After battling bad weather the first half of the year, this month was a lovely winter evening.  I took my 1978 450SE and was joined by a 380SEC, a 300E, an E320 Cabriolet and three moderns.   One of the moderns was new C class hybrid, under review for a feature article in the Club Magazine.   I find a lot of the features in new Mercedes-Benz rather garish like the huge logos broadcast on the ground when the doors are open.  I’m sure the technology is quite advanced but its not really my sort of thing.

The new car is quite large for a C class, considerably larger than the 124s it was parked between.  Interior room didn’t seem to be all that great though.

The route took us into the National park at waterfall and down through Lady Wakehurst Drive.  We kept off the motorway until finally taking Bulli Pass down to the McDonalds at Woonona.   It was a pretty good drive and I enjoyed it.

The cruise back in my 450SE was pretty uneventful.   I passed 118,000km in the car on the trip.

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Finding a location where we can do a drive plus have good parking options for the cars is not easy.  Most places are inner city which doesn’t work for us.  Instead, I found a dessert truck in Bonnyrigg which allowed a drive near the new Badgerys Creek airport and then a decent run into the dessert truck.   Like a lot of these late night places, it’s sort of attached to a petrol station.

I did the test run about a week  before in the 450SE and the weather was great.  On the night of the drive it was rainy.  Not enough to call off the drive, but there was steady light rain throughout the night.   The route was pretty cruisy so there wasn’t a big impact.

I took my 300TE along.  Due to the weather, it was a smaller turn out with a 320CE Cabriolet, 380SEC, 280CE 123 and my wagon.  The rain was decent on the way to the drive, but it was generally ok once we got started.   The Dessert truck, while not cheap had a pretty decent Dubai chocolate Acai bowl which I went with.

Doing drives like this that are a bit different breaks things up a bit.  We will look to find more options like it.

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Before I sent the Bluetooth radio back to be tested, I wanted to do more bench testing of my own.  So I figured, why not install the Becker Radio for now.   It would look and work a damn sight better than the old Pioneer and is generally period correct. While not correct for the Vaden Plas, I’ve seen period photos of German market Series 1 XJ’s with Beckers.

I have a couple of Beckers from 1972-1973, but they are two piece Grand Prix and Mexico Cassette models.  There isn’t a lot of room for the two piece units without taking the dash further apart and locating the amplifier up in behind the glovebox somewhere.   Given I ultimately still want to use the Radiomobile, a once piece radio is a much better option.

Therefore, I decided to use the Becker Europa II Stereo I tested with.  This model replaced the Europa Stereo, mid 1972.   Originally they were a two piece unit with five buttons and a separate amplifier.  In 1973, they went to a one piece unit, with an integrated amplifier, and continued with minor changes until 1978 when the six button version came out.   This unit is missing the sticker with the serial number, so I can’t properly date it, but I estimate between 1974-1977.   It is visually very similar to the 1973 model.  It has provision for the external cassette, which I will use for Bluetooth input.

Before Installing it properly, I built a wiring harness to test all four speakers with the Becker.  I started testing two speakers, one on each side.  It sounded pretty good, so I went to all four.   Sounded even better.  Like the Radiomobile Bluetooth, the Becker Europa II Stereo is a two channel radio.  It is 2x7W.

I then did a test fitting in the dash without the faceplate to make sure it would fit.

Given I have Beckers in a few cars, I had all I needed to install it properly.  The chrome surround was a bit pitted and the dial scale had a crack, but I had a much better surround and a new reproduction dial scale.  I had the correct Becker plugs and the mounting hardware. I also had a bluetooth module for the DIN plug on the back.

As well as installing the Becker, I also wired in the USB charging ports I was going to use with the Bluetooth radio.

To install the Becker, I had to go back to the backing plate and faceplate modified for a DIN radio.  That meant moving back the decals for the faceplate and the mounting hardware for the backing plate.  The install is a bit fiddly.  With a shaft radio, you would install the backing plate, then the radio, secure everything in place then add in the faceplate.

