to do list ever since […] In this series I am refurbishing my W124 instrument cluster. In the last part, I removed the cluster and lubricated the speedo cable. For this part, I am repairing the W124 outside temperature display. The main problem with these displays is that when exposed to too much hot sun, the LCD panel ‘bleeds’. Over time, this makes it increasingly illegible, not to be mention ugly. I previously fixed the displays in both my old 300SE and the 560SEC. The W124 outside temperature display is basically the same as the unit found in the W126 and W124. They are just in […] Ever since I bought my W124, there have been a couple of things about my instrument cluster I was not very happy with. It had the dreaded ‘white spot’ disease. Not just on the instrument cluster surround, but the inside of the glass too. The outside temperature LCD was all cloudy and difficult to read. The speedometer needle jumped around at low speed. I assume the white spot is some kind of mould. it seems to affect cars that have spent time in the tropics or humid environments the most – e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore, Queensland etc. My car spent […] I’m about to take my 560SEC on a road trip. I’ve been making sure I had appropriate spares for this road trip, especially things that would he hard to get by the side of the road. One thing on my list was some spare ZH-M. ZH-M is the hydraulic fluid used in the self-levelling rear suspension. Since I was ordering ZH-M I got enough to flush the 300TE and 560SEC, as well a a new filter for the 300TE. The ZH-M was available from Sparesbox. The fluid in the 560SEC looked fairly dark. I last flushed it in 2019. […] | |