With a DIN radio, you can’t do this, so you have to get everything buttoned up including the faceplate, before the radio goes in.  This doesn’t give much room to work, but since the Becker is quite a slim radio, it was possible.

My car is not fitted with an antenna, but there is an antenna cable present.  The Vanden Plas should have been sold new with an electric antenna on the rear wing.  I guess at some point the rear wing was changed to one without the antenna cutout?  In any case, I’m not bothered as I will be using Bluetooth.   The cable probably still goes to the boot.

I got it all installed, and I think it looks pretty good.  I would still prefer the Radiomobile as it is what the car is supposed to have. Since its not working, I think the Becker is a good alternative and looks a lot better than the modern radio.

My next step will be to properly bench test the Radiomobile.   But for now I have a great working radio in the Daimler.   Since the Bluetooth setup for the Becker doesn’t have any buttons, I used the same solution I have in the 250SE.  I bought a couple of cheap external controllers and will use one here.   It works pretty well.

A Becker probably isn’t the first solution for a British car, but I’m happy with it for now.

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Replacing the radio wasn’t so simple.   The Daimler Double-Six Vanden Plas came as standard with a Radiomobile 8 Track.  However, this is an older style type radio that uses a smaller opening and the radio is held in place through the shafts for the knobs.

When I purchased the car a while back, I purchased a Radiomobile 8 Track from the UK that had been converted to Bluetooth.  Generally I prefer original radios in my car, but the Radiomobile is AM only, and I don’t own any 8 track cartridges.   I figured this would be a good option to make the car look the part, but be able to play music from my phone.

When the Pioneer was fitted, the opening in the dash was enlarged to DIN size.  This involved cutting the metal backing plate as well as the finishing plate that sits in front it.  Last year when I was in the UK, I bought a second hand finishing plate, and a new backing plate.  The Backing plate wasn’t quite the right part number – It was for other Series 1 XJ models that were optioned with the regular Radiomobile.   From the pictures it looked very close.

My first attempt was a fail.  My workshop manual was only for the Series 2 cars, and it didn’t describe how to remove the trim.  Being sensitive about breaking it, I ordered the correct Series 1 manual.  Shockingly a brand new one was cheaper than a dog eared second hand copy.   The trim removal wasn’t difficult, but there was a specific order to it.    Since the old radio was a DIN, it came out before the trim.

As well as the radio, this panel covers the HVAC controls.  They were all intact, but two of the vacuum fittings were broken.   That may be a factor in time when I attempt to get the A/C working.   One was for the heat, and one was for the recirculation.   The V12 makes so much heat, that I don’t really need the actual heater to work in this car.

With the bracket out of the car, the most time consuming part of this was getting the radio to fit. I realized what the difference between the two part numbers is. The Radiomobile 108 ST is a physically narrower radio. I had to use a dremel to carefully cut material from the new bracket. This was mostly from the sides, but a little at the top, and even a little where the shafts go through to allow the radio to sit lower and line up with the face plate.   I also had to transfer over all the hardware from the old backing plate to the new one.  This was primarily the little fittings to allow the silders to go on, and the heater control levers.

I also had to do the same thing, transferring over the decals from the old faceplate to the new one.

From there I created a wiring harness for the radio – to connect the speakers and to add in bluetooth charging. Not much good playing music from my phone if the battery runs out.

I did a test connection before putting it back into the dash. It sounded absolutely terrible. Even at moderate volume, it distorted like crazy. I figured I had done something wrong, so set about eliminating possible issues. First was power supply to the radio. I used a power probe to check voltage to the radio and ground. I then applied 12v directly to the radio from the battery, and the distortion was the same.

Next thing to eliminate was Bluetooth. The way the radio worked is that a small bluetooth box connected to a headphone jack that went into the radio. I used a lightening to headphone adaptor to plug my phone directly into the the phone, bypassing bluetooth. Still distorted.

Final thing was speakers. The radio has two channels, apparently 50W each. I assume that is peak, not RMS. For my setup I had two speakers connected to each channel. I tried a few different combinations. First one speaker per channel. Then just one speaker total. I used a few combinations, e.g. front left and rear right. Distorted every time.

Being perplexed, I messaged the seller of the radio for any advice. It is out of warranty, but I hoped he would have a few tips. He was good enough to reply and asked to see the specs of my speakers, which I sent him. His view was that my speakers were undersized, and that they should be at least 50W RMS.

That left me perplexed. Most classic cars have tiny speakers, so finding a 50W RMS speaker in 4″ seems unobtanium. If that scenario was correct, I would have expected it to distort only at high volumes. He offered to bench test it for me, if I sent it back, which was kind of him to do. Given the cost of shipping, I wanted to do more tests myself.

The final test before finishing up for the day was to use a different radio.  I figured a pinstripe Becker would be a good test.  A Becker Europa II has two 7W channels, so if it could play the speakers then anything should.

I took out a Becker Europa II from my Becker collection and ran a simple test, one speaker.   It sounded really good.   That gave me a good avenue for further testing.

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On the Saturday, the kids wanted a day off skiing, so I decided to take them to the Cooma Car Museum.  Its a small museum operated by the Cooma Car Club.   Since the museum is only open limited hours (Saturday and Tuesday) I had never been.

Its quite small, but well worth a visit.  Cost of admission is only $10 per adult.  The have a pretty nice range of cars, with an Australian theme.  This includes some significant Holdens – FX and FJ, as well as a couple of the last ones made.  There are also quite a few locally produced European cars like the Mercedes 220S, the VW Beetle and so on.   There is a decent range of motorcycles, as well as the P50, the world’s smallest car.

As well as the cars you could see, the kids enjoyed the large scalextric racing track they could play on.

Given the museum is run by the club, I would imagine the collection is all club members cars and probably rotates, especially the post-war cars.  I would go back if I’m there again.  A lot of these regional museums are closing down, so it is important to support the ones left.

The 300TE did well on the quick weekend visit to Jindabyne.  I did over 1,000km at 10.5l/100km.  That was about the same as my wife’s W212 wagon, although the 212 has a roof box on it, so it would normally get about 9-9.5 liters per hundred.  I didn’t see too many classics, other than on the Sunday on the way back there was obviously some kind of event south of Canberra.  There was quite a line of cars heading there.

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However, only one and a half of them is working, and the Pioneer is on its last legs.  While the car would have been fitted with a power antenna when new, that is long gone and there is no antenna at all.  That wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if I could play music through my phone, but the Pioneer only plays CDs, and the mechanism doesn’t work properly as it takes many attempts to get it to load or eject a CD.   At least the one CD that is stuck in there is a David Bowie CD.  It could have been a lot worse.

I don’t like how the Pioneer looks in the dash, so I have a Radiomobile 8 track, converted to Bluetooth to put in its place.   The Radiomobile 8 Track was standard on the Vanden Plas.

Changing the speakers first will allow me to verify they are working correctly before doing the radio.

The car has four door speakers, each integrated into the door pocket.  The door pocket is actually separate from the main door card, and is screwed on separately.  It was quite easy to remove them, and see the speaker.  Turns out it was a regular 4″ speaker, with a standard mounting.   To remove the old one, a 1/4″ deep socket was required.  I didn’t have one, and neither did my local bunnings so I had to order one online.

I had a set of focal 4″ speakers that I had ordered for my 450SLC.  They turned out to be too deep for the application and were still sitting on the shelf.   The fit perfectly, so I ordered another set.  I had a set of the Auditor RCX-100.  Those had been replaced with the ACX-100, but the specs were pretty much identical.   I used the newer ones in the front.   The original ones were ELAC and made in the UK, so almost certainly original.

The fronts went on quickly as I already had the door cards off.  The rears didn’t take a whole lot longer, and given those backing boards were also not great, it made sense to have all four repaired.

With four new speakers installed, David Bowie sounded pretty good in the car.

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It looked like the return hose from #4 to #3 was quite wet. Replacing the return hoses seemed a good place to start.  I don’t know how old they were, and the are a common place for small diesel leaks.   I ordered a metre worth of new hose.

The hoses push on, so this is a pretty simple job.  I had some left over, so a metre would be sufficient for a five cylinder as well.  The only small complication is around the #3 cylinder which is obscured by the throttle linkage mechanism.    I also want to check if the setup at the end of the 4th cylinder is correct, as it was a totally different hose type.

After fitting the new hoses, I let the car idle for about 15 minutes and I still had a bit of wetness around #4, so I need to investigate that final hose with the cap on the end as my next port of call.

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Most series 1 XJ’s had a regular mirror.  However, the Vanden Plas has the type of mirror that can be adjusted from inside the car with a little joystick.  These became more common on the Series 2 cars.

The original drivers mirror on my car worked ok, but had lost most of its chrome.  Looking up the part numbers, SNG Barratt sold reproduction mirrors.   They had a few options, that included curved glass or flat glass (I prefer flat) plus one with extra movement.  I went with the one with extra movement, being tall I find sometimes mirrors don’t have the full adjustment I need.

I had no desire to drill into the door of my car, so I had that done when the car was in the workshop in May.   The new mirrors looked great, but I had a small problem.  I couldn’t see out of them.   The drivers mirror gave me a great view of the car door.   The passengers gave me a view of what was going on a long way from the car.  These mirrors were quite expensive, so it was rather frustrating.

I tried various things to see if I could adjust them, but they were so far out it wasn’t possible.   I contacted the supplier and was told that the one with extra movement was for USA Spec vehicles only.   There is a small note to this effect one particular screen, but not the page where it lists the options for that part number.   USA Spec only means left hand drive.

After a bit of back and forward they agreed I could send them back for the right ones even though it was past the return date.  I ordered the correct mirrors and had them shipped.   Since the door was already drilled, I fitted them myself.

To fit them properly, the door card had to be removed.  The Vanden Plas has unique door cards that are nothing like what is shown in the workshop manual.   I checked both the Series 1 manual and the Series 2 manual which has the same design of door card.

Luckily, I found a video of a guy in America with a series 3 Vanden Plas, and the basic procedure was the same.

Since it is a coachbuilt interior, it was done in a way to hide screw heads where possible.  Thus, there is one screw underneath the armrest that is not visible.  If you remove that, you can slide back the top of the armrest and lift it off.

With the top of the armrest removed, the three main screws that hold the armrest to the door are visible.   With those removed, the door card should be held in with plastic studs, as the armrest is the main thing holding it on.  In my case, the wooden backing was so disintegrated, the studs were not really doing anything.   Since the material is in great shape, I’m going to have a trimmer put new backing boards on my door cards.

It was a pretty simple matter to swap out the mirrors once the door card was removed.  Threading in the joystick attachment isn’t that big a deal.   The new ones are much better.  The adjustment isn’t perfect – I would like the drivers on in particular to be a bit higher.   But I can now use them and the look pretty good on the car.   I’ve taken it for a couple of test drives without the front door cards and it is much more relaxing to drive with proper mirrors.

The passengers door card was better than the drivers, but not a lot.  So I will remove all four and have new boards put on.   I will also replace the door speakers while the doors are apart.   The drivers door is missing it’s moisture barrier entirely, so will see if I can improve on that.

I’ve sent the old ones back but right now they don’t seem to be able to find the return even though I have delivery confirmation that it arrived.  Even though it was a return I had to pay the Trump tariffs for some reason.

Update 16/7/26:  The package was eventually located and I got my refund. I still had to pay three shipping fees, one each for the two shipments and the return shipment, and the Trump tarriffs.

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This month I took my Citroen DS.  I’m glad I did as quite a few other DS owners had the same idea, with five on display.  When I arrived, one of the marshals told me there were three others parked near the front of the display and to go down there and park with them.   That was great, and I headed over to park near a couple of DS21s and a D Special.   Later a couple of cars left so we could park all four of them together.  My car was the oldest, with the others being 73-75 models.

There was also a white car that came later and was parked elsewhere.   As well as the Ds, there was also a GS and a 2CV, plus a modern C6.  Given the weather the turnout was still very good, with the field about half full.   I got there a bit earlier this month and was able to drive in without too many headaches.  It wasn’t as packed as last time though.

This month St Ives had a whole section roped off for the BMW club.  I think that is a pretty good idea to feature various clubs.   The BMW club seems very performance/track oriented.  Most of the cars there were modern M cars, with the odd E36 and E30 thrown in for good measure.   They did have a few classics though, such as a lovely E9 coupe.

St Ives usually has quite interesting stuff that comes out of the woodwork.   This month there was quite a good lineup of Mopar muscle cars,  and a great lineup of Datsun 2000 sports cars.  The big Imperial crown coupe was also very impressive.  It made the Volvo P1800 parked next to it look like a toy.

Given it was cold and overcast, it was a pretty good day and I’m glad I went.

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From what I understand, the event takes the new S Class to 140 different locations around the world.  The two cars had various stickers from some of the locations where they had been.  They were in Melbourne last week and will be in Brisbane next week.

The Mercedes-Benz club of NSW was asked to help participate in this event.   The idea was to try and get 140 cars in a convoy to cross the harbour bridge together.  This is a pretty tall ask.  The plan was to get two groups, The S-Classes (and predecessors) and the other Mercedes-Benz cars.

The task wasn’t made easier by the weather.  It has been cold and rainy the last week.  Rain was forecast for the day.  The finish point was supposed to be Gough Whitlam Park, where the club hold the German Car show.  However Gough Whitlam park closes if somebody wrings out a towel nearby, so they had to scramble to find alternative arrangements, which were found in Bass Hill.

I thought club members did very well to put on a strong showing for the day given these challenges.   What struck me was the variety.   There was a really good selection of classic and modern Mercedes-Benz models.   There were even good showings of models that are rarely seen at club events like the W140.  While I probably missed a few, I counted about 80 cars:

• Classic S Class and Predecessors (26) – W111 (4), W108 (3), W116 (7), W126 (7), W140 (5)
• Classic Other Mercedes Benz (26) – W100, R/C107 (8), W110, W113, W114 (3), W123 (3), W124 (7), W463
• Modern Mercedes-Benz (30)
• New S Class (2)

I took my 250SE Cabriolet. I took two of my kids along, and gave a ride to a friend from Queensland who was visiting for the event.  We opened the roof and managed to do the entire event roof open.  Luckily, we only hit a bit of rain five minutes from home.

We started at Macquarie university, which was a good meeting point. It took a while to leave the carpark and the kids and I were starting to wondering if the new S Class had broken down.  Luckily that turned out not to be the case.    The original plan was to have the S Classes and predecessors go, and then the other cars to follow 15 minutes later.  This didn’t happen and they left right after.  I’m not sure that it was necessarily a bad thing.

The challenge with such a distance to the bridge was that everyone was spread out a lot by the time we got there, so the visual impact wasn’t nearly so great.  I was behind a Prado by the time I crossed it.

The finishing spot was pretty good, and they had snacks and drinks there.  We all got a gift bag with some nice goodies, including a rather excellent grille badge.  I was quite keen to put it on my 250SE when I got home, but it doesn’t fit in the thin mesh of the W111 grille.  So I’ll probably end up putting it on a different car.

For me, the big attraction of the event was the 140 years thing, and the large number of club cars out on the day.   The new S Class doesn’t hold a great deal of interest.  It’s not really my cup of tea, I find the hundreds of small Mercedes-Benz logos all over it rather tacky.  It’s better than the GLS though.   Considering the success of models like the W126, the S Class sells in tiny numbers in Australia now.  It is largely driven by China where SUVs do not have the cachet of a large sedan.  On that front, I think they have it right.

The kids and I enjoyed the event and having a day out in the 250SE.   That afternoon I also took the car to visit the son of the original owner, who picked it up from Stuttgart in October 1965.  The strange coincidence is that he lives literally 210 meters from my house and has been that close since I moved there in 2014.

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